Video Transcript: Hi! Welcome to the Philippines. Just making this video to share what has been my experience since I got my license and finished up my training. Basically, I had to pack, get everything together for the wife and I to make our trip to the Philippines. We arrived May 2 and I gave myself two weeks to get over my jet lag. It was real tiresome. I have to now switch my body back to 13 hours ahead. So it took me about two weeks to get over my jet lag experiences.
So after I recovered from jetlag, I decided I’m gonna go and spend some time with Philippines Adventist Medical Aviation Services (PAMAS). I had multiple options. One of the option was to go with Capt. Ray, and that’s up in Quirino, where he flies the Cessna 182 so I could get some hours, because that plane still has its US registration. Seeing that I have a US pilot’s license, I could just go straight into flying it. But I would need an endorsement because it’s an aircraft that has more than 200 horsepower, so I need special training before I can fly a plane like that. So I talked with the president, Dwayne Harris. He was giving me my options, in terms of where I could go and just get myself acquainted with flying in the Philippines.
But then I remembered Sean Knapp. Sean Knapp is the director for the PAMAS – Palawan Project. And I remembered that in 2015, before I went to the US for pilot training, I spent three weeks with him, and sat in on a number of flights. We flew together for about 10 hours so I can be introduced to what mission aviation is all about. So I decided I’m going to spend two weeks with him, seeing that the last time he saw me was — ‘I’m gonna go to school, get training,’ I wanted to fly with him first, before I ever go and fly with anyone else.
After 53 minutes of domestic flight, from the island that I’ve been staying at with Irene to the Palawan Project to go see Sean, I found Sean on a backhoe, digging some trenches for drainage for water, away from runway. It’s very interesting — the activities that I was a part of for the two weeks. Many times, people think that mission aviation is all about just flying. But in the Palawan Project, flying, it’s the least that we do.
Every morning, I was eating breakfast and lunch with Sean Knapp and his family, Prismary Santos, Seth and Summer, their two kids. It was a blessing where breakfast was served at 6:30, then by 7:30 we would have corporate prayer together as a team. And then we would go off to do some work. We have lunch at 12 o’clock. And then after the lunch we would go off again and we go back to work.
The work around the hangar just involved repairing the aircraft itself, fixing something on the runway, construction, painting, building dormitories, helping to clear more land. We did so many different activities. I remember many times we were fixing stuff, that we would say it’s not connected to being a missionary pilot. Sean would especially like to say, “Hey, I thought that we came here to be mission pilots.” And everyone would just smile to themselves and say, “Yeah, it’s true. Here we are as mission pilots and instead of flying everyday all the time, we’re busy doing so many different things.” And so the two weeks’ activities for me was a real blessing.
Where I stayed, physically, was really nice. The window is so open. When I wake up in the morning, I wake up to the sound of nature. I would go for a walk down the runway to get some fresh air and just look at God’s nature — creation. That was a real blessing for me.
So this was like the moment of truth for me because I’ve been trained. I’m certified. So now it’s a matter of, ‘Can I fly in the Philippines as a sole manipulator of the aircraft?’ So just before I tell you what my orientation flight was like, I had the privilege of flying with Sean on the 206. It’s a 6-seater airplane, that’s 5 passengers plus the captain. So both of us were up front.
As soon as we put everyone into the airplane, Sean related to me the condition of the patient and it kinda broke my heart, I paused for a little bit. It was a teenage girl who was released from the hospital because she’s a cancer patient. It’s cancer in the mouth, and there’s nothing that they can do for her. So she was released from the hospital and they were sending her back to her island. And I remember I was sitting there in the co-pilot seat, Sean said, ‘Hey, the sick person on-board today is sent home to die because there’s nothing the doctor can do for them.’ And I had to quickly absorb that and then put it quickly in the back of my mind and remember, ‘Hey, you’re second-in-command, so to speak, in this aircraft with Sean. So just tuck that away in your mind and focus on going thru the checklist and absorb all the things that Sean is going to teach me about that flight.’ So that was the first one.
When we landed on the island, the ambulance came, they took her off. I remember Sean was cleaning up the blood and the different things that stained the seat, cleaning up the headset…
It was so sad to watch that family. They’re happy that their daughter is coming back home, but at the same time they’re said because the doctors cannot do anything for their daughter. So that was a little heart-wrenching for me.
On our way back, we had to pick up another patient, who, I think half of his right leg was amputated. So he was going back to the island where we’re coming from to get a check-up, basically from the doctor, to see if the wound is infected and get some medicine. So yup, that was what I experienced.
