This is the diary of the DACCIWA field season flying out of Togo during Jun/Jul 2016. DACCIWA is an EU funded project. BAS is providing the Twin Otter and some core instruments but the main UK airborne involvement is through Universities of Manchester and York. You can also follow on Twitter.

 

Google Earth flight tracks are here.


Twin Otter departed 06:00 with Mark, Ollie, Cobi to Sierra Leone and onwards to The Gambia.

 

Remaining UK staff depart on evening flight.

 

 

Twin Otter heading west

Van to move GC hotel kit to container. Finalising aircraft departure arrangements.

 

French ATR aircraft departed.

 

Sorting out hotel bills.

 

Ready for departure

Civilised 8am start for a Sunday. Aircraft reroll completed. Container mostly packed.

 

Pizza for lunch. Waiting for SBS to create new supplier to pay authorities in Ghana so the aircraft can leave... Mat flew home.

 

Transit to/from UK approx 110 hours total. DACCIWA science flying hours approx 48 hours.

 

 

Container filling up.

Final 04:30 start. Flight cancelled due to lack of cloud so started rerolling the aircraft.

Fork lift arrived on time so racks all out and into the container and a lot of the external kit off too. Packing started.

 

Jonny and Keith flew home as did Sophie by booking an earlier flight.

 

Flying finished for all aircraft today.

 


04:30 start. Finished data copy and back up from yesterday. 9:15 takeoff.

 

DLR Falcon departed. Inter comparison flight with ATR, kind of. Jonny up and about but not flying. Phil suffering today. Phil, James D, Peter flew am. Good turn around. PCASP cals. Masin PC worked fine on both flights after attention yesterday.

 

Cobi got 3G router working. Sophie, James L, Eleanor flew pm Accra docks.

James D and Russ started packing boxes and emptying container. Phil flew home.

PCASP sunrise

02:30 start for 07:00 take off. Second flight binned due to too much cloud.

 

Johnny ill and had to come back to Hotel, Sophie flew instead. James D went to clinic to look at knee. MASIN PC crashed several times. All fans working, all boards and memory reseated after flight. Disk defrag and excess files deleted. Cloud PC didn't start first time. A lot of German contingent left in evening.

 

 

Industrial port

04:30 start for 09:00 takeoff. KIT team here filming. James J turned up midday. Falcon and ATR cancelled inter-comparison flight due to issues with ATR permissions.

 

MASIN PC crash and failed to restart during flight. Long wait for fuel.

 

Second flight planned 14:30 but aborted due to late fuelling.

CPC laser current increased from 14 to 43 mA after problem in earlier flight. James D twisted knee during flight.

A common sight along the coast

No Twin Otter flights today. Cobi doing 'A' check.

 

James D doing PCASP calibrations and moving SP2 onto rack UPS. CPC and monitor moved off UPS. AMS calibrations lead removed. Russ day off

 

James J coming back to Lome today or not. 4-Jul flight processed from spare IMU.

A group took the cars off 2 hours North to drive/walk up the country's highest hill.

Hotel sunset

4am depart for 8:30 take off. Shared a Safire car to airport. They have nicer cars than us. Taped up mouse holes in office door.

 

Short morning flight, quick refuel and short afternoon flight to work off the final hours before 'A' check tomorrow. MASIN PC reset in afternoon flight.

 

Added KML google earth flight tracks.

 

Flight Tracks

4am depart for 8:30 take off. Car not there again. Cobi repaired strobe.

 

Keith, Sophie, Adam on morning flight. Usual wait for fuel.

 

James D, Adam, Jonny on pm flight, complete with radiation calibration pirouettes on the apron. MASIN PC resetting during flight, maybe due to heat.

 

Oxygen cylinder replaced in evening. Russ and Cobi both improved.

 

Office ants have started to invade laptops. Maybe cleaning crumbs from keyboards.

