New project

Don't ask me why this is all underlined, because I cannot figure it out.

The 207 is all but finished and is only waiting on a new propeller governer to complete the engine set up before the test flights.

I have been assigned a new project and will once again be working with Paul Gettle. We will be doing an inspection on an engine involved in a prop strike. The engine must be completely torn down and the important parts sent out for professional inspection. We will then reassemble the engine and run it before returning it to the owner.

Last weekend the scouts had fall camp and although a bit cold and wet everybody had a good time. Luke is seen helping to learn how to make rope. We also worked on knots, wood working and athletics.

Hannah went with the scouts last weekend as well and got to participate in most of the activities. She is seen below helping in the fire safety portion of the weekend.

I only have one more thing to add and it is a request for Kristi. We found out earlier this week that she has two herniated disk and one ruptured. Most likely surgery will be required to fix her back. She has suffered with back pain for almost two years now. I ask that you pray she is willing to go thru with the surgery, that the surgery is successful and for the finances to cover it. Also pray for her she is depressed and in pain, not a good combination. I'll also be going to Florida for two weeks to help a mission down there, you could pray for her extra while I'm gone.

Thanks, Josh

Thanks again, Josh

Almost there

The 207 is nearing completion. The owner arrives next week to begin the test flights to work out the final few bugs. The interior is really the only thing left to be finished, right now the engine is getting its final look over and the wings are getting rigged for flight. Hopefully there will be a video next week of the return to service flight.

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers, Josh

Painting

The pictures are just going to have to speak for themselves. I started painting last Friday with the white and came in on Tuesday to start the blue.

The masking, set up and paint for the blue took most of the day.
And then I had to demask the plane and wipe off any over spray.
Next came the two gold stripes down the sides of the plane and then the gray lettering and stripe which was today.
Here you can see Dale detailing the finished product, I'll have to come in on Saturday to finish up my work.
I learned alot this week and I wish I had another to do back to back to see if I could improve in my technique or at least learn from my mistakes.

We sold the final puppy just yesterday, it was good to see them all go to good homes.

Thanks for checking in, Josh

Milestone reached

The 207 has reached a major milestone today,with the finishing of the tail all structural repairs have been completed!!!

Andy and I have been working on the tail for almost three weeks. We have built almost completely a new tail cone for this plane. Andy, being our newest apprentice has improved greatly in that time. His riveting has greatly improved and his confidence with sheet metal has also increased. After a project like this any small skins, patches or repairs that will need to be made on any aircraft will be faced with confidence.
Andy is seen here attaching the side skins with rivets. He has a pneumatic rivet gun in his right hand and a bucking bar in his left. Between the two he smashes small aluminum rivets, holding the skins in place.
Dale and Andy check the tail for alignment, it was only 1/4" out.
On Monday, God willing, we will begin repainting the new skins to match the fuselage. Check back and see how that goes next week.
On a side note, Have you heard of the Kodiak? It is the latest and greatest mission airplane. This plane was designed and built with missions in mind. Well, on the way back from an airshow a Kodiak serial number 0001 stopped at MMS to give rides to the MMS families. Needless to say the kids loved the ride, Kristi... not so much. Small planes are not her cup of tea. In her defense it was quite bumpy up their. Here you can see Hannah in the right seat.

In some other news, everything has worked out for buying our house. We go in next Tuesday to sign the papers.

Please pray with us as we prepare to do some support raising this fall. Pray that God will open doors and prepare hearts. We are looking for financial partners to make up the gap in between where we are and where we should be. If you would like to join our support team just contact us. If you would like to help us by inviting us into your church, Sunday school class, youth group, whatever again please contact us.

God bless and thank you for visiting. Josh

Tail work

Andy and I have spent all week riveting the tail on and together. It has been alot of riveting and thankfully very little repairing. The tail is notoriously hard for getting to come out looking nice. It is not that the riveting is difficult but that the skins are very thin, .016" to be exact. You can bend or dent them just by handling them to rough and riveting can be a rough process.

Andy is seen here above working on the tail former's and below riveting on a skin.
Chuck has been working on getting the flaps and ailerons fitted to the wings and Phil (below) has been working on the electrical system.
MMS has recently posted a video on the removal of the 207's tail and can be seen here.

