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This Cessna T206H joined Mercy Wings International
which is the aviation division of Living Water Teaching
in 1999.
The country of Guatemala is a mix of many
environments, coastline, valley, jungle, volcano range,
and high mountain. And we require this aircraft to
deftly negotiate these and many other hardships.
 
Santa Maria Volcano as seen from nearby Santiaguito
Volcano (left).
And the Santa Maria Volcano as seen from our city,
Quetzaltenango (right)
Our mission base is located at 7800 feet on a
volcanic plateau, here many piston aircraft struggle to
make sufficient power to get off the runway, climb, or
just maintain level flight. Summer temperatures
and humidity sap performance by producing high "density
altitudes" in this already atmosphere starved location.
Inside
the cowl is a Lycoming TIO-540. The "T"
designation in the model number, means this big engine
is turbo-charged. As piston aircraft gain altitude
the thinning air becomes less and less useful in making
a combustible mixture to produce a percentage of rated
engine power. Result: power produced is limited at
higher altitudes.
By super-charging, a greater volume of air is made
available to the engine, thus making up for the thinning
atmosphere. Enabling power levels to be maintained
at our higher altitudes. Giving a very comforting
1000 ft / minute climb rate up to 14000 ft/MSL.
The "I" designation means fuel is injected into each
cylinder for uniform power, temperature, and efficiency.
Allowing all six cylinders to work in concert to produce
310 horse power under specific conditions. The
injection system on this engine has been specially
modified , to further balance injected fuel for optimal
efficiency. All this to gain greater performance
and margin for safety in the unforgiving terrain of
Guatemala.
The
aircraft is also upgraded with heavy landing gear for
rural and jungle take off and landing. Over sized
tires absorb the shock of smaller obstacles encountered
on unimproved strips. And heavy duty brakes to
stop a loaded aircraft on short fields.
Inside the fuselage is an array of modern
instrumentation that provides the pilot with the ability
to traverse this unpredictable environment with an above
average degree of situational awareness.
This
part of Guatemala has elevations from 10,800 ft to
12,500 ft; the minimum altitude while crossing one of
these is at least 1000 ft higher.
At these altitudes it is a requirement to use oxygen,
this aircraft is equipped with a system that makes
breathing oxygen available for the pilot and up to five
passengers. That's the green tank in the tail
cone.
The cabin/fuselage has room for six and storage for
luggage or cargo in the aft section. the seats can
be removed in any combination to accommodate most any
mission. Including someone laying down, with easy
access through the big cargo doors. Overall well
suited for it's role in Guatemala.
This
aircraft cruises at 140 kts making visits to surrounding
countries very possible. For instance, the
distance between Guatemala City and Belize City is about
220 Nautical Miles, this trip could be done in 1.6
hours. El Salvador in less then an hour, Tegucigalpa in
1.4 hours, Managua in 2.1 hours. You get the idea.
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