NEPAL EARTHQUAKE DISASTER
 

Hi all,
I guess most of you get email requests for money regularly, or you are the recipients of lost fortunes etc.
If it sounds to good to be true then it probably is.

I personally would not be contributing any amount of money to an individual in a foreign country even though it sounds like the right thing to do. You never really know where the money ends up.
It's a very sad time in Nepal at the moment, and will be for some time to come, and emotions may overcome good sense.

There have been many cases of large amounts of money that has been given in good faith that finds that it misdirected.
I am sure that there are many registered charitable organizations that money can be donated to or you could speak to the Nepalese embassy in your country.
You should be very aware of constant attempts by dishonest people to relieve well intentioned donors of their money.

... unless it is being run by by our own VF through a well known donations management website ...

In which case I was quite comfortable tossing in a lazy fifty.

But yeah, in general be very careful out there...

I agree with krypton_john that the advice holds try in the generality however VF is a local, well identifiable, and well intended.

I know for a fact that Steve even put the Bank Manager as a signatory to the account to ensure probity.

The advice I offer below should not be misinterpreted as any reflection upon "our own VF".
It is intended as a general warning.


Although we may feel we 'know' PPRuNe regulars, in most cases we don't actually know them personally.

A (former) regular is currently serving a prison sentence imposed for frauds perpetrated in part through PPRuNe.

Conman jailed for 21 months after failing to pass on donation to injured pilot

Other Pruners have posted that they also made donations but did not contact the police because the sums were relatively small. I make no comment about those. I refer only to what was proved in court.

In light of that experience, I wouldn't be surprised if PPRuNe Admin removes all links and references to the fund.



Advice from the Charity Commission:

for those considering Nepal donations...
 

yesterday morning in Sydney I had the privilege of spending an hour with the parents of our VF.... and have no doubt at all of the probity of our VF and his better half. :ok::ok:

If anyone wants to make Nepal earthquake relief donations I suggest considering carefully whether to make donations to high overhead high administration NGOs or whether to send funds directly to VF and his wife who run on the smell of an oily rag.

And I'll make this prediction...our VF is on the cusp of a career change...;)

DoT

.
Several Pruners spent many hours with the guy I mentioned in my previous post.
Some did so on several occasions.
None of them had any doubts about his probity.


I've donated to the Red Cross appeal.

There is also the matter of tax deductibility.

No doubt we would all appreciate hearing recommendations of the best performing charitable or aid organisations in that theatre.

Having spent more than an hour or two on the phone with VF this week, and many more in the past year .... I am happy to give.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...o/1837970.html

VF! Safe Flying !!!

Great to see Steve's Recovery Fund has cracked the US$10,000 mark. How much can one man do? :D:D:D:D

Another 7.4 quake :{

This time much closer to Mt. Everest. Only 86 km.
The area seems to be even more remote then the epicentre of the firth earthquake.

How do you donate to Steves fund, I've googled indigogo Nepal rural recovery fund but there appear to several versions.

BBC reporting that Namche Bazaar is near the centre of the latest quake.

A quick guide to "The Complete Everest Trek - Start to Finish"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FglIGVjd-8M

It gives an idea of the area and it beauty.
Includes maps at each part of the trek
@3.50 Namche Bazaar is reached.

Solar,

PM sent.

All - have heard from Steve just now. All a bit wobbly with several major aftershocks. He is doing what he does best. Staying calm.

Devastating news from Nepal. Namche Bazaar has been featured many times by VF, and yes, it looks very remote.

Thoughts with VF and family. Stay safe

VF and wife are OK as posted on another social media site.

UH1 missing
 

I have just received a message from Nepal that an American Military Helicopter UH1 is missing while on a rescue mission.

Lads thanks for the private pm's, necessary has been done.

Chinooks in Delhi
 

BBC World and/or Sky News International reporting that the 3 RAF Chinooks are ready to go but grounded in Delhi. No permission to fly to Nepal. Anyone able to confirm this. Or expand on what the problem really is?
Thanks in advance

EDIT - link in post #9 earlier in this thread covers the Chinook affair. Apologies for duplication. But I'll leave this plain-text post for users' ease of reading.

This article from the Times blames the Nepalese for grounding the Chinooks.
Nepal blocks British Chinooks from earthquake relief mission | The Times

But the TV news was suggesting maybe the Indians and/or Chinese were also involved in the block on them flying.

VF (Steve),

I have donated $500.00. I hope that this can help the poor people of Nepal.

It would be handy though if the government was not so obstructive to help being provided by countries outside Nepal.

Arrrj (Ross)

You are a good man Arrrj :D

I know VF is pulling some very long days.

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the kind words.

I have spoken to Steve a few times via phone, although we have not met, he seems like a good bloke and I am happy to support his effort.

I am not as skeptical as others, clearly !

