RE: Nicaragua Mission Plane Delivery
Dear Family and Friends,
I left Nicaragua on February 17 and flew out of San Jose, Costa Rica, to Miami on
February 19. It meant one more day and a 12 hour bus ride, but the tickets were cheaper
that way than directly out of our capital of Managua. I then took a train to Ft Lauderdale
and flew via Southwest airlines to St. Louis, where my Cessna 172 airplane was waiting
for me at Wings of Hope. After a few days of work, I took off for Nicaragua. Two days
later I was in Harlingen, Texas. I enjoyed the gracious hospitality of Dr. Vargas and his
wife Cristina and stayed at their house on Sabbath. Sunday morning I crossed the border
into Mexico. Since it was cloudy, I flew IFR (instruments) to the first place in Mexico,
Tampico. Customs went very smoothly and efficiently, and I was off flying again in 1 ½
hours. I enjoyed the view of old volcanoes along the ocean and got to Verecruz in the
afternoon. Due to strong headwinds the whole way, it was too late to go further that day,
so I spent the night in a little hotel. Monday I left at 7 am and went to Villahermosa. I
then filed an international flight plan, cleared Mexico exit requirements, and left for San
Pedro Sula, Honduras. This was the longest leg of the trip, and very few airports exist on
that route. I had been on the coastline up to this point, but now it was over jungle. The
plane ran beautifully and I crossed all the way over Guatemala, speaking to their friendly
controllers as I passed over. I landed in La Mesa airport in San Pedro after 4 ½ hours. By
the time I cleared customs, immigration, and got fuel, it was far too late to depart, so I
spent the night there. I was off again after filing another international flight plan, paying
all the fees, and clearing all the exit procedures. They all have piles and piles of
paperwork, and of course each paper and department has their required fees and they all
take plenty of time. Fortunately I was in no big hurry. The last leg of the trip was 3 ½
hours and I landed in Puerto Cabezas, 30 minutes from our house. Nicaragua was the
only country I had notified of my arrival, and they had no customs waiting for me, they
were expecting me in the capital, Managua, 2 hours away. At first they insisted I must fly
to Managua (4 hours round trip), but they did have my fax, of which I showed them the
original, stating that I was arriving in Puerto Cabezas, not Managua. They finally realized
their mistake and gave me permission to fly to Tronquera, after a 4 ½ hour wait. The
whole town of Tronquera turned out to see a plane land on the runway for the first time in
almost 30 years. It was quite amazing to land for the first time on the airstrip I had
worked so hard on for over a year, with no idea if I would ever bring an airplane to use it.
The Lord is amazing.
The trip took 30 hours, and 4 days flying from St. Louis. The weather cooperated nicely,
except for the headwinds. The plane burned ½ a quart of oil the total time, which is
extremely good. The HF (ham) radio worked well in the plane, but talking to all the
controllers kept me too busy to spend much time talking to my wife or anyone else.
The next step is to open other runways up and down the river. March 7 we have a
meeting at the Waspam hospital (12 miles flying from our house) to organize transport of
critical patients to Puerto Cabezas.
Thank you so much for keeping the trip down in your prayers. We want to especially
thank Wings of Hope for the airplane and all their work on it. A special thank you also to
Mike Sidders for helping with the money to get the plane to Nicaragua, Clyde Peters for
his work on the plane, and many other people too numerous to mention without whom
this project would not run. Most of all we thank God for this ability we have to give the
local Miskito Indians faster transportation that will save lives.
God Bless,
Clint and Marilyn Hanley
