Once a while I get some interesting job instead of just flying to the oil rigs. This time it was to ferry a Super Puma L2 helicopter that we had leased for the last 22 months for our operation in
Timor Leste and also
Kerteh. The date of departure was 28 May 2011. I was to fly the helicopter with one Vietnamese pilot and two engineers from
Kerteh to Ho Chi Min city (Tan Soon
Ngat International airport).
This aircraft with the yellow star,
callsign VN 8610 is a beautifully
maintained machine. I used to tease the Vietnamese engineers that they have some well kept secrets on keeping the machine tip top that they do not wish to reveal to us.
Capt
Quan was the Vietnamese pilot to fly with me for the trip. He is an old friend of mine..we had been together for many
occasions and he is a competent and good pilot. One problem solved for me.
The aircraft was loaded to its max take off weight with
spares and aircraft equipments that had to be returned to Vietnam. After a delayed Customs inspection we took off at 1130 hrs. The distance between
Kerteh and Ho
Chi Min City is only 900 km so
the flight should take us about 3 hrs 20
mins. During this period we had tail wind "pushing" us faster.
About 150 km before arrival at Ho Chi
Minh city we overflew the Mekong delta
. This area is very flat and there are
padi fields all along the way.
At Tan Soon
Ngat airport in Ho Chi
Minh city we had a company rep from the
SSFC to help us sort out the piles of paper work. There were some very serious looking government officials all around.
At the same time we topped up our fuel for the short flight to
Vung Tau..the
homebase for
SSFC.
By the time we took off from Ho Chi
Minh city there was a thunderstorm in our flight path. Apparently this is the rainy period in Vietnam.
The biggest
surprise was when I landed at
Vung Tau airport. We were ordered to
taxy to the hangar where there was a reception waiting for us. The whole management staff of
SSFC was around. After the engines were shut down I
received a
bouquet of flowers to welcome us to Vietnam. At the crew room there was a reception party,. Champagne was served. Here I met a lot of my old comrades.
There were some exchange of presents.
Later that night we had a grand dinner in a 5 star hotel. All on the house.
And next morning we were taken out for a good Vietnamese breakfast before we boarded the ferry to Ho Chi Min city for a city tour.
Vietnam is a fine place. People here are friendly and the food is lovely. Most important you will not get your wallet burnt on a visit to Vietnam. Next trip I will come with my family OR my bicycle for
furthur adventures in Vietnam.
The second hull will have to be exactly the same shape as the first hull so I have to use the same bulkhead support as the first one. All the markers were already inm place from building the first one. The bulkheads were also made together whe I made them for the first hull.
Even the screws were "used screws " removed from the first hull.
By now I have a "part time" worker. He is Cik Wan who works as a postman by day and when I needed an extra hand at night I will call him in.
Actually he knows nothing about boat building BUT he is willing to learn.
Despite of all my other adventures it doesnt take me too long to come to this stage.
Building the bow requires some patience as we have to "shape" and bend the flat panels . A sort of Stich and Glue method is used.
The nose had to be shaped with foam again. I am hoping to have the hull turn over in about 10 day's time when I have my days off from flying again.
