Page 10 - October 2022

“Formal Jeppesen charts rarely existed, so aircrew used ‘Jungle Jepps’ hand-drawn by African-based pilots.’’
animal corrals created pretty scenery and scrawny stray dogs romped everywhere. After shutdown, lizards targeted the King Air’s warm wheels and scorpions battled with spiders in the shade. Formal Jeppesen charts rarely existed, so aircrew used “Jungle Jepps” hand-drawn by African-based pilots. On a 52-mile hop from Abéché to the village of Biltine, we lacked surface information and did not top off the 544-usable-gallon fuel tanks for weight purposes, but overhead inspection revealed nothing hazardous except painted rock edge markers. Reversing above 40 knots helped reduce the run.
We accepted an invitation to visit a refugee camp where Biltine’s residents had been overwhelmed by their former Sudanese neighbors. In spite of dismal surroundings, young women giggled and squinty- eyed senior men nodded their heads in greeting. When we returned to N22071, the de-ice boots had become nesting sites for hordes of tire-size black flies and sunlight turned the 54 feet, six-inch wing into a frying pan. Before leaving FTTJ, the passengers had filled the baggage compartment with packaged sandwiches, but surface winds had pushed sand inside the aircraft through an improperly closed door and nothing remained edible.
Back at N’Djamena, pilot Olivia Behar waited with word of an early takeoff the next morning back to Abéché. After lifting off into the dark, we passed through thin overcast and steadied on 073. At 23,000 feet, a strikingly beautiful glow began brightening the horizon and within minutes, the sun’s rays penetrated the cloud layer below our belly. Our timing worked well, as there were no night landings at FTTC because someone had stolen the runway lights.
In dim dawn, we could barely discern three white vehicles although seeping sunlight flashed off their idling exhausts. After touchdown, we
8 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
OCTOBER 2022