June 13th

Fresh Air Matters... with Capt. Yaw

This week I visited some magnificent northern portions of the Lake Volta.  Namely, Dambai, Kete Krachi and Yeji, gaining access by a combination of road and Volta Lake Transport Company ferries.  Magnificent is actually an understatement, for there are no words to describe the beauty of the landscape and the people on this journey.

The journey had many purposes, one was to see the condition of the waters along the Oti, the Sene confluence and up towards where the Black Volta mixes with the White Volta currents near the Yeji port. I have flown extensively over the lower parts of the lake, from Worawora southwards to Ada, and all along the Afram leg – more times than I can remember.  Those waters I know like the back of my hand, I have flown them for pleasure, for survey, for health education projects, for agricultural projects and in relation to flood issues, and so the southern lake is my home ground.  However, as we head north the waters are different.  I remember, on my two recent flights to the Kete Krachi peninsula, noting the waters and the edges of the water had a different ‘feel’ to them in the north. It was only natural to want to take a closer look from the surface, before we start the amphibian aircraft operations and aerial survey work on that part of the lake later this year.  The weather in that part of the lake is different too, and weather is a big influencing factor of both aviation and maritime activities. 

Driving from Kpong Airfield to the Dambai port is a fascinating drive, you get to look onto the lake around the Anfoega leg, and realise that the water level, although receding, is still creating on-going challenges and hardships for many of the lake-edge agro-sustenance communities.  Branching at Jasikan in the Volta region, one is devoid of fuel supply stops until reaching Dambai itself.  A point to note if you are taking this trip!  Once in Dambai the absence of the ‘big names’ for fuel stations is surprising, and makes an influence on our decisions as to whether to establish a seaplane base in the area, for without good quality, well maintained fuel storage facilities it is far from prudent to establish an aviation centre.  Sadly, the fuel station there, happy to make a sale for the day, informed me that ‘fuel is sold to the nearest cedi’ and having stopped filling my tank at a fifty pesewa point, I would need to pay the extra half a cedi to make him smile.  This is another negative point for the development of this part of Ghana – negative business practices dissuade positive growth.  

Once aboard the Ferry, and ready to make the crossing to the laterite road to Kete Krachi, it is smooth sailing for the ‘less-than-two-kilometre’ crossing.  The crew were welcoming and we looked at the sky together, and the waters.  The Oti is a very pleasant piece of water, and the proximity to the ridges at the tail end of the Akwapim-Togo range adds to that beauty. 

The sky in this part of Ghana looks so different to the south.  It is fashioned by different factors.  Sufficiently far away from the sea to be devoid of the influence of the Atlantic, and yet surrounded by a large bubbling water body that creates a temperature gradient day and night.  The road to Kete Krachi is not too bad, for an un-tarred rural road.  It is corrugated and does restrict speed of travel, if you value your vehicle and your health! 

Returning to Kete Krachi, which we visited in February to look at their airstrip, was wonderful.  Seeing the school children walking along the side of the edge-nibbled roads, observing the lake in the distance as you round over the last high point before descending to the township; the feelings of ‘warmth and welcome’ washed over us.

The DCE’s office was full of welcome, as was the Education office.  Thanks were given for flying their young people on our ‘fly me day’ in March, when we flew one hundred children from around the country; and then the clear and unstoppable declaration of desire to reactivate their airfield.  In the ‘less-than-twenty-four hours’ we were in Kete Krachi, the airfield was cleared and made readily useable by a willing community working party, led by the DCE and overseen by the students from the AvTech Academy!  Now that is a community worth investing in!

Setting sail in the late morning aboard the Yapei Queen, we encountered a heavy storm.  Yam crates on the deck of the vessel rocked precariously, and between the darked sky and reduced visibility through torrential rain, the banks of the river segment could no longer be seen.  The skill of Captain Nat came to the forefront, and as a pilot with experience of heavy weather navigation, I stood on the bridge next to the ‘man-in-command’ and watched as he carefully adjusted his headings to compensate for the swell, the currents and the wind until the tempest subsided. 

Docking at the smaller communities along the way to Yeji gave me a chance to study the changes in surface and banks below, as well as the mottled skies above.  A very different place to the south.  Different dangers were present that needed taken into consideration before operating a float plane in these waters – and the purpose of the trip from the aviation, and associated humanitarian activities, perspective was coming together.

