The MAF Blog: Worldwide Pulse

Posts Tagged ‘chatraw’

What’s the Deal with Avgas?

Posted on: August 9th, 2011 by Jason Chatraw | 2 Comments

It’s hard not to talk about gas without reverting back to my middle school days and snickering at the mention of the word – but in the world of MAF pilots, the discussion of avgas is no laughing matter.

Barrels of Avgas

So what is avgas? And why does it always seem to be in short supply?

The short answer is that avgas is aviation gasoline used to power airplanes with piston engines. (For a more in-depth look at avgas, listen to the MAF podcast where I interview instructor pilot Jason Risser.) These engines are used primarily in smaller aircraft or recreational planes. Commercial airplanes use jet fuel, which powers planes with turbine engines. MAF’s new fleet of KODIAKS has turbine engines, eliminating the need for avgas with those airplanes.

So why the short supply?

In the U.S., avgas shortages rarely occur due to the large number of private aircraft that require it and the suppliers’ financial incentive to meet those demands. Additionally, the infrastructure within the U.S. lends itself to easy distribution. But in the places where MAF serves, the demand for avgas is much lower and getting avgas to the MAF bases can be a challenge due to the relative remoteness of the locations.

In my discussion with Jason Risser about this, he related the story of how getting avgas to some MAF bases in Indonesia sounds like something you would see in an expedition movie scene – guys floating 55-gallon drums of avgas across the river, tied together with a rope. And that’s after a long trek to the interior over challenging roads. It’s not like there are fuel trucks cruising down a nation’s highway to deliver avgas. Sometimes it is simply shipped in drums and delivered in the crudest way imaginable.

So, what does this mean for MAF?

It means a few things:

Avgas Delivery Truck

Avgas is expensive. If suppliers don’t have a substantial demand, it’s not as lucrative to produce, meaning the cost of the fuel is driven upward. Because of these challenges, MAF has to order avgas in bulk for some bases, adding to the difficulty of the avgas delivery.
Planes can be grounded, limiting MAF’s impact in a particular area. When there is no gas, there are no flights – it’s that simple. Some programs have grounded their piston-powered planes for weeks while awaiting the arrival of a new shipment of avgas.
MAF is actively seeking solutions. The ongoing transition to the KODIAK aircraft gives MAF access to remote areas without the worry of fuel shortages. However, that is a costly endeavor and will take many years to complete. But as Jason explained to me in the podcast, there are also companies working to create new piston-powered engines that run on diesel fuel and can replace the avgas engines.

If you’re geeky like me and you want to learn more about airplane engines, check out this site explaining all about turbine engines. And you can learn more about avgas from an MAF pilot’s perspective in my podcast interview with Jason Risser.

Fill Us Up

If you’d like to help MAF make a global impact and keep our planes in the air, you can take action through our Facebook Fill Us Up campaign.

MAF Monthly Podcast, August 2011

Posted on: August 5th, 2011 by MAF |

In the August edition of the MAF podcast, Jason Chatraw sits down with pilot Jason Risser to discuss the issue of avgas as it affects MAF’s worldwide ministry.

Subscribe to the MAF Podcast on iTunes »

RV City (vlog)

Posted on: July 14th, 2011 by Jason Chatraw | 1 Comment

Here is a video about some of the inner workings of MAF and some of the people at headquarters who support our amazing missionaries on the field … our “RV City” volunteers.

White-Knuckle Flying with MAF

Posted on: June 28th, 2011 by Jason Chatraw | 2 Comments

Last Monday, I was enjoying a beautiful flight over the Owyhee Mountains in an MAF Cessna 206 with Aaron Hoffmann, a new MAF pilot undergoing field flight training, and Scott Channon, an instructor and seasoned veteran. To write a story on MAF’s rigorous flight training program, I figured it was best to see it in action.

Then it happened.

Scott: “OK, Aaron, we’re going to simulate engine failure. [Throttle back to idle, engine noise dies down, plane begins descending.] So, where would you put down?”

Through my Lightspeed noise-canceling headset, I heard Aaron begin going over the best possible places to land as he gestured to open areas below.

