MMS on 12-12-12

Just thought I'd post a few pictures of what's happening in the hangar this 12th day of the 12th month in the 2012th year of our Lord.

 Andy safety-wires a component of the engine for LAMP's Lance.

 Chuck and Geoff apply masking to the rudder of the MAF 206 in preparation for shooting the color coats (red & blue) on the fuselage.

 Terry McClary works under instrument panel of the LAMP Lance.

 Ben and Bob install the baffling on the 172's new engine.

Safely up from Rus Rus, Honduras this MAG 206 waits for restoration to begin in preparation for its deployment to Guatemala.

Amazon Salt & Light's Cessna 185 awaits paperwork completion and its return to service flight.

N9719Z Has Arrived In Rus Rus

We're pleased to confirm that MAG's Cessna 206 has arrived safely in Rus Rus, Honduras.

N9719Z is in the background on the flight line in Rus Rus.

The white and red Cessna 206 in the foreground will soon be flown up to us to be inspected, repaired, restored, and prepared for ministry in MAG's new flight program in Guatemala.

MAG's Cessna 206 Departs for Service in Honduras

After being modified for operations in remote and rugged locations, Missionary Air Group's (MAG) newly acquired Cessna 206 departed MMS in preparation for its deployment in support of MAG's jungle hospital in Rus Rus, Honduras.

 

The arrival of this airplane in Rus Rus will allow the Cessna 206 currently operating in Rus Rus to be flown to our facility for restoration. After this next 206 is inspected, restored, and repaired it will be deployed to Guatemala where MAG is preparing to open a new field of operations.

Initial Engine Run of Mission Beyond's Zenith 801

Project Update

Here's the latest video snapshot of the projects underway in our hangar!

Hangar Overview & Project Update

We're currently enjoying a wonderful break from the heat and the humidity. Overnight temps are dropping into the 40's, daytime temps are topping out in the 70's and, at this point, anything below 100 percent humidity feels like a dry day. It's been a long, hot, HUMID summer in Coshocton, schools are back in session, and all our families are back from vacations and and various deputation trips.

Even with all the man-power shortage and shuffling that goes on every summer, our guys are still pushing projects toward completion.

Cessna 185

Amazon Salt & Light's Cessna 185 project is in its final stages of assembly. The airframe's nearly finished and the rigging is being finalized. The next major assembly process will be to install the floats in order to allow the 185 to use the Amazon River in Brazil for its runway.

 Jim and Jake hang the flaps on the 185.

MAG 206

Missionary Air Group's Cessna 206 is nearly completed. It should be on its way down to Honduras early next month.

 Josh begins installation of the interior of MAG's 206.

MAF 206

The restoration of MAF's Cessna 206 is in its final stages of airframe repair. Soon it will be headed into the paint booth.

 Andy and Chuck rivet a new skin on an elevator for the MAF 206.

Missions Beyond, Zenith 801

With all the major airframe components assembled, final adjustments are being made to its rigging and control surfaces in anticipation of its first flight.

 Zenith 801

GCI Cessna 310

The annual inspection on Gospel Carrier International's Cessna 310 was completed.

GCI 310

Schwartz, Cessna 172

The Cessna 172 that our personnel have access to fly has had a new instrument panel installed and is waiting for the resources to complete an upgrade to a more powerful engine.

Schwartz 172

Centralized Hardware Station
In response to staff requests, a centralized aircraft hardware station is being developed in Hangar B. Phil Maddux is overseeing the move and reorganization of all the various components necessary to hold airplanes together: nuts, bolts, washers, cotter pins, rivets of all shapes and sizes, fasteners, nut plates...

Phil organizes our aircraft hardware.

All this and there are seven more aircraft projects already on their way in!

Thanks for your gifts and prayers which enable us to prepare people and planes for worldwide mission service.

MMS Aviation has a presence at AirVenture at Oshkosh, WI. We along with other missionary organizations have a booth in the Fly-4-Life Tent. Stop by and say hello. We will be here through Sunday.

The large banner goes up

L-R, Dwight and Rena Jarboe, Ryan Joy, Chuck Egbert, Jim Newman

Our days have been full, talking to inquirers, networking with other mission agencies and introducing missionary Aviation in general. We are happy to have Ryan Joy lend us a hand. Ryan received his training through MMS and now serves in Brazil.  His furlough time has been a great asset to MMS as he plugs in to help at MMS ( his assistance here at AirVenture has been valuable).

