The Flight to New Tribes--Day Nine

We are now in the home stretch everyone!

Looking ahead, each one of us can see that the days left in this trip are less than the days that we have had exploring. Our planes are now regularly moving further eastward with each stop, slowly edging out of the southwest, and making our way towards the Great. It will only be a matter of time before we “cut the corner” and start our journey northward.

Before we start this final turn northwards however, there are still a few things that we have yet to do. Arizona and warm sunshine continue to have a hold on us. We don’t think that we are really ready to cut the corner yet—almost, but not quite. There is still something yet to do!

Our day started with all these things in mind. One of our last stops is to be New Tribes , an organization that trains and supports pilots for the mission field.
We had a late morning, after getting ourselves burned yet again at PIMA or at the ball field yesterday. Lobster in the Southwest? You bet! Although we may be far, far, away from the nearest ocean, any one of us can tell you that lobster is found here!

A quick planning session and a little bit of research had us in the air by 1PM. We elected to avoid the Controlled airspace around Tucson, and plunged southwards towards Green Valley, Arizona before cutting east for the mountains. Green Valley is aptly named, as irrigation and farmland surrounds this town that is fed by a river that runs almost directly through it. For miles and miles around, everything else is coloured red, brown, or a light shade of gray-green.

As we continued eastward, we encountered a series of mountain ridges. We followed a valley and an Interstate south-easterly, being careful to avoid the restricted military air space that was on either side of us.

Tribal Air, as the airport is called, is quite nearly in the middle of a vast plain. As you approach it, it seems to be in the middle of a huge saddle, with mountain peaks to the east, west, north, and south. All these peaks and terrain seem to slope up and out from the airport, with the peaks extended on radials in every direction and seemingly equidistant from its runways.

After landing, we met with Jeff Werely, who helped us tie down our planes and then gave us a tour of the hangars and shops. With its many shops and talented individuals, NTM has the ability to remanufacture and recreate all the parts that might be needed for Cessna aircraft! There are shops for rebuilding engines, testing avionics, and rooms complete with jigs for the manufacturing an entire airplane. With shops for fibreglass, painting, and upholstery, the detail work on the planes can also be taken care of. One thing that amazed us is the incredible degree of cleanliness... The floor at NTM shines! You can literally see your face in it, and a perfect mirrored reflection is found beneath each and every aircraft! There is a place and a bin for everything, so that nothing is lost or misplaced. It really is something to see!

After a great tour, we had a few moments to catch our breath and to settle into our rooms. Much tummy growling was heard, as quite a few of us had elected to sleep in... Missing breakfast and lunch in the process! This, however, was soon to be fixed!

We had dinner at the home of Brian and Katharine Schaadt, who served up a great batch of burgers, fruit salad, and brownies. Appreciation was heard all around, (Rory practically sang an ode to the wonderful burgers as he ate!) Hardly a morsel was left over. Brian has had some time flying in Venezuela, and we all huddled up in their living room to watch some of the flying and mission work that he has completed in that country.

Busy day! Tomorrow promises to be just as much so, as we will be helping NTM with a landscaping project. They have been waiting nearly four years for the manpower to upgrade the look around their main offices, and well, we just happen to be in the area, and we still have things to do!