Project 206

Propeller balancing

2012-02-01T15:44:00.001+03:00

Some of the guys here at AIM Air have recently been trained on the MicroVib propeller balancing tool. So that means that with every new inspection comes a chance to balance propellers. We have done one Caravan already. This set of pictures is from just yesterday, when we went out and balanced the propeller on 5Y-XPA. I went along as the driver, while Jim and Paul did the actual balance job. It went pretty smoothly (pun intended) and we were done in just a couple hours.

Jim and Paul getting set up for the first installation of balance weights.

Paul watching the airplanes land in the background. Notice the routing of the prop balance wiring out the bottom right engine cowling and through the top of the co-pilot door.

Calculating.

And more calculating. I started to get a little bored. So I took pictures of lots of other things.

Like this Kenya police helicopter, practicing their hovering. This is an AS350.

This helicopter is relatively new to the field. I think it's an EC-145.

There's the AIM Air Cessna 210, 5Y-BLG, ready for takeoff, with the cityscape in the background.

I caught it on takeoff, just when they were putting the gear up. It looks funny dangling down like that.

This picture cracks me up. This giant billboard out on Langata Road makes it look like this woman is peaking over the trees at me. Weird perspective.

I also caught the MAF PC-12 taking off.

I got so bored at one point, I took a picture of the grass.

This is a pretty cool looking Cessna 206. There's always something painted interesting around Kenya.

AirKenya operates a couple of these Dehavilland DHC-7s. Really cool airplane.

And of course...one of Air Kenya's Twin Otters.

I thought this was a neat picture. You can see all the way to the AIM Air hangar and see the DC-3 sitting outside. And if you look closely through the haze, you can see one of the line maintenance guys up on the engine nacelle cleaning it.

Re-painting a 747. Pretty cool.

2011-11-21T15:19:00.000+03:00

Samaritan's Purse - South Sudan - A Lifeline for Emergency Relief

2011-11-08T17:57:00.000+03:00

South Sudan is calling!

2011-11-06T17:48:00.004+03:00

Q400 assembly

2011-10-07T15:53:00.002+03:00

I saw this video online and thought it was pretty cool...for all those maintenance specialists out there.

AMREF Flying Doctors

2011-10-04T14:52:00.000+03:00

An interesting video showcasing the Flying Doctors, based at Wilson Airport in Nairobi.

Hiatus

2011-09-11T14:51:00.000+03:00

I apologize for the lack of blog posting the past weeks. We got our clearance for our son's paperwork and traveled very short notice to Ethiopia to pick him up. Then we traveled back to the United States for our home leave time.

I will be posting some things as I come across aviation-related things...otherwise, be patient and don't expect too much over the next couple months.

Thanks!
nathan

5Y-CMA First Flight, 19 August 2011

2011-09-03T03:45:00.000+03:00

Adventure in an Airplane...

2011-08-12T14:56:00.001+03:00

Many of you are aware of the work that Samaritan's Purse has been involved in up in South Sudan. They have been in the country for years, working with national people on a variety of different levels, but most importantly helping to take the Gospel to the people who need to hear about Jesus Christ. They have been doing water projects, church reconstructions, medical projects, and most recently, food projects.

You see, the people of South Sudan are being severely harassed by the North Sudanese military. They are being chased from their homes, bombed, killed, and otherwise greatly mistreated. There is a large group of people that have been chased from their homes in the Nuba Mountains, which is right along the border of North and South Sudan. They are fleeing towards the south and into a place called Unity State, which is a large land area like a US state or Canadian territory, though smaller.

These people, numbering in the thousands, are seeking refuge in a swampy area with squalid living conditions. They have no clean water, no food, no place to stay, nothing. They have been eating things like grass and other plants for over a week now, simply because they have nothing else to eat. Pregnant women have walked for miles to get there, only to find no source of nutrition for themselves and their unborn babies.

It was to this backdrop that we here at AIM Air in Nairobi readied ourselves the end of this past week. We readied the Samaritan's Purse DC-3 on Friday and Saturday and went out for a day of practice on how to perform air drops into a remote location. Then we went home, readied ourselves, and said goodbye to our families. Early Sunday morning, we departed Nairobi and flew all the way up to the Unity State area and loaded up the airplane with bags of sorghum, beans, lentils, and a corn/soy protein mix. Each load was 66 bags, each weighing 50kgs (a little over 100lbs). We then proceeded to the drop zone and sent our load tumbling out the door of the DC-3 and into an area about 100 meters by 50 meters.

So began the week. We continued over the next 5 days to drop food, tarps, and other non-food items to the people on the ground. It was hard work, but rewarding, because we knew that people on the ground who hadn't eaten in who knows how long were getting a meal that night. As we flew over each day, we could see more and more of the blue SP tarps being put up, and heard reports that over 95% of the food that we dropped was successfully recovered. Going to and from the drop zone, we sat in the back of the plane and watched South Sudan stream past our door, in awe of the vastness of such a country.

We ended our days hot, sweaty, and sticky from thousands of pounds of sorghum, with bruised backs and legs, and aching fingertips. But we fell into our beds each night knowing that what we were doing each day was allowing more and more people to survive another day. Each day we rose, not knowing what the day held, but knowing that God works everything out for His good purpose, and we were happy to be right in the midst of some of that good work.

To see some pictures and video of some of what we did, you can go to these links:

"Aid for Refugees"

"South Sudan Airdrop"

Both are very well done, and give you a glimpse into what we were able to accomplish while there on the ground (well, in the air really). Please continue to pray for the people of South Sudan as they seek to build up their new country and pray that organizations like Samaritan's Purse can continue to help reach people with food for their soul as well as food for their belly.