Blog Posts To Resume In September

Sorry for the hiatus, but due to summer schedules, special assignments, and travel commitments, the MMS Aviation blog will resume regular posts in September.

Please feel free to explore the archived postings!

See you in September!

Into The World

Here's a short clip that provides insight into the internationally strategic role MMS plays in the greater effort of mission aviation through the preparation of people and planes for worldwide mission service.

Vintage Aircraft Visit Coshocton

While I'm not usually up at MMS on a Saturday, I was rather glad I stopped by this morning as several vintage aircraft had stopped in at the airport for fuel. I grabbed the camera from my office and shot some video of the aircraft departing on their way to an airshow. I hope you enjoy the video as much as I enjoyed shooting it!

Fire Extinguisher Training

Yesterday we enjoyed a bit of a break from the normal routine of aviation maintenance to receive classroom training and hands-on experience in the proper use of fire extinguishers: Pull, Aim, Squeeze, and Sweep. Allen and Conrad, of Fire Extinguisher Service, Berlin, OH, did a great job providing the two hours of training.

Spring Aircraft Projects

Here's a video overview of the projects currently in our hangar!

Mid-Week Hangar Snapshots

Here's some quick snapshots to bring you up-to-speed on our six, current aircraft projects:

Cessna 210

Mike and Jake check cylinder compression levels as part of the annual inspection of this regional Cessna 210.

 Mission Aviation Fellowship: Cessna 206

Chuck applies paint remover to the tail section of the 206.

 After inspection, Andy tapes the 206's nose gear components for painting prep.

 Phil removes seat rails from the 206's floor panels.

 

Amazon Salt & Light: Cessna 185

Mark uses a rivet squeezer to make a repair to one of the 185's damaged wings.

Pfeiffer Evangelical Association: Piper Aztec

Tim drains oil lines as part of the Aztec's annual inspection.

Missions Beyond: Zenith 801

 

Supervisor Mike (L) & missionary pilot Ethan Shields (R) discuss completion of the Zenith 801 for their ministry in Mexico.

Gospel Carrier International: Super King Air 200

The King Air is in for some airframe modifications.

Hey, Dwight, it isn't May!

I realize May isn't here yet, but I need to follow up on the Double Trouble post of February 9th. By the time the propellers were back from a prop shop in Pennsylvania, the engines were nearing completion. The last event in the engine repair process was an operational check in our test cell.


Fuel pump replacement (in the test cell)

 Of the two engines tested, one performed just as it should have but the other needed to have its fuel pump overhauled. The pump was sent to an FAA approved specialty shop and upon its reinstallation performed flawlessly. Then it was time to load the engines and props and get them back to the ministry in Florida.



He's a pilot, a mechanic, and a lift truck driver!



Two engines and two propellers

Fast forward a few days and about 1,050 miles. Upon arrival, MMS mechanics, Scott, Ben and Jake, went right to work installing the Cessna 310's engines.



Jake (left) and Ben guide an engine into place.

 Both engines are on the plane now and the propellers will probably wait until the airframe repair is complete before they are installed. (It's really unhandy dodging prop blades while doing major maintenance like this.)

Our fellows have already pitched in to help on several other maintenance tasks, joining their MMS coworker, Mark, who went there earlier to work on the DC-3 you see behind the Cessna 310.

Dwight Jarboe
President & CEO
MMS Aviation

Enjoy Our Blog Archives And We'll See You Again in May!

Thanks so much for stopping by our blog! Please enjoy searching back through our four years of blog posts. There's plenty to see and learn about how we prepare people and planes for worldwide mission service.

Active blog posting will begin again in May.

WHY?

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

Video: Aircraft Project Update

No Break In The Weather...No 402 Flight

The weather's just not giving us a break with rain, snow, low clouds, and icy conditions. With snow flurries predicted for tomorrow as well...things aren't looking good for making a return-to-service flight in the 402 any time soon and Pastor Bell needs to be back in Maine tomorrow to prepare for worship services on Sunday. It looks like he'll be flying home by commercial carrier out of Columbus, not in his own airplane out of Coshocton.

It's been a tough four days of waiting and now the waiting has come an end...but not in the way we would have preferred.

