Yesterday's Flight

 Come along for the flight!

The most beautiful airplane on the ramp!

Preflight...

Blastoff from runway 1-6 at Libreville Int'l airport.

Up, Up, and Away!  Across the "estuary" is Point Denis.

We were packed full with medications and equipment for the Bongolo Hospital!

My co-pilot (and photographer) for the day- Hannah T.- one of our teammates in Libreville.

Cruising to Bongolo at flight level 0-7-0 (7000 feet above sea level).

Below were the roads that we were avoiding... 8-9 hour drive turns into a 100 minute flight!

Throttle (black control), Propeller (blue), and Mixture (red)... set for an economical cruise (saving fuel!).

Ngounie' River... part of the Ogooue River system, one of the largest on the continent!  According to wikipedia, "All three species of crocodile, for instance, occur in the river: the Nile crocodile, the dwarf crocodile, and the slender-snouted crocodile."

15 minutes prior to landing we pass the regional capital of Mouila.  The airport in the photo is the closest any regional airline will get you to Bongolo.  From there, it's a 2 hour drive on some "challenging" roads.

Under the clouds, it was a bit more hazy.  However, it's still a nice view of the savannah.

Closer to Lebamba (the town where Bongolo is located), there are some great improvements to the road.  Here is one such stretch- decending out of a small mountain down to the bridge across the river.  If you ever come to Bongolo and take an inner-tube ride down the river, this is the bridge that marks the end of your 3 hour ride.

As usual, on arrival, we do a promotional "fly-by" of the hospital.

Then, it's a quick left turn to join the "right base" for runway "zero-niner" for the Lebamba/Bongolo airstrip.

After off-loading all the meds and equipment, it's a quick turn around with loading of the luggage, pre-flight briefing, prayer, and getting that passengers settled in for the return to LBV.

"Au Revoir" to the Thelander crew... Luke and Sarah are my best "ground handlers"!!!  Always asking if they can help.

Door to Door service with a meal en-route!?!  Quel Service!  The team today is from Ohio- one spouse and 3 medical professionals that taught Africans for their two week stay.  Jack (L) and Bill (R) have been to Bongolo multiple times.

For the return, we mostly stayed below the cloud deck around 2500 feet, to do some sight-seeing.

Before long, we were on the left hand "downwind" in the traffic pattern at LBV international.  We were initially told to enter a holding pattern to wait for a Boeing 737, but I "encouraged" the tower controller to allow us to do a short approach.

The tower controller was very accommodating and we quickly turned on "final" for landing in front of the 737.  It wasn't one of my better landings, but we were down and off the runway and in our parking spot by the time the 737 touched down.

A great flight!  Come check it out sometime!