Sunrays at Sunrise
Slowly getting used to these 05:30 wake ups, the pro to this are the sunrises. Another long day ahead for Rob and I, 6 legs, all a hour plus. Rob did the first leg to Nagan Raya this morning, weather was pretty good with only a low layer over the tops of the mountains and a spectacular sunrise. The flight over was super quick with the help of a 30kt tailwind. Next was to Singkil, I find the descent really beautiful. Bright greens with rivers winding to the ocean and palms dotted here and there, it looks a bit swampy from the air. I would like to have a closer look sometime. The flights back to Nagan and then Aceh were uneventful, besides the reminder of having to be on my toes with new guys;) It is not always an easy thing flying with new guys, you want them to learn as much as possible and sometimes that means letting them make mistakes, the hard part is knowing where the line is. I have luckily done quite a lot of instruction and feel comfortable enough to take over if things get too out of hand.
Wet Singkil
After a nasi goreng for lunch and a coffee for the flight we loaded up our pax and set off for Kutacane. One of the MAF vans was on its way in as we were departing, we were given a 130 radial outbound to make sure we remained clear of each other. He was maintaining 180 radial. The flight was a constant zigzag to avoid bad weather, this is where the G1000 and the weather radar really make life a little more comfortable. Luckily about 30 nm from Kutacane it opened up and we had a nice visual descent into the valley below where the runway lies. The return trip was pretty much the same with a lot of dodging of weather while keeping an I on the terrain. Back at home sipping on a coffee and writing this. Looking forward to holidays in a week’s time:)
Clouds enroute Singkil
Route: WITT to WITC to WIMI to WITC to WITT to WIMU to WITT
Hours: 7.1 hrs
Distance: 922 nm
Runway Details:
WITC (Nagan Raya)
Length – 1800 m
Elevation – 10 ft
Runway – 14/32
WITT (Sultan Iskandar Muda)
Length – 3000 m
Elevation – 65 ft
Runway – 17/35
WIMI (Singkil)
Length – 1200 m
Elevation – 20 ft
Runway – 12/30
WIMU (Kutacane)
Length – 1600 m
Elevation – 296 ft
Runway – 15/33
