Page 16 - Demo

Touring the Galapagos Islands.
The next morning, we topped off the tanks with just over 200 gallons (or about 4 hours of flight at 200 knots) with some reserve. The distance from Guayaquil to our first stop, the is- land of Baltra in the Galapagoes, was about 600 miles so we felt very comfortable about range. In addition, we brought with us all the required emergency equipment for overwater flight including a raft and life preservers. We departed in the same conditions we landed previously, but after an hour or so we were west of the front and at FL200 in sunny skies sur- rounded by seemingly endless ocean.
Another two hours passed, and we began to see building cumulous on the horizon, suggesting land must be out there somewhere. So, we contacted the local controller and were in- formed he had an airline Boeing 727 inbound with priority. After some circling, we landed and parked in the small gener- al aviation area, well removed from the airline terminal. The amount of paperwork upon our arrival was minimal, and we were soon in a mini-bus bound for a strange, Japanese style motel on the other side of the island.
The next day, we returned to the airport to refuel the aircraft and take care of some administrative details before boarding a small expedition ship anchored in a nearby cove, on which we were to spend the next week exploring the islands. Despite a few of the accommodations, everything to this point in time had gone fairly well. Unfortunately, that soon changed.
For some reason (that subsequently proved to be due sim- ply to lack of experience and correct information), our Florida based handler had arranged for us to make our initial landing at Baltra – an airline airport void of 100LL gas. The handler then promised clean fuel would be made available at $10/gal- lon by having it barged over from the Ecuadorian mainland in 50 gallon drums specifically for our use...something we were assured was common.
Now, I have operated 100LL burning aircraft from Alaska to Africa, and one of the things I have learned is to be very careful about fuel coming out of drums. For this very rea- son, I brought with me a large plastic funnel with a chamois cloth through which fuel could be filtered and examined be- fore it entered the aircraft’s tanks. So, as the five fuel guys backed their ancient, rusty pick-up truck containing a stack of blue, plastic and unlabeled 50-gallon drums toward my air- plane, I started rucking through the airplane’s lockers to find my funnel.
They were obviously anxious to get the task over however, so started pumping directly into the right tip tank while I was still looking for my funnel, causing me to shout over, “Espera, espera, el gasolina esta limpia?” (Wait, wait, is that gas clean?). As they continued to cycle the hand pump, they shouted back, “Si Capitan, muy limpia” (Yes Captain, very clean). Finally, I located my funnel and chamois cloth and over their com- plaints, interrupted the pumping while I put the funnel in the tank. I then asked them to start pumping again. Within two or three strokes of the hand pump, the cloth was covered by some white flakey material, small pieces of rust and some dark, brown ominous looking globules of what looked like wa- ter. Exactly what I was afraid of. But what was even worse was an unknown quantity had already been pumped into my airplane.
I proceeded to have a small and unseemly ‘hissy fit,’ yell- ing at them to stop all pumping. Once they did, I sampled the tanks low point. In the glass, I found the same material as in the funnel. I tasted the brown liquid and found it was salt water. The white stuff was sand and the rust, well was just plain rust. By now, a significant commotion had developed in typical Latin style. A few of the five fuel guys shouted loudly in Spanish that the fuel is indeed clean, and the dirt is from my funnel, while the other cohorts excitedly shouted that they have no idea what the fuel problem is, but it is not their fault.
Having operated aircraft from Alaska to Africa, one of the things Ware has learned is to be very careful about fuel coming out of drums.
In the middle of this Spanish cacophony, over wandered a uniformed Ecuadorian air taxi pilot from a recently landed Aztec. He pulled me aside and in fairly good English asked what the problem was. I explained it to him and he replied, “Ah yes, this happens all the time. They siphon fuel from the barrels somewhere between the barge and here, put it in their cars, then bring up the level in the barrel with sea water. We never use this fuel. There are sharks in the water here, and it is too dangerous. But, we have our own 1000 gallon 100LL tank at our base on San Cristobal (a nearby island). If you can get over there, we will sell you what you need.” Nice guy.
14 • TWIN & TURBINE
June 2018