Yep, this one tops the list of “Frequently Asked Questions” right now, and for good reason. Since our flight program closed last year, we have had the opportunity to serve in some new and unique ways (at least for us) and this trend will continue at least for another year.
On April 30th we completed our People Group Assessment assignment for the Palawan region (Click here to learn more about this project), and on May 15th we moved to NTM Aviation headquarters in Arizona. We have been asked to help prepare a helicopter that is currently in Arizona for service in the Philippines, and so we will spend the next 5 months going through this aircraft with a fine-tooth comb, replacing nearly every moving part, and doing all of the modifications that are necessary for safe and effective operation in the challenging environment of the Philippines.
Josh will also take this opportunity to gain some additional training and experience in helicopter maintenance. In October we will follow the helicopter to the Philippines and work with the rest of our NTMA team for 5-6 months setting up all of the facilities, tooling and logistics needed for a new flight center.
This will be a new and challenging experience for us, because it will be in an area of the Philippines that we have never lived before, where a different language (Visayan) is spoken. It also will involve a lot of logistics work rather than flying (for now at least).
So to sum it up, here’s what our 2015 / 2016 timeline looks like:
David Abbott says
I’m guessing this is a Robinson R-66? If so, is it correct that there is still a significant need for donations toward this project? https://usa.ntm.org/projects/philippines-helicopter