The Other Day at 1000 Feet ...

The other day, while flying to Lake Murray under a low cloud cover, I felt a tap on my shoulder and one of the passengers handed me the following note he had written on a scrap of paper:
"Sir, could you give signal to my family in this village to bring my motor [boat]. I did not call them. If you could circle the village once x only. Thanks."
I looked back to see the man pointing out the window to the little village we were just passing. As we were flying at 1000 feet only I gathered that people might actually notice and with a chuckle banked the plane to "signal his family".

The shores of Lake Murray

New Role – Check Pilot

Since two weeks I have a different role while flying. Well, actually I am not flying at all. Instead I am flown. From Luke Newell, a new pilot, who arrived in PNG together with his wife beginning of June.
In PNG, before a pilot can fly on his own he needs to be checked into all the airstrips he is supposed to go and over all the routes that connect them. During this time he flies with a more experienced pilot who will show him all he needs to know. Mainly, landmarks helpful for navigation in poor weather and the peculiarities of the different airstrips.
Therefore, like in the Prairie days past, I now again sit in the right hand seat in order to disperse wisdom gathered during my two years of flying in the Western Province. The goal is to hand all the flying over to Luke by the beginning of November, i.e. before the arrival of our new baby.

Luke and Markus in the Cockpit of the GA8 Airvan