Idaho Winter

By Jacob -
A few pictures along the way home from town. The weather finally cleared after about a week of snowing.




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Haydom

By Jacob -
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Tuesday last week I flew out with another MAF pilot, Kirstein, to Haydom. Our schedule was full with flights out to even more remote villages, and we would not return back to Arusha until Friday. On one of the afternoons we needed to haul to the maximum capacity of the aircraft, and so I was left on the ground.  As I waited to catch a few pictures of Kirstein taking off to the villages, these two girls kept begging me to take a picture of them so they could see themselves. They were quite pleased, and a little shy, when I showed them my camera screen. After he was off, I began my hike to the large hill beside the town of Haydom. Having grown up in the mountains of Idaho, I miss the tranquility and peace of being in the wild. Being away from busy city life gives me time to think and process. I began to contemplate how different Tanzania is from the world I grew up in. For instance, it took me multiple visits to the Haydom airstrip before noticing the ridicu...
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The WOW Factor - Tanzania and Aviation

By Jacob -
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This last week we were able to sit down with the Director of Aviation, Steve, whom we will be replacing in Tanzania. Part of our discussion revolved around the importance of aviation for Bible translators. As such, the question of why aviation support for translators in Tanzania was introduced. His answer had elements I knew already, but he also brought some really great insights to the table. Expediency Translation teams make regular trips north of Mbeya where we will be based. Normally this includes an exhausting and bumpy 10-12 hour drive. On the other hand, a flight in the 206 only takes a couple of hours. This is just one example of why aviation in an underdeveloped country can save a tremendous amount of man hours.  Support Link Aviation provides a vital link. Recently, four families left the region north of Mbeya due to oppressive spiritual warfare. This area is controlled by witch doctors. The aviation program, which provides this vital connection, was ...
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Runway Survey

By Jacob -
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Earlier this week all the pilots, aircraft mechanics in JAARS training, and a few of the staff went to a few of the airfields which are used for training. These grass runways are privately owned but the owners have generously allowed JAARS aircraft to operate out of them. The purpose of the "field trip" was two-fold. First, it gave the pilots an opportunity to walk and assess the runways before flying into them. Secondly, these runways require periodic inspections. The first task was to measure the fields. Since JAARS operates out of short airstrips, performance numbers (how long it will take the aircraft to get off the ground) is crucial. Before flight, distance for takeoff and landing will be calculated and is accurate to within 20 feet. To do this, environmental factors such as humidity, slope, surface, wind, etc. will be measured to produce an aircraft performance number. As such, having markings on the runway to verify whether the aircraft is performing a...
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One Average Day

By Jacob -
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Since we started learning Swahili on Monday, it seems the new norm for the time being is sore brains and dreams filled with Swahili. On top of that, the commute has been more than interesting. Since we got here we have run across two cars in the ditch (their ditches can be very deep), one motorcycle accident, one bajaj accident, and one person run over... whew. Driving around here takes 100% of your energy. Needless to say, it is overall safe if you keep your wits about you :) At least it is much less disturbing than seeing countless white crosses all day across the state of Montana. Anyway, we just finalised an apartment which is within walking distance of the SIL office and language learning. And we plan on moving tomorrow...which means I better be going to bed. Thank you all for your support!
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