We are tracking the plane as Garry flies it across the Visayas region to its new home in the South Eastern Philippines.
For the last few weeks Brian and the other NTMA guys here have been working hard to get one of our Cessna 185s, “405″, ready for service in a new flight program in the Southern Philippines. As I write this, 405 is enroute to its new home where it will once again carry New Tribes Missionaries to and from their tribal works. It has not flown in a missionary capacity since 2003 so this is an exciting day for us. Many pilot/mechanic teams have had a hand in getting the plane ready for this flight, and it was great to join that effort.Read the rest of this entry »
We do all the maintenance on our aircraft here because there isn't a better option, and because we want it done right.
Last week I went with our chief pilot, Garry, to the CAAP (Philippine version of the FAA) to file some paperwork and attempt to apply for my Philippine mechanic’s license. We were praying for a few things to work out on that visit. First and foremost, to get the papers to the right people and have things processed expeditiously. The other was to meet the people Garry has befriended in that office so that I could become familiar with the folks in the departments we will need to work with. I will be doing a lot of government paperwork in the days and years to come so it is good to start those relationships now.Read the rest of this entry »
The airplane was in pieces when we received the call, but the Lord led us earlier in the day to limit how much we took the airplane apart.
Thank you so much for your prayers for the emergency flight yesterday. Ben and Garry were able to take off early in the morning and encountered only minor rain showers along the way. They said the airstrip was quite slippery, but still well within our minimum requirements. They took Isol out of the tribe and got him to a nearby town where he was taken to the hospital. The missionary team did a fantastic job of cleaning him up and preparing him for the flight out. He did continue to pass out periodically but had stabilized and should be in good hands now.
Thank you for all your prayers surrounding this flight. When we received the call I was reassembling the airplane after the inspection while Ben and Garry worked on the paperwork. Ben came over to the plane with a sheepish smile on his face and said, “How soon can this plane be flying again? A man in the tribe has stepped on a pig trap and…” Read the rest of this entry »
We were hard at work today on the second of two annual inspections on the aircraft here in Palawan when we received a call at quitting time from some of our tribal missionaries on the island. They had a seriously injured man in their clinic and needed an emergency flight first thing in the morning. Below is the prayer request from the missionary team:
“About 4pm, we got word that some guys were carrying Isol to us, a young man, who had stepped into a pig trap in the jungle. The traps have a spring-loaded bamboo blade, which had gone right through one of his calves, and into the other calf. This happened in the morning, and it was 3pm before he was able to crawl to the nearest people for help. They carried him here. We think he probably lost a fair bit of blood, but praise the Lord, the bleeding had stopped by the time he reached us, though he was in terrible pain and kept passing out. Read the rest of this entry »
Our first annual inspection is finished and Ben and Garry are getting in for the test flight.
A few months ago it became apparent that we were going to have a serious barrage of work coming our way as we attempt to set up two new flight programs here in the Philippines. We finished language school early and packed up our apartment, moved to a temporary housing facility run by New Tribes and got organized for the coming months. Once some of our business was taken care of in Manila, we moved to Palawan and have been here for just over a month. Brian has been working everyday in the hangar on the airplanes, and Bailey has been taking care of Maycie and learning many of the administrative responsibilities she’ll be taking on. Among her new responsibilities will be flight following, bookkeeping and flight scheduling. It is a lot to deal with especially with Maycie at her side.
“They are still in the water!” This is what Hoseph said to Steve, the missionary, one afternoon while discussing and preparing the Bible lessons to be taught later that week.
It all started several months ago. For the first time in history, a small tribe of fishermen began to hear the truth.
I am learning a lot from Maycie these days and her most recent lesson is one that has left a bit of a lasting impression. We try our best to train Maycie so that she will be prepared to deal with things in this world, but it is always very evident that she has a will of her own. Read the rest of this entry »
He tied a driveshaft to the bicycle and rode it through Manila!
Not long ago I was driving our truck on a trail that was pretty rough. I had forgotten to tie down the cooler and toolbox and other miscellaneous stuff in the cargo area of the truck after eating lunch, and low and behold when we got back on the trail it flew all over the place. Thankfully only one thing broke; my air compressor. It is, because Murphy works internationally, imported from the states and is a vital part of the tool kit for the truck so I had to get it repaired. Having parts sent from the states wasn’t practical or affordable, so I decided to go to a machine shop and have one fabricated for around $7. Read the rest of this entry »
She knows the smell of boxes means change is coming.
We are moving again. It is scary when Maycie takes a look at our boxes and then at me, then at the boxes, then at me and says very matter of factly, “ingna.” I have no idea what it means, but it is clear she knows it means change is in the wind. It is really cute to see her put the pieces together. It is also very scary to think of the impact this will have on her life as she gets older. So far she seems to adapt very well to new people and is very sociable which helps a great deal.Read the rest of this entry »
A very non-extreme motorcycle video of us posing as guys who actually know how to ride motorcycles! Mine is the white XR400 with the low flying fat guy in the black helmet.
I came across this video in my collection and it reminded me of the fun times we had in training “learning to ride dirtbikes so we would be safer riding on the field.” It seemed a lot easier to talk our wives into it if we played the safety card-so we did. I don’t how any of us thought it was a good idea to combine the words “dirtbikes” and “safety” into the same sentence but we did.
Brian and Bailey Pruett Serving in the Philippines with Aviation 
“They are still in the water!” This is what Hoseph said to Steve, the missionary, one afternoon while discussing and preparing the Bible lessons to be taught later that week. 
