Friday, May 28, 2010

Open House up at MMS

Last weekend, May 22nd and 23rd, MMS has the opportunity to open it's doors and share it's work with the local community and those from further afield. It's amazing how many people there are just in Coshocton who don't really know what goes on 'up on the hill' at the airport and we had a chance to play our part over the weekend. (Check out the matching his'n'hers MMS polo shirts and name tags!!)
The hangars were super clean and tidy and all the guys were dotted around ready to show our visitors the different aircraft, explain all the work they do to each of them and the roles of each mission agency who have sent them in.
The MMS ladies were also there to help ... even though most of the time you won't find many of them up in the hangar! They were able to help in welcoming the guests, looking after the refreshments and talking about the non-plane details!! It was good chance for them to have fun and feel part of MMS and the Open House too ... thanks to Mark's parents being here, Jenny was able to fill a slot without Abigail chasing her around!!
After their tours everyone seemed to congregate in Hangar A where there was more information about MMS and a little something to eat & drink. While some of the US MMS staff had representatives from their sending churches visit, we figured it was a little far for ours to travel! However, it was great to welcome Pastor Dan and his family, as well as a few others from Coshocton Christian Tabernacle, our church here.
Abigail didn't miss out entirely ... and spent a little time at the hangar on Sunday afternoon ... being happily pushed around in her pink trike by another MMS youngster and looking at all the planes (or 'ploughs' as she refers to them!!). The Cessna 208B Grand Caravan shown in the picture below was used by MFI to fly in and out of Haiti earlier this year with aid after the devastation there.
Check out the short video clip below which gives you a snippet of what it was like to be at MMS for the Open House weekend. Thanks to Keith who is always putting together little snapshots of hangar life!

Monday, May 17, 2010

Aircraft Galore : Part 1

Mark writes ...
Walking around at work the other day, it came to me that we have a vast array of aircraft in the hangars at the moment. Some that are in for work and others that we keep at the hangar for various reasons. So, 'Part 1' will cover all the aircraft that are being worked on (or are on the waiting list) and 'Part 2' will be about all the other aircraft we have.
Cessna 206
This Cessna was purchased by MAF from Alaska and was shipped to MMS to be overhauled. It had to have many skin panels replaced due to corrosion, a brand new paint job and new avionics package. It will also be getting amphibious floats and wing tip extensions added once the money has been raised. Once complete, it will be heading to Brazil to serve with Asas de Socorro. I have had the chance to gain a lot of experience working on different parts of this aircraft.
Cessna 402
The 402 needs to have its main wing spars inspected using Eddy-current Non-Destructive testing. This requires both engines removed (already done), then a number of panels removed including the firewall just to get to the spar to do the test. If it is all clear, we'll do a modification to strengthen the spar. If it's cracked, the whole aircraft may be scrapped due to the cost of replacing the spars in the wings. We'll just have to wait and see.
Cessna 337
The twin engined 337 arrived about three years ago from LAMP (Lutheran Association of Missionaries & Pilots) in Canada. It needed many modifications including servicing the hydraulics pack, replace the de-ice boots and repairs to the horizontal stabiliser.
Cessna 172
This Cessna belongs to one of the team here at MMS. Bob's aircraft has been without paint for a while (nicknamed Mater ... from 'Cars'). So, as it was due for it's annual inspection, Bob decided it was time for Mater to finally get a fresh coat of paint as well.
Van's RV8
The RV8 belongs to a local guy who required an annual inspection on his aircraft. Whilst Chuck was checking out some suspect rivets in the tail section, it was noted that some bolts were coming loose, which lead to a discovery that could have meant both the horizontal and vertical stabilisers may have broken off. This meant that some major work had to be done before it could be signed off as airworthy.
Piper Cherokee 180
The Cherokee has also come in for an annual inspection. An annual inspection involves inspecting everything from the engine to the fuselage. All moving parts, wheels, brakes, instruments, oil, filters etc need to be checked. This is a process that I'm starting to learn more about and how to do. When we start with MAF, this will be one of the jobs that I will probably be doing quite regularly.
Mooney M20J
I have been able to learn all about doing annual inspections on this Mooney. The Mooney was donated to MAF-US and is being used by the area representative to get about. I was able to work on the wheel bearings, engine baffles, do some wire repairs and fix the trim tab elevator. The annual was almost finished when we spotted a fuel seepage from one of the tanks. So now once the sealant arrives, we'll have to open up the fuel tank and repair the leak.
Cirrus SR20
The Cirrus was bought by one of our regular customers to be fixed up when we have the chance. It had been in a crash and needs some major repair work done.
In the second part of this blog, I'll show you some of the aircraft that we have around here that aren't being worked on at the moment.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Weekends of First's!

The first weekend in May was a weekend of 'first's' for us! Jenny went away to the Women of Faith conference in Columbus as part of a group of 19 from our church here ... and Mark and Abigail had some daddy/daughter bonding time ... from Friday lunchtime til Saturday evening! Jenny had a great time making new friends (they were all up til 1am eating cheesecake in one of the hotel rooms!!!) and having some 'time out' from being a mum, the speakers were really inspiring too, including Anita Renfroe of the infamous 'Mom Song' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXgoJ0f5EsQ). Mark and Abigail had fun together, meeting friends at the park amongst other things!! Mark was crashed out on the sofa on Jenny's return grateful that he doesn't have to single handedly look after Abigail every day!
The second weekend in May was also a weekend of 'first's' for us ... we welcomed Mark's parents to America on Wednesday, so it was our first weekend with them out here ... it was also our first holiday since arriving as we'd booked a cabin in the Hocking Hills for 4 nights, for all of us to explore a different part of Ohio!
Our cabin was lovely, complete with hot tub on the lower deck ... maybe a few too many bear skins and stuffed animals for our liking ... but a really nice place to relax in the middle of nowhere after a crazy 7 months!!!
Around the Hocking Hills are some amazing natural sandstone caves and waterfalls and each day we visited a different one or two!!! To appreciate the scale of the photo above, see the tiny little person at the top, slightly left of centre!!
Abigail enjoyed herself ... surprising us by doing loads of walking ... more than we thought she could manage each day before asking to go in the back pack!!!
For those of you who've been there ... we visited Ash Cave, Rock House, Old Man's Cave and Cedar Falls ... as well as finding some yummy (and not so yummy!!) places to eat!!
For the times when Abigail was tired ... or when the pathway wasn't Abigail friendly ... she was very happy to ride on either of our backs ... if we stopped to take in the beautiful scenery she was quick to tell us to keep going, even pushing our shoulders trying to make us move forward ... Charming!!!
It was a great place to explore and all three generations of Beckwith enjoyed the mini-break and beautiful surroundings!!!