Cool missionary aviation video...

This is a neat video I found on the UIM Aviation website...some of my old colleagues are there working with UIM in Tucson.


United Indian Mission Aviation - STOL Flight Demo from IAMA on Vimeo.

A new airplane...

...to me, anyway.  We had to run over to the SP hangar to pick up some paperwork and I got to see our Kodiak.  It's definitely an interesting airplane.  John and Mike were there working on it with a guy from Quest.  I had the chance to give it a once over look and chat with the guys.

It sure isn't a C206 with a 550 in it, but I guess it will get the job done.   Hahhahahahaa....

The C210...

So for the last however many months, we have been tinkering away at the Check III due on our C210M, 5Y-BLG.  We've recently been doing some landing gear work, so it's been up and down on the jacks, with some gear retractions going on.  It's such a funny looking project, I thought I would take some pictures of it up in the air. 

Here it is at about 17 inches up in the air...the minimum amount required for the gear to be retracted safely. 

Side shot. 

Side shot...no legs.  It looked like it was going to fly down into the floor.  Definitely weird...

Front shot...no legs.  Lotta space under there. 


I am officially not working in the shop anymore.  We are departing Nairobi tomorrow night, so we are feverishly packing and trying to make sure that all things are in order before we leave.  It has been a great time here at AIM AIR and I look forward to coming back in January.  But now we're looking forward to some good home time with family and friends back in the States.  I will update the blog as I see fit...and when I come across some cool airplanes.  

See ya'll!!!!

Wow...

...so I have really been slack about putting anything on my blog.  I'm sorry for that.  Things have really been busy, and I just haven't had a chance.  So here's some updates:

Our "silver bullets," N827DG and N4790U are finished.  7DG has about 50-something hours on it.  They are not yet allowed to fly in Kenyan airspace because they are US registered.  The paperwork should be coming through sometime this week for them to be allowed to operate here in the country.  In the meantime, they are looking beautiful at the hangar door all day.

We are still pressing on with our inspection of the C210, 5Y-BLG.  We have also begun working on a big inspection for 5Y-CMA, one of the C206s. 

The DC-3 is in for some extensive sheetmetal work, including a new airstair door. 

I will be leaving for the States the end of next week.  We have our home leave coming up and we are getting excited about heading home and seeing family and friends.  We will be sharing with some local churches about the ministry of AIM AIR/SP, so if you're interested, please send me an email and I can give you some more info. 

The blog will most likely rest for a couple months while I'm on home leave, unless I can find some cool aviation pictures during my travels.  Just be sure to check every now and then to see if I've updated.  Thanks again for all the interest you guys and gals have shown in this blog.  It really means a lot. 

Anyway, here's a couple pics for this week, and perhaps there will be some more before I go next week. 

This is Marko, a Rendille warrior who works with us here at AIM AIR. 

Jerry Hurd giving a tour of the hangar to some orphans.  Here he's explaining how the retractable gear works on the C210. 

This pic was taken today.  The DC-3 really takes up a lot of room in the hangar.  There's the C210 (BLG) in the front, and 5Y-CMA is just behind the tail of the C210. 

Moving on...

The two Project 206 airplanes are complete. Any day of the week, you can find them resting in the AIM AIR hangar here in Nairobi. We are patiently (or maybe not so...) waiting for permission to be granted by the local aviation authorities to fly them as US-registered aircraft in country. That would be such a blessing for that to happen.

Meanwhile, I have moved into the role of Piston Fleet Supervisor. This involves keeping track of our 5 Cessna 206s and a single Cessna 210. I am in charge of the maintenance on them and making sure that they are operating safely.

Currently we are finishing a large inspection on the Cessna 210, and will begin another large inspection on one of the Kenyan-registered Cessna 206s. Both of these are huge prayer requests, because we currently have only one Kenyan-registered Cessna 206 that is operational. One of the US-registered Cessna 206s is operating over in Entebbe.

Things are busy in the shop, and I will try to keep things updated on here, with some pictures when they come.

Hopefully, N827DG and N4790U will soon be operational here in Kenya.

AIM AIR - "Serving those who serve"

Ready to Fly

On Tuesday, 29 September, 2009, N4790U left the earth here in Nairobi, Kenya, and did not return for two solid hours. Reini and I were the only two aboard and we had a great flight as we did the engine break-in. We returned with very minimal discrepancies, mostly just items that needed a little bit of fine tuning. It was a beautiful sunny day with some clouds, and the air was just bumpy enough. However, unlike with 7DG's first flight, I didn't get sick this time!! Aha!

N4790U - 0
Nate - 1

HAHA! Anyway, it was a great flight, and I flew again this morning with John to do some flight maneuvers and check the stall warn horn after we installed a Horton STOL kit and Vortex Generators. We flew out over Karen and enjoyed our time together, reminiscing of the same type of flight we did last year with 7DG.

