New Tribes Missions - new delivery
 

New Tribes Missions is replacing one Bell 206 helicopter with three Robinson R66.

The first has arrived by ship in Lae and is being transported by road to Goroka for assembly. First of type in PNG; good luck !

I would be interest to know what it can realistically lift on the hook at 5,000ft in ISA +20 conditions.

Thought a 407 would have been a better option, although the Robbie may be ok if they are only going to operate them in the lowlands.

They seem to be all over the place in the 206.

Well the R66 that’s a new way to die

I remember when they bought their first C185, ex Talair. Must have been late 1970s? Pilot was a Yank, think his name was Jim?

The American missionary in Wau bought P2- SEQ from Talair in the late 60s or early 70s. New Tribes operated P2-TAC.

Would that have been James Blume?
He has a highly modified C185, ex Talair, kept at Wau. P2-SEQ
The aircraft may well be dismantled as James left PNG, a few years ago. He is elderly and his wife if still alive was suffering I think from dementia.
Jim is/was trying to place the aircraft in a box and return the machine to USA.
I was at one time trying to buy the C185; alas not for sale .
I last communicated with Jim approx 18 months ago.

Yes, it was Jim Blume. I sold it to him in the late 1970s. I think the price at that time was around $9,000. Talair sold maybe four or five C185s.

New Tribes Mission at Goroka also bought a C185 from Talair.

Another went to an Air Niugini pilot.

P2-SEP was retained and eventually restored and repainted (in the original TAL scheme) at Flight West in Brisbane. It is currently in New Zealand, possibly being rebuilt after yet another bingle or so I heard.

It was at a time when Talair was transitioning our of single engine aircraft due to their propensity for gravity to take over when the noise quit, and the airline transition into turbine twins.

Too long ago, I don't recall the details.

Taily; I seem to remember that my old Boss Richard Rowe, God rest his Soul, had an immaculate 185. P2-ROW from memory.
And no-one flew it but he!:=

And Chuckles also had one. Reggo escapes me.

P2-SEQ https://www.airhistory.net/marks-all/P2SEQ

P2-TAC previously with New Tribes Mission https://www.airhistory.net/marks-all/P2TAC

ZK-VKE (ex P2-SEP) with "modified" prop tips https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/9974397

Chuck's former C185 https://www.airhistory.net/photo/43749/P2-AWM

.
The late Ian Leslie had P2-IDL, not sure of its previous rego before the "initials' became the rego.

Ian's C185 was ex-MAF, previously VH-MFB https://www.airhistory.net/marks-all/P2IDL

Re. CMS/ SEM
Three of us bought SEM off you Taily, Shags, Phil McGuire ( a helicopter pilot) and myself. We paid K10, 000 . McGuire and I sold our shares to Shags a few years later at the same value. I subsequently owned a couple of others. Ser. No. 271 ex Vietnam was P2-CCD now VH-YME (if still in one piece). Good load carriers but had to fly it yourself

New Tribes Missions has taken delivery of their second R66 helicopter.

Registered N40299 and presently at USA HQ and being prepped for delivery to PNG

Apparently funding for a third R66 is progressing ...

Re Jim Blume and his Cessna 185. I lived in Wau not far from Jim in 1979/80. His C185 was a stock standard aircraft at the time, with a Continental O-470 engine (260hp). He had bought it from Talair, and was P2-SEQ. I flew it a few times. Some years after I left Wau Jim had a STOL kit fitted by SIL at Aiyura.

Jim was a standalone missionary pilot for a US based Baptist church.

Wish the missionaries would leave the natives alone. They are happy with their own beliefs, no need to foist the stories and horrors of the bible upon them.

Completely agree!

DF.

That's a pretty one-sided post-modern Western view of missionary activity...
I met a lot of 'natives' during my time in PNG who found happiness in being freed from the bonds of fear, violence and ignorance associated with the dark practices of some of their traditional ways. Missionaries have also done a lot of work to improve the health and wellbeing of many people, providing healthcare, education and facilities that simply wouldn't have reached them through other commercial avenues - especially to the marginalized and underprivileged. It's easy to point fingers at the mistakes, but it is a bit rough to condemn those people who have generally self-sacrificially given their lives in service for the benefit of others.

Plenty of non denominational organizations out there that help the marginalized. Nope - Get rid of all the religious nutters, the world will be better off for it.

That would require getting rid of the entire human race then as making a statement of no religion is, in itself, a religious statement... And "better off for it," have you had a look at history to see how that went for communism?

Having had a bit to do with missionaries in PNG over the years, I am of the opinion that they do a good job in PNG.

I’ve also flown with a few ex mission pilots and they were all excellent people to work with. Certainly a lot better than some of the misfits I’ve worked with in PNG.