AirVenture Day 4 (Thursday)

It's the 75th anniversary of the Douglas DC-3 design. A milestone such as this doesn't go unnoticed by the planners of AirVenture, so there is an emphasis on the type this year. The first DC-3s were civilian planes built for airline service. An excellent example is the DC-3 in American Airlines colors pictured below.

Most Dc-3s were military, and although there were several model designations, the vast majority were C-47s--affectionately called the Gooney Bird. The C-47 pictured below had a full civilian career after World War II as a DC-3C and was a missionary plane operated a time in Columbia, South America by JAARS.

My biggest thrill was discovering that the DC-3 I maintained in Bolivia for five years in the late 1970s and early '80s was here at AirVenture. I hadn't seen the plane in more than 28 years and had no idea where it was or if it still was flying. On Wednesday afternoon I discovered where the plane was parked and hoofed it nearly a mile to see it. The next morning Rena and I took the trams (yellow tram to the end of its line, then the blue tram) to visit the plane together. The owner was there and invited us to look inside which was a much bigger thrill for me than it was for Rena. The years we were in Bolivia serving with JAARS were wonderful years and it was a special blessing for me to connect again with the airplane I maintained there.

Air Venture Day 3 (Wednesday)

Yes, it is Friday and I am running a little behind on posting information.  We have had some very productive conversations at our MMS display with some young adults who are very interested in serving with mission aviation. It is so encouraging to see how God is working in these lives.

When the Good Year Blimp flew over the tent, it was fun to run outside and take a picture.  It flies around the area all day. This particular fly over was quite low. In addition there are many planes flying around, some in formation, others doing stunts. There is an airshow every afternoon. This is the busiest airport in the world for one week out of every year. At times we need to stop talking because no one can make themselves heard. Typically there are 1,500 airplanes here for Air Venture. Air Venture is the largest fly-in in the world and there are visitors from all over the world. We can see acres full of airplanes, campers, exhibition booths, shops and even a flea market called the "fly market".

"Are they earrings or paper clips?", "are they free?" are the most asked questions I get when visitors see them on our display table. Michele (see previous blog picture) came up with the idea at Air Venture last year when she saw the airplane paper clips in one the stores. She bought some earring hooks and slid them on the paper clips. I carried on the idea this year and made some to give away at our display table. They have been a popular item.

This is a military Drone. It is a lot larger than I thought. They seem smaller on TV. Dwight said that these particular Drones are the ones that drop bombs which are typically larger than the spy Drones.

Want to catch a shuttle?  These shuttles are pulled by John Deere tractors throughout the airport.  I have been especially appreciative of these since we can't bring transportation inside the fence surrounding Air Venture.

Dwight is real excited about somethng he found here at Air Venture and he will show you on our next bog.

Air Venture Day 2

MASA

Pictured below is our MMS group at Air Venture in Oshkosh, WI. With the exception of Michele, we are manning the MMS display. Michele is on loan to MASA as their diningroom supervisor and is busier than the rest of us.

Michele, Tim, Jim, Dwight, Rena

MASA (Missionary Avation Support Association) is a local ministry started to help the missionaries who come to Air Venture. Some years ago, missonaires were considering the fact that it was too expensive to be able to find housing, food etc. in order to have a presence at Air Venture each year. One local man asked if he could help missionaires get these needs supplied, could the missionaries continue to come? The answer was "yes" and MASA was born. This year there are about 200 aviation missionaries and Christian University reps. here at Air Venture, representing 28 entities. MASA arranges free housing in Christian homes, supplies all our meals (different church groups have signed up to cook a meal and feed us), provides cars for those who flew here, and has people meet us at the airport and etc. We have been so pampered.

The entrance to the MASA tent which is located just outside one of the entrances to AirVenture

Baggage check in - they think of everything!

You can see the diningroom tent behind. A storm last night destroyed the baggage tent and some of it ended up on top of the diningroom tent. A new tent is on its way today.

Inside the dinningroom tent

Rena and Erica

It was fun to run into Erica again. You may remember on an earlier blog, that Erica, along with other LeTourneau student volunteers spent their Spring break at MMS helping in the hangar. Eric and another student stayed with us. This week Erica is helping the LeTourneau repesentatives at their table in the IAMA tent.

