Hangar Snaps

We have a rather unusual aircraft under our care right now. One of our local pilots owns a Stearman, a WWII era bi-plane which we have the privilege of inspecting and maintaining. The Stearman is in for its annual inspection.

Scott works on the Stearman.

There are several other projects underway right now as well.

 Phil makes repairs to the Cessna 310.

 Bob provides assistance as Mark, Ben, Jake, and Paul overhaul the magnetos from MFI's two engines.

 Mike builds a radio stack for a missionary airplane in Africa.

 Another local airplane, a Piper Comanche, is in for annual inspection.

 Paperwork is being initiated to begin work on the Cessna 185 for ministry with Amazon Salt and Light.

Thanks for your gifts and prayers which enable us to return missionary aircraft to the sky, prepare missionary airplane mechanics for service, and provide aviation maintenance for the local and regional aviation community.

Video: Double Trouble

A ministry in Florida brought the engines from their Cessna 310 up for us to disassemble, inspect, and reassemble. We're sending the crankshafts out to a specialty shop but will go ahead and work on the engine cylinders, crankcases, and engine accessories while waiting for the cranks to come back. The engine rebuild is high priority as the mission's ability to respond to immediate needs are severely restricted without the use of their 310.

The Cessna 402 Departs for Ministry!

After the 402's successful return-to-service flight yesterday, we gathered outside to pray over the airplane and dedicate it to the Lord's service. The weather was PERFECT this afternoon as Pastor Bell climbed in the airplane and returned to ministry in Maine.

The Cessna 402 Returns to Service!

After several weeks of waiting for administrative, weather, and scheduling challenges, the 402 finally flew today! Pastor Bell arrived this morning and will be here for another day or two to make additional shake-down flights and allow our mechanics to make final adjustments before he takes the airplane back to Wings With the Word's headquarters in Maine.

Scott Grote: A Field Report From Florida

From Scott on Rapid Response in Florida Assisting Agape Flights:

A typical day is about 11 hours on average and I am usually ready to sleep right after dinner. The people are awesome, the work is going smoothly and the weather is...well, its awesome too (75 to 80 any given day and sunshine). The Agape bird flew on Sat and, after a few adjustments, it is poised and ready to fly tomorrow. Thanks to Terry it came together really well and we have learned a bunch about the process. So just yesterday we removed wing covers, engines and all the connections between wing and fuselage and we have the stands under the right wing ready for removal today! The pic is of Agape's bird so you can see what an Embraer 110 looks like.

Agape's Embraer 110