Late that night we finally docked at Yeji.  If Yeji needs a nickname, it has to be ‘town of the flies’.  As I walked out onto the deck the sky was filled with millions upon millions of flies. 

Early the next morning the sky was clear on one side, and as black as the night on the other.  A horseshoe of cumulonimbus grasped the surroundings of Yeji.  I drove to the port ready to observe the waters for amphibian landings.  As I stepped from my vehicle a wonderful, feature filled lady of no small age, rushed up to me forcing me away from the water’s edge saying emphatically ‘DANGER-DANGER’.  Her concern was that the strangers to her town may not understand the danger of sailing under the heavy sky, laden with wind and driving rain. 

She need not have feared, for safety is key to all of our operations.  In aviation we say ‘it is better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than to be in the air wishing you were on the ground’.  Similarly, our maritime friends know all too well that ‘it is better to be ashore wishing you were sailing, than to be sailing wishing you were ashore!’

The climate is different in those parts.  Not only the atmospheric climate, but also the economic climate and the ‘way-of-doing-business’ climate.  Although we cannot change the weather, prudent policies and investments can change the economic climate for those in such places.  Perhaps you should make a visit to see what you can do to bring about positive change!

 Capt. Yaw is Chief Flying Instructor and Chief Engineer at WAASPS, and lead Pilot with Medicine on the Move, Humanitarian Aviation Logistics (http://www.waasps.com/   http://www.medicineonthemove.org/ e-mail capt.yaw@waasps.com)

Photo of the week, June 8th

Recent strong winds and heavy rains have devastated many rural buildings. Here we see a wooden classroom structure that was devastated by a wind last week. Not far away a small farm house lost its roof, the entire contents of the home strewn across the bush. As our climate changes we need to ensure support in construction methods and understanding, for although nobody was hurt in these instances, such effects may result in extreeme injuries or even death. Photo Credit Medicine on the Move http://www.medicineonthemove.org/

June 6th

Fresh Air Matters... with Capt. Yaw

Newspapers have carried some surprisingly eye-catching stories about aviation and Ghana, especially over recent weeks. The one that resulted in extensive airborne pollution comes from the ‘Ghana bound aircraft fist-fight’ report, carried by a number of international papers.  Apparently, one passenger reclined their seat without care and attention and upset the passenger behind.  It is unclear which passenger – or if it was another – started physically abusing the other, but it clearly was a bit more than a dirty slap!  The consequences of this airborne ‘slap on the head’ misdemeanour was that the United Airlines Boeing 767 dumped over forty tonnes of fuel, and two F16 fighter jets were scrambled.  Now, in the litigious country of the USA one would expect somebody to say ‘who pays?  Yet, no arrests were made; no charges filed and around fifty thousand US dollars’ worth of go-juice was spread around the sky and onto the ocean, not to mention the high speed jaunt around the skies by two F16’s at a pretty penny or two! 

Let us, conservatively say that the above ‘melodrama’ cost around one hundred thousand US dollars (say fifty thousand for the fuel and the balance between military movements, airport charges/costs, the delayed flight, etc.).  It must have been that somebody had a sweet tongue and interesting passport or simply nobody minded; yet for spilling a coffee from Starbucks or McDonald’s in the Big Apple you have a multi-million dollar legal wrangle!  If I had been a passenger on that flight I would not have been happy and possibly made a claim against the ‘combatants’ for my loss of time… perhaps that will come!

Of course, Ghana is amongst the top ten rich countries in the world, according to the press coverage of another incident, so wealthy in fact, that one little weather incident has lead to the placement of an order for no less than two aircraft carriers!  The later ‘corrected without explanation’ statement that carried far and wide appears to originate in country: ‘Accra, May 30, GNA - President John Evans Atta Mills on Monday announced that Ghana was in the process of acquiring two aircraft carriers from Brazil that could work in inclement weather and better ensure the safety of passengers.’

The background to this ‘declaration of intent’ comes from the fact that a flight from Yamoussoukro to Accra had to turn around and land back in Yamoussoukro due to weather. Apart from the questions ‘Why did they set off with known weather?’ and ‘Why didn’t they land in Takoradi?’ I still don’t understand how this made ‘hot press’.  Nonetheless, this lead to a statement that was supposed to read ‘…acquiring two personnel carrier aircraft from Brazil…’ becoming expensive headlines and egg-on-face news.  Brazil makes some fantastic aircraft – in fact Embraer, founded in Brazil in 1969, is a ‘household name’ in aviation circles, has a sixteen billion dollar firm order book, seventeen thousand employees worldwide and is a leader in its class for regional aircraft, many of which are operated by some of Europe’s leading airlines.

