Flying towards the horizon

 “Going through life’s journey, many times we meet many obstacles, become discouraged…seems like everything’s so dark…then it’s time to look up and fly towards the horizon…”

I was having breakfast with my spouse, Arleen, last Sunday and I told her: 35 years ago today, I earned my military pilot wings. And what years they were!

I remember my first “solo out” flight. I could now bring the Cessna T-41D out of the traffic pattern of Fernando Air Base at Lipa City, climb up to 3,000 ft to my assigned area at Sariaya, Quezon, perform what maneuvers I wanted, and then go back after an hour. After I leveled off at 3,000, I found myself flying over a layer of stratus clouds. Being inexperienced, I never realized I was flying away from my assigned area, as I could not see any ground reference below the cloud formation. When the clouds below me cleared, I could not see any familiar landmarks. In other words, I was lost.

I could not afford to panic, for I did not want to be a subject of a massive air search and become a national embarrassment. I made a complete 180 degree turn and flew towards the visible horizon. I started to look down for any landmark and saw a big Iglesia Ni Kristo church, so distinct in the midst of a big town. Then I started to reason logically. If this were Calamba, the Laguna Lake would be next to it. But there was no big lake! If this were San Pablo, there would be the Banahaw Mountain nearby and small round lakes scattered around. Yes! Then this is San Pablo. Then if this were San Pablo, the Base would be right about in that direction. I made an immediate left bank to the approximate direction of the base…and landed exactly one hour after. No one knew I was lost for some time.

My being a pilot has brought me to different places and positions in my career. I could never imagine being in a place away from the sounds of jet engines, I have always been near aircraft. Now that I have been five years retired from the Air Force, and after a break of two years enjoying retirement, I’m back near airplanes.

Fourth Quarter Storm

We were caught unaware by Storm Lando that fell trees, mangled huge billboards and caused several landslides because of the amount of rainfall it brought. But the festivities continued at Lapu-lapu and the rest of Cebu continued to pick up their lives and look towards tomorrow.

In the airport, we anticipate increased flights and destinations. Air Philippines opened the Cebu-Tacloban route a week ago, with an inaugural ceremony at the VIP Lounge; and distinguished guests took off on that first flight. They will also start using their new Bombardier Turbo-Prop aircraft by next month.

Just last Tuesday, China Southern took on where China Southern left, by resuming the Cebu-Shanghai route. The China Southern Airbus 320 landed at 2:25AM with 94 passengers on board.

Cebu Pacific has announced that they will fly a Cebu-Taipei route by December. We are eagerly awaiting this first flight. In a dinner meeting with Cebu Pacific CEO Lance Gokongwei, Michael Shau and Tim Jordan, we discussed future activities of Cebu Pacific.

Almost a month ago, I chanced upon the month-old Mandarin Airlines Embraer 190, connected to Bridge number 3 and Station Manager, Eric Tung, gladly brought me inside the aircraft. The Embraer is fast gaining a reputation for its very efficient and quiet engines that it is getting to be a favorite of new Low Cost Carriers.

Talking about new aircraft, I read about PALs latest Airbus 320, with the 21st Cabin arriving in Manila. I requested Jun Pilapil, PAL VP for VisMin for a “looksee” once this aircraft would arrive in Cebu. Well, it arrived sooner than expected - over the weekend.

The Mactan Cebu International Airport continues to prepare for more and more flights coming in and out. We now have a combined 601 flights a week of Commercial, Military and General Aviation flights. We also have regular US Air Force flights, as the airport is also part of the Mutual Defense Treaty facilities commitment. Many times we see the C-17 Globemaster III STOL Strategic Airlifter at the ramp. We recall that in the early days, the Mactan Airfield was used as staging bases of strategic airlift, particularly the C-124 Globemaster II, in support of the Vietnam War.

As we start the last month of the year, we prepare for the Christmas holidays and most of the time, our minds are full of too much to do, and we often find ourselves in a hurry to finish so many things. Let’s relax, focus…. and as pilots would say…fly towards the horizon.

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