Air Venture Day 1

Today has been busy with our first day of manning our display table in the IAMA (International Association of Missionary Aviation) tent. Twenty six missionary organizations are represented here under the IAMA organization. We are only a very small part of the whole scope of Air Venture. Five of us MMSers are here - Dwight, me (Rena), Jim,Tim and Michelle.

Tim and Jim talk with an inquirer

Dwight chats with Paul Matovitch, a former MMS graduate who served with MAF

Javin's Day

Yesterday, our grandson, Javin began formal piano lesson. He is quite excited and has a passion for music. His teacher is a wonderful Christian lady and her students love her. She is very involved in the music program of the local Christian School. He was eager to show her what he had already learned from his Uncle Scott's old piano book (with some coaching from me, grandma). His Great Grandma Jarboe (also a piano teacher) had given him an additional book which he has also worked in. His Aunt Pam, loaned the family her piano. So we are all prepared for an accomplished pianist! After his lesson, he proudly displayed the stickers on the five pages he had passed. 

After dropping off his sister to go to summer gymnastics, the rest of the day was spent on making tents (to fill up the whole living room), games of checkers and chess etc. This Grandma took a little nap after he left!

Mrs. Mansfield and Javin

The Pfeifer's Piper Plane (say that fast three times)

At MMS Aviation, one of the planes used in Christian ministry we see regularly is flown by John Pfeifer.  John, his sister Candy Pfeifer, and Mary Jane Carter are the gospel singing group, The Pfeifers.  They're based in Washington Court House, Ohio where a long-standing weekly Bible study John leads, has turned into a local church.  The Piper Aztec airplane allows The Pfeifers keep a fairly full schedule of singing engagements and still allows John to minister at the church.  A team member of theirs hauls the group's equipment to their next engagement in a truck while John, Candy and Mary Jane get there (and home) quickly by plane. 

On Wednesday, John brought the plane to our shop with a leaky left landing gear strut.  In the picture you can see the left wing is a little low.  (With aircraft, right and left is always from the pilot's point of view.)  When John leaves the Aztec with us for maintenance, someone has to fly or drive to Coshocton to pick John up and take him back home.  The pilot that usually flies up to get John wasn't available, so on Wednesday Candy and Mary Jane drove up to retrieve John.

The ladies had not been to MMS before and John gave them a brief tour, ending in our conference room at the world map that shows the scope of MMS Aviation's ministry.  After I'd talked some about the extent of MMS' work Rena snapped this picture of me with my favorite gospel singing group, The Pfeifers. 

The name's not unusual if you're from around here.

A couple weeks ago Rena and I were in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania (near Reading) at her parents. We travel the Pennsylvania Turnpike and when traveling east I know we're getting close to our destination when we go under the Kleinfeltersville Road overpass. Incidentally, the turnpike people are restoring many of these older overpasses and I think they look very nice.

To me that's an unusual name for a road (or town); but, as I think about it, it would be a pretty normal name for someone who lived in or around Kleinfeltersville, especially if your family name was Kleinfelter. Anyway, Rena snapped the picture above as we headed west (and home to Ohio) on July 1st, which was a beautiful day to travel.

Independent Audit of MMS Repair Station

MMS Aviation has been audited!  Actually, we asked for it, and Mission Safety International sent a team to perform an independent audit of our FAA approved repair station.  The MSI team was led by Stan who has mission aviation and extensive airline experience.  As a safety officer for a major air carrier, Stan audited many repair stations around the world that maintained aircraft for his employer.  Having retired from airline service, he joined the MSI staff to help missionary aircraft mechanics maintain a high standard of safety in their work.

Stan stayed with Rena and me during the three day audit, which gave us time in the evenings to discuss the unique approach MMS has in serving the mission community.

A great deal of the audit was going over our repair station manuals to assure they meet FAA regulations, then checking our shop operations to make sure we're following our manuals.

MSI volunteers, Greg (right) and Jim (center), talk about physical plant safety with Dave Shelly, MMS' facility maintenance manager and safety officer.  Greg is an expert in industrial safety and regulation compliance and Jim is the quality assurance manager for aircraft maintenance for a mission aviation program in Africa.

Is the soap we use to wash airplanes safe for people and the environment?  [Check the label] Yes, it is.

The audit exposed a few "blind spots".  The final report will be sent as soon as it's complete and we'll make the improvements that are recommended.