Where we are now...not where we were before

So I've been upstairs in the training room for the majority of the days this week and next week also. While I've been up there, the guys down below have been working hard to get some components installed in the wings and get the wings installed. Meanwhile, David Marwa has been doing avionics installations, including beacon, antenna, etc. It's really starting to look good, like a completed aircraft again. I came down today during lunch break and here is what I found...


Isaac Kamau (who is in my class) working on the Caravan engine change. Notice the tail of the Caravan is where N4790U used to sit.

And actually, there are some parts of a floatplane there, too.

So 90U has been moved over into the paint booth...actually, it just never moved once the blue stripes were painted. They have one wing on in this picture.

Not exactly the best work environment, but there's not really much other choice. We bear with the cramped workspace until the hangar in front of us clears up a bit.

Thanks to the guys who have been laboring hard while I have been sitting on my rump learning about how to maintain a King Air 200. You guys have really been doing well. Thanks.

N499SP in Alaska

Blue stripes...

Here's the finished product...

Carolina fans...Duke fans...

This week has been a little bit slower because Nate K. is on leave while family is here, Jerry is out of Nairobi for the week, and Caleb is on home assignment. It is just me and Paul, our Kenyan attachee who has been helping us for a few weeks. My goal for the week was to get the stripes on the plane and the wings installed by Friday. For the next two weeks, I won't be on the hangar floor; I am taking part in the King Air 200 maintenance training upstairs. So the other guys (besides Caleb) will be back, and they will continue the work.

In the meantime...here's some pictures of the week so far. We've had a couple little snags; this morning I had to work on the King Air 200 for most of the morning, so I didn't get the first stripe on as early as I had hoped. Oh, well...


Taping for the stripes. I had a bunch of people coming by and commenting that it looked like a big Christmas present.

That is Paul in the back by the tail and Chad Mosby, nephew of our Chief Engineer, here for a few weeks, and giving us a hand for a little bit.

This is for all you Carolina fans out there...the bottom stripe on the fuselage is this color.

In the meantime, while we're painting the stripes, they shoved a Caravan back into our spot. We're actually going to have to install the wings inside the paint booth because they have the engine off the Caravan and can't move it...oh, well.

And for you Duke fans...YEAH!! Notice that the AIM AIR paint scheme has WAY more Duke blue than Carolina blue. They must have known...

So here's the fuselage, the tip tanks, rudder cap, and vertical stabilizer cap, all painted Duke blue. They still need another coat and then it will be done.

Tail Feathers and a Goat

Friday was Caleb's last day at work. We got the tail feathers put onto 90U in preparation for the blue stripes, among other things accomplished.

We also had a goat roast to celebrate Caleb, Mosby, Waldo, Alan, and whoever else is headed to the States on home assignment.




Caleb and the SIM plane, N4790U.


Caleb and Jerry putting the rudder on.

This is like a Sesame Street commercial..."G" is for "Goat!" Ryan goofing off with one of the two goats that he and Mzee Kituo went to get for the roast.

He wanted to be an airplane mechanic...but never quite got the chance...

Green and White...

...are not AIM AIR's colors. Nor are they Samaritan's Purse or SIM's colors. It just so happens that they are the colors of the primer and paint we've been using. Right now the airplane is all just a bunch of white pieces...we joked about just writing SIM in big block letters on the side and the bottom like the UN planes here. Sorry I don't have too many pictures of painting, as I was helping Jose do the fuselage and then I did the wings, both things with the help of Jerry and Paul. We've got a lot accomplished. I totally have a new found respect for Jose and the painting that he does...it's HARD! After doing the fuselage on Monday and the wings on Wednesday, I was beat. Jose has to be the man to do all the stuff he's done before...

Anyway, here's some pictures of painting...


The freshly painted fuselage.

Caleb sanding some parts so they could get some white paint. Caleb is leaving this Sunday (May 17th) for his home leave...it's been great working with him and I wish him the best during his journeys. Maybe he'll be back by the time we head out for our home leave. If not, I guess we'll be like ships passing in the night...

Parts and pieces with new white paint.

Man, what a dorky white boy! There's a reason for looking this dumb, though...I was painting with my coveralls on and I usually get hot with pants on, too, so I wore my shorts and a cutoff t-shirt. The Kenyan guys laughed at me, though. Hey, note the MAI shirt, though...that's a collector's item now!

Green wings...they're actually white now, I just forgot to take a picture before I left today. This was my first real paint project that I had to do pretty much by myself (with Jerry and Paul's assistance on the lights and air hoses). Like I said before, it's HARD! You have to throw enough paint that it looks nice and shiny, but not enough to make runs...well, that's a really touchy area to be in. I ended up with a few runs, but I think overall it was a good first attempt.

Time for more paint.

Sorry it's taken so long to post...we've been busy and I just haven't gotten around to it. This past week held lots of work as we were working to get the fuselage prepared for paint. We put in all the windows and the windshield. Then we got everything taped up and headed out the door for etch and alodine. Now we're back in the paint booth getting some primer and paint. Progress!


New windshield. We put it and the windows in before paint because they are held in with parts that need to have paint on them.

Where'd the plane go?

Oh, there it is...sitting out front with Jerry Hurd.

Sisters...N827DG, our first project plane on the left and then N4790U on the right, getting ready for paint.

Putting alodine on. This preps the surface to accept the primer well.

This is Paul, our newest attachee in the hangar. He has been helping us work on 90U.

Nate K. putting some of the alodine on the tail section.

Basking in the warm sun with 5y-SIL, waiting for everything to dry before moving in to the paint booth.

Three of the fleet...5Y-SIL in the front, 90U in the middle, and 7DG in the back.

Paint, paint, and more paint

This week was a short week again. Friday is Labour Day, so we are off for the public holiday. We worked hard for the the four days, however, getting things ready to paint so they could sit and dry over the long weekend. You know, preparation is like 90% of the job when painting, so we were busy. The major work in the DC-3 has been completed, so we had some help from some of the other guys, which was nice. We're in the paint phase, so goals have been set to get things painted and start assembling the airplane. It's looking good!

Chris Kebae, aka "Little Kuku."

Chris has been working on our fiberglass pieces (nose bowl cowls, tip tanks, some fairings, etc) getting them ready for painting.

Nate Killoren beginning to tape the seat tracks so he can paint the floor.

This is the new cargo bulkhead...hope the pilots are skinny! Nah, just kidding, that's where Nate's taped off the front so he could paint the floor in the back.

Who's that nerdy looking guy? Haha! Those are the safety glasses they have in stores for us to use.

Nate getting ready to paint the floor.

And here he is giving it the beautiful gray last coat.

Marco (l) and me (r) getting ready to paint with Jose. Our light broke so we had to get another one...I'm putting the light bulb into it in this picture.

And here we are in the paint booth with the paint particles looking like snow in the picture. At this moment, I was caught with my hands in my pockets.

Sorry its so cloudy. Left to right - Marco on light, Jose on paintgun, and me keeping track of the electrical cord and air hose. Marco and I did get to paint some things, mostly the inside of cowls and doors...things that aren't readily seen.

Chai time! The guys were sitting out watching Matt Near chop up an airplane.


Matt Near from Preferred Air Parts taking apart a Piper Chieftan outside our hangar.


That's a cool chop saw! The national guys were really wondering how they were going to put this airplane back together in the States once they chopped it up and put it in the container...they didn't realize they were just taking it for parts.