See previous post #3563
With full fuel, departed Hagen for Rabaul (Tokua) with a proposed overnight in Madang. However on arrival Madang found there was no Avgas available in town and probably none in Tokua. Shell and BP no longer exist in PNG and only saw a couple of Mobil service stations in Madang. Fuel throughout the country, Avtur, Avgas and Mogas is now supplied by a Canadian company, Interoil, who don't seem to give a stuff about the supply of Avgas. John Cheung, of Island Air, was down to one drum of fuel with no further supplies on the horizon. He said last time this happened he was out of fuel for nearly a month. So the message is, if your planning a piston engine trip to PNG, check fuel availability beforehand. There has been no Avgas available between Horn Island and Port Moresby for years.
Another new operator in the country is an Irish mobile phone provider, Digicel, which has the country pretty well covered. Their Logo is anywhere there is a bit of wall/fencing or a power pole available.
With a bit of mining exploration going on in the country the helicopter business is doing OK. Spotted the two helicopters below,amongst others, at Madang.
There is a new operator, Travel Air, starting up and based at Madang. They have two Fokker 50's already in the country with five more to come. The operation is supposedly owned by Malaysians working through a Rabaul front man, who just happened to be out on bail on misappropriation charges when these photos were taken. How seven Fokker 50's, operating out of Madang, expect to make a quid is anyone's guess.
With the Rabaul trip off the agenda, planned a short hop down the coast to Saidor. After checking that the grass on the airstrip had been cut, which is just another potential PNG aviation problem these days, taxied out for departure, only to have no fuel flow indication on run up. Bugger, I've upset somebody somewhere. The engine was running OK but one cylinder EGT/CHT was low so gave the trip away. I'm an old pilot not a bold pilot.
Rang Cairns that afternoon (Friday) chasing a new fuel divider and injector nozzles. It was only 3.00pm but everyone had gone home for the weekend. Now looks like a weeks enforced holiday in Madang as there is no direct flight Madang-Hagen due to the grounding of Airlines of PNG,s Dash 8 fleet following the Nadzab-Madang accident.
PNG,s infrastructure continues to deteriorate, with pot holes in the roads everywhere, and if you're dependant on Yonki hydro for your power, and the Highlands, Madang, and I think Lae/Nadzab are, then you can look forward to blackouts several times a day every day.
Played the tourist and took a couple of pikkies between SP,s.
Finally got a lift back to Hagen on Trans Niugini Tours PAC 750, a pretty impressive performer.
Back to OZ. A bit of a disappointing trip but will try again next year. At least the Bensbach barramundi will have grown by another year.