Labor Intensive

Mission aviation maintenance is a labor intensive endeavor. And because aviation maintenance labor fee in a commercial shop runs right around $60 per hour, many airplanes that have sustained substantial damage are written off as scrap by insurance companies because it's often cheaper for them to replace an airplane than it might be to finance its repair.

That's where MMS Aviation comes in. Because everyone at MMS is a faith-supported missionary, we donate our time spent repairing missionary airplanes and do all the in-house work without charging any labor. All the missions pay for is the parts and materials we have to buy to facilitate the repair. This provides substantial savings to the mission agencies we serve.

If you're a regular blog follower, you know we have three long-term, missionary aircraft restoration projects underway: the Moody 182, the Honduran 206, and the Brazilian 206.

The Moody 182
While the engine and airframe repairs are completed, the instrument panel still needs a bit of work. Shortly after Mike completes the avionics upgrade and installation, this airplane will be ready to return to service.

The Moody 182 instrument panel

The Honduran 206
Ian shot the final color coat on the fuselage today. The next step is to paint the registration numbers on the wings.

Ian shoots blue paint after finishing with the white and red.

Ian pulls tape after the blue paint has set.

The Brazilian 206
The primary focus of the Brazilian 206 restoration right now is the modification to its horizontal stabilizer. Andy and Tim are spending the vast majority of their time focused on fabricating the necessary pieces, making repairs, and pre-fitting all the components in order to make sure it's all going to fit together when they finally start putting it all together.

Tim drills holes for the nut plates and Andy makes a repair.