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   Items collected at Air Unlimited in Sanford. several days flying missions. They had a large team of volunteers sorting the donated supplies, and pilots flying the King Airs to the islands daily. Obtain- ing clearances took extra time as the Bahamas airspace was still congested, and there was limited ATC communica- tions in the area. But Sanford Airport controllers were very helpful in obtain- ing clearances for my flights. On my first flight, the delay for my IFR clearance to Marsh Harbour was 3 hours, so I filed to North Eleuthera (MYEH) and reversed my planned flight. North Eleuthera was outside of the TFR and the hurricane damage. Miami Center was extremely helpful and honored my request to fly at FL350 so I could extend my range, even though the usual routing was lower. With limited radar coverage over the islands, it made their job even more difficult. Descending and canceling IFR, I entered the pattern for Runway 14. I dropped off a large load of medical and food supplies at MYEH, which was then sent by boats, volunteered by their owners, to the remote islands in the Abacos – the only way to deliver critical supplies to the smaller islands. A volunteer relief worker needed a ride back to Florida, so we started up the Eclipse and departed for Marsh Harbour VFR. In flight, I contacted the AWACS, call sign WARLOCK, on 122.4, and re- quested their assistance with traffic advisories and provided my NEMA authorization number. The airborne controllers were an impressive group busy, and I located two more relief work- ers who needed a ride back to Florida. One was Brian Doonan of the non-profit Fuel Relief Fund (fuelrelieffund.org). This organization is generously funded by companies in the fuel production and transportation industry, as well as individuals, and has provided fuel in a number of disasters for several years. When I mentioned to Brian that we might need to stop before our final destination at Sanford, he quickly went to his team, and in no time, they were putting Jet A into my plane. Taking just what we needed, we departed Marsh for Sanford. Another mission took me to Treasure Cay, where we were working with local  Damage seen at the Treasure Cay Airport. and made me proud knowing fellow aviators were orbiting the islands, un- seen above our plane, helping us. Approaching the Abacos from the south, we could see the increasing damage f lying northwest towards Marsh Harbour. The once verdant for- ests were brown, with trees stripped of their branches and snapped like toothpicks. The homes and Harbours were damaged, with a large number of capsized boats. I flew near the resort I had stayed just a few months prior and saw widespread damage. After land- ing, I taxied to Cherokee Aviation, the FBO and only building not destroyed. The hangar adjacent was collapsed with damaged aircraft inside. The ramp was first responders to search for a poten- tial storage location for relief supplies. An A&P and aircraft owner joined us to repair a Piper Archer that had been damaged by the storm, with the hope to ferry it back to Florida. Sanford airport controllers were again helpful and found a way to get me an immediate clearance directly to Treasure Cay Airport. The damage there looked even worse than I had seen at the Marsh Harbour airport, with all buildings significantly damaged. With no power, water or communications at the airport, the Bahamian officials sat in camping chairs under a 10-foot standup awning. I walked across downed power poles, lines and fences, helping to secure a temporary communications 28 • TWIN & TURBINE / November 2019 Jet Journal 


































































































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