This morning I flew our last night flight! It feels so nice to have those over with!
We did however have quite some "bumps": Prior to take-off, everything looked good and normal, so we got fueled up, and headed out for a 20 South cross section. About 30 minutes into the flight though, people started noticing that the data recording system wasn't operating properly. Shortly after that, it crashed. Excuse me - "went down". Apparently one of the main boards got water on it, and fried. This means that none (apart from some instruments that have their own recording system in addition) of the data we are working so hard for to collect is actually getting recorded properly (i.e. with exact time stamp and geographical location and altitude). Basically, this also means that we are flying for nothing. The first reaction was to return to the airport, and abort the flight (yay! back to bed?). However, the pilots informed us that a C-130 can't actually land with a belly completely filled up with fuel! This meant that we had to fly around for at least 4 hrs to burn some of it off. Sigh - to think you got out of bed for that.
But, good time for a nap, right?
Anyhow - the computer guy decided to actually make use those 4 hrs ahead, and attempt to recover the system. Everything was taken apart. And with result! - After about 1 hr I was woken up from my nap that the data system was back up and running!! Big party on board, because we didnt have to waste many hours, and many dollars on a useless flight.
Fast forward 3 hrs later - 3 hrs of great data collection later - I look at the computer operating my instrument (one of the three of my instruments), and see that it appears 'stuck'. I trouble shoot some, and trouble shoot some more, but all to no avail. I spent the next 3 hrs trying my hardest to get it working again, but it appears that the electrical circuit operating the temperature of the supersaturation chamber is completely fried. Sigh. Tired.
After the flight, we unbolted the instrument from the aircraft rack (something that the big 'bosses' are never very happy with: changes sample flow etc.) and took it back to the hotel so we can work on it. But, first things first: shower and sleep - gotta take care of that little one!
The rest of the afternoon we played electrician and tested all the circuits in the instrument. Turns out we need a new part that needs to be sent from the US, and we'll have someone from UW overnight it to us. However, since you never know how long a Chilean "overnight" service takes, this might mean that, apart from the other 2 instruments, we are out for a couple of days :(
Big bummer.
14 years ago
3 comments:
Nu dat was me wel een vlucht met hindernissen zeg !.Wat een avontuur.
Wanneer heb je nu een dagvlucht ? dat zal vast beter met je gaan !
Een goed week-end en een knuffel van je mammie.
Ik denk overigens dat niet veel mensen snappen hoe je hier een bericht mag plaatsen.Anders heb je altijd veel meer post.
You are so brave! I've been praying for you a lot as I can't imagine being away from Jon that long....especially being pregnant! Plus, I hate flying, so I'm really praying for you! I know I'm a dork, but I'm trying to be ahead of things and I'm working on our Christmas list and I don't have you and Ben's address. Will you email it to me? jandhhughes@gmail.com. We'll continue to pray for you!! Just a few more days! Love, Jon and Heather
Hey I guess I'll just comment back to you on your blog. I could mainly be a help in your search for a jogger if you show me ones you're thinking of. BOB Ironman is the best, but it costs around $250. The one I have is a Reebok Velocity, but it's out of commission and it pulls hard to the left anyway. Just make sure you have a fixed wheel and a rotating canopy. As for when babies can run in the stroller, I started with Caleb when he was 3 weeks, so also make sure that the seat has a reclining feature (In addition to a 5-point adjustable harness, of course :) )
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