The hope of seeing a MAF plane land at their airstrip after almost 40 years of excavating their runway with sticks out of dense jungle finally became reality for the people of Dimanbil.
Siobhan Cole writes about the reaction in Dimanbil as her husband, MAF pilot Ryan, makes the first flight into Dimanbil.
Story by Siobhain Cole
Telefomin based pilot Ryan Cole recently had the privilege to do the first landing in an MAF plane at Dimanbil. Dimanbil is a community close to the border with Indonesia, about a 15-minute flight from MAF’s base in Telefomin.
As it is a standard procedure for a first landing, Ryan was landing with an empty plane and was wanting to do a visual inspection of the newly built runway. The second part didn't quite work out as planned... The community was so excited to see their first MAF plane land that they instantly hoisted the pilot up on their shoulders and took him for a victory lap around his plane!
Sadly, upon taking off to pick up some RAA personnel and myself, prepared to officially open this new airstrip, Ryan discovered that the surface of the airstrip was extremely draggy.
In aviation terminology, a "draggy" surface refers to an airstrip that has a higher-than-normal level of friction or resistance. This increased drag can make it challenging for an aircraft to achieve the necessary speed for take-off, especially when carrying a heavier loads.
This meant that he would not be able to safely take off with more than one or two passengers.
There were six of us waiting to visit the airstrip, so Ryan had to cancel the second landing and send messages of apology to the community with explanations of why he did not return and instructions about the work needed to improve the airstrip further.
He was really heart broken, knowing this community had also been working for many years on their airstrip as you can read HERE.
But at least he, and other MAF pilots too, now have the chance to take out one or two people. Nevertheless, a lifeline has been opened up to the Dimanbil community if an emergency occurs and a medical evacuation flight is needed. Then, MAF can land at Dimanbil and help! This is great news!
Update 15 January 2024
Ryan landed at Dimanbil again recently after the community did some additional work and upgrades. Based on that landing, Ryan recommended the landing penalty to be based on the actual physical measurements of length and slope. The take-off penalty is still dictated by the airstrip surface and is 700 kgs at the moment. The expectation is that the surface will consolidate and compress over time and that this penalty can be reduced.
With that, the airstrip is open for normal operations!