December 2007
TRIP NOTES
The weather was forecast to be very unsettled, both for the
departure and return days of the clinic weekend, therefore
the trip was cancelled.
The following report is an account from pilot Larry Cochran,
of the efforts to get our five year permit. Larry and translator
Don Zellet went down on the first weekend of December.
After a two day delay due to Baja weather, we departed
for La Paz to meet with an Airport Inspector, Laura Bautista,
from Mexico City, to obtain a 5 year runway permit for
Cadeje.
Strong tail winds gave us airspeeds in excess of 190
knots, allowing us to arrive in La Paz by 3 PM Saturday.
A phone call to Laura found her preparing to return to
Mexico City. She believed we were not coming due to the weather.
Laura graciously changed her flight to Sunday evening.
Sunday
morning Don and I, with our inspector, departed for Cadeje.
Waiting in Cadeje were Eustaquio and Chatin Meza, who just
happened to be driving by and was stopped by Eustaquio,
who advised him of our planned arrival. Big thanks go to
Eustaquio
for his 16 hours of work to make the runway usable after
the most significant rain in Cadeje in 12 years.
The results of the inspection require concrete run-up pads
with the correct runway numbers, 02 and 20. All the rocks
and berms are to be removed to the fence line. The windsocks
are to be reinforced to stand out on their own and larger
fire extinguishers are required.
After two hours of inspection and negotiations, we returned
to La Paz. Many thanks to Laura, who is working hard
to help us obtain this permit. Don and I wanted to
spend the
night
in Mulege but a phone call to the Serenidad found the
runway closed for several days, also due to heavy rain.
Thus,
we made a short flight to Loreto to spend the night.
We believe this trip was successful and hopefully will
lead to a five year airport permit for Cadeje.
JANUARY TRIP
Volunteers, call
Melodi at 805 736-7123.
Trip will be January 11.
Potluck will be Wednesday, January 2 at the home
of Margo and Ted Kenney. Click
here for details »
Hapy Holidays to all our members and friends.
All the best for the New Year!
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