A somber reminder

2011-07-31T16:12:00.000+03:00

As most of you will keenly remember, tomorrow is the two year anniversary of the accident that occurred involving an AIM Air aircraft and two of our close friends. 1 August 2009 was the day that these two fathers said goodbye to their families at home and went in to do what seemed to be a fairly "normal" flight that day. However, we all know what happened and life changed forever.

For those of us who are still here working with AIM Air, I don't think we will ever forget that day, and the days and weeks following and the torture we endured watching these two young families walk through excruciating times that followed. We often said, "Well, we don't know why it happened, but God is in control." And I don't think a person on this earth still knows why God allowed it to happen, but He did, and we must keep giving Him the glory for why He does what He does.

It has been an emotional (as much as can be for man, haha) these past few weeks as we have slowly finished up our CMA project. Many of you might not know, but this airplane was the one that was supposed to be flown that fateful day two years ago. When Frank was doing his pre-flight, he discovered that there was an electrical problem, and that's how Ryan got involved. They decided that there wasn't time to fix it, and another plane was used in it's place. Since then, CMA has not flown. Two years of inactivity; a constant reminder sitting quietly in the back of the hangar.

Tomorrow is the two year anniversary. And tomorrow, CMA stands ready. The project has been completed. The engine has been run for the first time (and did well!). And so, the airplane stands quietly again. This time, however, it stands with fuel in the tanks, oil in the sump, and a whole new look about itself. This week, it will again roar to life (as much as a Cessna 206 can!), taxi down the taxiway, and once again take to the blue skies of Kenyan airspace. And we will all be reminded of our friends and the sacrifice they made to serve the Lord out here in Africa.

AIM Air - "Serving those who serve"

All cleaned up and ready to go!

2011-07-28T13:44:00.000+03:00

Interior - Check!

2011-07-28T10:51:00.000+03:00

We've been drawing close to the end of the CMA project rebuild. Pretty much the final installations are the headliner and the remaining plastic interior pieces, both of which are brand new. We had the headliner installed on Monday of this week and we finished up the plastics yesterday. Then we went to have the airplane weighed. Sorry! I totally forgot to take my camera with me when we went for weighing. Oh, well. Enjoy the pictures of some final assembly.

This is the fundi (worker/technician/specialist/etc) from Sai Cushion, where we purchased the headliner. It is custom made for a Cessna 206, with a few things that we request. This guy had the thing installed in just a couple hours.

And it looked great!

We have some special zipper sections so we can access certain things, like the flap and aileron cables (the long lateral zipper), the fuel quantity transmitters (the smiley shaped zipper), and one of the radio antennae (the short lateral zipper).

Crew seats installed for weighing. Also notice that the upper plastics have been installed, including the speaker/light pieces above the crew heads.

Crew seats. We use the JAARS seatbelt attach points, which also give a cargo button for cargo tie down options.

Caleb finishing the rear access panel. Notice the anti-skid on the floor.

Pilot side, rear cabin.

Rear cabin area. The tie downs on either side of the middle window are for the rear seatbelts. They also have the cargo button for cargo tie down configuration. You can also see the orange ELT in the back and part of the HF just below the ELT.

There's a light at the end of this tunnel...

2011-07-21T10:32:00.000+03:00

...because CMA is almost done! We have been putting some of the finishing touches on CMA this past week or so. It's been really nice to get some of the final double inspections done with and get things closed up. Right now, we're waiting for some inspector's from the KCAA as well as some other things. Within the next week, we hope to finish closing up the aircraft and get it weighed. Then we're ready to run! Then a test flight! Oh, it's getting closer! Meanwhile, enjoy some pictures...

Pete and Marko discussing some things about the aileron rigging.

Pete really did have his hands all the way in CMA!

Another one of Pete, this time installing the battery and battery box.

John getting the floor panels together and installing them in the plane. We put anti-skid down on the floor to help things not slide around so much. That's what the black stuff is.

Pete and myself. I was getting some of the interior installed while Pete was working on the battery.

Here's Caleb getting the wing strut fairings installed. They required a bit of..."persuasion." :) That just means that they weren't exactly fitted well before painting. Turns out a few new nutplates in the right place = fits just right!

One of the last things we do is check the toe and camber adjustment. This ensures that the airplane tires will wear correctly when the airplane is fully loaded. Also, to be sure there isn't any undue strain on the wheels and axles. Here Caleb is checking the measurements to see if there needs to be any shimming.

Guess there needed some shimming! You change shims located between the axle and the gear leg to achieve the proper toe and camber.

We also unwrapped the new windshield for the first time yesterday. Here's Tim starting on the right side.

And Caleb finishing on the left side. Wow, it's clear! It's exciting, that means that we're close to having to see out the windshield!

Taking the next steps with 5Y-CMA

2011-07-03T15:43:00.000+03:00

This past week provided us some more solid time spent with 5Y-CMA. We really got some good work done, and some good double inspections have been occurring as well. Double (and triple) inspections are always a good thing, as it gives another person a chance to look things over, things that you have been staring at or working with for who knows how long. It's easier for them to spot any problems since they're just now coming to the airplane, or to the specific item. Anyways, we finished our fuel system inspection, so we took the plane out to fill 'er up! While out there doing fueling, we got some other things done as well. Enjoy the pictures!

At the front of the hangar to do fueling. This is part of our safety program: no fueling or de-fueling inside the hangar. It was also nice to get out and get some fresh air and sunshine!

The main project that day was calibrating the JPI EDM-930 fuel quantity system. Caleb made out a nice chart for the test...

...and then we went to it. Here I am looking like a true supervisor watching my friend do all the work. HA! We put in 10 gallons of fuel in each tank at a time so we could calibrate the 930 with the OEM fuel quantity transmitters. It took a while, but we got it done. However, we did find a few small fuel leaks along the way. Ah, well, nothing we can't fix relatively quickly! Better to find them now then find them later.

