One of the things I've learned in 40 years as an aircraft mechanic is the value of preventive maintenance. Before I go to all the effort of putting a string of lights on the Christmas tree, I do an operational check. Maybe this is a full-blown annual inspection.*

We didn't set a record for being early in getting the tree up and decorated this year, but it's done.

*Private aircraft are required by the FAA to have an inspection each 12 calendar months, so Annual Inspection is a pretty familiar term in my world.

Meet CHRISTIE

Just having some fun. Tim, our MMS Aviation Production Manager introduces "Christie" our newly purchased Ground Power Unit to our guys in the hangar.

A generous donation allowed MMS to purchase this used one for about half the price a new one would have cost.

Thanksgiving Holiday

Thanksgiving is the time our part of the Jarboe family gets together. Earlier this year, Mom said, "We'll do Thanksgiving here one more year, but someone else has to cook the turkey." So we gathered again at Mom and Dad's in Bowling Green, Kentucky. All of our generation were there and most of my parents grandchildren were able to attend at least part of the weekend. Two of three great-grandchildren were present.

This is the family in which I grew up.

My sister-in-law, Sue, provided encouragement as I carved the turkey.

After dinner music is a normal thing at our gatherings. This year it was a recorder quartet.

More GroundCrew Ladies

The lunch room at MMS Thursday evening was a hive of activity as MMS wives and volunteer Stephanie prepared the GroundCrew for mailing. Donna and Sherry joined us a little after this picture was taken. They were put in the mail on Friday, so you should be getting your copy soon!
Dana has taken on the supervisory role for getting the GroundCrew volunteers together and making sure we are keeping the envelopes in zipcode order (as per postal regulations) and taking them to the post office. Deborah was the former supervisor and has been training Dana in her new role.

The GroundCrew Ladies

Sherry Shelly and volunteers

At MMS as I was preparing the Tuesday receipts to be mailed, I could hear lively chatter and laughter in the next room which we call the "Conference Room." The conversations were about local doctors, Medicare and subjects that are elderly concerns. Sticking my head through the doorway I greeted four senior ladies and Sherry Shelly, wife of Dave Shelly, our Safety Director. These delightful ladies are very committed volunteers who come in to the office each time we are ready to mail out our MMS publication, the "GroundCrew". For years they have come in to prepare the GroundCrew to get ready for stuffing into envelopes. The envelope stuffing happens a few days later with more help from MMS wives (this time on Thursday). So when you get your "GroundCrew" next week, you can say a prayer of thanks for the many volunteers who make this happen so that you can be informed of what God is doing at MMS!

Operation Christmas Child

Sunday afternoon, Jen and I (Rena) had fun helping Chanelle and Javin shop for Operation Christmas Child. They had each selected an age and gender child for whom to select gifts. All purchases had to fit into a shoebox or box of equal size. That was quite a challenge! It was a great lesson on giving to those who have little.

All packed up and ready to go

The Cessna 206 for Mission Aviation Fellowship, after passing the FAA inspection is now packed into a sea/land container waiting to be shipped to South Africa. Our prayers go with this airplane as God uses it to further His Kingdom.

Celebrating the Color

The landscape around Coshocton is rapidly approaching the monochrome of winter, but Saturday morning the sun shone briefly and lit up the tree just behind our house. The tree is a Bradford Pear which is strictly ornamental. It is one of the last trees to drop its leaves in the fall and, as you can see in the picture, it was really showing off.

Javin was over for much of the day Saturday while his mom and sister were participating at a craft fair and his dad was working. Having had a cold earlier in the week, he was feeling better and didn't lack for ideas of fun things to do. He's getting a pretty good grasp of the game, checkers, and beat Rena this time. (Of course, Rena was playing by "grandma rules".)

AWANA

Wednesday night is prayer meeting and Awana (for the kids) at church. I (Rena) enjoy leading the song time for the Awana kids. They love to sing and are an enthusiastic group. What a joy it is to plant the truths of God's Word in their hearts through song.

The One that Got Away

Today the Cessna 206 that was sent from Chad (Africa) made its first flight following extensive repair. I was standing by to take pictures of the takeoff when I took a phone call from Ryan, an MMS graduate who serves in Brazil. My phone conversation occupied me throughout the takeoff and much of the initial flight. I did get a picture of the plane as it taxied by our hangar on its way to to the active runway.

