04/02/2014
Well, it's good to be home after eight days in Nigeria. It takes four days to travel to/from Kano from Atlanta. I performed ten test and acceptance sorties in the four intervening days in 100-107F weather! After as many as 13 years, three more L-39ZA aircraft are actively flying again. It was a very long process to reconstitute these aircraft, coming very close to the equivalent of a factory overhaul. Every component was tested and either repaired, overhauled or replaced as necessary. My compliments to Marti Veit and Camilo Louhau for their outstanding work. The OEM test profile is a very intense 1.5 hours with full ground testing of systems and engine parameters, a climb to 28,000 feet with multiple idle, max and acceleration checks, a max mach dive, a full set of stalls and aerobatics, then back to the airport for patterns. Two or three sorties per day leaves you exhausted in that hot, dusty environment. I get to go back for three more aircraft later this summer. Ba wahala!
Richard Hess