To Loki and back

Loki Trip

Be sure to check out a few of the pictures I took: http://calebklay.wordpress.com/pictures/

Wednesday morning started with me running over to the hangar around 6:00am to get some last minute stuff done before I left town for the rest of the week. Got back to my place around 8:00 and finished packing and went over to help Jon finish packing and loading. We picked up a local pastor and were on our way by 10:00. The first few hours were pretty uneventful. Jon grew up here in Kenya since his parents and grandparents were all missionaries here. So he filled me in on some of the areas we were traveling through. As we neared Eldoret, the place we would spend the night, we ascended over 8,000 ft on a relatively flat plateau. This area is very fertile and stays cool year round because of the altitude. I wanted to take some picture but it was cloudy and foggy.

All of a sudden on both sides of the road, there looked like snow. We stopped to check it out and found that it was actually lots of small hail but from a distance it would pass for snow. It was about 50 degrees F and this was 15:30! Eldoret was about the same altitude and quite cool. We arrived a little after 16:00, and went to the market to buy a bunch of fruits and vegetables to take since a lot is grown in the area the prices are good and much better than Loki where not much grows besides anthills, thorn bushes and acacia trees. After buying half the market, (Ok, not literally, but at least a couple hundred pounds of food) we headed to the AIM African missionary college to spend the night with some AIM missionaries there.

We had supper and then joined them for a prayer meeting with another missionary couple working at the school and 2 of the Kenyan teachers and administrators. We left at 7:00 and before we were out of the compound, we found a matatu (taxi van) stuck in the driveway since it had rained a bunch and was really slick mud. We helped him get unstuck and then continued on with our trip. Once we got on the main road it was not too bad for the first hour or so but then the road deteriorated some so we were probably averaging around 20mph. This continued for a couple hours and then it improved some. There was a road grader and a couple dump trucks that were binging dirt to fill in the potholes. The asphalt was pretty much nonexistent which actually is better since the grader can level and smooth the road much easier. We also started descending down to the low flat dessert.

Around 16:00 we made it to Lodwar, and stopped to visit a missionary family for a few minutes. Then we were back on the road, and this stretch was the best part. So the 214 km from Lodwar to Loki was the nicest part of the road and had the least traffic and we made good time getting to Loki around 18:20.

Friday morning, I started out by taking a walk around the compound to check it out since it was getting dark when we arrived and didn’t have time. After my walk, I checked out the pilot house, where I was staying, more closely to see what kind of repairs and work had been done and what was still needed. I had breakfast with the Hildebrants and then we went into town to do a little shopping and show me around town. We then went to the airport and met the 2 Samaritan’s Purse Kenyan workers. They showed us the new site the airport authority said we could have to build our hangar. It seems to be a pretty good location and hopefully all will go well with the process and we can soon start work on it.

Came back for lunch and then did some yard clean up. Also got the swimming pool out and started setting it up. But because it was kind of cloudy, the pump was not pumping water (the compound doesn’t have electricity and relies on solar power or a generator) so we could not start filling it up.

Saturday, visited a little with a construction team that had just come out of Sudan. The sun was shining so started pumping water into the pool. Also helped setup Hildebrant’s new washing machine. After lunch, I went to the airport and waited to help load the DC3 that I was flying back to Nairobi on. I was flying as crew so got to sit in the jump seat which was the only free seat since they had picked up extra people in Juba.

Shortly after takeoff, we called one of the mission stations on the radio and my roommate from high school answered the radio. So I was able to talk to him for a while till we were out of range. The pilot also let me fly for an hour or so. That was a lot of fun. I hope that I will be able to catch other flights in the future to other areas that we serve. Thanks for your prayers, everything went very smooth and it was a great trip.

 

June 14-25

• Thursday June 14: Worked on the DC 3 tires and wheels.

• Friday: Worked on lots of small things.

• Saturday June 16: Did laundry, went grocery shopping. Played 6 games of volley ball in the afternoon.

• Monday 18: Started the 100 hour inspection on 6MS.

• Tuesday: Continued the inspection. Went to Rose Ave in the evening for Bible study. Dwight and Dorothy arrived back from the US.

