Halloween at The Baron

Well it's our weekend here.  The Baron is throwing a little Halloween Party for us tonight at the lounge.  We'll see how that turns out.  They were doing the decorations earlier today, so it should be interesting.

Flying's been going well.  Really busy, I think we hit 77 hours in October which is really good.  Our contract is for 80 so that's always a plus to come close.  Means the UN is getting the most out of us.

The internet is still lousy, I'll try to upload some pictures this time.  We'll see how it goes.

Want to wish my Mom a Happy Retirement and good luck with everything!  Very happy for her, she's had a long good career and had the opportunity to work with some great people.  The Hospital in Selkirk won't be the same without her...  Congrats Mom!   Love you!

Been trying to learn some Pashto as well as more Dari.  The Pashtun people primarily inhabit the southern part of the country, and across the border into Pakistan.  It (Pashto) is a very difficult language.  Much harder than Dari.  There are many words where the same vowel will change emphasis in the middle of the pronunciation.  As if someone where to press on your stomach in the middle of saying the word.  Certainly a challenge.

Here's another shot at the pictures...

Wellcome to Bost (Lashkar-Gah)

Notice Who Put the Sign Up in the Corner  ;-)  The center for higher education.

The Registan Desert near Kandahar

(Apparently there are over 100 villages buried under the sand)

Typical of Arrival into Kandahar - A big BLOB of traffic on the TCAS

Departing Kandahar - A UAV (Possibly a Reaper) loaded with Hellfire Missiles

Boeing CH-47 Chinook

Boeing CH-46 Sea-Knight / Labrador

Kandahar Tower with a UAV on Departure

Weather coming home from Kandahar

Another Buildup Further Along

A very nice jet across from us in parking.  N-Registered (US)

Indian Air Force EMB-145

Airbus 319 from Beijing

FlyDubai on Landing Kabul

USAF and...

Afghan Air Force C-130's

Nice Colours in the Rocks

Kandahar Airfied (Notice the 3 Aerostats)

An Aerostat Up Close (from Wikipedia)

This is an Aerostat Balloon up close.  They are approximately 75 feet long, and can reach altitudes up to 15,000 feet above ground.  On-board, they either carry the PTDS (Persistent Threat Detection System) or the PGSS (Persistent Ground Surveillance System).  Each are different arrays of sensors and camera packages to give the troops and bases an eye-in-the-sky which can remain aloft for days at a time.

This is another Aerostat mounted on its mobile mooring platform, the type that are deployed here in Afghanistan.