We departed Mobile at 8:30 AM, IFR to Burnet. The storms overnight had moved northeast, leaving overcast skies and gusty winds behind. As we levelled at 4000, trying to avoid the worst of the headwind, we were in solid clouds but had a smooth ride. Groundspeed was a respectable 155 knots, so we were pleasantly surprised. After a few minutes we emerged between layers and exchanged pleasant “good mornings” with the ATC controllers. I think both Curt and I were excited to start the final leg towards home. The further west we flew, the more the weather improved until we left most of the clouds behind in east Texas. Bright sunshine and clear skies greeted us as we crossed the Sabine into Texas after 8 days. By the end of the journey, we covered 7500 miles, flew 50 hours, delivered 1700 pounds of critical supplies along with 2 passengers and ate way too many bologna sandwiches.
As we approached the Hill Country, I told Curt how much I appreciated his faith and hard work. He has truly made this trip manageable. It is simply too hard to do alone, in my opinion. Curt has seen things that many pilots never experience and I believe both of us will remember this time with a warm sense of accomplishment and joy in this task. As I have already said, we deeply appreciate all of you who made the journey with us. And I wish God Speed to those who will come after.
As we taxiied in, Curt’s family was there to greet us, kids so excited to have daddy home, balloons and all. After the engine stopped, we sat motionless for a few minutes, shutting down the airplane for the last time, listening to the faint whine of gyros spinning down, just enjoying the last moments of this incredible experience. For both of us there was a bittersweet feeling that, while our immediate work is done for now, there is much left to do. Now, we will recap the trip in photos, video and writings, then share this with any group who would like to hear from us. We still have a lot of money to raise if we hope to cover our basic costs, and possibly return in a few weeks.
Ken, I just happened to be perusing your website, hoping to some day fulfill my dream of learning to fly. I was really pleasantly surprised to see you’ve been flying relief supplies into Haiti.
My wife, Kim, and I live in Kingsland with 6 children we’ve adopted from Haiti. The last little boy just came home as a result of the quake. Kim is the president of For His Glory Adoption Outreach, which operates an orphanage in PAP. We have not been to Haiti since the quake but have been very busy working to evacuate children and secure the orphanage.
Thank you for answering the call.
By: Lonnie Harmon on March 3, 2010
at 3:13 am
Lonnie, thanks for your kind words and for your wonderful decision to adopt your children. We would like to know more about your work in Haiti. Please send me an e-mail or call with any details that you can share. We are preparing a presentation on our experience that we would be happy to share with any groups, churches or organizations who might be interested. Please let me know if this is something that is of interest to you. Again, thank you for your note. Fair Skies, Ken
By: kwittekiend on March 3, 2010
at 1:41 pm
Ken, welcome home!!! Great post!!! Thanks for sharing your experiences. More importantly, thank you setting an example for all of us to follow.
Regards,
Larry
By: Larry L. Wells on March 3, 2010
at 4:05 pm