• Wednesday: finished up the inspection and most of the paperwork.

• Thursday 21: We had the AIMAIR picture at 7am. Flew down to Malindi in the DC3 for the men’s retreat.

• Friday- Sunday: Retreat at Turtle Bay in Malindi. Ate lots of good food, swam and snorkeled in the Indian Ocean. Also played beach volley ball and water polo in the pool. We had five main sessions looking at the life of Joseph. The trip was a lot of fun and good time to get to know the other guys better. We flew back Sunday afternoon.

• Monday June 25: Started by working on the spare DC 3 main tire and brakes. CMA came back from a flight with a few minor squawks, so spent part of the afternoon fixing them.

June 5-13

• Tuesday June 5, 07: Installed the other new battery I built in CMA. Disassembled a magneto that was removed from a plane in Loki because it was not working. Could not find anything wrong with it so put it back together and tested it on the test bench. It worked fine, guess the boss will decide what to do with it now. I led bible study on the SIM compound this evening. Met Karen, an new Sim short termer that will be working in Karen (suburb of Nairobi).

• June 6: Worked on the big airplane rebuild project.

• Thursday: Changed the propeller governor on CMA because it was leaking. Installing an overhauled one. Performed a ground run up to check if the rigging was still ok and it was so do not have to adjust anything.

• Friday June 8: Had to fix a door handle on the rear door of CMA first thing before the pilot left (it worked fine the night before after installing the governor but was somehow broken this morning). Helped set up for the party at lunch. Had the computer department set my laptop up on the intranet so I can access all the maintenance folders and programs.

• Saturday: Went to Pneuma church at 7:30am to help run sound for a Christian music seminar. It was supposed to start at 8:00, we finally go going a few minutes before 10:00. Luckily it was not that long and we were finished with the main program by noon. There was a church group from Portland visiting and a couple of the guys were setting up a basketball hoop in the parking lot so I helped them a little with that after lunch. Came home, went grocery shopping and bought some fruit. Went over to Rose Ave for a little while to pick up some stuff. Came back and helped Ryan and Frank doing some shrub removal and pruning and trimming.

• Monday 11: Worked on the Landing gear of the DC3. Changed a main gear tire. Learned about Wingman(our big scheduling program).  BLG came back at 16:30 with a bent and cracked bracket for the nose gear squat switch.  Did not have a new one in stock so cleaned and welded the crack and installed a small doubler to help reinforce it because it was flying again early tommorow.

• Tuesday: Came in a 6:00 to check the plane over again before it left.  Helped with the General Inspection on the DC3. Bible study in the evening. Met a few new girls here for a couple months to work in Kisumu (about 8-10 hour drive from here).

• Wednesday 13 June: Getting my computer all set up on the network to access programs and folders.

May 25- June 4th

• Friday 25, May 07: Worked on paperwork.

• Saturday: Got the Volleyball net from Rose ave and fixed it and set it up on Muringa compound. Played volleyball in the afternoon. Had pizza with the DeHaan’s after.

• Monday 28: Not a holiday here but Friday is. Worked on parts prices and organization. Worked on toolbox in the evening for a while.

• Tuesday:Relatively uneventful day. Had Bible study in the evening like normal.

• Wednesday: Worked on hangar projects.

• Thursday 31, May 07: Felt like Friday since tomorrow is a holiday. Worked on hangar projects some more. Changed light bulbs and starters on the florescent lights. Pressure washed the main doors so they are shiny again. Worked on cleaning up and organizing the batter charging room.

• Friday June 1st: Public holiday so no work. Came in and worked on my tool box some more and got quite a bit done. Went to Olivia’s (one of the Mks on our compound) graduation party in the afternoon.

• Saturday: Came in at 6am to fix a plane that came back last evening with a charging problem and needs to fly at noon. Found the battery boiled over and caused a “runaway alternator” situation. Luckily the pilot shut it down before any damage was done to the new alternator and we put a loner battery in the plane and checked it after checking the alternator and regulator.

