The Project is Finished

Welcome Heather and Caroline

Tuesday evening found a group of lively MMS ladies gathered at Dana's house.  Lots of chatter and laughter could be heared - which is usually the norm when us ladies get together. The occasion was to welcome new MMS wives, Heather and Caroline. Heather and her husband, Andy, are from Scotland and Andy is here for the apprenticeship mechanic's program. Also here for the same training is Caroline's husband, Ben. Ben and Caroline are from MO. Both ladies are very busy mothers of preschoolers.


Heather Swanson and Caroline Fisher




Dana, Sherry and Mary have a chat

  

Jess and Laurie chat with Caroline and Heather



New Hangar Door Is Installed

In just eight months, $140,000.00 was given to repair the original hangar and provide additional tools and equipment for MMS Aviation.  God supplied through the gifts of many individuals, some businesses, and a few foundations to meet this need.  Here are some pictures of what's happening to the original hangar MMS Aviation built at the Coshocton County Airport in 1978.  We call it, "Hangar A".

Work began a couple weeks ago.  The original hangar doors were"unskinned" and removed.  Blue tarps made a curtain to keep rain out while the new door was installed.



The construction crew quickly altered the face of Hangar A.



It rained early this week which stopped work outside, but there were some things to finish inside. 



Last Friday the green siding was put on the door and yesterday the crew finished the front of the building.

As soon as the siding was done, work on the roof began.  About a third of the roof was replaced by the end of today.  Stay tuned for more blog posts (I'll show what that big door looks like when it's open).  We're grateful for all who gave and encouraged us in this project.

Birthday Girl

The day before my Birthday, it was nice to be able to celebrate with family.  Since Scott and Stephanie live a two hour drive away, in Columbus, we met them halfway. Jen and Javin were able to come too.


Celebration at Appleby's

  The next day, April 4th, my actual Birthday, Dwight took me to an Indian Restaurant in Mt Vernon, OH (an hour's drive west)  The unusual name of the restaurant caught our attention.  The food, however, was very good.

Unusual name for an Indian Restaurant

Unusual too was the sign in the bathroom.  Most employee handwashing signs are quite brief, but this one was more detailed than most !!

This restaurant's manager wants to be sure his employees are clean



A New Mechanic in Town

Today, a little after noon, I finished Paul Jones' FAA Mechanic exams. Paul fulfilled the Federal Aviation Administration's 30 month aircraft maintenance experience requirement in February and qualified to take the tests for an FAA Mechanic Certificate. He took three written tests at a computer testing center, passing them with excellent scores. That brought Paul to the oral and practical exams which I'm authorized to administer.

Paul answers a question from my book of many questions.

Paul's oral and practicals began yesterday.  In my book of test questions there are about a thousand questions that cover General, Airframe, and Powerplant subject areas.  I choose 176 questions to ask for the oral portion of the exams.  There are 44 subject areas and I'm required to ask four questions from each.  Once Paul successfully completed the oral exam, we headed for the hangars to do the practical part.

The guy with the clipboard gets to give the test; the guy with the hydraulic cylinder gets to answer the questions.

Again, all 44 subject areas had to be tested.  Paul demonstrated his ability in hydraulics by replacing the "O" ring seals in a landing gear door actuating cylinder.  The entire oral and practical is usually a day and a half of pretty intense testing.  I always hope the applicant finishes successfully and is at least a little more exhausted than I am.

Paul is a graduate of MMS Aviation's mechanic training program and will soon serve as a pilot/mechanic with Missionary Air Group in Guatemala.

It's Not All About Airplanes