Arrrj

I doubt a Chinook can cause anywhere near the damage a V22 does. Carrying an aid load of 300 to 600kgs the v22 only goes to airstrips & specially flagged giant fields now, as it's down-wash has blown the roof off many buildings & totally destroying others that survived the Earthquakes, hence being blocked by locals preventing them from landing, as the down force was far too destructive. In my humble opinion a v22 is not a machine suited to steep confined rugged mountainous terrain with ultra high DA like Nepal, with often tiny step landings, An Chinook B234 with good VR Pilot could do geat work bringing buiding materials to the same places.

Nepal Rural Recovery Funding Report 1
 

1st Aid batch prepped to go; 20 x tarps + 4 x tents, delivered via - Skooter, Taxi, Twin Otter, Jeep & Porter to Phera district for Emergency Shelter Relief. Our goal is to get prefab demountable homes positioning in a number of villages so as to have immediate homes that is out of the weather, insulated & Earthquake safe
http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/...93813CB7F9.jpg

http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/...9A0DD1FD84.jpg

NRRF was started by Dolma my Sherpa Nepali Wife & I to deliver financial support to restoring/replacing destroyed homes in Earthquake effect Rural areas. As we both have good jobs here & I go directly to these remote villages in need, we can deliver donations directly without middlemen, commissions or fees (except bank charges) all in/outgoings being Publicly viewable. over 250,000 homes where destroyed by the devastating Earthquakes recently. Surely we cannot help All, but a few will have their homes restored with our determination & Your support. We appreciate not everybody can help however sharing the link to our fund with your Family & Friends is a great help in itself. Thank You for Your kind consideration 🙏🏾

Well done Steve and Dolma ! I have contributed to the fund,and will most likely do so again.Tough times for all In Nepal,you're all in my thoughts.

Many thanks to All of Your caring & kind support........

Blessed Life to You

I heard that chinooks were going to under slung 4 tonnes at a time. As the aid is in a bottleneck and these guys have due considerstion to down wash so surely common sense should prevail. Was it a misquote in the press to say they were basically useless for chinook

Detail hmmm it's all in the detail
 

hey Hoots yep that was clearly distorted words, I said the v22 was almost useless here due the steep confined terrain, plus high DA & the Chook would best used to sling cargo/building materials up to there?

Hmmm media.......don't let the truth get it the way of a good story

Thanks for the clarification, always amazes me how the journalists or those who want to spin things can misquote. Even since that article there has been so many way off the mark comments made ref chinook. Keep up the good work

war is boring
 

Don't know if it's here on pprune, but quite facinating to read
US Marines in Nepal:

https://medium.com/war-is-boring/u-s...h-41d202bfd207

"Nepal is a bad place to fly helicopters and Vengeance 01 had to cut its mission short. The weather around the village of Charikot was bad — strong winds, low temperatures and thin air made it impossible for the U.S. Marines in the chopper to render aid to the small village.

Four days later, Vengeance 01 — a U.S. Marine Corps UH-1Y Venom helicopter — crashed. Six Marines and two Nepali service members died in the May 12 accident."


I'll bet you have some comments VF....

Hey fhegner

OK I'll reply.....here is my onions on this sad accident;

The wide cord bladed Huey-Y is a beast with good hot-high performance so it was the common sense & obvious choice to be using this machine over the v22 :ok:

As for dangers up here?????? What dangers???? ............ Mountain weather & Mountain flying conditions??? That's Standard Operating Procedures everyday for Mountain Pilots. Wind was not blowing much that day (10-12knots) freezing conditions HuH???? It is almost Summer 30º at KTM so around 18º up there. As for thin air????? at just 11,000' hmmmm try Your hand at landing at 23,000' to taste thin air, at least above 17,000' then the thin-air challenge really begins :confused:

This sad CFIT accident from what I gather was attributed to low time PIC (900hrs) & CoJo (600hrs) (sourced from the CIO here at the the time) add no real Mountain experience time.........that was the primary cause = 'lacking Mountain experience'. Maybe the guys in charge threw them into the deep end without ensuring those being given the mission had the relevant skills to carry out the same & the poor Pilot's trying to carry out orders just didn't know better, they climbed up towards the descending soup at high speed rather than descending into the river gully & slowing down.....


Rest in Peace Blessed Souls on-board

Seems to me the RAF would have done better to send the DHFS Squirrels out to help these mountainside villages rather than Chinooks.

Totally Agreed Heli - how do You land a Chook or v22 on these terraced pads :confused: :eek:
http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/...E052E27C_6.jpg

http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/...114754A6_1.jpg

http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/...513D0ADC92.jpg

v22 - LZ just there......errrr somewhere down there??
 

This is how they did it in Vietnam.

http://www.eagerarms.com/pictures/he...DSep68-p24.jpg

If you have a rear ramp and a loadmaster, you wouldn't need to land to drop off food, just chuck it out the back double bagged.

Hey Mechta....that is a wild landing :ok: (HOGE required) terrain can't be too step for that style? (big amount of blades swingen' in the up slope country-side) :p
http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/...6F8C58E0_7.jpg
maybe squeeze a Chook down there :8

The RAF Chinooks are being returned to the UK having spent a month unused.....!
mmitch.