 

Cobi replacing wing tip strobe

No flying day for any of the aircraft for crew rest day. Fuelled aircraft, 4 hours after requesting the fuel truck. Most netcdf files finally produced.

 

Rota of AMS pumping down / testing people. Russ not well. Cobi recovering a little.

 

Replaced CAPS-CAS window broken O ring.

 

 

Keith and Jonny working on AMS

06:00 start for 08:30 take off to be away before repatriation flight came in.

James D, Christine and Jonny flying. No Cobi as unwell.

 

Limited space on apron on landing but we made it work with help from Germans to pull us out when it came to leave for the second flight with James L, Sophie and Adam onboard.

 

Late night rebuilding AMS. Johnny locked up at the end.

 

Togolese UN repatriation flight

04:00 start although took a while to get a driver. Also lots of police/military checkpoints on the roads. Lots more cockroaches around at 5am in the hangar! Rewiring ground cables.

 

Helicopter parked outside and no fuel truck. Downloading Trimble raw data.

Fuel wait delayed take off by 75 mins while phone calls were made from UK.

 

Equally long wait for fuel on landing. 17 hours until A check. Saturday pilots day off. Cobi back at the clinic for tests.

The all important airport snacks table

Dual flight planned again. 07:00 hotel depart for 09:30 take off. Radiation flight with Mark, Ollie, Keith, Adam and Jonny. 2D-S put back on. Rain on engine start.

 

Second flight Mark, Ollie, Adam, Sophie, James L over to Ghana. PCASP fitted.

 

Producing csv lat/lon/alt files for York people.

Some kind of progress in getting the AMS working but requires work next down day.

A wet start to the day

8am hotel depart for 10:30 take off. Radiation flight with Ollie, Cobi, Ian, Adam, Phil onboard as Mark ill. Thin FUST replaced. French CCN removed. First start up aborted. Jonny hopped onboard for second power up which was successful. French helped out to cover for cables etc on ground.

 

Refuel. Second flight. LICOR Ascarite scrubber replaced. AMS tests with French DMA. 2D-S replaced with PCASP. Pilot finger trouble on first start up.

Second attempt successful. Slightly shorter flight in order to return in daylight. Fault finding / reverse engineering French CCN (part of Manchester kit).

 

Aircraft parked outside, not refuelled. James L birthday. Sophie & Jonny shopped for provisions. James D arrived.

Data download in the dark

07:30 departure from hotel for 12:00 scheduled take off today.

Falcon and ATR flew to Ivory coast for permissions and science flights.

Two pilots, Sophie, Adam and James L flying today.

 

Power in hangar went off for half an hour before landing but came back just in time taxied to plug in and keep the AMS running.

 

Refuel worked well. Finger trouble - CAPS Hot wire not turned on. Thin FUST broke

IMU/GPS solution spiralled off into space. Not an error seen before. Forward video moved back.

 

Ian, Cobi, Russ stocked up on lunch snacks and water and managed a quick lunch at the hotel before returning. A lunch for once that didn't consist of crisps or biscuits.

Shoe stalls - find the pair!

06:30 pickup from Hotel for 11:00 take off. for Mark, Ollie, Keith, Sophie, Jonny.

 

French also flying similar area in Benin, Falcon training flight for new pilot.

 

Achievement of the day was arriving back last and getting the fuel truck first thanks to our German colleagues.

 

AZ and the ATR waiting for fuel

No flying today for Falcon or Twin Otter. ATR did a flight. Germans arranged a sightseeing tour.

 

Mike and Russ at airport progressing on GPS 1pps trigger issue. Turbulence probe and Licor appear to be back online. Mike F flew home in evening.

Ollie and Cobi took the aircraft to refuel, nominally on their day off, ready for tomorrow.

Space is tight in the hangar

Plan B adopted. Some more UK admin hoops of adding about 20 kg of emergency water and the two science lab first aid kits to the aircraft and we were cleared to fly. James J arrived back in the UK.

