Our aircraft is still grounded and untouched. We are not allowed to fix anything, or even look at the airplane until the insurance company releases it. This could take months. The home office is in Singapore. We have a run-out engine which we sent to India to be overhauled. By the time the engine comes back, we should have a new prop and nose gear. Soon after that, the airplane will be ready to go.
We have 2 other aircraft coming in. They were in Singapore on the 10th, and are expected to be in Calcutta by the 18th. They will be here by the 21st, and soon after that, we will be flying again.
The students are in Kathmandu taking their written exam. We hope. They were scheduled to take it last Monday, but when they showed up, CAAN (Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal) did not have the questions prepared yet. CAAN had told our boss two weeks previous that the questions were ready to go. I guess not. Now they have said that they are ready, and the students are scheduled to take it this afternoon. We are keeping our fingers crossed.
The CAAN people are appointed by the Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Civil Aviation, not for their expertise, but for their contacts and influence. Therefore, most of them have no idea of what to do. They don't seem to want to become educated on the subject of aviation or flight schools, and make arbitrary rules.
We had a very experienced instructor scheduled to come over. Every instructor must be approved by CAAN before they are allowed to teach in Nepal. Yesterday, they made a new rule that prohibits an instructor aged 65 or older. Our new instructor just turned 65, and is highly disappointed he can't come. He turned down a high=paying job offer for the chance to come here, and now they won't let him come.
All of Nepal is subject to scheduled power outages. This includes the airport. When the tower expects a flight in, and there is no electricity, they turn on the battery back-up to run the radios. Fortunately, they only have 3 or 4 flights a day. The Tower Chief has permission to get the electricity permanently hooked up, but is waiting for CAAN to give him the Rs 400,000 to give to the Power Ministry. They are all government agencies, but nothing runs efficiently here. The Tower Chief was told it will happen soon. In Nepal, that means in a month or so.
Sunday is a regular work day here. Saturday is the only day off each week. There are plenty of holidays, however, and Nepal has recently recognized 18 more holidays each year. I am not sure how many days off per year there are, but it's a lot - at least 4 or 5 days per month. Some holidays are better than others, depending on how it affects our job. We have learned to be flexible. Time to spare, go by air.
The weather has turned warm. Around the low 70s at night, and in the mid-90s during the day. The humidity is around 50%. We still have a lot of haze, unusual for this time of year. Only one real rain storm so far. A month ago, I was shivering, and now I am sweating. Is is better to be hot or cold? I think I like hot better.
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