We'll try again when the several days of good weather match up with several days of clear schedule for Pastor Bell.

Still Waiting On Weather With The 402

Yesterday's predicted weather system has arrived. While last night's "winter weather advisory" has been lifted (replaced with a "flood watch"), we're left with rain and a current air temperature of 33 degrees.

The 402 crew is waiting it out working on other airplanes and hoping tomorrow's prediction of "partly sunny and breezy" comes to pass. The delays (administrative and weather-related) at the end of such a long and challenging project just make it seem like Christmas is tomorrow, but tomorrow always remains one day away no matter how many days you wake up.

The return-to-service and departure of the Cessna 402 will open up a new chapter of maintenance projects as the 402 is the last of the three most recent long-term restoration projects to be completed: The Asas de Socorro amphib 206 is down in Brazil, the Air Calvary 207 is back in Gabon, Africa, and soon..(tomorrow?) the Wings With the Word the 402 will fly.

Waiting on Weather

After waiting three weeks for the final FAA paperwork to come through confirming the airworthiness of Wings With the Word's Cessna 402, we're now waiting on weather to fly the airplane. Pastor Todd Bell is down from Maine to pilot the aircraft and, after not flying yesterday because of the low, thick clouds...it looks like today could be another day of waiting for tomorrow.

The clouds are predicted to break up this afternoon providing a brief window for flight before the next weather pattern moves in tonight (MORE JANUARY RAIN), but the cloud cover was supposed to break up yesterday afternoon also, and never did.

So much of flying is so much waiting.

The airplane needs to fly for at least two hours to check all the systems and identify any remaining squawks that turn up. We'll see what God has planned.

Pastor Bell inspects the 402.

Working Away on a Tuesday

It's 44 degrees, the sky is blue, the sun is bright and it seems more like a day in early spring as opposed to mid-winter. The temps do drop into the low twenties overnight, but the light frost left behind is gone soon after the sun rises. This day started a little differently than most as a local business group had breakfast at our hangar and then took a tour of the facility.

International Update
The Cessna 207 we restored for Air Calvary has safely arrived in Gabon, Africa after 8 days and 49 hours of flight! Here's a photo of a local pastor celebrating the airplane's return!

Pastor Sangoye welcomes the Air Calvary Cessna 207 back to Gabon.

Meanwhile, in our own hangar:

Andy, Mark, and Phil work on a local Cessna 310.

Josh readies a freshly reassembled engine for its test run.

Chuck (in the sweatshirt) explains the intricacies of aircraft hardware to Jake, MMS' newest apprentice.

Ben waxes the 402 before rolling it outside.

Mike enters the 402 to conduct its final post-inspection engine runs.

Field Report from Brazil: First Mission Flight of the Cessna 206

Here's the "first mission flight" report with photos from Ryan Joy, MMS Aviation graduate and Chief Engineer, with Asas De Socorro in Brazil. From Ryan Joy:

Good morning,

Last week I was invited to accompany one of our pilots Tim Ault in picking up a missionary from the interior of the Amazon. I don’t get many opportunities to go along and so I accepted the invitation. Our destination was an hour and a half flight Northeast of Manaus to a small village called Kassawa’. The people in the village have had the New Testament translated in there language Hixkariana but it is out of date and needs to be revised. There is a New Tribes Mission family and a single woman Maria that have been working on the revision for the last 10 years. During conversations to plan the trip we decided to use our newest Cessna 206 N5209X that had just arrived two weeks earlier to make the flight. With a better instrument panel, more comfortable seats that are safer in the event of an accident, a more powerful motor, and amphibious floats that allow the plane to land on water or land. The plane was an easy choice.