In spite of missing the picture, it was a privilege to talk to Ryan and discuss solutions to a challenge he's facing.

A Beautiful Fall Weekend

Friday was a gorgeous day and after work, thanks to daylight savings time still being in effect, I had time to mow the lawn and turn the fallen leaves into little bitty pieces. This seems to make the leaves disappear so I don't have to pick them up and I like to think if they lay there all winter they will make the soil richer.

At the church we attend I've been the treasurer for several years. Two couples at church count the offering each Sunday and prepare the bank deposit; however, I do the accounting and pay the bills. Each Sunday afternoon I enter the contributions into the computer so everyone can receive their annual record of giving.

Jen, Chanelle and Javin came mid-afternoon. Javin and I put all the picture puzzles in the house together after which we made all kinds of wonderful structures with the dominoes. Not too exciting, I know. However, I think a steady schedule of excitement is overrated.

Multipurpose Trip on October 24th

Back on July 9th my post was about being an FAA Designated Mechanic Examiner. October 31st of each year the designation expires if it isn't renewed. The renewal process is rather straightforward. DMEs present appropriate paperwork at a renewal meeting at their district FAA office. In the Columbus (Ohio) flight standards district there are four DMEs. The other three are affiliated with Columbus State Community College.

A fellow DME to my left and I discuss matters with FAA Inspectors while waiting for the other DMEs to join us. Our Principal Inspector (in the blue shirt) checks our paperwork.

Rena went with me to the renewal meeting last Friday so we could take Scott and Stephanie to dinner that evening. October 14th was their second wedding anniversary and, even though it was ten days late, we celebrated it on the 24th anyway.

A happy lady with her son and daughter-in-law.

Remembering Chris

Dana with Dwight looks on while Joanna spreads ashes

After the work day on Monday, the 20th, the MMS families gathered on the southeast side of the MMS facilities. It was exactly 2 years since Chris Abernethy, MMS team leader, friend and coworker had left us for his heavenly home.

Dana and the children expressed a desire to plant an Azalea bush in Chris' memory and spread some of Chris' ashes there. Dwight (and Shawn) planted the Azalea and led our time together. We had a blessed time as we shared memories of Chris and sang praises to our Lord. We followed that with a great time of fellowship at a pot luck meal.

Please continue to pray for Dana and her children. If you would like to follow the activities of the Abernethy family, just check out their blog . You will be blessed!

Trip to Tennessee

Some years ago I was asked to join the board of directors of a mission aviation service organization named Mission Safety International (MSI). This year MSI celebrated its 25th anniversary. In conjunction with the fall board meeting a banquet was held with special speaker Steve Saint.

MSI 25th Anniversary Banquet

The 25th anniversary celebration/board meeting came just a week after MSI conducted a safety audit of MMS Aviation, as you can see from a previous post. Rena and I drove to Elizabethton, Tennessee Thursday and returned yesterday. At home, our wonderful golden maple tree made sure I'll have something to do as it puts the leaves it no longer needs on the ground for me to pick up.

Breakfast Visitors

This morning I had the pleasure of being joined for breakfast by Chanelle and Javin. This was Javin's day off from preschool and I volunteered to take Chanelle to school so that Jen could get an early start on her work day. Five year old Javin informed me that most of the kids in his class were still four (Javin missed the cut off date for kindergarten by 4 weeks) so that qualified him to be the first in his class to go to Kindergarten! I am glad, however, that his preschool schedule still offers me some Grandma time with him.

What a Week!

Monday morning a team arrived to conduct a safety consultation. This audit-like review of the MMS Aviation facility and procedures was scheduled months ago and would take all week. The consultation team was put together by Mission Safety International (MSI) and included representatives of School of Mission Aviation Technology and Moody Aviation.

Cary, MSI Research & Development Coordinator, conducts my four-hour interview.

Thirty-one interviews (some four-hour and some two-hour) were completed by Wednesday afternoon. The real work for the consultation team then began. They had to collate and condense the interview information and write a report. The first draft of the report was shared with the MMS Senior Management Team for comment, then the report was put into its final thirteen page form.

Steve has just handed me the "official" safety consultation report.

The safety consultation report was shared with the whole MMS team at 3:00 PM today. After going over the report, Steve, MSI Vice President of Field Operations, presented me with the official report signed by each member of the consultation team. The report contains commendations about things we are doing safely as well as observations and recommendations of those things we can improve. All in all, it's a pretty valuable document, worth a full week's work.

