707

We were in Mbandaka the other day when this Boeing 707 freighter (though it turns into a Boeing 707 freighter/passenger airliner if you really, really, really want to get somewhere and have $30) landed. He had landed downwind and we first saw him as he passed by the ramp. The ramp is at about the mid-point of the 7218 foot runway and he went by with the main gear on the ground, the nose high up in the air and speed brakes extended as far out as they could get. I thought he might go around and try again but he got it stopped before he ran off the end. You see that a lot around here, guys landing big jets downwind because they don't want to use any extra fuel.

The pilot really knew that airplane though. He drove that thing onto the ramp like a 300,000 pound (or whatever it weighs) go-cart. The nose gear came withing 2 feet of the edge of the apron twice on the turn-around. Pretty impressive.

In the past I had seen this big metal vertical section mounted on wheels on the ramp at Mbandaka and I had wondered what it was for. I thought maybe it was some kind of jet blast deflector. It wasn't. It was the unloading ramp for the 707. They rolled it up to the cargo door and started to fling the load off the airplane. The ramp keeps the bundles from going straight down; instead they go almost straight down and hit the ground a little slower. Then the workers sling them into the M.A.N. diesel truck and the deed is done.

I know a guy who was going to get a job with this airline. They wanted to evaluate his flying abilty though before they hired him. Many airlines do that. What many airlines don't do though, is the evaluation flight in a 4 engine jet, on a revenue run; which is what this outfit was going to do. They told the guy to show up at the airport and they would put him in the right seat of the aircraft pictured above for a day and see how he did.

Yes, sir. Being a pilot on a 9Q registered airplane is a sporty game.