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Daniel's First Flight in the Mission Plane!
Exactly one week after arriving at the Adventist Medical Aviation compound in Maurak, southeast Venezuela, Daniel got to fly the mission plane - a step further in his lifelong dream of being a mission pilot. The plane was down for a few days while mission pilot Bob Norton waited for parts.
But patients urgently needed to be flown from remote villages for treatment at the small government hospital in nearby Santa Elena.
And recovered patients needed to get back to their villages only minutes away by plane, but many days by hiking on foot.
Within a few days, Bob had the plane back in the air again. Having lost his dad Elwin Norton in a flying accident many years ago in Chiapas, Mexico, Bob makes it his priority to keep the plane in top flying condition. And he always prays before takeoff.
When an empty seat became available on a medical flight, Bob invited Daniel to come along. Needless to say, he was thrilled! Realizing he'd need many hundreds of flying hours of experience before he could fly as a mission pilot, Daniel still hoped Bob might give him a chance at the controls during part of the flight.
To Daniel's surprise and delight, Bob invited him to take the controls during most of the flight - including take-offs and landings!
Of course, since most planes have dual controls, Bob was there to make minor adjustments as needed.
Several recovered patients were being flown back to their home village on this trip.
While learning to fly in Maine during the latter half of 2005, Daniel discovered that flying came naturally to him. He could be stressed out and tense from his bookwork studies on the ground, but once he got in the air, he felt relaxed and peaceful, yet constantly alert to the flying conditions around him Now as he flew for the first time in Venezuela, he enjoyed observing the jungles, rivers, and high mountains rising from flat grassy savannahs below. As a good pilot, he continually kept his eyes open for possible emergency landing areas nearby, should the need arise.
After about 30 minutes, Bob pointed out their destination village ahead. As Daniel lined the plane up with the grass airstrip below, Bob indicated a footpath parallel to the strip. "Land on the footpath" he instructed. "It's smoother than the runway."
The villagers were happy to see the mission plane as always, to have their relatives back safe & healthy, and to receive a supply of much-needed medicines that Bob brought for them.
Before long, Daniel had the plane in the air again, headed back to the base. In the above photo, you can see the hangar at left center, airstrip in the middle, Colegio Gran Sabana at lower right, AMA (Adventist Medical Aviation) compound to the left of the strip, and the village of Maurak nearby.
Back on the ground again, Daniel is charged up and ready to continue his tasks of translating, keeping the kids entertained, helping with construction, learning about tropical diseases, and accompanying the others on a variety of expeditions. The sign above, at the entrance to Colegio Gran Sabana, shows an open Bible with John 8:32: "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." |