In the mean time, Pete was in the back of the plane installing interior...well, that was when we let him in the plane. Have to be still to measure it out right!

He has this look of disgust almost...'you mean I have to get out again?'

'Are you kidding me? AGAIN?' Despite having to get in and out, in and out, in and out, Pete has done a nice job getting the interior installed so far.

So now the airplane is sitting here in the hangar...out of the paint booth! We had to move over to the C210 for a few days, so she's by herself again. But she's looking better and better. You know you're getting closer, when pilots start coming down and you can see the drool in the corner of their mouths. :)

Propeller Installation on CMA

2011-07-02T15:03:00.000+03:00

Last week we got the prop installed on CMA, along with some other things. It has been a very productive couple weeks on the airplane, as there wasn't much else going on in the shop. Things have been moving along with the progress, which is good. The airplane needs to fly soon!

Caleb prepping for the prop installation.

All cleaned and ready to go!

Caleb and myself installing the prop.

Torque it up, and she's ready to go! Well...not ready to go, but getting closer!

John and Adamson cleaning up some of the mess on the firewall.

With a new engine comes new baffle seals...which, in this case, rub the cowlings a bit different than the old baffle seals. So in this picture, I am making sure the baffle seals are fitting snugly all the way around the engine and cowling. It's a good think I have long arms...I can just reach to the rear baffle seal.

Our illustrious AIM Air general manager Dale showing John how to polish the spinner with your fleece.

The work moves onward...

2011-06-25T13:29:00.000+03:00

While things have been relatively "slow" in the rest of the shop, we have been plugging away at CMA. We've been working on all sorts of things. Flap rigging, rudder rigging, interior, instruments/instrument panels, placards. We're getting so close to doing to system checks, it's good to see it all coming together well. Keep checking back in as we keep working through it to finalize this project 206...

Here I am working with some of the new plastic interior pieces getting them fitted just right. Shout out to City Compressor for the cool t-shirt.

Joseph fitted the new plastic panels for the three doors.

Goof-off.

Gregg has been helping with the flap follow-up rigging. It's been a bit of a challenge for the guys, but he finally figured it out. Nice job, guys!

Shot from the back of the hangar where CMA currently is. It will be good to get her out of there and onto the flight line.

Instruments! It sorta looks like a weird little city of black buildings...

We had the instruments installed, but had to remove them and install the panel by itself. Gregg is taking the instruments out of the panel in this photo.

Alright...here's the last photo for this set...can you find me?!

Nose cowls...

2011-06-23T20:45:00.000+03:00

...are finally finished! We have been working on the nose cowlings for CMA. The old ones were just really bad off...fiberglass coming apart, screw holes all wallered out, that sort of thing. We had a set in our inventory, but they required some "modifications." My co-worker Jose did most of the work getting them fitted properly so that they would match the main engine cowls. It took a lot of time and some trial and error, but they came out looking pretty good! We painted them, along with the rest of the blue stripes on the nose section, and they are ready to go.

Pre-paint. Pretty much everywhere you see white, that's where Jose had to "modify."

Lookin' good with that tuned induction IO-550-N. Check out those exhaust pipes, too, courtesy of Leading Edge Exhaust Systems.

AIM Air short termer Gregg, checking out the preparation job for painting.

The airplane looks like it's taking a nap with all those blankets. All that for a few little blue stripes.

Cowlings taped off for the first set of stripes.

Marko busy getting things sorted out with the cowlings. You know, painting preparation takes like 90% of the work, and the actual spraying takes about 10%. Better to focus on good preparation, which brings good results.

Introducing...

Magneto Man!! I know this doesn't have anything to do with cowlings, but Pete has been slaving away doing magneto overhaul after magneto overhaul after magneto overhaul for us. He's done a great job! Thanks, Pete!

Things that help you fly...

2011-06-20T17:09:00.000+03:00

...like flight controls! We have installed the flight controls on 5Y-CMA and have succeeded through most of the rigging of those flight controls so far, still working on a couple systems. It has been a busy month or so, forgive me for the lack of blogging. We have been working hard on a variety of projects in the shop, and are really now getting to really push on CMA. It's getting closer to being finished! Please enjoy the photos...

Sometimes it takes more hands to get something installed.

Which usually results in one person doing the work while others are watching! From left to right: Joe (short term from LETU, John (attachee), and Tavasi.

Joe working on getting some hardware installed correctly. Joe was only with us for about 10 days, but it was a pleasure to have him around.

Had to do some re-touches on paint...

Where the plane sits now...in the back of the hangar...but not for long!

Well, at least the flaps go up and down again!

Timothy working on getting things sorted out in the ceiling area.

Timothy getting some input from Paul on flap rigging.

DC-3 in Colombia

2011-06-05T15:35:00.000+03:00

Check out this link below to a video about some DC-3 flying in Colombia, South America. It has some great shots of DC-3s in the air and on the ground.

The Daredevil Pilots of Colombia

The latest on 5Y-CMA...

2011-05-11T13:50:00.000+03:00

...sorry for the long overdue blog post. Things have been a bit crazy around here in the hangar and just in Nairobi in general. We have been working on all sorts of things, inspections here and inspections there. We would get a couple days to work on CMA, then back to something else "more important." I snapped a few pictures here and there as we worked, so I'm FINALLY being able to post some pictures of what we've been doing. I will try to keep it going in the future! I'm sure you, my loyal blog followers, have been wondering what the heck Nate's been doing to not update his blog! Well, busy busy is the name of the game around here, so please forgive my negligence. Please enjoy some progress below...

This was a day sometime a week or so ago, where we had a lot of guys working on the airplane. The guys at the tail were installing the abrasion boots on the horizontal stabilizer. Pete's up there installing the cargo pod, and Aaron was working on engine wiring.

A shot from the front...