• Sunday 3rd: Visiting with one of the girls on the worship team and found out her parents are missionaries from Nigeria and that was where she was born although she grew up here in Kenya. She has graduated from RVA 2 years ago and has been attending a local university but is now transferring to Portland University in OR. There was a special part of the service for her leaving and Olivia leaving.

• Monday June 4, 07: finished the work on the battery room and built up a new battery for the 5Y-CMA (the plane that had battery problems on the weekend). Around noon, N756MS flew in with a a dying battery so put the new on in that plane and built up another battery for CMA in the afternoon.

May 18-24

• Friday May 18: Fixed squawks on CMA and 9KA.

• Saturday: did laundry, helped Dan S weld up the grates for the BBQ. Went shopping with Jay for steel, electrical connectors and tires for his truck. In the afternoon finished the BBQ and got ready for the pig. Pig arrived around 19:00. A little bigger than we thought (72kgs, 160 lbs) but would still fin in the grill we built. Started grilling around 20:00. Watched a few movies while rotating the pig every hour.

• Sunday: Decided to go home a little after 4:00 am. Slept till 6:00 am, helped a little before getting ready for church. Continued grilling after church till around noon. Helped carve the pig and get everything ready for the “feast”. Lots of AIM missionaries showed up and ate just about everything, so that worked out well. See slide show in New Photos

• Monday 21, May: Worked on CMT. Test flight pilots had a couple small things to adjust.

• Tuesday: Worked in stores most of the day. Confirming parts in stock for CMT to be sold with plane and parts staying. Bible study in the evening.

• Wednesday 23: Adjusted gear warning horn and stall warning horn and went on test flight with the pilot to confirm everything was set. Worked on tool box some in the evening. Started building the frame for the back cabinet.

• Thursday 24, May 07: Worked on updating the parts lists and sorting out differences.

May 7- 17

• Monday May 7, 07: Float Plane left for Lake Victoria. Started helping on the 100hr/annual for 9KA. We have a high school girl from the German school doing and internship for the week.

• Tuesday: Issac T. came to the hangar mid morning. Stayed an helped work on inspection for 9KA.

• Wednesday: We continued inspection on 9KA and re rigged the aileron system.

• Thursday: finished the inspection and worked on some of the remaining squawks and started putting it back together. Ran sound and set up for the movie “Facing the Giants”, a Christian football movie, at church in the evening.

• Friday 11 May, 07: Finished putting everything back together, including adjusting the wings to correct a “wing heavy” problem. Gave Issac a ride back to his aunt’s place in town and stayed for supper and the night.

• Saturday: Went to Java House so Issac could do email but the internet was not working well. Went to my place so he could see it and the other mission compound. Went over to the SIM compound but not too many people there so went to the hangar for a while. Then tried another Java House but their internet was to be off till 20:00. Stayed and visited some other people there for a while before Issac headed home by taxi and I went back to the hangar and then came home.

• Monday 14: Worked on some paperwork and looks like this week will be a little slower maintenance wise which will be nice to catch up on stuff. Found out that my work permit finally came through so will have to finish the paperwork and get finger printed this week.

• Tuesday: Worked on the tractor most of the day. Changed the fluids and filters and serviced everything. Also adjusted the 3 point hitch to lift higher and straitened the front bull bars that were bent.

• Wednesday: Worked on paper work. Did some errands in town. Got the motorcycle insurance transferred to my name. Set up to finish my work permit stuff tomorrow.

• Thursday 17: Finally finished work permit stuff and got fingerprinted today. Also finishing up the motorcycle paperwork.  Worked on airplane paperwork and cleaned off the top of my toolbox.

April 24- May 5

• Tuesday: 24, April 07: Primed the floor in the morning and painted it in the afternoon. We mixed bead blasting medium with the paint and brushed it on giving it a textured non slip finish. Had bible study at the SIM compound in the evening.

• Wednesday: Worked on putting everything back together on the float plane during the day. After 1700, I went over and started helping work on the Casa 212 that Samaritan’s Purse bought in DRC and is going to ferry back to the US. Worked till about 2230 (some guys worked later).

• Thursday:Continued working on the float plane during the day, and the Casa in the evening again until 2130.

