Landing gear box installed

Here are a few pictures that I took in the shop this morning. I've been working on replacing the landing gear box. Pictured below the new parts are light green. The landing gear box is one of the common repairs that we make to a major project. After years of neglect and abuse the castings can be cracked and need to be replaced. The gear box is de-riveted and removed from the airplane, cleaned and checked with dye penantrant. New parts are installed and reassembled on the bench and reinstalled in the aircraft. On this airplane the right casting was cracked.



In the following pictures you can see what I have ahead of me. I've been assigned to get the fuselage ready for paint. Floors and seat tracks need installed, windows, skins, seat belt harnesses, radio and anteanas etc, etc, etc all need installed. I look forward to showing the progress of this project over the coming months.



I would also suggest that you visit MMS's blog to get a more complete look at what goes on here on a weekly basis. If you are ever in the area we would welcome the visit.



God Bless, Josh

Today Josh decied to teach me how to post a blog all by myself. I have been told that even for a non-computer-savvy person like me, this is a relatively easy task. It has never come to the top of my priority list however. Probably the biggest problem though, is not the technical aspect as knowing what to write about. Josh says to just let people know what we have been up to, so that's what I'll attempt to do.

This week in school we are studying the inventions of the last part of the 1800s. Today we learned about Thomas Edison, his invention of the light bulb and other inventions. He lead a very interesting life! I found out that they replicated his Menlo Park laboratory at Greenfield village. I was thinking about going up there for a field trip. Has anyone been there that can give me feed back about it?



The boy's started Scouts for the first time this fall. They absolutely love it (including Josh who is helping in both boy's groups). We found a group that has some other homeschooled kids in it.



The garden did well this year. Sunday I made chili with the cranberry dried beans that I grew. It also had the tomatoes, onions and peppers from the garden. With ground venison from the freezer, it was about as home grown as you can get. It's so fun to put that on the table and for the kids to realize they helped with all of it. Our hoop house is working well. It was built on Labor Day over my green pepers and some of the broccoli. It is so cool to be picking fresh garden veges in November. I think the pepers did better in October than they did all summer. I planted cold tolerant lettuces, radishes, and carrots and they are all growing fine although a little slower than in the spring. Kristi

August Newsletter

In April I had the remarkable opportunity to go and serve “Christian Missions in Many Lands” (CMML) Zambia operation. They purchased a Cessna 182 and wanted help with several repairs and modifications. In the five weeks I was there, my job was to see how close we could get the plane to flying.
My first task was to modify the airframe for a larger engine and then install the engine. The larger engine will allow for greater payloads or a shorter take off roll. The airframe modification progressed quickly as well as mounting the new engine mount. After installing the engine and beginning the routing of fuel lines and control cables a large crack was found on the oil pan, ending the engine installation. A new pan was ordered but did not arrive until after I had left.
My second task was to install new light weight, foldable jump seats in the rear of the plane. These new seats would allow 35lbs more cargo to be carried and could be folded out of the way when not needed allowing larger pieces for cargo to be carried.
The third and last major piece that I was given to work on was a wing reinforcement kit. With the roughness of a dirt runway and the weight of fuel in the tank, wings can be bent or damaged. The kit has upper and lower reinforcement straps that have to be riveted into place along the spar.
But not all my time was spent working in the hangar. I had plenty of time interacting with the many different missionaries on the station. The station has a flight service, mission hospital, boarding school and orphanage all associated with it. The flight service provide rapid, safe and affordable transportation to anyone associated with the CMML station. The hospital gives free care to all the area residence, treating body, soul and spirit. The orphanage takes care of children until they are old enough to be reintroduced back into the village. And the boarding school provides a quality education for the local and not so local missionaries and doctor’s children.
I also had the opportunity to go hunting on a local game farm owned by the great-grandson of the missionary who started the mission base, Pete Fisher. Pete and his wife Lynn invited me to spend the evening with them and their family. Sitting by the fire listening to hunting stories being told by Peter ( who is a professional hunter and guide) was thrilling. Near misses with Cape Buffalo and stalking giant lions and rogue elephants. The next morning we drove out looking for the Puku herd, an antelope roughly the size of a white tail deer. After finding the herd we stalked them until we were roughly 180 yards away and I took my first and likely last antelope. The meat was sold at the local market to supply the villagers.
Would you please remember to pray for CMML flight service as they serve in Zambia. Please pray for their safety, their provisions and for their health.
Thank you to all of those who prayed and helped with the problems around the house while I was gone for those almost six weeks. And praise God for the opportunity to hear his name worshiped and praised in a remote part of Africa.
Your co-laborer in Christ, Josh

