I became a pilot for MAF about two months ago. During my first solo flight, I was so nervous. My hands were shaking. My heart was thumping in my chest. “Here we go,” I thought, and pulled back on the control stick. I knew immediately something was wrong. My aircraft pitched to the side, toppling […]
Just when I’m getting the hang of my role as MAF Lesotho’s interim country program manager (PM), I get a curve ball that’s got me reeling. The life of a PM is a big change for a pilot/mechanic who is used to not being tied to the hangar. Now I’ve got an office, a desk, […]
Circling the remote mountain airstrip I see both windsocks standing straight out, indicating lots of wind. My onboard GPS is talking to me and I don’t like what it says. Around 20 knots crosswind, I calculate. My heart is thumping and my palms are sweating. My hopes for landing are not high.
The day’s scheduled flights […]
There is an air of excited anticipation so tangible you can almost see it as Matt Monson, our newest pilot, taxis off the runway and into the MAF area. Our entire staff is poised to give Matt a soaking he’ll likely not forget. Matt is none the wiser. Our buckets are filled and carefully positioned […]
MAF pilots are required to regularly inspect the airstrips where we fly to ensure that our standards for runway maintenance are kept appropriately. Last week I went to Ilu to check over the runway. It’s a nice long runway, but it’s perpendicular to the valley, which means there is a tight little turn at about […]
Talking myself down … or up, rather.
I’ll admit it—I get a little nervous flying.
I’m not scared of flying per se, but every time a plane I’m on starts to make its descent, I start going over everything I know about physics (which is not much)—thinking about how fast we are going, how high we […]