Rains, Planes, and Automobiles

Dave officially started operations in January 2013.  Since then, he has flown over 600 hours and 72,000 miles.  That is a lot of flying in a single engine aircraft.   

 

Dave's GPS tracks collected over the last year flying in Northern Mozambique

 Our program here in Mozambique has two airplanes, a Cessna 206 and a Cessna 210.  Dave started out flying the 206, Six-Charlie-Echo, which flies a little slower, but can land on rougher airstrips because of its rugged front tire.  This past December, Dave started to transition to flying the 210, Charlie-Mike-Quebec.   This plane is similar to the 206 however it has retractable landing gear and therefore flies a bit faster.  It is great for the longer flights; however, it is more limited to where it can land.  Because it is a Congo registered airplane, Dave had to get a Congolese pilot's license in order to fly it.

The 210 parked in front of the hangar

 Another change that came about December was the rainy season.  We have not had appreciable rain since last May and the whole city of Nampula has been extremely dry.  We don’t receive water at our house so we pay a man to haul water in his truck to our tank every few weeks.  Many of the Mozambicans carry heavy buckets of water to their house each day.  One of the ladies at our church said she had to walk three times farther than normal to get water.  

During the dry season Dave installed a rain collection system so that we could collect water during the rainy season.  In the first week of the rainy season, we got about 9 inches of rain…needless to say, our tank runneth over.   

 

Lobo and Charlie posing in front of our tank collecting water off the house

We are thankful for the water but it comes with its own challenges.  Weather can complicate the flying schedule.  On one recent flight, Dave flew to Tupuito to pick up his passengers and then was not able to return because of a thunderstorm and had an unplanned overnight trip.  For those of you that like off-roading, we get to go “mudding” almost every time we leave the house.  The roads are in the worst condition during the rainy season and when you are driving in the rain, some of the roads seem more like riverbeds. 

  

A TRIP TO THE U.S.

In late January/ early February, we will be traveling to the U.S. so that Dave can attend a maintenance training class at Headquarters in Idaho.  This training is to fulfill requirements that the Mozambican government has of MAF.   We will be in the Snyder/Lubbock, Wichita Falls, and San Antonio for a short visit and hope we get to see you!

VEHICLE FUND

We still have no update on court case regarding the car accident.  If you would like to donate to our vehicle fund, you can send tax deductible donations to MAF to the following address:

MAF
P.O. Box 47
Nampa, ID 83653

**include a note that says “Holmes Vehicle Project #4976”

Or you can donate on-line at maf.org/holmes (leave a note in the comment section that the donation is for Holmes Vehicle Project #4976).

 I recently gave a test at the orphanage for the kids to receive their first rank in Taekwondo (gold belt).  I couldn't resist including one of my favorite pictures of Jordão after he passed his test!  I don't have belts to give the kids yet but I am hoping to bring some back when we come back from the States.