A Day Off

Sorry these posts are belated. It seems that even in the only nice hotel in the "D" internet can be a challenge.

June 8th:

Today I went out to the plane with the maintainers. In my 17 years of flying I have never gone out to the airplane during crew rest unless I needed something badly. I just decided to go in and preflight the bird after "the crewchiefs completed their work. It had an added bonus. I went into the NEX (Navy Exchange) and bought a new camera. It made me physically ill to spend the money, but it can take movies and so I'll be able to provide you with pictures and perhaps a video or two.


Seeing Djibouti in the daylight was even more frightening. I've never seen so much trash everywhere!! People just wandering around aimlessly with nothing to do. In all the years I've come here and even stayed, I've never been off the base. I had no knowledge of how bad it was out here. One of the crewchiefs remarked that there isn't a place like that anywhere in America. They move at their pace and it is on a whole different time scale. The workers on the base have it so much better than their families and friends outside the compound. Within minutes your driving through layers of security that if passengers had to go through them at the airport they'd quit flying all together. Then your in a world of the military at war. Lots of activity and noise. It's dusty, somewhat dirty, but tidy. You can get cold bottled water at every major building and no one salutes(it's a pain in the rear).

I can't believe the amount of trash everywhere!!!! It looks like a landfill. Everytime we drive to the base before a mission we see people sleeping on cardboard by the side of the road. Hundreds and hundreds of people. Some sleep with their camels if they are lucky to have one.

Maintainers are hardworking. They've been helping me keep my Herk flying strong. I have a number three engine leaking hydraulic fluid from the prop (if it all goes out we're shutting her down inflight), I've got a number one engine with a magnetic plug on the gearbox indicating metal shavings, and a number two engine not putting out full torque (it still makes takeoff power). As you can see I have my pick of which engine we may be shutting down. I just hope like hell it's not during a maximum effort takeoff out of Manda Bay. That runway is only 2988 feet long and we routinely go in there and come out at 128000 lbs or so. Hot day, sluggish engines in the humidity. Recipe for a simulator scenario!!!!!! If we crash there we'll be in the trees!!

But my maintainers are doing it right and keeping an eye on everything. I went in with them to give her a look over as well and prep and seal her so that we could just load and go in the morning. Tomorrow it's more airlift and a night elsewhere and then we return again for a couple of days.