A top test pilot who helped coordinate the flying display at Farnborough has turned his skills these past three years toward the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF).
MAF flies supplies and relief around the world, including Derek Reeh's new home of Kenya. When his Pilatus PC-12 lands loaded with needed supplies, sometimes the reaction is astonishment along with gratitude." Making seven or eight stops over eight hours every day adds up. "When I joined MAF I had about 6,000 flying hours. That 6,000 in 30 years of career and 2,000 hours in the last three years."
 |
|---|
Until 2004 Reeh was on the SBAC flying control committee, overseeing safety of the flying display. In May 2005 he and his wife moved to Nairobi for operations into Somalia and southern Sudan. He does return, though, to raise support for their charity work.. "We come back to the UK every year to visit people, make presentations and the like" The support keeps his PC-12 in the air next to the local operation's Cessna 206, Cessna 210 and four Cessna 208B aircraft.
"The most hazardous part of the job, without a doubt, is the takeoff and landing phase, because many of these landing strips we're flying into are poorly repaired, They're 'natural surfaces,' which is rather generous."The interesting part of the job is the role itself. It's the feeling that you're doing something that has direct benefit."
Source: Flight International
