One time while loading the aircraft for a flight, a doctor going along and I were discussing some  of the details that pertained to his rather rough and frustrating day. Feeling slightly desperate but not completely hopeless, he apparently was not as concerned or scared as some of the other doctors whom rather would not have gone on a flight after some maintenance. The topic came up whether it is better to go out quick in an incident or go out slowly decaying from something. We both joked “well, if something happened on this flight, at least we get to go out for a good cause…” Or as some would say, “going out with your boots on.”

As my tour came to a close a new pilot, Andrew, was sent down from Georgetown for me to train up prior to my departure – much how I was trained on my first trip down. He happens to be the first native pilot RAM has had serve with them. All others have been non-nationals from the outside. The RAM pilot assistant is also a native. In a way it was bittersweet – good to have natives serve but sad that those of us from the outside will most likely not be on another tour rotation in the forseeable future.

Orientation involves being put right in the action with learning the aircraft, learning how the operation works, learning the bush country, and learning the airstrips. What is interesting is that things that nearly scared me to death on my orientation a year prior, things I hoped would never happen, actually happened on my tour. Isn’t it funny how that goes? But even with the challenges, the character building, personal growth, and learning from it allowed me to better prepare the next pilot.

If one is not at least a little bit scared doing this kind of work, there is something wrong with them. It may become routine but situations can turn bad really quick. With little or no room for error, one cannot freeze up. It demands a healthy respect or those reality checks will shake one to bits, often at the worst time. Keeping cool, knowing your out, and learning how to improvise with what you have are key.

Even though Andrew had relevant bush flying experience compared to some, it was mostly from the right seat as a co-pilot. Being how I had just survived all of it, there was no way I was going to move right seat and put my life into the hands of someone I hardly knew that had never been to most of these places. Being captain brings on much more responsibility. No one else is there to make decisions for you. So after showing him around the region and demonstrating some of the techniques I used, Andrew began to get a feel and healthy respect for it. Sometimes someone has to be scared from it before being handed the control wheel. But he did well with some practice. Baby steps – get comfortable with the airframe, start out on easy airstrips, and work up to harder ones. Serving as a required check pilot, each airstrip he visited got a logbook endorsement from me.

And at the end, we flew a lot, even up to a couple of hours before I had to depart Lethem and begin the journey back. It was sometimes a race against time to cram in as much as we could. To spend time with friends made while I was there. To follow-up on connections. To introduce the new RAM pilot. To have a smooth change of command. Luckily my tour went out with a bang, leaving on a positive note that Andrew would be ok. He had proven himself to be adaptable, overcome obstacles, and not give up easy.

If there is one piece of advice I could give to aspiring humanitarian/missionary bush pilot/mechanics, it would be: do not give up – give it your all. Approach it with a servant heart and you will go far. Remember that it is not about the flying – it is about the mission. It is about the people. Helping people. Making an impact.

As I reflect back on this experience serving in the wilds of the savannah outback and Amazon jungle, it is really hard to fairly describe it in a single sentence. But if I were to pick one, it would be “I left with my boots on – mission accomplished”.