Our Roses Are In Bloom

Here are some snapshots of the first bloom of our climbing Roses. When we went on vacation we had one bloom. When we returned from vacation this is what we found!

A trellis full of two different climbing roses

These are called "4th of July Roses" because they look like fireworks exploding.

They're mixed in with a more traditional red climber.

I changed to a different rose food/fertilizer the year and the bushes are looking very, very well fed.

On warm days like today it's amazing to sit on our front porch and have the afternoon breeze just wash you in the rose's aromas. The 4th of July roses actually smell like apples!

Have a great weekend. Thanks for your gifts and prayers which enable us to serve and, every now and then, to also stop and smell the roses. We wish you were here to stop and smell the roses with us.

Cessna 402 Spar Cap Project

One of the projects we have underway right now is preparing a Cessna 402 to have its main wing spar inspected. This airplane is used for ministry in the northeastern US and Canada by Wings With the Word.

In March, a team of aviation students from LeTourneau University came out to pull the propellers and remove the engines from the airframe. Now our own guys are digging in a bit deeper pulling the landing gear, removing firewalls, and opening up the wing attach points.

The next phase is to have an outside contractor come in to perform the FAA mandated inspection to confirm airworthiness of the main spar. Should the spar be determined to be airworthy, we'll go ahead and install a "spar cap" as per an FAA Airworthiness
Directive.

It's a rather complex, labor-intensive process. Here's a video I just completed about the project.

Checking Tolerances on the Starter for the 337's Rear Engine

Before building an engine, it's important to measure all the engine components to make sure they are within approved operational limits. Even new parts can sometimes sneak through factory quality control to actually end up in the marketplace out of specification. At MMS, "check, double check, and document what you've checked" is a standard operating procedure.

In this video, Paul explains the critical importance of measuring tolerances on the starter for the rear engine of the Cessna 337. Once completed this airplane will return north for continued missionary service in Canada.

MMS Aviation Open House

Karen and I assisted with the MMS open house last weekend. It was well attended and provided the local community with the opportunity to walk through our facility, view our current aircraft projects, interact with our staff, and gain a better understanding of how we prepare people and planes for worldwide mission service.

More than 300 people came out to visit with us over the course of the day Saturday and then Sunday afternoon. This is MMS' thirty-fifth year of ministry and it was fun to share the excitement with so many folks from Coshocton County and beyond.

Here's a short video with some scenes from the open house.



We wish you could have been here. Thanks for your gifts and prayers which make it possible for us to serve!

Surfing, Fishing, and Reality

We made it home safely from Kitty Hawk, NC late Friday night and reported to MMS first thing Saturday morning for an organizational open house that ran through Sunday evening. The open house went really well. Vacation was nice.

As far as surfing...I was able to pull my wetsuit on to flounder around in the ocean on my surfboard in less than ideal, stormy conditions...only to wash up on the beach a few minutes later without successfully riding any waves. By the time I hobbled back to the car I thought I would have to call the EMT squad to cut me out of my wetsuit, throw me on the gurney, plug me into the oxygen bottle, and haul me off to the ER to reconstruct all the muscles in my upper body...I could barely move and hadn't experienced that level of exhaustion any time in recent memory...and the pains just grew worse over the next few days. It wasn't exactly how I'd imagined things playing out.

But I was able to do a bit of fishing with Cameron and Joelle. For a guy that used to play on three or four softball teams at a time and who could spend hours upon hours in the ocean carving up waves...waiting for an indifferent fish to take the bait and pedaling my bicycle short distances have become the hallmarks of my physical abilities.

Here are a couple pictures of us fishing at the private pond. It's not very big and they stock it with fish. Not exactly something to base an adventure movie on...but it was VERY exciting teaching Joelle how to fish and giving Cameron his second annual fishing lesson. Now, he can not only pick the lures he wants to use, but also cast the lures with my spinning reel without any help. That was really cool.

Cameron inspects Joelle's first fish.

Joelle's fish.

Cameron and "Uncle" Keith on vacation, fishing at the pond.

On Vacation

Hello Everyone,

Blogging will be a bit uncertain over the next week as we're on vacation and won't have regular internet connection. We're in Virginia right now visiting with Karen's sister and brother-in-law. We leave for Kitty Hawk, NC tomorrow morning to visit with friends from PA who have a time share down there. Tim and Michele are watching Tucker and Tanner back in Coshocton. Perfect weather here right now, though it was really hot and humid yesterday.

I did bring my surfboard. In our three previous trips (the first being our honeymoon in 2002), there have only been surfable waves for one day. I'm not too confident I'll find any this trip, but if any waves do arrive, Lord willing I'll be able to enjoy one or two. As I've only surfed a handful of times over the last fifteen years, I won't have much endurance...or recognizable ability but I would enjoy getting wet.

Thanks for following our blog and praying for our ministry.