Aaron doing some wiring for the JPI EDM-930 engine monitor. Doesn't he just look thrilled.

Pete got the cargo pod all installed, which was great! It is definitely a very visual sign of progress.

Lookin' good! We're getting closer...

...and closer means that you have to put on stickers!

Aaron did a good job with the AIM Air logos on the tail.

Very nice.

The guys also reinstalled the wing tip fuel tanks. They are simply the old ones repainted. There was nothing that required us to get new ones, but they ended up looking new with that snazzy paint.

Marko likes hamming it up for the camera.

I've been slowly working on getting the new plastic interior installed whenever I get the chance. It's been coming along pretty nicely.

The big panel down the co-pilot side. The side plastics are courtesy of Vantage Plane Plastics.

How the inside looks today...the work is progressing...

Rest time...all the guys like to sit outside during lunch and discuss the latest topics. For all your aviation junkies out there, there's a few items of interest in this picture. First, see the two Delta Connection tails on the back left; those are a couple of CRJs that made there way over here, owned by FLY540. Second, that Cessna 206 next to the blue F27 is from Ethiopia! It is ET-ALF, operated by Abyssinian Flight Services. I saw this plane when I was in Addis back in March.

Wings off, wings on!

2011-04-16T12:44:00.001+03:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu2lOc_4H-E

King Air B200, N468SP

2011-04-15T16:33:00.000+03:00

We greeted our newest member of the fleet at the end of March. Actually, it arrived in Nairobi the same day that we arrived back in Nairobi after being in Addis Ababa. It is a King Air B200, with the registration of N468SP. We de-registered the other King Air and gave this one the same name. It's a 1998 model, like 15 or more years newer than the other one. So far it looks pretty good. There are a few differences from the other one, but it's still a hot rod machine!

Where she sits in the hangar these days while getting some final things worked out before going active.

This one has a different cargo door arrangement. The little door in the back is a modification done to the normal airstair door. It's a bit different, but should meet the needs out here in Kenya.

Note some differences: different exhaust stacks, different paint on the cowlings, different landing gear doors. I'm sure there are more, but those are some of the obvious ones. It looks good anyway!

Floatplane!

2011-04-06T13:35:00.000+03:00

Wow, sorry about the hiatus from my blog. We had family here a couple weeks ago and then we went up to Addis Ababa for part of our adoption process. If you're interested in that, please see my wife's blog here. While I was gone from work, the guys completed the installation of the floats onto N341EA and it actually had gone down to Lake Victoria, near Mwanza, TZ for some of the pilots to do some training. It came back just this past Sunday night for a few days, so we had it in the hangar to fix a few things before it departed again for the lake and some more training. And for those of you wondering, it flew GREAT down on the lake! The guys were very impressed and we have seen wonderful performance from this airplane. It's just another reminder that God is leading along in our journey and while sometimes we are unsure of life's outcomes, He is in total control.

Sitting in the front of the hangar while we were working on it.

I showed the line maintenance guys how to get the water out of the floats. James was surprised to see so much water coming out!

Any ideas who this is? Ha! It's Peter Williams, working on the depth finder down inside the float. The depth finder allows the pilot to "see" what's down in the water so they can avoid hitting things they can't see, just like when boating.

Lookin' good outside the hangar.

Aerocet 3400s on a Cessna 206

2011-03-18T07:54:00.000+03:00

Below is a progress of the float installation for N341EA, the Samaritan's Purse floatplane. It was a really fun installation. As always with a new installation, there are some snags and stuff, which for us can be amplified since we are in Kenya. This makes things difficult for support and also for getting parts in a timely manner. Aside from that, we made things work as much as possible and got some really good progress. Enjoy the pictures!

The floats unpacked and ready for assembly.

Getting the spreader bars ready to install.

The "taka taka" - all the parts that come along for the install.

Got 'em pointed the same direction and spreader bars ready to be installed.

The water rudder. This enables the aircraft to be steered while in the water.

Tavasi getting the water rudder installed.

Getting things in position. The floats were "together" and the airplane was being prepped for hoisting.

We have a really nice set of hoisting cables that we used. Cessna recommends using cables at least 60 inches long, so the attach points are not damaged.

Up in the air. Time to get the land legs off!

Sleek! It almost looks like a 210!

Tavasi looks happy with the installation of the ventral fin. This is part of the floatplane modification.

Up in the air! I was on top manning the hoist, while Tavasi is measuring how high we are in the air. We needed something like 72 inches from floor to belly to slip the floats underneath and allow some jiggle room.

Seriously! It looks like a 210 flying through the hangar!

Sliding the floats underneath...you can see we got a little higher than we needed. :)

Myself and Marko getting the front struts installed.

Tavasi drove the hoist while we got all the struts semi-attached.

View from the rear.

Myself and Tavasi discussing the location of one of the cable pulleys. Gotta love the ramen shirt!

Rear steps.

Here's the emergency hydraulic hand pump (front) and the water rudder retract handle (the black thing closer to us), which are located on the floor between the front seats.

The electric hydraulic pump assembly. This is located on the left side of the rear fuselage, back in the tail cone. You can see the empennage flight control cables on the left.

Assembled. You can see the crew steps mounted between the aft and mid struts. Looks good!

Frontage!

So working on the engine is a little bit difficult on floatplanes, since it's so high up. I found a nice long box that the ventral fin came in, and it worked really nice to work off of. I was doing some work on the supercharger in this picture.

Look closely in this picture...what do you see? The gear is retracted! This was my first retraction test...and it worked great! I worked through the gear retractions a few times, trying to work out any bugs. We only had a few small leaks, but everything worked great! Praise the Lord!

Last shot of the day...

Cessna 206 floatplane!