 

Busy morning preparing. 2 hour flight close to Lome, that turned into a 3 hour flight. Still ground refuelling issues as now tanker will only come once a day and the French ATR landed before we had even left. May be possible to co-ordinate return times on some days.

New IMU/GPS replacement failed to trigger Licor or BAT Probe. MASIN binary data files have small corruptions in them. Never seen before. Overheating? Cloud PC took several attempts to boot on engine start.

more office wildlife
black & yellow mud dauber?

Revised science re-role submitted and approved. Cockpit camera removed.

 

Issues with lack of training for people flying just announced. Plan A for Russ to fly every flight while 2 people return to UK for fire training. Plan B to let Ollie, the spare pilot to act as cabin crew. So no flights today. Planning to start tomorrow unless other issues are discovered. RCDs changed from 10mA to 30mA.

 

French and German aircraft both flew.

 

Working on operator checklists. JAVAD GPS failed. Time sync moved to camera bay IMU, BAT/Licor trigger moved to new IMU in cabin but untested as no GPS signal in hangar.

Hotel bug catchers

CAPS-CAS and CDP calibrations. 2D-S issue fixed as it had not worked yesterday. PCASP fixed in office and also confirmed working on the wing.

 

Full pre-flight and post-flight power up/down using ground power science cables successful. Some issues with ground power RCDs tripping. Time synced downward camera. Replacement camera bay external plate fitted so as to be able to access camera memory card.

PSP replaced with spare because of chips in dome.

 

French and German aircraft both started science flying.

CDP calibrations

All 3 aircraft flew to Accra and back for Ghanian inspection and issue of flying permits. 2 pilots, James J, Cobi and Mike Flynn onboard AZ. Some teething issues still with airport procedures which delayed things a little and having to taxi to the commercial airport to be fuelled each time.

 

Ambassadors visit Lome hangar for meeting while the aircraft are away.

Writing Rack startup instructions. PCASP bench check - issue with canister adaptor cabling to rectify. Turns out we don't yet have paperwork to fly in Togo after yesterday's visit. Also the science fit sign off paperwork has been rejected by BAS Air Unit management.

Approaching Accra

Inspection of DACCIWA aircraft by Togolese authorities in order to grant flying permits for the project.

 

Cockpit camera time synced. Radiometer coefficients updated. Headsets installed but not tested. PCASP tested, failed to talk to probe. Safety briefing for scientists likely to be flying. Some issues still with chemistry rack. Mike managed to get readings from new Brechtel CPC.

Buck Hygrometer pressure not working, otherwise BAS instruments ok. Tidied office to make space for DLR. Most instruments tested ok. ATC meeting.

 

Initial estimates for flight endurance reduced to 2:50. Also talk of fewer flying hours total than we were thought to have committed to. Science role change not yet signed off by BAS Air Unit management.

Office wildlife

Fork lift back to install final two racks. Second pylon and 2D-S added.

 

Final cabling and pipes installed. Long day. DLR Falcon arrived.

 

Install weights finalised.

 

DLR Falcon and BAS Twin Otter

First pylon installed with CAPS Probe and first rack lifted in. Forward rack powered up to check external sensors and camera bay equipment before camera bay floor screwed back down.

 

Cobi caught his head on the Brechtel manifold tubing during the install and had to go off to the clinic to get cleaned up and some stitches.

 

Mike and Jonny running AMS rack in office and other instrument tests.

 

Daily Commute

Installed all external instruments apart from pylons. Camera bay board fitted, rear pump tray, gas bottles and gas lines. We were issued with our own bucket to flush the toilets at the airport when the water fails. James Lee arrived. Leaks on aerosol instrument lines traced and fixed, AMS looking ok. New phones and sims for UK project staff. Apparently despite the risk assessment and chauffeured cars we now also have a hire car. Not sure who for.

We also need to fly with two pilots all the time, once the Oliver arrives so he can be trained ready for the Antarctic season.

