Privileged to be the Middle Man

Receiving Missionary Supplies at home

There is a couple living in Sarasota that wanted to send supplies to there pastor family that is serving in Belize.  So on the weekend of Dec 05th, I received those boxes from them and transported them back to Harvest Aviation upon returning there the following week. The following week, two of our pilot’s at Harvest Aviation flew those and other missionary supplies to Belize City to be delivered to missionaries.

 

A&P Maintenance Technician Training

Repairing Magneto Lead

Installing a new Spark Plug Lead for the right engine of the Harvest’s recently donated Twin Engine Aircraft

It has been 5 months since I began training at Harvest. When I began the training as an Air-Frame & Power-plant Maintenance Technician, I was unsure and slightly nervous how well I would grasp the concepts of mechanics. Often, I would get frustrated and feel like the A&P licensed technicians are the smartest people on earth and that I will be old and gray before I will be able to attain the seemingly never-ending path of knowledge to learn. Ronny&Ken installing Carberator

Ronny and I Installing an Overhauled Carburetor.

Recently, Ronny was giving me a practical class on all the different types of screws, bolts, nuts etc. He was teaching me how to decode several different formats of part numbers and what they mean for size, diameter, length, and type. He had my head buzzing with so much new information that I finally told him I think we better stop the lesson so I can retain it all.

As time continues, I am learning enough that the many concepts are making sense and am beginning to be able to troubleshoot and diagnose issues.

Ken removing oil residue from Trainer

Removing Oil Residue from an Oil Leak on the Engine of the Aircraft I am Training in.

 

Instrument Flight Training

I began Instrument flight training on Dec 05th to attain my required Instrument Rating as a missionary pilot. My instrument flight instructor is a retired DHL captain from West Virginia. He has volunteered during the snowbird months as a flight instructor at Harvest to train my roommate Trey and myself on how to become missionary pilot’s.

What is an Instrument Rating? An Instrument Rating is a rating that is added to a Private Pilot or Commercial Pilot License and refers to the qualifications that a pilot must have in order to fly under Instrument Flight Rules or IFR. It requires obtaining additional flight training from a qualified FAA Certified Instrument Flight Instructor, including rules and IFR procedures to enable the pilot to legally and safely operate an aircraft in Instrument Meteorological Conditions, or in fog and cloudy weather. Additional instruction in weather and more intensive instrument flight training in flight solely by reference to instruments that are in the aircraft is the core of Instrument Flight Training.  Most of the training is done with the trainee wearing view limiting foggles that obstruct the trainees vision to only inside the cockpit to simulate bad weather. The trainee learns to navigate the aircraft solely to the instruments in the cockpit and when only 250ft above the runway does the trainee remove the view limiting foggles to land. Since the human body relies on the ear’s vestibular  system and eyes for balance and orientation, the trainee needs to learn to overcome the dependence on the bodies’ senses. To do this, the trainee’s flight instructor will have the trainee pick up a pen on the floor and in the mean time put the aircraft into an unusual attitude like a turning nose dive. As the flight instructor commands the trainee to recover, his body senses may be telling him he is in a climb in the opposite direction. The trainee needs to have faith in the instruments that are in the cockpit and not rely on what his body is telling him and recover accordingly.

This scenario is the same for us in our Christian walk. In a nose dive in life, what do my eyes fix on? Do they search outside of the cockpit in the fog for the “worlds horizon” to determine how I should recover? Am I going to attempt to recover with my own disoriented senses and completely lose control of the aircraft? Or am I full of unwavering faith that fixes on the instrument of God and His Word that reveals how I should recover from a nose dive in life.

Training flight

NC Mountains

Appalachian Mountains in Virginia.

On Jan 11th,  my instructor and I transported his sold aircraft from West Virginia to the owner in Sebring, FL. This completed a long cross country flight under instrument flight rules that is required to earn the instrument rating. In route along the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia, we encountered strong winds which created mountain wave. Mountain wave is a result of the winds downwind of the mountain that create a draft that rises and then drops. When in the down draft of the wave, we had full power applied and trying to climb, but we were still descending 500ft per mile due to the mountain waves downdraft.

A highlight of the 9.5hr flight was having lunch with my brother Tim and his family in Pickens, SC where we had one of the two fuel stops.

Approaching Orlando from North (1)

Over flying Orlando in Route to Sebring Fl

Praise God For

  1. The obstacle that hindered Instrument Flight Training has now been removed after 7 weeks of troubleshooting an instrument issue in the trainer aircraft.
  2. Ronny Erekson’s wife Denise for encouraging cancer test results.
  3. God’s way of providing financially for flight training and His clear and faithful leading hand.

Prayer Requests

  1. Ronny Erekson’s wife Denise for complete healing and recovery of cancer.
  2. Direction for Harvest Aviation.
  3. Volunteer at Harvest Aviation to take on the role of president.
  4. More opportunities for me to get into the pilot’s seat for the Belize flights to gain experience.