Thanks for checking in and I'll try to post again next week. Josh

Just winging it

It has been a busy week here at MMS. We have begun doing the final fit for the new tail we built. In order to assure that after everything is together the plane flies straight we need to attach the wings to assure the tail is straight and level. I also took some time to paint the canopy for a local pilots plane.The wing in the left of the picture is the one that was destroyed in Gabon and rebuilt by an outside agency, I did paint it though.
It takes alot of teamwork and ingenuity to install a set of wings. Did you notice the ladder with the adjustable stool on top.
Andy is riviting some of the sub structure before the skin goes on. After finishing up with his work well attach the skin and double check the alignment of the tail. Then we'll begin the process of drilling and riviting this new tail together. There should be a pretty significant change between this Friday and next, so come back and see it for your self.

We have sold 4 of our pups and 2 more have been spoken for but not picked up.

Josh

207

I missed my post on Friday so I will try to do at least two this week. I have completed the horizontal on the 207 and the whole team is working on the tail cone right now. During the end of last week we disassembled the cone and inspected for hidden damage. The replacement parts are either here on in route.

We have fabricated almost all new skins in preparation for the reassemble, which has already begun.
Our goal is to have the wings on and the tail back together by the end of the month. Barring any unforeseen complications it should be doable.
Luke, had scout camp over the weekend, so I'll try to post some pictures mid-week. Thanks for checking in and being an active part of our support system.

Please be in prayer for Kristi's back, she has a ruptured disk. Josh

207 Progress

The 207 is coming along very well. I have basically finished the horizontal and installed it. Dale is inspecting the fit and finish. Chuck has removed, repaired and is in the process of installing the rear wing spar carry through. And we only really have the tail to rebuild.
I painted the right wing, elevator and a flap this week also. The green/yellow paint is a special primer for aluminum.
After green is white and they are ready to go. The paint booth was 90+ degrees the day I painted these. The hardest part was not dripping sweat on the wet paint.
We have been approved for our house loan and are now in the process of getting all the correct paperwork and inspections done. We should have the house in our name before the end of Aug. Please continue to pray for Gods provision in this matter as a house payment will be a tight squeeze until we get some more support raised to cover it.

Thanks to those who prayed and gave gifts, enabling us to be approved fore this loan.

Josh

Another weeks adventures

I'm in the process of fabricating new skins for the 207's horizontal. We lay the old skin on top of some blank aluminum and using the original as a pattern we drill and cut the new skins out. After the new skins are cut out the are treated with a corrosion inhibitor, primed and reinstalled. I should be done with the horizontal by the end of next week.

Noah had to build a bird feeder for the merit badge he is working on. We used inch thick reclaimed oak barn siding for our materials. Noah made up the plans on his own and we adapted the size to the material we had on hand. Its base it 2 feet square and it is 18" tall. Noah did about 90% of the cutting and assembly himself. He used the table saw, compound miter saw and a cordless drill. I only helped with cutting the beveled corners. We put it up on top this tree stump to keep the bird feeder from becoming a cat feeder. With its overhang and height the cats cannot seek up on the birds. We've watched them try without any success.
Here Kristi is harvesting some of our first blueberry crop. We've had blueberry pancakes, blueberry coffee cake, blueberries on homemade ice creme and yesterday a blueberry pie, plus lots just eaten fresh off the bush.
The puppies eyes are open and they are up and moving around. They are barking and growling and being very cute. They are about three weeks old and we will start looking for new homes for them soon.
The kittens are growing as well and are closer to six weeks. We have found a new home for one of them already and are looking for homes for the others. Noah gets to keep one for himself since his cat "ran away" last fall. They as still living in the boys toy box upstairs and are a source of endless entertainment.
We also are still working on financing our house, mostly trying to educate ourselves as to what our options are and what will work best for us. We will be applying for a loan next week if you could keep that in your prayers we would appreciate it. We have been praying about getting the finances together for making the down payment and closing cost and God has blessed us with a gift of $1000 to start us off. We are very thankful for the gift and we continue to pray for His provision.