 

Project costs for the UK contingent just went up in this Euro linked currency country ...

Mike showing the door
to a preying mantis

Te Ozone instrument removed from York rack and replaced with 2B. Sea container mostly emptied. Ferry tanks removed from AZ and put into container. BAS airfreight located by military Comandant and delivered. Mini CPC added to AMS rack. MASIN software partial update. Licor inlet temperature extension cable fitted. New splitters added to aerosol instruments. Both canisters attached to pylons. BAT Boom assembled. Second Inverter switch over box CB removed.
Ground gas analysing kit moved from airport to hotel with hired truck. AZ moved back into hangar. Uncertainty over flying hours on project and next C check. AMS leak found and being monitored. 5 min power cut at airport. Lack of water in airport toilets possibly resolved. No time to sample hotel facilities yet!

AZ Ferry Flight. Banjul->Lungi (Sierra Leone)->Lomé with Mark and Cobi. Located shipping container at airport and airfreight from York and France but nothing from BAS. 70A CB removed from 1st inverter changeover box.

 

First supermarket bottled water run. Supermarket almost emptied of stock. York Uni x3 pax arrived but missing several bags.

  Working on racks

AZ Ferry Flight. Gran Canaria->Banjul, The Gambia. Russ, James J, Michael, Sophie and Jonathan fly UK to Lome via Paris and an extra stop in Cotonou, Benin.

  Beach/Sea view from hotel!

AZ Ferry Flight. Porto-> Gran Canaria


AZ Ferry Flight. Duxford -> Porto, Portugal


BAS airfreight arrived in Togo.


James J in London getting visas for Togo from the embassy.


 

BAS/Manchester airfreight passed to BAS stores for Togo.

   

Mike Flynn collected MAC cargo from BAS and delivered his airfreight boxes for Togo.


Tom and Russ collected all remaining cargo from Cranfield in a hire van.


York shipping container packed and sent off. Test pilot at Cranfield for performance/drag test flights. Russ and Josh removed Pylons for second flight and then removed / packed everything else.


Finished packing Manchester and BAS equipment. Loaded Mike's van with everything to be delivered to the York container.


Issues with power draw to rear rack. Various tests. Shakedown flight by Vicky and James J, followed by very short science test flight. All internal equipment, racks, rails etc removed and packed. York equipment departed.

  Rear Rack

Tom visited to perform CAPS Probe calibrations. Final rack installed and testing started.

  AMS (mid) Rack

Rack mounting rails finally arrived and were fitted after adjustments. Two racks installed.

  Forward Rack

Josh remounted pylons. Mark B and James J were at Cranfield. Mike working on AMS. Russ replacing cables, remounted roof fieldpoint. James J and Kath both chasing UPS customs at Heathrow. James L and Adam rack/pump testing.


AZ flight to/from Cranfield, not directly related to the project.


 

Rack fixings still stuck in customs, Heathrow.

   

Met with Mark B. Both pylons and probes removed from wings in order for aircraft to fly over the weekend. Fit made airworthy and current weight and balance calculated. Weighed forward two racks. Powering up racks. Gas lines installed in aircraft.


 

Russ and Mike working on racks.

   

Russ and Josh fitting external instruments, Mike and James L working on racks. Gas bottle rack needed modifying to fit cylinders. Cylinder rack installed.

  Cylinders and pumps

Russ and Josh fitting external instruments, Mike and James L working on racks. Pumps mounted to rear baggage pump tray.

  Pump Tray

 

Bank Holiday Monday

   

 

Josh doing 'B' Check on AZ.

 
      Ice Cold Katy logo returns

Josh rerolling - removing ferry tanks and unloading.


Mike and Russ working on racks. AZ arrives from Belfast. Mark and Josh met by Mark T and James J. Safety briefing.


Mike and Russ arrived Cranfield to start building up the shared Manchester/BAS racks.