So the moment of truth was, Sean put me in the left seat of the Cessna 172, the 4-seater airplane. That’s the one that I first flew three years ago. So it was a blessing to see that the aircraft is still functioning. So we took off and he was teaching me the different flow. And I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t have to put my training aside but I really had to humble myself enough to learn how they fly in the Philippines. Because it’s way different. Like, I was trained to fly with my airspeed during climb. But here in the Philippines, you fly with the temperature of your engine. That’s what determines the rate at which you climb.
As you can see, the beautiful rain is coming down and we’re almost finished. But, yeah, it was a blessing where the runway is 1900 feet. It’s a grass strip. And we have trees on both ends, so you have to clear these big obstacles before you can touch down the plane. It’s not a straight in approach, you kinda come in to the side of the runway, and then last minute you align yourself with it. And I remember Sean sitting there, I’m talking through the procedures, programming the GPS, I’m doing this, I’m looking out.. And when I first touched down that aircraft, Sean didn’t have to jump in and grab the controls or anything. My heart just leaped for joy, to know that not only am I certified, but from my orientation flight, I was able to land successfully multiple times.
The first landing was very interesting because as we were coming on the approach, Sean’s dog was on the runway. So we had to abandon the landing, and do a go-around, which, that was a good experience because there are many times there’s animals on the runway. It’s not like the nice airports in the US where, you know, you randomly see animals. But this one, you have dogs, you have cows, you have kids, you have people, bikes, ambulance parked really close.
So the moment of truth for me was when I successfully took off, flew around, and then landed that aircraft multiple times, on my own, as the sole manipulator of the airplane. And I was really blessed to know that I can fly and land on short strips here in the Philippines.
There are many things I have learned during the two weeks. Apart from flying, one of the things that really stood out for me was Sean Knapp’s family, where their scheduling for their meal time, they have these toddlers, and I’ve watched them eat on time. That was a real blessing for me, where, just watching a mission pilot and his family really season into the mission field. And I see where the children are a part of it. Seth, Sean’s son, really happy. He would come around whenever we’re fixing anything, he will be playing with the tools and handling this because he wanted to help with that. He just wants to be involved. So for me, the perspective of watching the pilot’s family, how they function in the ministry, was a real blessing.
I’ve learned that in the Philippines, you have to really know the ins and outs of the aircraft itself. Like when something is broken, we don’t have a mechanic you just call randomly like that, or just to squawk the plane and say, ‘Hey, fix this.’ You have to ascertain the problem because what if it’s broken down when you’re at an island and there’s no mechanic and your phone doesn’t have good coverage. It’s good when you have an idea of how to, at least, troubleshoot and may be it’s something that you can just quickly diagnose the problem to see exactly what’s happening — to know if you can fly, or if you’re gonna go on that aircraft and stay on that island until help comes.
I’ve learned as well that mission aviation, it’s a risk you take everyday. Every flights, it’s a risk involved. And the only thing that makes you feel like the risk is justified is the fact that the person you’re risking your life to save is someone that is perhaps going to die if you don’t take this risk. Not the risk of, you’re deliberately throwing yourself out there, carelessly. But risk, from the standpoint of ‘Do I have to go? Do I really want to go? Yes, I have to go, I really want to go because someone’s life is in jeopardy.’ So I’m going to navigate my way around the weather. If it’s not that bad, I have to make the decision promptly, I have to learn how to fly the aircraft.
I can be a little aggressive on the controls, with the corrections and the turns. But I’ve learned that when you have passengers on board, you make gentle corrections. You’re constantly going thru your checklist. You’re monitoring everything. I’ve learned a whole lot. Sean really taught me alot, in orientating me in the Philippines.
I was really blessed to see the other guys, too. To be closely watching and observing the mechanic himself, the other pilots themselves, the other missionaries that was there. There were times when we’re in seasons of prayer. So I learned that in the mission aviation, it’s good to have a team that is very much centred on being spiritual enough to come together to pray. Throughout the whole thing, I gained six pounds. That was so cool. I tell at Pris, that’s Sean’s wife, ‘Hey, your schedule and your meal really helped me to gain six pounds.’ I guess I’ve learned how to gain weight. It’s a certain kind of food everyday, regularity and so on.
I’ve learned a lot, and I’m really grateful to Sean and his family for their time out that they took to feed me, help to house me and make me feel comfortable and accepted with them there in Palawan. And I look forward to flying with Sean again in the future. I don’t know if it’s gonna be another three years. But whenever God opens up the opportunity again, I’ll look forward to flying with him.
God bless, and thank you for watching.