However, I was in the back with a racing heart, trying to come to terms with what a quieter engine and the phrase “engine failure” meant at that moment. I’m a writer by trade, so I already know about the importance of misplaced or missing modifiers. In this case, the modifier “simulate” is an all-important one that I didn’t recall hearing. It’s also helpful to be in the front where you can actually see flat space below as opposed to the craggy rock faces that loomed large out both sides of the plane.

About twenty seconds later – after what felt like a harrowing five minutes to me – the engine roared back to life and we zipped through the scenic canyon. Aaron’s pet flamingo, Pinkie, and I both sighed in relief.

On the ground, I expressed to Scott how it would’ve been nice to know that an engine failure simulation was coming.

“But that would’ve ruined the whole ‘surprise’ factor for Aaron,” Scott said.

I also suggested that maybe it didn’t need to happen in that particular canyon.

Scott’s response?

“We train for the worst-case scenarios,” he said. “If the pilot can figure out how to safely put the plane down when they’re in this situation, they can figure out anything.”

Aaron passed his test beautifully. Had there been actual engine failure, he explained exactly where and how he would’ve landed the plane safely. And that was the point. Never mind me in the back with my pale face and even whiter knuckles.

MAF’s works tirelessly to ensure all its pilots are equipped to handle whatever curve might be thrown their way while out on the unpredictable field of missionary bush flying – and it shows. Just keep that in mind if you ever have the opportunity to go on a training flight with an MAF instructor and pilot. Motion sickness might cause you to lose your appetite, but you can rest assured that you’re in good hands.

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Flying the Koop : Former U.S. Surgeon General recalls adventure with MAF in Africa 50 years ago

Posted on: June 23rd, 2011 by Jason Chatraw | 1 Comment

While researching for our special coverage this summer celebrating MAF’s 50 years in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the words from Dietrich G. Buss and Arthur F. Glass in their book Giving Wings to the Gospel jumped off the page at me.

Dr. C. Everett Koop … was one of the young American doctors who gave his time and talents in service.” (p. 255)

Dr. Koop flew with MAF? I suddenly had a crazy idea about interviewing him for this story. After all, Dr. Koop was one of my scientific heroes while growing up.

When I was in high school, my friends Andy and Shane and I all had this unusual hero worship for Dr. Koop. We thought his bow tie was cool, along with the fact that he was adamantly against smoking – and people still respected him. There was hope for us yet.

So when this idea came up a few weeks ago, I contacted his office and sought out an interview with the spry 94-year-old man. Dr. Koop admitted his body might be falling apart but his mind is intact. I also found his mind to be incredibly lucid and oozing with wit. It was fascinating.

Here is a story he shared about his time in Africa in 1961 as part of “Operation Doctor” with MAF to combat a critical shortage of doctors in the DRC. …

In January 1961 when Dr. Koop arrived in Kinshasa (known as Léopoldville at that time), the Congo rebellion to overthrow the Belgian rule had forced a transition of the government. While waiting for a new government to be established, a United Nations peace-keeping force was in charge of security. This presented some unique challenges for Dr. Koop and the Operation Doctor program.

Instead of local government officials who understood the ebb and flow of medical aid, wary U.N. officials were in charge – and not very compliant.

“I always believe in going to the top, and there was a very bemedaled general (from the U.N. peace-keeping force) with big balloon white pants who was in charge. I told him, ‘My problem is very simple – it just means unlocking the door of the hangar so we can get two cargo planes already loaded with the only medicine that is available for the people of the Congo since all the missionary doctors had been ordered home.’

“I didn’t touch his heart at all. He told me it would take a lot of red tape and so forth and to come back and see him at some other time.”

Frustrated, yet undaunted, Dr. Koop met another man while roaming the halls of the U.S. Embassy, a Mennonite conscientious objector who came to serve in Congo during the war in the 1940s but never left.

“I told this young guy what my problem was,” Dr. Koop said. “So, he told me, ‘In other words, your major problem is to get somebody to recognize that the Congo Protestant Relief Agency has property destined for people out in the bush but nobody here is available to receive it because all the missionaries have gone home – and all you need is someone to open the door to the hangar and pilots for the planes?’ I told him that Mission Aviation Fellowship pilots are ready to fly the planes and all I need is a key to the hangar.

“Then, he looked at me and said, ‘You won’t believe this – I have the key.’ That was about two o’clock in the afternoon and the next morning right after dawn, the planes were headed for pre-arranged parachute drops.”