• Friday 27: Finished up the float plane. Dale, the pilot, flew it in the afternoon and said it ran great. Gave me a few little things that still needed to be done but basically it is ready. Helped on the Casa project till 2200.

• Saturday: Installed my Action Packer on the back of my bike in the morning at the hangar. Helped some on the finishing up the Casa work. Had a supper and good bye party for Kathi at SIM in the evening.

• Monday 30: Worked on getting all the paperwork together for the float plane and finishing up the few minor things left. Helped work on the DC 3 inspection a little

• Tuesday May 1, 07: Labor Day and my birthday. Went over to Ryan’s place and helped him pull the transmission out of his Land Rover. In the evening, went over to the SIM for supper and birthday party.

• Wednesday 2: Helped with the DC 3 inspection for part of the day. Started machining special washers for the rear seats in the float plane.

• Thursday: Finished machining the washers and reinstalled the seat with the new parts (the last think for the float plane). Helped on the DC 3 inspection.

• Friday 4: Worked on the DC 3 inspection and almost finished it.

• Saturday 5: Spent the entire day helping Ryan put the transmission in his truck and putting it all back together. Definitely not as easy as working on Japanese or American vehicles. Hardware is British standard which is different from ASE or metric and so we used both metric and standard which ever fits better, and sometimes a crescent wrench is the best fit. Long day but everything is back together and seems to work fine.

April 16-23

• Monday 16: Got a ride to Steve Machell’s and picked up the dirt bike. Followed him to the mechanic shop so he could leave his truck there and then brought him to work on the bike. He sold me the bike so I now have wheels to go and come from work when I want. Worked on the float plane more. Primed and painted the wheel wells and a few other small parts.

• Tuesday: Put a second coat on the wheel wells and other parts. Worked on the brackets in the floats some in the afternoon. Rode to Rose Ave in the evening for supper and bible study. Nice to have my own wheels to go and come.

• Wednesday: Spent most of the day working on the float brackets. Got them mostly done should be able to easily finish them tomorrow along with some other things.

• Thursday 19: Got the last bracket on the floats finished. One of the pilots teenage son, Chad, was helping out in the hangar and he helped me squeeze some of the rivets and put the main gear assemblies back in the floats. Also got all of the other small parts I painted put back on the plane. Also lowered the plane back on to the wheels after double checking everything worked properly with the retract system.

• Friday 20: Put the engine baffling all back on and got it ready to run. Inflated the low strut so the plane is sitting level. Finally able to run it by the end of the day. Started slow, which is expected since it has been sitting for a long time (Nov or Dec of 06). But once it was running everything seemed to work well. Went over to Rose in the evening, helped a little with a puzzle and then watched a movie.

• Saturday: Did laundry and cleaned in the morning. Got some oil and brake fluid for the bike and rode to the hangar to work on that. Went to the Caters for a BBQ lunch for the maintenance people.

• Sunday 22: Did sound at church. Spent the afternoon hanging out with the little missionary kids on the compounds looking for lizards and other “pets”. (Check out the picture of the salamanders in the new album)

• Monday 23: Worked on the float plane some more. Finished cleaning the floor inside the plane and etched and alodined for priming and paint.

March 3-April 3

It is hard to believe that is has been a month since I last posted my daily routine summary.  Sorry  it is so long will have to try to do it on a weekly basis from now on.

• Saturday March 3, 07: Worked on Email and Web site. Help 2 people with computer problems. Went over to Rose Ave in the afternoon. Played with Batterman kids and watched a soccer game at Smiths

• Sunday March 4, 07: Went to Nairobi Baptist 8:30 service. Worked on emails and website. Went over to Rose Ave.

• Monday March 5, 07: Worked on float plane. Ate lunch next door at dessert locust. I had rice and sauce and chicken, not bad and quite affordable.

• Tuesday March 6, 07: Worked on float plane some more. Got a call saying I should move today. Got a ride to Mayfield with Ryan and he waited for me to pack and loaded in his land rover them went to the grocery store for a few things. From there we went to the new compound I will be living on which is right next to Ryan’s compound. I have a nice one bedroom furnished apartment. Had supper with my neighbors the Moffits, and spent the evening unpacking completely, first time since May of 06.