2011-03-10T21:16:00.000+03:00

Here's my latest pictures of the floatplane. And it actually looks like a floatplane! We got the airplane into the back of the hangar where the hoist is and got it all attached and went to town on getting the floats installed. I will post some more pictures later, but I wanted to get a couple pictures out for all my friends to see! This is the first Cessna 206 with a supercharged IO-550-N and also the first with this type of floats (Aerocet 3400 amphibs). Sweeeeeeeet!!

JPI EDM-930 in a Cessna 206

2011-03-09T13:18:00.000+03:00

The past week we have installed our third JPI EDM-930 here at AIM Air. This time, we installed it into N827DG, the first Cessna U206G that I helped rebuild back in 2008. It was a fun installation and we worked through it pretty well. The first time we ran the engine, all things went well, and it has flown on a test flight as well with no problems. That's always good! Anyway, hope you all enjoy the photos.

Here's the IO-550-N that's installed on 7DG. You can see that it's been working hard for the past coulple years. Africa really is rough on our airplanes...lots of difficult places we fly into around these parts.

The old instrument panel. It was pretty much original Cessna engine instruments, except for an EI UBG-16, mounted in the panel just above the co-pilot yoke, where the original EGT gauge was located.

Pulling out the UBG-16 sensor boxes, which were hidden above the glovebox behind the right side panel. Looks like entrails getting pulled out. :)

All the guts...this is all the old stuff, plus some of the items removed to facilitate removal/installation.

Myself, working on getting the new instrument panel measured out.

All the instruments removed, ready for a new panel.

Fitting the new panel for the EDM-930.

Fits great!

Here I am getting the RPM sensor installed in the RH magneto. It's pretty much a pain since you have to put the sensor in the bottom of the magneto...meaning you have to either take off the magneto, or take off one of the induction tubes to twist the loosened magneto around enough to install the sensor. Argh.

David, our avionics technician, getting his wire bundles together to be installed.

Work in progress...wires hanging out, pieces missing...

David working through his wire bundles.

Here I'm getting the Remote Alarm Display (RAD) installed on the instrument panel. You can see it on the top of the panel, just to the upper left of my hand...it's that little rectangle thing above and between the two flight instruments. The RAD gives you information from the main display in case of exceeded parameters. Otherwise, it normally reads RPM and manifold pressure.

Myself, giving some input to Peter (our UK short termer) on installation of the fuel flow transducer and it's newly fabricated fuel lines.

Caleb worked a bit on getting the wire harnesses on the engine sorted out. He did a really nice job - it really looks nice and clean.

All wire bundles ready for installation of the instrument panel and the display.

Final installation of the new panel with the JPI EDM-930 installed.

And the new panel. Looks great!

Blue stripes!

2011-03-03T21:32:00.000+03:00

We've got some color on CMA! This week we got the blue stripes painted on the airplane, so it's beginning to look good again! As most people say, "it's beginning to look like an airplane again." I guess that's really only in the eye of the beholder...I've always seen it as an airplane, no matter how many pieces it is in! Once the stripes are on, we begin doing some assembly and other odds and ends...this is really when it begins to take shape! In the mean time, enjoy pictures of our progress!

Timothy getting the paint mixing bowl cleaned out.

Myself and Timothy going over the correct way to clean the paint gun. Don't I look like some sort of hillbilly in my coveralls and gum boots? Someone (an American) told me all I needed was a straw hat and a piece of grass sticking out of my mouth... :)

The carolina blue stripe down the fuselage...

...and on the vertical stabilizer.

David wiping down some parts before the second batch of blue.

Aaahhhh, the duke blue!

Registration numbers on the fuselage...

...and on the wing! Most countries outside the US require that you put the registration numbers not only on the fuselage, but also on the bottom of the left wing. And they have to be huge.

The vertical stab, all painted and resting in the side of the paint booth. Above the blue stripes will be the AIM Air logo sticker.

The rudder, with stripes corresponding to the vertical stab.

And the fuselage! This certainly looks a bit different than CMA used to look like! It turned out to be a fairly decent paint job, which is always good. There are always some small things that don't look the best, but we're still learning how to be the best, right?! Praise the Lord for His strength!

Stripes layout on CMA

2011-02-25T13:12:00.000+03:00

We've been getting the stripes laid out on CMA so that we can paint the blue on it. This is a slower time for paint prep, because you have to be "artsy" when doing the stripes or they just don't turn out well. It takes time and patience...something that none of us seem to have! :) Anyway, it's all laid out and hopefully we'll get the light blue painted this afternoon.

Myself and Timothy getting the stripes on the tail sorted out. Although you can't really tell that it's me...

A better shot of the same.

The result. Stripes ready to be masked and painted.

Caleb drew out the stripes on the fuselage with the help of our handy brown paper template.

Masked and ready for paint. The top stripe is dark blue (Duke blue) and the bottom is light blue (Carolina blue). An interesting choice of colors...but maybe only for a North Carolina boy like me. :)

Hangar time...

2011-02-22T12:55:00.002+03:00

I thought I would put up a few pictures of the hangar just for fun.

This is a good shot of all of our current types of aircraft we operate. From left to right: Douglas DC-3TP, Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, Cessna U206, and Cessna 210.

The smaller workhorses of the fleet...the Caravan and 206.

Tool box roundup. We do this every now and then in order to get tools back where they belong, as a result of people borrowing and not returning. It's actually quite funny...most of the guys look at other tool boxes in order to see what sort of tools they need to buy. :) You can spot my two boxes on the right side, the blue one with the wood top and the red one to the right of it.