Milestone Birthdays

Bill Tarter and Dwight

Today is Dwight's 60th Birthday. Two days ago was my Dad's 85th Birthday - so who can blame us for celebrating big this past weekend! My folks drove over from eastern PA so that we could celebrate together.

We had a small family celebration time together on Saturday; and on Sunday afternoon invited our MMS Aviation family over to help us celebrate. We had a good time and feel so blessed to have a loving family (also a wonderful MMS family).

All work and no play . . .

Last Saturday John, a friend of ours, had a fly-in and hog roast at his private airstrip. John has pipeline patrol contracts for which he uses a small airplane, but much of the aviation at Graham Field is fun flying.

Mark arrived in (or on) his Breezy. It is a home built airplane that only has the bare essentials for flight.

A couple weeks before the fly-in, Mark sent a magneto from another plane he has to MMS Aviation for repair. Mark, a mechanic friend of his and I were discussing the installation of that magneto and I used the Breezy for an easy explanation about the magneto timing.

Rena and I had another event to attend, so I told Mark we had to be going. His response was, "Well, you have time for a ride don't you?" I immediately said, "Sure."

So we strapped ourselves in (or on) the Breezy and went for a ten minute flight over the corn fields, just above the tree tops. It was a gorgeous day, not chilly at all, but it was a really cool ride!

The Bupps move on

Shawn and Donna Bupp, with (l-r) Rachel, Sarah and Katie

It is always a joy when new apprentices arrive at MMS. We feel their enthusiasm as they dive into the training in the hangar. They and their families become part of the MMS family and we love to see how God uses them in our group as well as the community. The hard part is when the training is done and it is time for them leave and join the ministry God has called them into. Please pray for the Bupp family as they plug into the ministry of Harvest Aviation. We will miss them. We had a time of fellowship to send them off on Saturday evening, hosted at the home of one of our MMS Aviation staff families.

What We Do

The other day I walked through the MMS Aviation hangars with my camera. (I'm always looking for things to show you.) I took several snapshots of the work being done on the planes and downloaded them to the computer. Tonight as I looked through them again, it hit me that this one illustrates quite well the work we do.

Ian, an MMS Team Leader, heads up the crew performing a scheduled inspection of Gospel Carrier International's Beechcraft King Air. Ian is in the blue shirt and is listening to David explain what the maintenance manual requires about measuring the brake disk slots in a wheel. David, an apprentice mechanic, clearly understood the procedure so Ian cleared him to measure the wheels and note any discrepancies on the appropriate form.

Gospel Carrier's plane will, barring something unforeseen, be put back into service this next week. David and our other mechanics will gain experience, learn more theory, and increase their maintenance skill. For me, this is pretty close to having your cake and eating it too. I find it exciting.

A number of churches and individuals make it possible for Rena and I to be at MMS Aviation through prayer and financial giving. We are so grateful they partner with us.

KZX continued

Here are pictures from the KZX Reunion. About 30 men and most of the wives attended. It was great fun exchanging stories and catching up on the past 40 years. LeTourneau University still has mandatory chapel services, so our final event together was a Sunday morning chapel service. Dr. David Lunsford, current LeTourneau president was our speaker.

Tim and I were roommates our first year at LeTourneau

A lot of laughter, fellowship and a special time of worship were the highlights. It was agreed that we will have to do this again in five years. Hopefully some of us will be able to get together sooner than that! One thing is for sure; we can't wait another 40 years before we get together again.

Jim and I shared a room my final year at school.

KZX

Thursday afternoon found us on the road, traveling toward St Louis, MO to the LeTourneau KZX reunion. KZX was the fraternity-like society that Dwight was a member of while attending LeTourneau College in Longview, TX. This reunion is limited to a span from 1963-73 and it has been 40 years since most of these men have seen each other.

We stopped Thursday evening in North Vernon, IN and overnighted with Dwight's brother and sister-in-law, Eric and Sue before arriving in St Louis Friday afternoon. Our first sight of St. Louis included the big arch looming up in the sky - the "Gateway to the West". Wow, we couldn't resist the urge to stop and take a look before continuing on to our hotel in St Charles. We were very impressed and were totally surprised to discover the underground museum, theatre, gift shop etc. underground beneath the arch.

