North to South and back again – Bangladesh to Australia

Awaiting departure – destination Lubango (FNUB – airport identifier), Angola!

Welcome.

The last ferry flight in this blog “Flying in Covid” – was this past November- December when Dylan and our son Isaiah were destined for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As some of you may recall – Dylan and Isaiah were en route – in Dakar, Senegal when Omicron was hitting the world. It was African countries specifically whose borders were being affected – one country at a time – and each country affected was getting closer and closer to Dylan and Isaiah’s flight plan. So, they made the reluctant decision to leave the plane in Senegal – with their MAF connections in that country – and go back to Canada before being detained by Covid restrictions. N701MA is now in the Democratic Republic of the Congo:)

I would love to spend time today introducing you to this next ferry flight and journey over the Atlantic Ocean. This flight is for MAF – Canada and is en route to Lubango, Angola.

N861MW, the Caravan we are flying is going to Angola to replace – “Wings of Hope” – serial number 18. WOH (Wings of Hope) is a 1985 Cessna Caravan which has served in Africa for over 35 years – has accumulated over 18,000 hours and performed 16,750 flights.

Actually as I write this I am pausing for a moment – its pretty amazing to think of serial number 18 (how many Caravan’s have been built after this one? Wikipedia says 2600) and 16,780 flights – what this aircraft has flown over and held within these past 35 years – the people and places. Hmmm. I feel pretty grateful that we can be a part of this transition

This aircraft has been dedicated to – (and the baton will be handed over to this new plane) – medical support and community development – and is partnered with organizations such as HALO (to help recover landmines which are remnants of the 27 year civil war) as well partnered with non-government organizations such as UNICEF, World Food Program, Red Cross, National Geographic and World Vision

If you would like to learn more of this work, please go to: https://www.mafc.org/wingsofhope

This ferry flight – destination Angola – is planning to depart from Winnipeg, Manitoba this Monday afternoon, February 14 – weather permitting – first stop – Montreal (as the weather is not good on the coast until Tuesday ) then to St. John’s Newfoundland – leaving the coast and over the Atlantic to Ponta Delgado, in the Azores then to Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands then to Lomé in Togo and then to Lubango, Angola. Note – as with flying a small single engine aircraft in the winter time – with minimal icing equipment on board – proposed flight plan – pending weather are common phrases. Actually – there have been a few departure dates already set and gone for this flight in the past week – shifting with the winds and the snow.

Welcome along and thanks for joining 🙂