Painting a Cessna 206, 5Y-CMA

2011-02-17T10:38:00.000+03:00

This week, we have been focused on painting 5Y-CMA. We did one day of painting on Tuesday, which consisted of the fuselage and some other parts and pieces. We will do another batch tomorrow, which will hopefully be the last group of things to be painted. Painting is always a long and tedious process, as experienced painters know. Probably 90% of the time is spent doing prep work, getting the metal cleaned and treated properly, taped off, paint mixed correctly, etc. Then the other 10% is the part where all that good work done before can be either completed successfully or poorly. If the prep work is done poorly, then no matter how well the paint is sprayed, it won't look nice. However, even if the prep work is done very well, the painter can either mess it all up, or do a good job. :) See how difficult it is to paint airplanes?! It takes a special breed of people with the patience to really focus themselves to become proficient at painting. Me? I think I'll stick to my sheetmetal work. :) Anyways, enjoy the pictures!

At the front of the hangar, ready for prep work.

Marko and Joseph getting things ready to start etching the fuselage.

Joseph putting etch on the fuselage while Justine (from the parts room) watches.

What the other guys were doing while we were working. :) Gotta take tea!

Marko decided to drink the etch instead of the tea...not cool!

Etched and alodined, sitting in the warm sun to dry a little bit.

David cleaning up our mess while CMA dries in the sun.

I shot the green primer in the morning.

Green...good thing we don't paint it this color...it would blend in with all the broccoli we fly over.

Jose doing the dirty job of painting the belly...what a pain. Thanks, Jose!

Moving up around the fuselage. I thought this was a neat picture because you can see the green and the white in the same shot.

Some finishing touches on the nose portion.

And all done! Beautiful!

We've been hanging the smaller stuff in a small room off to the side to keep them safe while they dry, dry, dry, and dry some more.

She's out in the hangar now!

And an empty paint booth. I swept it out this morning, and we're already hanging the next parts to be painted tomorrow.

DC-3 maintenance

2011-02-14T16:50:00.000+03:00

This past week, we worked on the DC-3 to get a phase inspection completed on time. It was a fun experience working on the 3, as I haven't really had too many opportunities to do so.

It really does take up the whole hangar doorway. Once it's in, nothing goes in or out.

I got to spend a little bit of time up on top doing inspection of the skin and antennae.

Me and Pete posing on top of the 3.

Me and Pete again.

The guys took up the floor and did some cleaning and detailed inspection of the structure under the floor. Its a heck of a floor to have to remove and install. Good thing we don't have to do it very often.

This is where I spent some of my time...in the tailcome, cleaning and doing some inspection. And yes, that is the potty.

And yes, that's me sitting on the potty doing some work.

You know you live in Africa...Part Four...

2011-02-02T17:07:00.000+03:00

Wow, I never really thought it would keep going like this...but it is! We had a young blue heron fly into our hangar the other day. It was amazing. He flew in over two airplanes and then attempted to land on Pete's head, and stumbled down over by the inventory stores' window. Preston went over and got him out safely and returned him to the freedom which is across the apron. It was a great experience...one that keeps reminding me that I really am living and working in Africa. The whole thing was really pretty funny...especially when the bird hit Pete in the head.

How to paint a Cessna 206...

2011-01-24T13:24:00.000+03:00

...very carefully! Painting the airplane is probably one of the most visual signs of progress when doing an airframe overhaul/rebuild project. This past week, we were able to paint a good deal of parts for CMA, which was a big step forward. I don't have any pictures of the pre-paint prep work, but that is actually the most important part of painting. It's the time spent cleaning and prepping the parts that determine how the priming and painting is going to turn out. The guys did a really nice job washing the parts and then etching and alodining them to get them ready to paint. It's been proven over and over again that if you don't prep the metal or fiberglass well, the finished product will be very poor. I think that the final result on this job was fairly good. We used Dupont paint this time, and it was my first time shooting Imron in this quantity, so there was a little bit of a learning curve, but it all turned out pretty well. Of course, there are the tell-tale signs of fatigue when you see the runs and the sags in a few places, and also some parts that were not so super glossy. But hey, we all have areas to work on, and this is one that most guys don't have too much experience. Some of the national guys were able to give painting a shot, and I think we'll all see good progress in the future as we hone our skills.

Here's our paint booth...we worked for a couple days cleaning it out and sealing all the cracks and holes. It worked well, though. Much of the smell/overspray was contained, which is great for all the office staff.

First batch of parts, with primer already sprayed.

Here I am spraying white onto the tip tanks.

Here I am spraying white on an aileron with Marko and Adamson giving me good lighting.

Finished products...mostly flight controls on this batch of parts.

Finished tip tanks and wing strut fairings.

Pete (L), our new AIM Air short termer, Marko (C), and myself (R) discussing paint techniques.

Pete and Marko getting the primer sprayed on our second batch of parts.

Lots of smaller pieces this time...often those small parts are harder to paint.

We also had the wings in the second batch, along with the doors, wing struts, etc.

Finished wing. Notice the vortex generators on the leading edge, courtesy of Micro AeroDynamics. The inboard three sets have just been painted red to show a warning in relation to the fuel cap. Don't want the fueler to break them off...or more likely, to rip his trousers. :)

Finished parts and pieces.

You know you live in Africa when... (Part Three)

2011-01-18T17:11:00.000+03:00

...when you find a critter like this one in the bathroom of your hangar. One of the janitor guys found this guy and called the guard, who then called me to come and "see an animal that's in the bathroom." I don't know about you, but when they don't tell you what it is...that's cause for concern. On the way to the bathroom, I finally got him to tell me he thought it was a squirrel; but you know what...we don't really have squirrels here in Nairobi much. Anyway, I got to the bathroom and peeped around there corner and there was this little guy huddled in the corner trying to hide. For those of you unfamiliar with African animals...it is a hyrax. There are tree hyrax and rock hyrax; this guy is a bathroom hyrax. :) Interesting trivia - they are the closest living relative to the elephant. Huh.