Missionary Maria

Tim and I departed from the hanger at 9:00 am and Tim wanting to practice landings in a short area (Kassawa’ has a river that has two bends one on each side of the village with rocks in the water making the landing area small.) we made 4 take-offs and landings in front of the Hanger. We then proceeded to the air club airport that is close to our house and again since the landing strip is very short Tim wanted to simulate short landings to see how the wheels that are deployed from floats would handle the strip in Kassawa’.(Rachel and the kids were able to watch us take off several times as we flew over the house) On the first landing the plane stopped in an adequate distance for Kassawa’ but what really caught my eye was the number of people that stopped what they were doing to admire the plane. In my experience any one that works in aviation usually will stop what they are doing to look anytime a plane is flying over and at an airport a new airplane will draw that much more attention. After making 4 take offs and landings with a crosswind no less we stopped to look at the weather and lots of people came around to admire the new plane. One of the guys asked if the plane was an H model ( The H model is the newest 206 model that is still in production) and other people asked other questions about the airplane. On a funny note when Tim and Marcio were bringing the plane down from the States they had bought some chocks with the manufacturers name on them. The name of the manufacturer is ASA and being that our mission name is ASAS someone thought we had personalized chocks made. He said “Where did you get those chocks they cost an arm and a leg here in Brazil to have made.”

The river approach at Kasawa. The village is in the center right section of the photo.

After making a cursory look at the weather and filing a flight plan Tim said we were ready for departure. N5209X lifted off at about 11:30 am with two aboard heading Northwest at 90 knots. We were bucking a 15 knot head wind but the ride was smooth. The airplane is a pleasure to fly, many times Tim would take his hands off the control yoke and the plane would fly straight and level with no tendencies to one side or the other. The instrumentation is some of the best in terms of functioning that Tim has ever flown with. Normally here in Manaus we put up with instruments that have some bearing noise but none of that is evident in N5209X’s instruments. The engine monitor (MVP-50) is easy to read and once the pilot get used to it, it becomes very helpful during the flight as it gives a lot of information about how the engine is running. The engine runs as smoothly as a turbine with no vibration felt in the cabin and burns less fuel. Using the engine monitor we were able to make adjustments so that 12.5 gallons an hour were consumed at 75% Which is about a half to a gallon an hour less than the older original engine and we gain 10 horse power to boot. We finally arrived at Kassawa’ about ten minutes later than planed because of the head wind. It was my first time to visit the village but as with other villages the people were all out on the bank waiting for us. As we pulled up to the dock I was surprised at amount of cell phones that were filming our entrance. There were about 20 children and teens on the dock and several phones all taking pictures. (there is one phone in the village it is a payphone that sends its signal via satellite I don’t think there was cell phone coverage there. ) For the most part the villagers just watched us as we met Maria and loaded her bags. Some of them spoke Portuguese but for the most part they only speak their own language.

The Kassawa reception committee.

When it was time to go we climbed into the plane and I noticed that as with most runways we had obstacles that needed to be cleared. There are two bends in the river that limit the take of run but it is the rocks at the one end that really are the incentive to get off in a certain distance. there are are of coarse trees all around as well so Tim had to think out how we would take off. He spoke aloud “ok I want to be up on the step here. This will be our abort point. We will start our run around the bend and be off before the abort point.” I was thinking the whole time boy this looks like a short runway and those are tall trees. Maria the single missionary was very calm and so I chatted with her a little about how long she was there in the village to which she replied 10 years and that she was working on the revision of the New Testament. She said the people are very receptive to the gospel and that they also intermarry with the Wai-Wais a group of Indians that received the Bible in its entirety.

Ryan, Maria, and Tim

The Floats are incredible as they get up on the step almost immediately and with the more powerful engine the plane was off the water and into the air long before the abort point. On the way home Tim explained that he wanted to test the airplane and run one tank dry before switching to the other that way all the fuel would stay concentrated and it would actually be safer later on. I must admit I don’t like running the tank dry in my car let alone the airplane but curiosity got the best of me and I wanted to see what would happen. (My life insurance in Christ is paid in full) The engine monitor shows when you get low on fuel by the number turning red on the screen and the numbers of gallons finally went to 0.0 and stayed there. We flew almost all the way home on that tank until we were on final and Tim said he needed to switch tanks for safety sake. We never did run the tank dry. We finally made it back to Manaus and instead of lowering a cart down the ramp to pull the plane up we motored up the ramp using the engine. It was a good trip, the plane proved that it will be a huge blessing in terms of comfort and safety and the smile on Maria's face as she stepped out on to solid ground was worth the trip in its self. I want to thank everyone that had a hand in putting this plane together. The pilots Tim and Marcio have already grown to appreciate the planes capabilities. The Lord has blessed Asas with this piece of equipment and me as well to be able to accompany the plane on it’s first mission flight.

Lord Bless you all and a Happy new year!

Ryan