• March 7-9 Been nice to ride with Ryan to and from the Hangar every day. Continued work on the float plane

• Saturday 10, 07: Decided I better go shopping for groceries if I want to eat anything. Got potatoes and onions from a guy down the street. Around 12:30 walked to Yaya grocery store (10 minute fast walk) and bought a number of things. Carried things back in backpack and grocery bags. Had a dual compound BBQ for Supper. Met a lot of my neighbors and found they have a lot of kids.

• Sunday 11, 07: Went to AIC Ngong Road Church which is about a 5 minute walk from my place. Walked to Rose Ave in the afternoon (about 22 minute fast walk)

• Monday 12, 07: Worked on float plane more. Watched a movie in the evening.

• Tuesday 13, 07: Pulled the prop on the 185 to send out for overhaul. Also found the problem with the ignition switch and fixed that. Most productive day so far. After work Ryan dropped me at Rose Ave. Had supper and Bible study with shortermers. Dwight brought me home just before 22:00.

• Wednesday 14, 07: While cooking supper, Ryan’s middle son Levi (age 3 I think) came over to visit. Stayed for supper and then were going outside to play ball when his dad came looking for him. He told me his parents knew he was here and he was going to eat with me, but this was not the case. This was the 3^rd day in a row he had gone to others peoples places for supper, he will make a good African.

• Thursday 15, 07: Worked a little on the flaps for the float plane. A 206 came in with both landing and taxi lights burned out (at different times recently) and the Nav light breaker popping. Changed the taxi and landing lights and then started trouble shooting. Found the problem was in the Right wing. Opened every thing up on that side to follow the wire. Finally found where it was rubbing on a wing rib and shorted out. Fixed the wire and rerouted so it wont rub. Had supper with the Davis family at Eagle’s nest and played with the kids till bed time.

• Friday 16, 07: Continued work on the float plane.

• Saturday 17, 07: Played with a bunch of the missionary kids on the compounds. Made a zip line, but don’t have a pulley so caribeaner slides slow and rough on rope.

• Tuesday 20, 07: Had bible study and supper at Hazards on Rose Ave. It was Kenyan food night. A little ugali, chipatis, and githeri. I ate almost half the ugali and a little still left over, guess most of them don’t like it.

• Wednesday 21, 07: Still working on the float plane, hope to have it done by next week. In the evening, went with a bunch of the AIM guys to the theater, watched Last King of Scotland.

• Thursday 22, 07: Stayed late to help Ryan change a DG in one of the planes. Had supper at Ryan’s place around 20:00.

• Friday 23, 07: After work went to Rose Ave. Had a movie night there and watched “Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy” (the old BBC version). I brought my sleeping bag and spent the night.

• Saturday 24, 07: Visited for a while after breakfast, then played badminton with Christy, a new SIMPacter that arrived on Tuesday. Stayed till a little after 16:00 then walked home. Water was on so decided to do the laundry. Also went to the local Duka (kiosk) to buy milk and bananas.

• Sunday 25, 07: Went to the 8:30 service and AIC Ngong Rd again. Had pizza at 11:30 with Barb and John. Came home, changed and went to Rose Ave for BBQ in the afternoon. Helped grill 100 kabobs and have salad with a bunch of the SIMPacters and the Hazards. Played badminton till 16:45, hurried home to get ready for supper at Gottfried’s with some other AIM missionaries. Really good food all day and eat a lot.

• Monday 26, 07: Continued work on the 185, got the landing gear lights working properly and that finished. Removed steps with corrosion and cleaned parts for repainting.

• Tuesday- Friday: Mostly worked on the 185. Friday started working on Oil pressure indication problem on DC3.

• Saturday 31, 07: Went car shopping with Jay in the morning. Finnished around 11am, went with John M. to Steve M’s place to pick up the dirt bike. Road out to the Ngong hills together, did a little off-roading and practiced riding in traffic. Got back and went to Rose Ave, nobody there, so continued home on bike. Decided to go shopping at Nakumat since I had wheels. Got some stuff and returned home. Went back to Rose and stayed for dinner. Steve will pick up bike tomorrow afternoon.

