Long over due update

The trouble with going on holiday is that it doesn’t leave much aviation related stuff to talk about. That said, this post is just a little fill in to let you all know that I am still here and still blogging! So, what have I been doing for the last month?

Well, the holiday I’d originally planned was a week long trip to visit my cousin in Singapore and checkout the Formula One, which I did eventually end up doing (more on that in a moment). However, late in August I received some terrible news that a very good friend of mine, Ian Ferguson, was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident in California. We’d been friends since we were 15 years old and the news was so totally out of the blue. The jungles of Malinau had never felt so lonely.

After a few days of trying, I’d managed to arrange tickets back to the UK for the memorial service which was naturally a very sad occasion but it was also nice to meet a few more of Ian’s friends and family as well as catch up with other old friends. It was also nice to be back in the UK for just under a couple of weeks and spend some time with the family.

Singapore F1

Jensen Button at the Singapore F1

I’m not a huge fan of F1 but I do casually follow it and after living out here in Indonesia for three years it was about time I went and saw one. The Singapore F1 was in a word, amazing! I’ve seen various forms of motorsport including the Le Mans 24hrs but nothing compares to the noise from those engines.

Once back at work, it was straight down to our training centre in Pangandaran, which is located on the western coast of Java, for my bi-annual recurrency course. I got a little lucky and hitched a ride on an empty charter that was going to pick up some VIPs from the beach landing strip we have down there, which saved me the near hour long car ride from the main airport at Nusawiru to the town of Pangandaran.

Approach into the Beach Strip at Pangandaran

Cessna Grand Caravan landing at Pangandaran Beach Strip

Once there, I attended various classes on a number of different topics from windshear to dangerous goods which as pilots we are required to complete in order to keep ourselves current and allow the local authorities to renew our licences each year.

Course complete, it was time to make my way back to Malinau (via the quickest route of Jakarta, Balikpapan and Tarakan) to continue life flying out here in the Jungles of Borneo. And it’s good to be back!!