Cargo Challenge

So, how do you like your Christmas ham? On Tim’s last flight before Christmas, he was asked to fly five people, plus this pig, from one village to another for their Christmas feast (the pig).

A pilot is very careful not to exceed the maximum weight allowed for an aircraft load, so the pig’s weight was a big question. With no way to weigh the pig on the small scale in the airplane, Tim had to devise a different approach. First, he had the guys who had carried the pig pick it back up on the pole. Then, he tried the same idea with people, adding people until the carriers said the weight was the same. “The whole thing turned into quite a show,” Tim writes, “with the guys lifting us up each time, and us trying not to fall off!” It took Tim and four other guys to equal the weight of the pig!

Tim Ruth

Tim Ruth and his wife Lori live in Papua, Indonesia with their four children. Tim serves as a missionary pilot with YAJASI, our partner there.