After logging 37 hours of overtime work, I decided to have my thin air therapy. My good friend Kozo asked me to go to Masbate because he wants to celebrate. He recently passed his Flight Instructor exam and is now waiting for his check ride. Unfortunately, I can’t go that far right now. We decided to go to Jomalig, 107 nautical miles East South East from Clark. The island is only accessible by air or by sea.
Our day started solving our weight and balance. Kozo wanted to have full tanks (42 Gallons), after an hour trying to convince him that we only need 32 Gallons (that’s including an hour and 30 minutes reserve) he finally gave in with a condition. If we don’t have 15 Gallons before departing from Jomalig, we have to go to Daet and buy fuel. I agreed and I soon asked Sir Pete to remove 10 Gallons from the tanks of 8833.
20 minutes later, we were airborne heading 106 direct Jomalig climbing to 5500’. RP-C8833 doesn’t have headphone jack for the passengers, Naru and Kevin have to wear their headsets to protect their ears. It was a usual flight and the expected clouds over Sierra Madre were present. Right after our zigzag course (dodging clouds) over Sierra Madre, we can see Polilio Island. Before descent, I briefed Kozo that I’ll be doing a low pass over the runway initially and will circle back for landing. I want to inspect the runway condition and clear any animals/people from the runway.
Jomalig has a short (570 Meter) grass runway. I also briefed Kozo that if I bounce (high or low) during landing I will push the throttle forward and will execute a go-around no questions asked. My decision to make an initial low pass was right I was able to clear the cows on the runway and a couple of grass cutters. I lined up again for landing and managed to make a smooth soft-field landing. After engine shut down, the locals started running to the airplane as if we were a celebrity hahahah. Anyway, the locals are very warm, they even volunteered themselves to cook for us since there were no restaurants in Jomalig.
We then headed to the island’s beach resort which is 5 minutes walk from the airplane. In no time we were running for the beach. We didn’t mind the sun, the water was perfect. We were enjoying the cool wave-less water and Kozo was enjoying his snorkeling on the nearby rocks. Our fish and chicken lunch was served. The owner of the resort even gave us some live sea urchins for us to taste, which Kozo and Naru refers to as “uni”.
The owner of the resort invited us for an island tour to see the nearby beach which has rows of pine trees instead of the usual coconut trees. It was a 15 minute boat ride to the said beach. Boracay’s sand is no match to the sand this beach has to offer. In-fact sands extracted and sold from Jomalig are re-labeled as Boracay’s sand. The water was very clear and the temperature was nice.
After an hour of swimming we headed back to the resort and started packing our stuff. Whilst waiting for Kozo and Naru, the owner showed us the rooms of the resort. It will only cost you 15USD per night including food in Jomalig. I’ll definitely visit this place again.
We headed back to the plane and we were airborne in less than 10 minutes heading back direct to Clark. There was a couple of CB’s en-route over Sierra Madre. At one point, I inadvertently managed to get ourselves in one big giant cloud. At first I was still ok with the aircraft, just watch your instruments. Suddenly a huge downdraft hit us, and soon turbulence banked us hard right then hard left. At that point, I know Kozo’s flying skills could deal with this situation better than me and asked Kozo to fly the plane. The word “Macho” doesn’t go hand in hand with flying. There are times you really have to hand the controls to the more experienced pilot. After 10 minutes inside the cloud and battered by updrafts, downdrafts and turbulence, the calming sight of Arayat and mostly cloudless northern Luzon appeared on the screen.
Eighteen Nautical Miles out from Clark, we were given instructions to join 02 omni from Feliciano. I even managed to land RP-C8833 smoothly, a perfect way to end a cross-country flight.
Our day started solving our weight and balance. Kozo wanted to have full tanks (42 Gallons), after an hour trying to convince him that we only need 32 Gallons (that’s including an hour and 30 minutes reserve) he finally gave in with a condition. If we don’t have 15 Gallons before departing from Jomalig, we have to go to Daet and buy fuel. I agreed and I soon asked Sir Pete to remove 10 Gallons from the tanks of 8833.
20 minutes later, we were airborne heading 106 direct Jomalig climbing to 5500’. RP-C8833 doesn’t have headphone jack for the passengers, Naru and Kevin have to wear their headsets to protect their ears. It was a usual flight and the expected clouds over Sierra Madre were present. Right after our zigzag course (dodging clouds) over Sierra Madre, we can see Polilio Island. Before descent, I briefed Kozo that I’ll be doing a low pass over the runway initially and will circle back for landing. I want to inspect the runway condition and clear any animals/people from the runway.
Jomalig has a short (570 Meter) grass runway. I also briefed Kozo that if I bounce (high or low) during landing I will push the throttle forward and will execute a go-around no questions asked. My decision to make an initial low pass was right I was able to clear the cows on the runway and a couple of grass cutters. I lined up again for landing and managed to make a smooth soft-field landing. After engine shut down, the locals started running to the airplane as if we were a celebrity hahahah. Anyway, the locals are very warm, they even volunteered themselves to cook for us since there were no restaurants in Jomalig.
We then headed to the island’s beach resort which is 5 minutes walk from the airplane. In no time we were running for the beach. We didn’t mind the sun, the water was perfect. We were enjoying the cool wave-less water and Kozo was enjoying his snorkeling on the nearby rocks. Our fish and chicken lunch was served. The owner of the resort even gave us some live sea urchins for us to taste, which Kozo and Naru refers to as “uni”.
The owner of the resort invited us for an island tour to see the nearby beach which has rows of pine trees instead of the usual coconut trees. It was a 15 minute boat ride to the said beach. Boracay’s sand is no match to the sand this beach has to offer. In-fact sands extracted and sold from Jomalig are re-labeled as Boracay’s sand. The water was very clear and the temperature was nice.
After an hour of swimming we headed back to the resort and started packing our stuff. Whilst waiting for Kozo and Naru, the owner showed us the rooms of the resort. It will only cost you 15USD per night including food in Jomalig. I’ll definitely visit this place again.
We headed back to the plane and we were airborne in less than 10 minutes heading back direct to Clark. There was a couple of CB’s en-route over Sierra Madre. At one point, I inadvertently managed to get ourselves in one big giant cloud. At first I was still ok with the aircraft, just watch your instruments. Suddenly a huge downdraft hit us, and soon turbulence banked us hard right then hard left. At that point, I know Kozo’s flying skills could deal with this situation better than me and asked Kozo to fly the plane. The word “Macho” doesn’t go hand in hand with flying. There are times you really have to hand the controls to the more experienced pilot. After 10 minutes inside the cloud and battered by updrafts, downdrafts and turbulence, the calming sight of Arayat and mostly cloudless northern Luzon appeared on the screen.
Eighteen Nautical Miles out from Clark, we were given instructions to join 02 omni from Feliciano. I even managed to land RP-C8833 smoothly, a perfect way to end a cross-country flight.
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