Video: As Promised In My Previous Post

Here's the video of Tim duplicating an existing part for an airplane that we maintain. His work on the milling machine saved the mission agency about $400. I hope you enjoy this clip.

Quick Snapshots From Around The Hangar

Jim continues avionics work necessary to install the new instrument panel in the Brazilian 206.

Scott begins the build-up of the Canadian 337's rear engine.

Tim works the milling machine. Lord willing, I'll post a short video of this project in the next day or so.

April Coshocton Flyer Newsletter

Here's our April Coshocton Flyer newsletter for your reading pleasure. Be sure to click on the image to isolate it and then click on it again to enlarge it for easier reading!

Bigfoot Expo! Bigfoot Expo!

You may not know this about Ohio...but Sasquatch is alive and well within our State borders. Sasquatch is also something of a rock star...here in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. So much so the 22nd Annual Big Foot Exposition is being hosted just a few miles from here at Salt Fork State Part, May 14-16.

That's right, last year 450 Sasquatch seekers and sighters gathered to discuss the hairy humanoid and there's room for more this year. If you'd like more info about the expo, click HERE.

Bigfoot Expo Flyer

Just for your edification, the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO) verifies 200 first-hand sightings of Sasquatch in Ohio since 1974. Four of those right here in Coshocton, County: May 1988, March 1998, May 2000, and in April of 2001. According to the BFRO, Coshocton County's were only "Class B" sightings--at a long distance or in poor light.

We'd look for you at the Expo, but we're going to be out of town visiting family that weekend, on our way to vacation in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (I don't know how many Sasquatches live there!). Sorry we'll miss you, but if you do go to the Expo, we'd like a T-shirt! HA!

The Cessna 402

The Cessna 402 project is starting to work its way back into the production schedule. With manpower still a bit scattered between projects in three hangars, and with 4 guys down in Florida helping MFI, Mike and Mark have moved over to start organizing and planning the spar cap installation on the Cessna 402 for Wings With The Word, a ministry based in the northeast US.

With both engines already removed, both wings will also need to be removed and special testing conducted to verify the serviceability of the main wing spar. Once determined to be serviceable, our guys will install a "spar cap" as per an FAA Service Bulletin.

A project of this complexity and scope takes some preparation. Mike and Mark are reviewing the drawings and parts lists, verifying parts, and laying out the logical flow of events that will need to be followed to facilitate a timely completion.

Mike and Mark review the drawings and parts lists.

Mike and Mark identify and confirm the proper parts.

Mike & Mark with the 402.

The Month of May Arrives

May's arrival brings daytime temps in the 70's and 80's (at least this week), deep blue sky, and a flotilla of those perfectly puffy Midwest cotton-ball clouds riding the upper level breeze. The days are gorgeous, the trees are all leafy, lawns need mowed twice a week, Robins are hatching all over the place, there's lots of shade, the humidity hasn't arrived yet, the mosquitoes haven't hatched yet, birds are singing, the Dogwood Festival has just ended and the Hot Air Balloon Festival is next month, the Good Sam RV armada is fully hooked-up over at the fair grounds and "all is well" within the little world of Coshocton County as long as you don't look too hard at the local economy.

Ohio had its primary election today. We voted. We're pretty serious about our voting. When we voted this afternoon on our way home from MMS, 66 Republicans, 44 Democrats, and a handful of Independents had already cast their ballots. In Ohio you DO have to show valid identification in order to vote. Personally, I'd also enjoy having to show my long-form birth certificate just because I have one.

Yesterday was a day of meetings at MMS. Today Karen Karen worked at the office doing receipting and assisted with an apprentice interview. Ever six months Karen and I sit down with each apprentice family to see how they're doing, answer their questions, ask questions ourselves, provide counsel if needed, discuss issues they're facing, and review coping models for missionary adjustment. Today the interview was with Paul and Kristin G. It was two hours well spent. After that, I met with Paul G. to go over his six month performance review. Last month we had interviews Paul J. and Andy. Next month we'll meet with Mark and Jenny.

After voting and having dinner (chicken pot pies and green salad) I took Tanner out for our 3 mile walk and Karen embarked on digging a new flowerbed along the garage wall that faces the house. She was still digging when Tanner and I returned so we lent a hand and helped her finish the dig.

With the weather so nice, I'm back on my bike again. I rode to the shop yesterday and plan to ride again tomorrow. My knees are feeling pretty good (I'm taking glucosamine tablets now) , my leg muscles are fine, and I haven't had a heart attack on the hill yet so everything's fine and dandy on the physical side.

I think that brings you up to date. We're going through a phase where we're having a hard time remembering to take photos of what we're doing so we can blog them. We'll try and do better.

Well, it's 40 minutes until Deadliest Catch comes on. We don't watch much TV but I can't get enough of those guys pulling crab pots up on the Bering Sea. Have a great evening. We'll be back in touch soon.