Keep on Keepin' on!

We are progressing slowly by slowly, as the Kenyans would say. Jerry is beginning to study for his Kenyan pilot conversion test, which Nate Killoren just recently passed. It seems to be extremely difficult. JH has been studying at breaks and lunch, and will begin working half days in the shop so he can devote more time to studying...blessings to him.

In the mean time, the AIM AIR short term volunteers have arrived and will begin working this week. We will keep pressing on and finish this project soon!


This is how I left the instrument panel on Friday afternoon. I installed the new instrument panel on the pilot side and put in the directional gyro and the heading indicator, along with all the vacuum hoses and a new vacuum filter. Also, you'll notice the new leather bound eyebrow (glareshield) installed...for those who don't know, it's the black thing attached to the top of the entire instrument panel. I also installed the engine instrument cluster on the right side, and Jerry has the yokes on for aileron rigging. Concerning the engine instrument cluster, we are not going to install an engine monitor yet; we want to see how the two different ones we are operating now do in African conditions. So, it will be stock Cessna for the next few months at least.

This is under the pilot instrument panel looking up. Notice the new wiring, the new vacuum hoses, new vacuum filter, new circuit breakers. We really try to make it a very clean installation.

...and the instruments with their new hoses, as well as the new instrument panel. You can also see a closer shot of the eyebrow.

Jerry has been working on control cable rigging. Here he is working with the rudder, rudder pedals, and nose gear steering.

Cessna tells you to lower the tail and raise the nose while you rig the rudder and nose steering systems. So here it is, with Jerry inside. Looks like its going to take off from the paint booth.

Ahhh, a source of warmth. I was doing the plastic interior last week and was using the heat gun to sometimes help mold the pieces where I needed them. Well, it sure helped keep us warm in the cool mornings, too. With all of the insulation already installed, it was like a little cooker in the plane. Nice...

The beginning of the AIM AIR logo on the tail.

...and here I am putting the words on the tail.

Me with the finished product on the tail of 90U...almost a completed AIM AIR plane!

Thursday I was making sure we had all the cargo tie downs that we need and of course, we came up short. I had to make a bunch of the pieces on the right, which mount underneath the Brownline buttons in the roof and are where the seatbelts attach. It was a fun project...but one that a person only wants to do every now and then. Except maybe if you're an aspiring sheetmetal mechanic...right, Liz? :)