God bless and thanks for visiting, Josh

207 Horizontal

While I'm waiting for the paint to show up I started a new sheet metal project. This horizontal has been changed in an unapproved manor. Sometime in the past a repair was made and although the repair was safe and function-able it is not an approved repair. So I'm in the process of removing the skins and returning the horizontal to an approved condition.

A kit was bought that will be installed along with the new skins. This kit will make repairing the horizontal in the future much easier. The kit allows the leading edge to be installed with screws instead of rivets. The leading edge is most often damaged by rocks thrown up by the tires on gravel runways.

In other news... We are still working on buying our house. We ask that you could pray for the necessary finances to come in on time. I'm not worried about it all coming together, God has always taken care of us and has always provided for our needs. I look forward to seeing Him work as we put our faith in Him.

Thanks for checking in, Josh

207

Work continues on the 207. We were shuffling some parts and planes around the hangar and the 207 was outside. Without all the other planes and clutter in the picture you can seemuch of the progress we have made.

The nose area has been disassembled, repaired and reassembled. The engine has been removed and re installed. The nose gear removed, inspected, repaired, reassembled and re installed. The main gear landing box repaired and new right gear leg installed. And a skin under the rear fuselage door replaced.

We still need to repair the the main spar carry thru, the part the wing attaches to and the tail cone. Some various other parts and we'll be almost there.

I have the door I started ready to paint and the wing is in the paint booth as well. That will be next weeks assignment.

I'll try to remember my camera next week and get more than one picture. Josh

Back on the Gabon 207

After recovering for a week at home I'm back in the hangar again. I'm still on Dale's team and working on the Gabon 207.

I've been asked to repair the rear cargo door. It was damaged in the hard landing and has a sizable dent in it and I've decided that the easiest way to fix if would be to replace the whole door skin.
After removing the dented skin I fabricated a new skin using the original as a pattern. Here you can see the test fit, not too bad. Needs primed and riveted on before the test fit on the airplane.
He is the other piece of news from our house, 10 new puppies. Add that to our 4 new kittens, 2 calves and a lamb our little farm is growing. The pups are airedales and are registered. Let me know if you are interested in one. Josh

Catching up

The Air Calvary 207 made a nice step forward this week. We have completed enough of the repairs that kept us from reinstalling the engine and nose gear. As you can see we've started putting the front all back together. Paul has already finished the nose gear install and it is all signed off. He has moved up to the right hand side of the engine and is helping me with all the wires.

This is the exact same project that Paul and I will be doing for CMML in Zambia so this has been an excellent opportunity to familiarize our selfs with the work and plane. So expect more of the same in the coming month, pictures wise.

Did you see the map above of CMML's location. The hangar is located midway on the runway.

I was recently reminded that I did not post any pictures of Noah's bridging ceremony.

After being escorted from the cub scout side of the bridge to the boy scout side Noah was welcomed into the troop. They removed his cub scout colors and replaced them with the troops. He was also charged with being an asset to the troop and a leader to those younger than him.
Just recently Luke's scout group toured the local airport. The highlight was this flying "chain saw". The chopper in the back ground carries the saw and flies up and down the power lines trimming trees. It is quite an impressive sight.
Thanks for visiting, Josh

207

This is a picture of the Straw families prayer card, I have it taped to the side of the plane to remind me who I am working for these days and who will be riding in it one day. Steve is entrusting his life and the life of his family and many others to the work we are doing today. Every rivet, every screw is important. It is a chain that is only as strong as its weakest link.

We've completed reassembling the lower nose bowl after repairing the tunnel and firewall and have moved on to the main landing gear box.
Andy has just removed the main gear legs and is inspecting the castings and bulkhead for removal. Paul has finished painting the nose gear and will be reassembling the nose gear on Monday for installation at a later date.
The big blue tarp is covering the opening to where our new door is going to go... next week some time. There has been and will continue to be volunteers staying the night in the hangar keeping everything safe in the mean time. I'll be covering a shift some time this weekend as well.
Noah has his bridging ceremony tomorrow, we are continuing to pray that the weather will be a little more cooperative than the weatherman is saying. It is an outside ceremony and could be very short. Look for pictures.

Also, if you could start praying on our behalf, we need to raise some money for a down payment on our house and a little extra each month to make the monthly payments.

Thanks, Josh