The Flying Is Underway!

Hello everyone!

Sorry it's been a while since my last update.  Apparently Jet-Lag is still getting the better of me.

The flying is now officially underway and day 2 is now complete.

Our first day took us around the northern half of Afghanistan, including a couple of Coalition Forces bases along our route.

Today took us on a journey through, well let's call it Inter-International Operations.   We flew over to Islamabad, Pakistan.  By the sounds of things this could now become a regular trip, which would be great.

The scenery of Afghanistan is absolutely breathtaking.  Large mountains, narrow valleys, deep canyons, and plains divide the country into several different areas.  It would have been incredible to have been here millions of years ago watching the terrain take shape.

Air Traffic Control is somewhat difficult to get used to.  The radios are very poor, and the mountainous terrain makes communications very difficult.  I came into my first day of flying expecting things to be somewhat more advanced and organized.   Apparently I expected too much...

This short range problem is exacerbated by the traffic volumes in and out of many of the out-stations that we visit.  Some of the other problems are compounded by radio frequency jamming that occurs nearly all the time.  This jamming is used to prevent insurgent communications, as well as preventing the use of remote detonators for IEDs or roadside bombs.

We also use some technologies from a bygone era, such as HF Radio.  This seems to be fairly reliable though difficult to understand sometimes.  You get that old "cartoon-like" sound effect with the whistling squealing sound in the background and the voice is sometimes hard to pick out from all the static.

We travel to and from the airport in an armored vehicle, which is quite the experience.  The doors are extremely heavy, and the windows are quite thick.  It's just a basic vehicle that had the armor added and reinforced components installed.

As one would expect in a location like this, there are many check-points to pass before entering the airport, so one does feel very safe and secure.

Once I get more accustomed to the operations over here, more photos and information will follow.

Thanks for reading and I will update again soon!