Sunday 20 October 2019

Storm Racing

For the past two years we've had one last big rain at the beginning October and then rainy season is over and dry season begins. This year the rains just keep coming, meaning roads that are normally drive-able by now still resemble rivers and flying conditions are more challenging.

On Friday I had a flight to Koumra in the far South of Chad to drop off two Chadian pastors attending a retreat, then dropping into Ba-illi on the way back to pick up some missionaries who had been teaching there in the week. We departed from N'Djamena at 10 am in light rain and spent the first hour of the flight enjoying blue skies. These later gave way to small but growing clouds with the occasional CB (Cumulonimbus) towering above us, until we arrived at Koumra where a huge storm was moving in.

Dropping the passengers in Koumra 
Storm approaching Koumra

The passengers were quickly dropped off and the plane was prepared for the next leg of the journey so I could depart before I got stuck on the ground! The small clouds on the way down had grown considerably on the return so the flight from Koumra to Ba-illi was spent avoiding rain and contacting people on the ground to check that rain hadn't passed through (Ba-illi is a dirt strip so rain can be a problem).


En-route to Ba-illi
The storm above was to the South of Ba-illi and they hadn't had any rain so I was able to land, greet the pastor who maintains the airstrip and collect the passengers. The route from Ba-illi to N'Djamena was clear until we reached N'Djamena where another storm was sat 8 miles from the runway. We landed in some rather windy conditions, thankful to have beaten all the storms to the destinations and  park the plane safely in the hanger at the end of the day.