Hurricane Ike

About 6:00PM Sunday evening Hurricane Ike made it's appearance in Coshocton County. We had several hours of high winds without rain - so strange. Many Ohio counties were affected and the Governor declared a state of emergency. We were one of the million and a half Ohio customers who were left without power. The town and county were a mess! Our kids were without power in their homes too. After 46 hours our electric returned - just when we had made arrangements to transfer our meat to a freezer in Jen's in-laws house and I (Rena) had decided that we could no longer tolerate cold sponge baths! We did not have any damage to the house - just some branches off of trees to clean up, PTL. Many more are still without power. For more images click on Coshocton Tribune Link at the bottom of this blog page.

Jen's Birthday

Chanelle and Javin help Mom read her card

Today is Jen's (our daughter) Birthday. She may not want you to know how old she is, so we won't tell! We celebrated this past weekend while Scott and Stephanie could be here.

As per special request by his sister, Scott made deep fried cheesecake. Delicious!

Visitors and Prayer

Dwight enjoys showing visitors around our MMS Aviation facilities and sharing what God is doing through this ministry. Visitors come individually, family groups, church groups or special interest groups. We expect a bus load of 55 next week!

One of the highlights is stopping to look at the map mural which shows the pictures of many who have received training here and where they went to serve. The map also indicates the locations where aircraft that we have worked on, are now serving. A third feature of the map are locations indicated where MMS has sent Rapid Response Teams to do work on aircraft in mission field locations. This particular guest is Jim Lewis who is the Executive Director of Harvest Aviation a ministry where some of our MMS "graduates" are now serving.

Tuesday evening our MMS ladies met for our monthly "Prayer Fellowship". I enjoy these times of getting together and being able to share in a time of worship and prayer for MMS and the MMS families with these wonderful ladies. Some that attended Tuesday are pictured below. Various staff wives have taken leadership of the Ladies Prayer Fellowship and our current leader is Lisa Schwartz.

Me, Dana Abernethy, Glenda Kamphorst, Donna Bupp, Amy Mozombite, Staci Hengst, Lisa Schwartz and Karen Dodson (Deborah Coates was there but taking the picture for me!) Others were there but left before I thought to have the picture taken!

Kodiak takeoff

Can you stand one more posting about the Kodiak, this impressive airplane built with missions in mind? One more detail is its amazing short take off and landing capabilities. This is ideal for many third world country airstrips which are either cut out of the jungle or on mountain tops. Here is a video of it taking off at MMS last week. It only needs 700 ft for takeoff.

Javin's Birthday

Javin celebrated his 5th Birthday on Sunday afternoon. It was fun to able to celebrate with him.

A Day in the 18th Century

Saturday, August 30th, Rena, Jen, Javin, Scott, Stephanie and I attended the Fair at New Boston. People who reenact various late 18th Century and early 19th Century events gathered near Springfield, Ohio for a country fair and recreated battle. The fair was typical of an early 1800s gathering with various vendors selling wares and a number of entertainments including fire-eaters, clowns, contortionists, etc. No doubt you've heard of tightrope walkers; this fair had a slackrope walker.

The primary reason we went was to see my brother, Frank, and his wife, Carol, who participate in quite a few events such as this one throughout the year. Frank is known as Parson John and, at many events, presents a church service of the appropriate period. (The Parson's wearing the three cornered hat.)

Carol portrays the Parson's indentured servant, Maggie; a reminder of the harsh reality of being widowed by the death of a husband with debt. (A widow could be sold into servitude for up to 39 years or until the debt was paid. If she married a man who paid the debt, she would be freed.) Maggie wears a leather collar that signifies she had run away.

I didn't ask what Nation the Native American man standing by Maggie is. I know the Parson and Maggie have friends who are Delaware. The battle that was reenacted was in August, 1780.

Javin, my five year old grandson didn't mind the explosions of the musket fire, but the cannons were just too loud.

After a lunch of 18th Century "fair food" we attended another show in which a young lady did sword walking--the first time I'd even heard of it.

We stopped by a few vendors' tents, including one of a French lace merchant. Because he didn't have any of his lace makers with him, he had to show us how lace was made. (Normally, he would only sell lace, not make it, and thereby maintain the natural order of the cosmos.)

There were many more sights, sounds and smells to remember. It was really convenient to carry our 21st Century gadget called a digital camera to an event such as this. "Bytes" has meaning to us of which folks in the 18th and 19th Centuries had no idea.

One parting shot: What a fun way to learn history!