At Home:
This summer we have once again seen God providing for ALL our needs. Despite the sagging economy and the decline in giving, we have been blessed over and over again. This spring we were surprised by the Laymen’s Sunday School Class at Calvary Baptist Church, Bellefontaine, Ohio. They had a grocery “shower” in our honor and brought a truck load of grocery items to our house! We also were giving beef from Wes and Teri Miller. With our abundant garden, our trips to Wal-Mart have become rare! Our budget has stretched in ways that we could never have anticipated. Thank you all for thinking of us.
The summer has brought new experiences for our family.
Noah got to help an MMS family bale hay. He put in a hard day of work!
We also got 2 bee hives. It has been interesting to learn. We hope to have honey for our own use and to sell.
Hannah threw her cat a birthday party
Luke finished his learning-to-read book. We have celebrated with all the kids by having a day with Mom and Dad. During that time we have a special treat, get their first library card, and are presented with a Bible.
We always have lots of questions from you about how our “mini-farm” is doing. In addition to our bees, we were given 4 ducks that live in our stream. They are fun because they will follow you everywhere. Our laying hens started giving eggs last week. The kids like to check for eggs frequently and Noah has reported seeing an egg coming out! We will also sell some chickens for meat this fall. We enjoy ourselves immensely and invite you all to come out.

Last days

One last update before I leave tomorrow. Over all I'm very happy with how the project went. Tremendous strides were made towards the completion of the 182. Although the engine could not be completely installed and tested we were able to learn of other problems that would have slowed the project down even further in the future. Upon returning to MMS I will begin to help gather the needed tools and supplies to finish the airplane. John, one of the pilots and a former MMS alumni and Joseph the chief mechanic will continue working on the plane till it is done. Which should be before the end of summer.

The picture of me was taken at Nchila Wildlife Reserve, owned and operated by the Fisher family. I and another volunteer was taken to the farm for a short safari one Saturday afternoon. Calvin and Peter got talking about hunting and Peter invited us over for a hunt. On the first trip Calvin shot a Puku, but it was getting to dark for me to bag one and it was raining. So, Peter invited me back and I was able to go this last weekend. We got as close to the herd as they would allow us and laying down on the ground, using a termite mound for a rest, I took this buck at 180 yards with a .243 rifle. Later in the evening Peter and his son Chris shared many of their hunting stories with me. Hunting buffalo, hippo, lions, elephants, ect...

I truly thank God for the opportunity to come here and serve CMML Flight Service. I have made many new friends and have had more "once in a life time" events than I deserved. Please continue to remember CMML in your prayers as there is still alot of work to be done. Josh

One week to go

Well, since my last update things here have changed. Sortly after posting the engine install was going well I found a crack in the oil pan. A new pan will need to be sent from America and then the engine removed and the pans switched. This brought the engine install to a skidding stop. There was no point continuing if we were just going to pull the engine shortly any ways here is a picture of how it looked when I stopped.



I've since moved on to the wing modification. Joseph and his helper James have been working on installing the out board tips. I've been working on a reinforcement kit that is riveted onto the upper and lower spar. This kit will give the plane an added carring capacity of 150lbs. Tomarrow I will pull the wing struts one at a time and add the modification to the lower spar. This added strength will prevent damage that would be caused by heavy wing loads in rough air or rough runways.



With the weekend comming my time is drawing short. On tuesday evening we will pack the bags and weight everything. Wensday morning we will fly out to Lusaka. Thursday morning I'll fly to London. Friday morning I'll fly home. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as things wrap up and I begin to travel. Thank you, Josh