Instrument panel for JPI EDM-930 in Cessna 206

2011-01-13T10:29:00.001+03:00

Today, I've been working on the new instrument panel for 5Y-CMA's new JPI EDM-930. To make room for the display screen, we have to remove part of the original subpanel. Then, a new panel is fabricated that will be attached directly to the old subpanel. It will get powder coated gray to match the rest of the instrument panels.

The before picture...

Here's the beginning stages of the new panel, working on match-drilling and trimming to get the right fit.

I cut out the original subpanel...

...which then looks like this.

Here's the "final" panel. I installed a few nutplates for the screws on the right and the bottom. The countersunk screws on the left go through the RadioRax, as they were before. Now to do some powder coating!

Installation of IO-550-N into 5Y-CMA, Cessna 206...

2011-01-12T12:39:00.000+03:00

We have installed the new IO-550-N into CMA! The installation went just fine, with only a couple small issues that were easily sorted out. Now we're moving toward getting the rest of the engine/airframe connections sorted out, ie hoses, cables, etc.

Engine built up and ready to install.

Here I am moving the engine out to where the airframe was sitting...

...where apparently there was a meeting going on.

Getting it into place...who's legs are those? Not mine...

...Caleb Klay. Helping get the engine lined up.

Joseph on top helping push the engine down a little while I lined up the bolts. It's a bit more difficult than the original mounts, as these have 6 bolts instead of only 4. Still not too bad...

James (L) and Joseph (R) getting things hooked up.

It's fully attached...no more hoist!

Aaahhhh, success! Joseph and myself, happy to have an engine installed.

Movement...

2011-01-11T10:19:00.000+03:00

This past week we moved CMA! It went out to the front of the hangar for some cleaning before we installed the engine. I thought I would catch it while the guys pulled it out there...

Engine Prep on 5Y-CMA

2011-01-07T13:07:00.000+03:00

Coming into the new year, things are a bit slower here at the hangar in regards to "sceduled" fleet maintenance. This leads to having time to work on projects...including the biggest project of them all, 5Y-CMA. We're hoping to have a few weeks now where we can really get some good progress on the airplane. What we're working for now is getting the fuselage and some other parts ready for painting, mainly the pieces that require both white and blue. We're hoping to get enough progress that we will be able to do some painting very soon, perhaps next week. For now, enjoy the pictures below of our progress so far this week.

Tavasi doing the cowling mod for the new engine. The oil filler door gets moved backwards and outboard just a bit to match the difference in the IO-550-N from the IO-520-F.

The old saying from carpentry most definitely applies in sheetmetal work; "Measure twice, cut once!"

I really don't know where he got those safety glasses...I think they could stop a log from entering his eyes.

Finishing it up by riveting a patch where the old door was located.

Who wouldn't be happy doing sheetmetal?! :) I confess, it is one of my favorite things to do...maybe not everyone else's though.

Here I am building up the baffles and other things on the engine before it goes onto the airframe.

What was I doing? Changing a bracket around that came installed upside down. Whoops.

Getting it all lined up with clecos to match drill some holes.

Ready to go...top view.

...and bottom view. Don't those exhaust from LEES look great!

Samaritan's Purse in Alaska

2010-12-30T08:28:00.004+03:00

Update on 5Y-CMA...

2010-12-29T08:11:00.000+03:00

Sorry I haven't had a good post with CMA in a long time. Things have been busy in the shop with other fleet maintenance and we haven't really had a good solid time to work on the project. When we get the chance, we do a little work, then move back out into the shop to work with the rest of the fleet. Hopefully, beginning the first of 2011, we will be able to devote a good amount of time to getting her done. We're pretty close to paint on a lot of areas...just need to do a bit more, and she'll be coming together nicely. Hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas and just a reminder to be safe during the upcoming New Years weekend. Be smart and be safe!

We installed the windshield about 2 weeks ago...

It still has the protective covering on it...why take it off so early?

New windshield, courtesy of LP Aero. We did some good cleaning on the firewall as well. This airplane is going to get the JPI EDM-930, so that's why there is not much wiring present yet.

Here's the new Continental IO-550-N, part of Atlantic Aero's STC kit. I've gotten it out of the box and sitting right in front of my toolbox. With my green stool there, I can just sit and build up the engine with ease.

The first thing to do is to get all the baffling attached. It is all much easier to work with than on the original IO-520 engines. Just look at that engine. It has the tuned induction, with crossflow cylinders, so much more efficient than the old cylinders. The alternator is hard mounted to the front of the case, so no belt to work with. The oil cooler is in the back of the engine...not sure yet what to think about that. Some people wonder about higher oil temps because of the location. For the most part, though, a sweet running engine in a Cessna 206.

Here's the bottom of the engine. It comes with some dinky little engine mounts, so we change them to the ones that work on the 206. You can see the front (bottom in this pic) mounts have 2 holes for the dual isolator mount kit that we install in all the 206s. The oil filter (the white thing on the top/back of the engine) is mounted upside down...which can cause a mess if you don't remove it the right way. They really have been fairly maintenance friendly engines. Everyone likes that!

Twas the Night Before Christmas - Aviation Style

2010-12-21T19:14:00.002+03:00

I saw this on my friend's blog and thought it was great...

