One of the things that makes it tough operating in the environments where MAF serves, is the type of places we need to get the aircraft into. Accessing remote locations, which is one of MAF’s primary objectives, means that airstrips are often in interesting spots.

Some of ours in Lesotho are parallel to the mountains, perched on top of the one level piece of land in the area. Others are built 90 degrees to the mountain, because it was the only place long enough and flat enough. Some are down in valleys, with mountains all around, while others are at the end of a valley, with one way in and one way out. The point is, usually the most interesting and challenging part of the flight is the landing phase.

As such, it’s important that our airstrips are kept in as good a condition as possible. We have certain standards that have to be reached in order to give the pilot every advantage possible when landing. We need standard windsocks, clear white markers where the runway starts and ends, as well as MAF required 50% and 75% distance markers to help us evaluate performance.

As you can imagine, over time these need to be replaced, painted and fixed-up. MAF allocated funds for safety expenditure, and in Lesotho we have chosen this year to prioritize getting all our airstrips fixed-up to above the minimum standard.

Last week, our Chief Pilot Bryan and I took an aircraft loaded up with paint, tools and new windsocks, for a 2 day trip to work on our highest priority airstrips.

We had a very successful time. Working alongside local villagers and shepherds, we replaced 5 windsocks, used 80 liters of white paint, cut grass and replaced signs, to get our airstrips looking shiny and new.

We spent the night camping next to the airplane in one of the most scenic spots I could imagine.

Here are a few pictures to help paint the picture.