An update … from Kabul

Published on November 17, 2013 by in Updates

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Another time-shifted update video for you, recorded in Kabul, Afghanistan last month (as I write this Aidan’s actually in Seattle, after a few weeks of CASA 212 flying up in Western Alaska … he finally got back to the U.S. at the beginning of November). In the video, he explains the visa issues that kept him in Afghanistan for almost a month more than planned, and talks about some of the research for Oddball Pilot he was able to do while in Kabul.

We’ll post another video soon for Oddball Pilot members, in which he walks through his entire ordeal. It’s a great example of the sort of thing that can happen when you travel off the beaten path. It cost him a lot of time, money, and lost pay … but he learned a thing or two about oddball flying opportunities in Afghanistan in the process, so all was not lost!

As always, feel free to email us about any interesting flying jobs you know about (or want to know about), and we’ll put them on our list of topics to research for you.

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9 Responses to “An update … from Kabul”

  1. Where else but Oddball Pilot could you get this kind of report? Fascinating.

  2. Dennis Quinn says:

    What the hell you traveling to Afghanistan for Aiden? I can think of nicer places to hang out….

  3. Dennis Quinn says:

    So you managed to climb? Or did you get caught up in bureaucratic snafus…

  4. Bailey Bernier says:

    I have to say I’m a bit jealous of your adventure in the Wakhan corridor. I sat in Kunduz for a year, sometimes going to Mezar-e-sharif, & Termiz, UZ.

    I wanted so badly to see Fayzabad and the the corridor, I was told there was some crazy Ice-cave on the afghan side of the Aghan/Chinese border. Only in the winter, could I see the big mountains clearly from the base.

    • Aidan Loehr says:

      Hey Bailey – The corridor was awesome!
      I was going through some of the photos while I was stuck at the Anchorage Airport a few days ago.
      The accidental extra month gave me a better tour of Afghanistan then I was expecting.
      I ended up on a Pactec flight from Ishkishim to Fayzabad, a bus from there through Kunduz to Kabul and a day trip out of Kabul to Panshir and Salang Pass. As well as 2 weeks hanging out in Kabul.
      All the people I met were super friendly and the granite at the Salang Pass was fantastic! I’ll get some photos up as soon as I get them sorted out.
      I missed the ice caves. Next trip……
      Cheers

  5. chad oba says:

    Aiden! It is never simple in Afghanistan..never was, never will be.. Glad to hear you are home tho..with another adventure under your pilot’s belt..sounds like you are doing good work..take care. Chad

  6. Larrie Loehr says:

    The relatives chime in – sister, brother, father, mother, and many others – we are happy you have returned! It’s a marvel how you turn the risks of oddball piloting and the accompanying life style to keep growing new ways of understanding life – your adventures are the experimental counterpart to those of a theoretical physicist, your own update to Erwin Schrodinger’s essay, “What is Life?” I can imagine a conversation between yourself and Albert Einstein discussing the physics of crossing the boarder to Afghanistan, or with the Dali Llama on the role of meditation with boarder gate guards or clerks in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs! – love, Pops

  7. Lewis Messick says:

    Afghanistan is quite the experience, ay? I am here, this time around, flying C208s with the Afghan Air Force. Happy you got to soak in the land and culture. I’m also happy you made it out, period. My trip home is a few month away. By the way, do you remember the names of your PACTEC pilot? If you were with them from Eshkashem to Fayzabad, I assume you were on one of their Kodiaks. God speed! – Lewis

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