Leap Year Spring

Here's proof it was 65 degrees and sunny today in Coshocton. It is rather unusual to have the hangar doors open this time of the year...

Capistrano has Its Swallows...Coshocton Has Its Crows

Maybe it's just the contrast between the Midwest and the West Coast...but San Juan Capistrano (Southern California) has its swallows return every spring while Coshocton (East Central Ohio) has its crows return to roost each winter. You can read the article here "Crows Fascinate Out-of-Towners".

 Crow Watching: Photo by Julie Ames, Coshocton Tribune

Coshocton Crow News report from NBC

Or how about some amateur video?

Doesn't this just make you want to call your travel agent, or head straight to Orbitz, and buy your airline tickets right now?

There actually were dinner and crow-watching tourist packages available in January, but it's past peak Crow Season right now...sorry. You missed it.

Maybe next year?

Week's Recap

Monday was a holiday so Karen and I drove into Zanesville to take care of a bunch of "big city" errands. Speaking of driving (and I know many of you are paying more at the pump than we currently are!) our gas prices went from $3.24 to $3.59 overnight. I don't care where you are, a .35 per gallon jump is a shock...The sooner we put leadership in place that believes in energy independence, the sooner we can...ah, but don't get me started...we ARE in an election year. And for all our international readers, yes, I am very aware we STILL have some the CHEAPEST gasoline in the world.

Tuesday/Wednesday were routine days at MMS. I focused on video projects and candidate development.

Thursday/Friday Karen and I participated in an MMS sponsored marriage seminar.

Today, I'm in the shop to help a sister mission complete a digital presentation. They needed some production support that I was able to provide. I know what it's like to be under deadline and it's my pleasure to be able to help.

As it's still rather early on a Saturday, I stopped off at Burger King (right at the bottom of the hill from MMS) for a manly breakfast from their Value Menu: a cheesy sausage biscuit and a cheesy bacon wrap. The only consistency here is "cheesy." Ha. Actually, the REAL MANLY breakfasts in town are found over at JERRY'S Great American Restaurant. Order anything with SUPREME at the end and you're good to go...

I figure to hang out at MMS for a while to work on our next personal newsletter (coming soon to a mail box near you) and organize some support development details. Yes, 2012 is going to be a year of support development for us. It's time to do some traveling, talking, visiting, and reconnecting with all of you out there who are so faithfully giving and praying to keep us here.

Weather wise we're having snow flurries today...a last day or two of "winter" maybe? Birds are already starting to act and sound as if spring has arrived and my roses and several trees around here are already starting to bud...it's been an odd weather season. But then, it's probably been odd where ever you are as well.

Have a great weekend and we'll check back in, soon.

Hangar Snapshots

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.

Karen, Tucker, Tanner and I are all doing well. Thanks for your gifts and your prayers!

Heading Into The New Week

It was a cold weekend with a bit of snow lingering from Friday and a few flurries Saturday and Sunday. With the sun being out all day today and the temps back up in the low 30's, all the streets are clear and dry and the vast majority of the snow has already melted. Though it looks like we could get a fresh dusting overnight. We'll see. Temps are expected to climb back into the high 40's later this week. It's been a crazy "winter" so far.

After spending Thursday and Friday working at the hangar, Karen spent today focused on managing our affairs on the home front. Finances, laundry, and house cleaning accounted for most of her time though she was able to meet with a local group of ladies for fellowship and encouragement.

As I type this blog, she's studying continuing education materials to keep her both her Pennsylvania and Ohio nursing licenses current. She just completed a course on "Ectopic Pregnancy" and has started working on a course titled, "Folic Acid." Now doesn't THAT just grab you? Even though she's not working in the nursing field right now, it's important to keep options open, and staying current provides some additional opportunities for service should the right short-term medical mission opportunity present itself. Karen would like to go on a medical mission overseas.

Me? I spent the day locked on my computer up at MMS. Communicating with candidate families raising support, developing relationships and providing counsel to people interested in possibly serving with MMS, handling emails from around the world, editing newsletters for our missionary families, answering the phones and trying to wrap my head around some unfamiliar immigration policy/procedures related to our international apprentices pretty much filled my day. I also completed a prayer card project for one of our families, administered performance reviews to two of our six apprentices, met briefly with several of our staff to discuss various topics, and consumed a pot of Seattle's Best coffee: #5 dark roast.

While I didn't shoot any video today, here's a photo of me shooting video footage last week that I used in the "Engine Work: Double Trouble" clip featured in our previous blog post. Josh, thanks for the snapshot! Josh is the supervisor for the engine work I was documenting.

Keith shoots video for the "Engine Work: Double Trouble" MMS video feature.

That's me in the khaki slacks and sweater vest. And yes, I was wearing sweater vests ($5 up at Zink's Fabric in Berlin, OH) long before Rick Santorum made them a political fashion statement. Go Rick!

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.

Two Videos: The 402 RTS Flight & Departure

I've had the privilege of shooting/editing/producing two videos in two days!  Yes, that's right, Wings With the Word's Cessna 402 was successfully returned to service on Thursday and then departed for ministry yesterday afternoon (Friday).

Here are the two videos. The first is of the 402's first flight after all the maintenance performed (its return-to-service flight). The second is of the 402's departure from our facility.

It was an exciting day for our group. With the completion of the 402, the last of the three major restoration projects that had been in our hangar over the past three years has returned to service: the amphibious 206 to Brazil, the Cessna 207 to Africa, and now the 402 to Maine.

Enjoy the videos:





Thanks for your gifts and your prayers which allow us to serve MMS and mission aviation by preparing people to serve as missionary airplane mechanics while returning missionary airplanes to service!

Latest MMS Video and a Weather Report

Here's the latest MMS video I've put together:


How'd you like the accordian music as the sound track? It had kinda of a Cajun Polka feel to it, didn't it?

WEATHER

Can you say wonderful? Can you say 56 degrees with sun and blue sky? Can you say walking around without a jacket, gloves, hat, and boots? THIS is winter...for a California boy...but it's not WINTER for Ohio.

Amazing. This weather is just amazing. February is traditionally our coldest month of the year, and typically the snowiest...but I haven't had to use my snow shovel since winter started.

It's wonderful, but it's a little weird. I guess it's balancing out the 'winter-without-end' that we experienced last year...

Tucker and Tanner are doing fine. Karen and I are hanging in there and starting to think about heading out to California for a couple visits. It looks like we'll be in Southern California the first week of April and will return to Grass Valley, in Northern California, for six weeks over July/August. Details to follow as the details are determined.

And on another MMS note...it looks like the Cessna 402 could fly in the next day or two! Be watching for another video...