Getting back too it.

The guys were gone last week on a rapid response trip.  They helped on an inspection for Samaritans Purse's Grand Caravan that was doing some relief work.  But they are back now and we will finish these engines.

 Ryan's IO-540 run had a complication that kept it from running.  I call it a complication and not a problem because problem has a negative connotation. I consider complications like the final test in a class your taking.  You have to take all the knowledge you have gathered over the past few months and bring it to bare on an unknown issue.  Over the day or two it took us in trouble shooting to figure out what happened we got to review the ignition system, magneto to engine timing, magneto internal timing and then the engine internal timing.  Turns out that the crankshaft gear had two timing marks one right one wrong,  why two I don't know but the obvious mark was the wrong one.  After adjusting the timing it fired up and ran great. 

 An additional lesson that was learned was that you can follow the book and do it "right" and it can still not work.  That is where being a mechanic really starts, most people can follow directions, most people cannot figure out what to do when it still doesn't work.

This is Ryan's engine finished, paperwork signed and crated for it's return trip to Suriname. 

 As soon as Ryan's engine was lifted off, Stephen's engine was set in it's place and the hooking up began.  We got it ready to run before he left on his trip but we hope to run tomorrow with or without complications...
                                                         
 And lastly we have our next engine, a turbo normalized IO-540 for Arctic Barnabas, a mission based in Alaska.  Check them out a get a feel for what they do.

Thanks for your prayers,  Josh

MAF Suriname Cylinder overhaul

Ryan has been working through the process of overhauling the Suriname engines cylinders.  We start by cleaning and inspecting the cylinders.  Some of the inspections are visual, looking for corrosion, cracks and excessive wear the remaining inspections are dimensional.  We measure to .0001" or 1/10,000 of an inch with most of limits.  We check for excessive wear, out of roundness and clearances between parts.  Any inspection that shows a discrepancy has to be fixed before the cylinders can be reused.

 Valve guides are a common part of the cylinders that need to be replaced at the cylinder overhaul but before the guides can be installed they have to be reamed to the correct size (above).  The cylinder is heated up in an oven and the old guide is removed and the new guide installed in its place.

 With new guides in, the valve and the  valve seat has to be checked, corrected and lapped in to assure the valve seals during operation.  The remaining parts: springs, keepers, caps, studs, threaded holes, barrel, rings, shafts, rockers and push rods all go through a similar process of inspection, repair or replace before the cylinder and be painted and reassembled.

When all six cylinders pass this rigorous process the engine manufacture tells us we can call the cylinders overhauled and we can reinstall the cylinders back onto the engine. 

By being able to to this process ourselves we are able pass considerable savings over to our customer, the world wide mission community.The savings can range between $500 and $2500 per cylinder! 

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers, Josh

The Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF) T206 has arrived from the field and will be undergoing a major inspection plus an engine change.  In last weeks post you saw Stephen working on this 206's new engine but this week you will see him removing the old .

 An interesting thing about airplane engines is that they have a life limit.  This one's is 15 years or 1800 hours.  After the time passes the engine needs to be overhauled, which is basically a tear-down, inspecting for cracks, making sure nothing has worn outside of serviceable limits, replacing worn parts, reassembly and test.

 While the engine is out, the firewall, engine mounts and tunnel will be cleaned, inspected and repaired if necessary.  New hoses will be fabricated, tested and installed. 

The old engine came with parts that the new engine did not, so the exhaust, turbo system, engine baffling, prop governor and alternator will all have to be removed and sent out to specialty shops for repair, except the baffling that we can repair ourselves.

When those pieces return we'll be able to complete the assembly and test of the new engine.

Something to look forward to...

Thanks for taking the time to read this and remember to keep us in your prayers.

Josh

Catching up!

The last few weeks have been a whirl wind and we have had the pleasure of seeing God move on our behalf repeatedly.   

After spending the summer serving God in Mongolia, Hannah safely returned home to us with many stories to tell.  Her summer with Teen Missions international grew her spiritually in ways that probably could have never happened in Ohio.  She experienced spiritual warfare, seen God answer numerous prayers for provision and protection and had the opportunity to train 40 or so Mongolian Christian teens how to  reach their families, friends and community with the good news and hope that comes from knowing Christ.  The full extent to the success of her summer will not be known until she stands before Christ one day and He Himself tells her "Well done"!

 The last few years we have seen Noah working, struggling and praying about his future after high school.  Once again God showed up in a big way, made his will known in an absolute way.  With a few tears and much excitement we dropped Noah off at "The" Ohio State University.  God also provided him a job on campus as a calculus 1 tutor.  He is attending the on campus church H20 and is getting active in its small group.  He has big plans to go far at OSU.  Please keep him in your prayers.

                                                        

In the hangar I've been working with two apprentices to overhaul two different engines.  Stephen (pictured below) is overhauling a turbo charged six cylinder-ed Contenintal engine that will be the heart of a mission plane flown by Missionary Aviation Fellowship in Mexico.

An interesting tidbit of aviation information is noted in the picture below.  There are two main engine manufactures for reciprocating engines.  The gray one in the foreground is a Lycoming, the gold one in the background is a  Continental Motors engine.  The are very similar in many ways but different in a key few.  The main debatable point often argued over is which one is better...  being a neutral party with years of actual hands on experience I'd have to say the better one depends on how they are taken care of,  Lycoming are know for having camshaft problems, Continentals are known for having cylinder problems but both of the problems stem from how the owner operates and cares for the the engine.  They are both great engines , I would be glad to have either. 

  Ryan (background of  picture) is overhauling a  six cylinder Lycoming engine that will be the heart of a mission plane serving with Missionary Aviation Fellowship in Suriname.

It will be a race to the finish, to see whether Ryan or Stephen gets his engine done and on the test stand first. 

I also have three more engines coming over the next few months.  Two for this fall and one to start in the winter.  

I will try to do better in keeping the updates coming look for another one next week.

Thanks, Josh  

Change of Plans for Noah

Greetings from Noah! I am sad to say that I will not be attending Teen Missions International this summer.  With college rapidly approaching, and a good job opportunity, I will be taking this summer to prepare financially and personally for college life.  God has answered my prayer for financial support in a way that I didn't imagine.  The Ohio State University at Columbus has offered me a full-ride scholarship, covering room, board, and academic cost.  This is an amazing opportunity that God has offered me, and I am excited to pursue it as I go to OSU this fall.  Even though I am not going to Teen Missions, my sister is, please continue to pray for and support Hannah as she prepares for Mongolia this summer.