• Sunday April 1, 07: Went to church. They were having problems with their sound system, so talked to them after the service. Brought all the cables home to test and repair the bad ones, should keep me busy in the evenings for a couple of days. Went over to Rose Ave in the afternoon, and played volleyball. Came back to Maringa (compound next door) and a bunch of AIM folks were having a big BBQ. Ate and visited with them.

• Monday April 2: Continued trouble shooting DC3 problem. Did not find any problems. Fixed a bunch of the Church cables in the evening.

• Tuesday 3: Could not find any problems with wiring on DC3 so swapped oil pressure transducers to see if that is the problem. Put plane back together. Finished fixing the rest of the cables from church (except the ones that need new connectors).

Weekly log for Feb 26-Mar 2

• Monday Feb 26, 07: First day at the hangar. Got a tour of maintenance offices and where stuff is. Spent most of the workday sorting and organizing tools. Around 17:00, a 206 came in that needed an oil cooler changed. Tested oil temp sensor, good, reinstalled with new oil cooler. Finished around 21:00 went to Ryan’s house for supper, got home a little after 22:00.

• Tuesday Feb 27, 07: Continued orientation at Hangar. Detailed orientation of tool room and parts rooms and computer parts locating system. Finished work a little after 17:00 (about normal).

• Wednesday Feb 28, 07: Reassembled an alternator that we cannibalized for parts. I was mugged on my way home from Rose Ave (SIM compound) at 19:00. 8-10 guys jumped me, first guy got me in a head lock started to struggle but was struck on the temple causing the lights to go out. Took my watch, phone, leatherman and maglite, hat and sunglasses. When I regained consciousness, they were gone. There were less people than normal for that time of night. A car stopped near a gate about 20 meters from me and they were getting out when I got back up. I told them I had been robbed but was fine and continued to Mayfield. Took a shower and found I had a cut near my eye, probably from the hit to my head. Also a slight bump on the back of my head probably from hitting the ground. Neck was a little sore as well. Had supper and slept fine that night.

• Thursday March 1, 07: Was supposed to be picked up by Ryan at 7:20 on Ngong road. Didn’t have a watch or cell phone so went to Mayfield and waited to go out on time. Waited for quite a while but could not call since didn’t have a phone. Finally asked a passing person with a watch what time it was, 7:55. Decided to go back to Mayfield, and call. Couldn’t call from the front desk but a van was leaving to take someone to the airport so hopped in. Should have gotten out at the roundabout near Wilson and just walked but didn’t so went all the way out to Jomo Kenyatta (the International airport) and then back to Wilson. Traffic was bad so arrived a little after 9:00. Only did one hour of language since supposed to be from 8-10. Matt Olson wanted me to do a debrief at Tumaini so scheduled that for 15:00. Went with Jay Mundy to get his Landcruiser but paperwork not done so dealership gave him a loaner till Tuesday(when it should be done). Had lunch with Jay but didn’t have much time after since I had the debrief so didn’t get much work done.

• Friday March 2, 07: Jay picked me up at 7:25, and headed to hangar. Worked till tea time and Chapel. After chapel continued work on float plane. Looks like this will be one of my projects for the next couple of weeks, off and on. Got the exhaust off before lunch but Paul and I could not get it all apart. Went next door to the Desert Locust restaurant for lunch around 13:00. The line was barely moving and so Jay and I decided to go back to his place since I was going to help him move in the afternoon. Had hot dogs at Mundys, picked up the mission moving pickup and followed Jay to the SIL family that was leaving. Loaded up pickup, Pajero (Jay’s loaner car) and a hiace van with seats out and took all the stuff to the storage containers. Unloaded van and pickup in storage, Pajero was stuff to use immediately. Went back and loaded pickup with the rest and brought it to Mundy’s house. Unloaded some and and loaded up other stuff and went to container. Brought Pajero full of stuff and a few things in pick up back to Mundy’s house. Had supper and Jay brought me back to Mayfield.

Well that was longer than I thought but I hope you made it through. I hope you all have a good week and thanks again for your prayers.
Caleb