However, there is a lot of potential for this enthusiastically erroneous reporting to be seen as clearly incorrect to the ‘informed reader’.  Firstly, Brazil has only one aircraft carrier of its own (it obtained it second hand from France in 2000), it has a complement of sixty four Naval officers and nearly thirteen hundred sailors, plus over five hundred and eighty folks in the aviation group on board.  Secondly, not even China has one in service at this time. Thirdly, the UK is selling a used aircraft carrier, the Ark Royal, but we would need a crew of around one thousand and look for some aircraft to get the full twenty two aircraft bays filled.  The Ark Royal was put on sale by Auction on the twenty eighth March this year, with the thirteen of June (that is next week) as the final date for tenders – so if this quote came from somebody who is actually serious about it, tender documents need to be filled quickly.  

Next, the reason given for needing to purchase these aircraft carriers was to be able to operate in ‘inclement weather and better ensure the safety of passengers’.   Landing on an aircraft carrier in good weather is a challenge and risk filled, let alone in inclement weather. Finally, the estimated cost of the two new aircraft carrier being built in the UK is a mere five billion British pounds. 

If I had the cash I would consider purchasing the American mega carrier the George Washington.  Crewed with a full complement of over five thousand (sea and airmen).  On average there are fourteen birthdays on board EVERY day.  Not to mention the ninety aircraft, fixed- and rotary-wing – with full engineering support.  The GW, as it is called, has enough nuclear power resource to remain at sea for twenty YEARS, and has more than a quarter of a million horsepower (190MW) of power output. 

I have been heard to talk recently about the ‘private aircraft carrier on the lake’.  Now, that is more realistic.  On the lake I am involved in the engineering team for a project to work with a ‘Health Education Vessel and floating aircraft dock’, as part of project ETCHE,  for health education purposes, the engineering project has been dubbed ‘the aircraft carrier’ even though it is actually a floating seaplane dock for crew and patient transfer.  In fact, the aircraft that will be landing on the lake, equipped with stretcher and a range of around one thousand kilometres, is nearing construction in Ghana.  Interestingly, this built in Ghana air ambulance development is completely privately funded, since Governments have repeatedly demonstrated no practical interest in supporting it. 

We can understand that there are other priorities, but clearly there are also a lot of ‘misguided quotations’ when it comes to aviation stories. Over the past years I have read erroneous stories about ‘Ghana armed forces flying planes into clouds to stop the rain’ as well as ‘Ghana purchases xx fighter jets/transport aircraft/etc.’ and more.  I wonder where the challenge in getting the facts straight comes from.  Is it that the journalists misreport what is said? Is it that the spokesperson is misreading from the script?  Is it an attempt at misleading the public? Is it ‘good intentions’ spoken from the heart, without clarification and correction down the line?  A little research or a question asked to an aviation professional can save us a lot of embarrassment – in the same way ‘not slapping the head of the person in front of you on United Airlines’ protects the good name of Ghana!

I do know that it is confusing for some, irritating for others and whichever it is creates a poor impression.  Ghana has some fine airmen and women.  Our Air force is outstanding, with much recognition of their achievements.  Our Civil Aviation Authority does a sterling job.  Our press is one of the best on the continent. Perhaps some of the blame lies with my literary colleagues, but I know that not all can rest at their feet – by far.  There is always ‘somebody looking to spin’ - the question is ‘Who?’.

 Capt. Yaw is Chief Flying Instructor and Chief Engineer at WAASPS, and lead Pilot with Medicine on the Move, Humanitarian Aviation Logistics (http://www.waasps.com/   http://www.medicineonthemove.org/ e-mail capt.yaw@waasps.com)

Photo of the Week, June 1

Constructions spawn across the nation from mud huts (seen to the left) through sand-crete (seen right) and cast buildings. The interesting thing seen from the air, is that so many have no provision for a septic tank (as can be seen bottom right here), KVIP or other sanitation method. We need to reach out and inform people of the need to use toilet facilities appropriately as a primary care step towards disease management - ensuring that human and other waste is not disposed of inappropriately for the long term benefit of all citizens. Image courtesy of AvTech Academy.