Below are some pictures of our crew in a circle of prayer about an hour before we did the test flight. Enjoy.

Reini and I with the airplane as we preflight it together.

N4790U video

10 months in 3 minutes from nate killoren on Vimeo.

First Run!!

This afternoon, we ran N4790U for the first time! It went great! It fired right up and sounded very smooth for having sat around in crates and on the airplane for about 2 years total without being run.

The video will be coming in the next couple days!

Keep your eyes peeled!

Blast from the Past

Here's some pictures of N4790U...before and after.

Final Preparations

This week we have been working hard to get N4790U finished so that we can do the first run of the new IO-550-N and then take it on its first flight here in Kenya. Things have been progressing well and we have taken care of some small items here and there that need to be fine tuned. We also took it to be weighed and will be doing the final fuel tests tomorrow. Here's some pics!


Jerry Hurd doing some final touches on the control yoke carry through cables.

Sitting in the doorway, almost ready.

Looking good.

That really is a nice looking engine.

Getting ready to go down to Phoenix Aviation to be weighed. We had to tow it down because we only put unusable fuel in it...just like the POH says.

On the scales at Phoenix. That's level flight attitude...how the airplane actually moves through the sky.

In the doorway at Phoenix. All the mechanics at Phoenix had to come over and inspect this sweet looking 206. AIM AIR was paid a good complement when one of the upper level engineers said that all of our airplanes always look so nice, that we always keep them well maintained.

On the way back to AIM AIR. Godfrey was our driver.

Early Morning Rest

N4790U...getting closer.

We've been really pretty busy here in the shop the past couple weeks. I'm sorry for not posting. Hopefully, I can get back into it better.

We finished N342EA and it went back to Entebbe, Uganda.

We are currently working on 90U to finish it up and also on 5Y-SIL changing the right MLG fitting, which has a crack in it. Thanks to JM, the pilot who reported a "funny sound, not something normal." Upon further inspection, I found a crack that was about 3 inches long and not in the "normal" place that cracks occur.

Anyway, here's some pictures of 90U. Nate Killoren got the cargo pod installed and is working on closing up the wings and the fuselage so that we can install the seats and then work on getting the toe and camber adjusted. Then the plane is to be weighed, fuel tests, and then a test run will be in the near future.


Getting the cargo pod aligned to begin installing the screws.

Nate K. putting the screws in...

Nice interior. Looks good enough to fly...

Pod installed. Ready to go soon.

Scooting over...

...to N342EA. This airplane is usually based in Entebbe, Uganda. It came over to Nairobi for some maintenance just before the accident three weeks ago. We have begun working on it this past week and continue through this week. Here's some of the pictures I've captured of the work.

Lance Atkins and I removed the engine so that we could install the dual forward mount conversion. Here's Lance getting the engine ready to remove.

Here's the engine on it's temporary home. We did lots of inspection on it while it was off the plane, too, since everything was very accessible.

The dual mounts have been installed.

Ready for an engine again...

Tim Carpenter, AA pilot in Loki, helping with the 100hr inspection. He's removing the fairings for the pod from around the landing gear legs...

...and here's Lance's legs. He was inside the pod holding the nuts on the back of the screws for Tim to remove.

Not much room in there. :) Short termers always get the weird jobs...sorry, Lance.

The engine is now back on with its new Hartzell prop. It used to have a 3-blade McCauley.

While the plane is down, we're also putting on the Vortex Generator kit. It's looking good.

Jerry Hurd...with lunch in hand.

Long Overdue Update

I'm sorry about not posting in a while. Things have been crazy and not the ordinary. We have not been doing much on the piston fleet here at AIM AIR, but are starting to get back into it slowly. However, N4790U is not the focus of our attention at this time. We are working on the 206s that are operational first, then we will move back to 90U.

In the mean time, I will post some pictures of what we are doing...and below are some pictures that I took the week before the accident. Hope you enjoy.

Left to right: Me, Lance, and Kevin putting on the registration stickers.

...and the finished product. It finally has it's numbers back.

This is Kevin, one of the AIM AIR short term volunteers, installing the vista vents in the pilot door window.

Mr. Singh, the interior fundi, getting the headliner laid out and ready to install.

Here's the headliner installed, with the cargo tie downs installed as well. You can see the side interior plastics, too.

Steve and David testing some of the avionics. You can see the screen for the GPS is lit up, so it must be working!

Lance Atkins, getting the floor ready for the anti-skid tape.

Jim Levander doing an inspection of the fuel lines and fuel selector, ensuring that all things are tight that need to be.

Here's an interior shot, with the new anti-skid tape on the floor, and the interior almost finished.