Yaoundé, Cameroon6039 miles traveled and 0 miles remaining!
9:36 am CDT - Arrival! - 84* F , mostly cloudy, calm wind
9:36 am CDT - Arrival! - 84* F , mostly cloudy, calm wind
Brother Needham said John made a perfect landing. He should be form fitted into the airplane now. The schedule for the remainder of the trip is:
- Clear Customs today
- Fly both the Sportsman and the Glastar to another nearby airport where the airplanes can be securely parked overnight in a missionary's hangar
- Tomorrow, fly into an airstrip similar to the Needhams' home airstrip for familiarization
- Complete the journey to the Needhams' home
- Leave Cameroon Tuesday, October 14 @ 8:55 pm via commercial airlines - John will not be flying!
- Arrive Chicago Wednesday, October 15 @ 6:36 pm
8:48 am CDT - I have been relaying communication between John and Tom Needham in preparation for landing in Yaoundé. John is currently overhead Douala and estimates landing at 9:33 am CDT. Tom said that he has a helpful police man with him so the entry and clearance should go smoothly.
8:30 am CDT - John said that first the first time since leaving the United States, he saw another airplane in flight! Is the air traffic that congested over Cameroon? Not likely, but I am sure it was somewhat comforting to see another aviator sharing the skies.
7:00 am CDT - I just called John on the satellite phone. The SPOT is not updating very frequently today due to poor coverage in this part of the world. The picture shows his current position at the orange pointer. The blue line is the direct course from Lomé to Yaoundé. The red line is his flight planned route. Weather is causing him to divert south of course. John can see the cloud buildups and keep a healthy distance from them. The latest ETA for Yaoundé is 9:50 am CDT, less than three hours away. Brother Needham is already in Yaoundé visiting with another missionary pilot in the area waiting foro John to arrive. He reported the weather to be good for landing.
4:26 am CDT - N211PH lifted off from foreign soil one last time before setting down in its new home country of Cameroon. Tom Needham called to confirm that he will meet John in Yaoundé this morning. Much of the flight today will again be over water, but this water is much warmer than the North Atlantic over which he flew on Saturday. He will be in nearly constant sight of ships and oil rigs which should provide a more interesting flight today.
8:30 am CDT - John said that first the first time since leaving the United States, he saw another airplane in flight! Is the air traffic that congested over Cameroon? Not likely, but I am sure it was somewhat comforting to see another aviator sharing the skies.
7:00 am CDT - I just called John on the satellite phone. The SPOT is not updating very frequently today due to poor coverage in this part of the world. The picture shows his current position at the orange pointer. The blue line is the direct course from Lomé to Yaoundé. The red line is his flight planned route. Weather is causing him to divert south of course. John can see the cloud buildups and keep a healthy distance from them. The latest ETA for Yaoundé is 9:50 am CDT, less than three hours away. Brother Needham is already in Yaoundé visiting with another missionary pilot in the area waiting foro John to arrive. He reported the weather to be good for landing.
4:26 am CDT - N211PH lifted off from foreign soil one last time before setting down in its new home country of Cameroon. Tom Needham called to confirm that he will meet John in Yaoundé this morning. Much of the flight today will again be over water, but this water is much warmer than the North Atlantic over which he flew on Saturday. He will be in nearly constant sight of ships and oil rigs which should provide a more interesting flight today.
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