Twas The Night Before Christmas -- Aviation Style

Twas the night before Christmas, and out on the ramp,
Not an airplane was stirring, not even a Champ.
The aircraft were fastened to tiedowns with care,
In hopes that come morning, they all would be there.
The fuel trucks were nestled, all snug in their spots,
With gusts from two-forty at 39 knots.
I slumped at the fuel desk, now finally caught up,
And settled down comfortably, resting my butt.
When the radio lit up with noise and with chatter,
I turned up the scanner to see what was the matter.
A voice clearly heard over static and snow,
Called for clearance to land at the airport below.
He barked his transmission so lively and quick,
I'd have sworn that the call sign he used was "St. Nick".
I ran to the panel to turn up the lights,
The better to welcome this magical flight.
He called his position, no room for denial,
"St. Nicholas One, turnin' left onto final."
And what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a Rutan-built sleigh, with eight Rotax Reindeer!
With vectors to final, down the glideslope he came,
As he passed all fixes, he called them by name:
"Now Ringo! Now Tolga! Now Trini and Bacun!
On Comet! On Cupid!" What pills was he takin'?
While controllers were sittin', and scratchin' their head,
They phoned to my office, and I heard it with dread,
The message they left was both urgent and dour:
"When Santa pulls in, have him please call the tower."
He landed like silk, with the sled runners sparking,
Then I heard "Left at Charlie," and "Taxi to parking."
He slowed to a taxi, turned off of three-oh
And stopped on the ramp with a "Ho, ho-ho-ho..."
He stepped out of the sleigh, but before he could talk,
I ran out to meet him with my best set of chocks.
His red helmet and goggles were covered with frost
And his beard was all blackened from Reindeer exhaust.
His breath smelled like peppermint, gone slightly stale,
And he puffed on a pipe, but he didn't inhale.
His cheeks were all rosy and jiggled like jelly,
His boots were as black as a cropduster's belly.
He was chubby and plump, in his suit of bright red,
And he asked me to "fill it, with hundred low-lead."
He came dashing in from the snow-covered pump,
I knew he was anxious for drainin' the sump.
I spoke not a word, but went straight to my work,
And I filled up the sleigh, but I spilled like a jerk.
He came out of the restroom, and sighed in relief,
Then he picked up a phone for a Flight Service brief.
And I thought as he silently scribed in his log,
These reindeer could land in an eighth-mile fog.
He completed his pre-flight, from the front to the rear,
Then he put on his headset, and I heard him yell, "Clear!"
And laying a finger on his push-to-talk,
He called up the tower for clearance and squawk.
"Take taxiway Charlie, the southbound direction,
Turn right three-two-zero at pilot's discretion"
He sped down the runway, the best of the best,
"Your traffic's a Grumman, inbound from the west."
Then I heard him proclaim, as he climbed through the night,
"Merry Christmas to all! I have traffic in sight."

Author unknown

Bumper sticker truth...

2010-12-07T14:03:00.000+03:00

I recently received a new sticker in the mail from Dawn Williams, the wife of Ryan Williams, my buddy who died last year from injuries sustained in the Cessna 206 accident here in Nairobi. He had this sticker on the side of his toolbox, and if you've seen the AIM Air video or brochure, you might recognize the sticker from pictures/screenshots in both. I had asked her about the sticker (because I love stickers) and they finally showed up in the mail. I'm stoked!

The sticker is not only a reminder of my friend Ryan, but it is a true reminder of the Gospel. Love really does win. Look throughout life, your life, life as a whole. Hatred gets you nowhere. It's the same with a spiteful attitude, or a "mightier-than-thou" attitude, or a controlling attitude. You lose all your friends, your possessions, everything. Nobody wants to be around you. Nobody wants to help you or provide things for you. Heck, if you're mean/hateful towards your dog, he's not going to want to be around you, either. But love...people like to be around other people that love them. You sacrifice for those that you love. You give of your time and your ability to provide for those whom you love. You go out of your way to do special things for them, and if you are a loving person, others will do the same for you. That's the story of the Gospel. God loved us. Humankind. Individuals. No matter what we think we can give to God, it never amounts to a hill of beans, because the Bible says that all of our works are like filthy rags, no matter how wonderful we might think they are. But even though humans might hate God or not care about others, God cares for us. He loves us. He loved us enough to call us to Himself, to be in communion with Him. But the only way that could happen was through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God's Son. It is only through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ can we receive the full extent of God's love.

It does not matter how we live our life, if we don't have love. The Bible says, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." (1 Cor 13:1-3)

Love wins.

New windows in Cessna 206

2010-12-06T13:18:00.000+03:00

A couple of the guys installed the windows into 5Y-CMA this past week, and I got a couple photos of them doing it. We install the windows before painting because you have to paint over the rivets that you install the window frame with. It's a bit of a pain because you have to really protect the windows well during painting, but in the long run, it's the better way.

Joseph and Marko, discussing the size of the rivets.

Joseph giving Marko some instruction on how to grimace correctly when shooting rivets. :D

Working as a team...

Marko on the outside and Joseph on the inside. They did a pretty good job.

Samaritan's Purse Aviation

2010-12-04T17:57:00.003+03:00

Below is a link to a YouTube video about Samaritan's Purse Aviation. I'm having a hard time getting the video to actually show up on my blog, so please view it at the link below. Thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbBUjLekJqE

Out of the Jig!

2010-11-24T21:22:00.000+03:00

Out of the jig and into the light! Caleb disassembled the jig holding CMA in place and we got her out and about. She has temporary gear legs to help be mobile and until after painting. We've been working on the fuselage to get it ready for painting. The guys have reinstalled the seat tracks and are working on getting the windows installed as well. We're also working on lots of little things here and there inside the fuselage before we begin the large task of paint prep. Please enjoy the pictures below.

Caleb taking the jig apart, using an air impact wrench. Don't get to use those on airplanes!

Getting the nose gear assembly installed, at least temporarily, so the aircraft can be mobile.

Preston, our new SP pilot, painting the glare shield...

...he did a great job, too. Now ready for the windshield!

Erich, our newest attachee (intern), working on getting the seat tracks installed. It's a tedious task, with lots of screws and nuts to install. Notice the windows being fitted in the rear of the airplane, too.

Aaron, AA short termer, with the old/new flap track that we replaced on CMA's wing. It's a bit of a task. We found that undoing the trailing edge skin really helped to remove the flap track fairly easily from the wing.

Your truly, double checking something during the installation.

You know you live in Africa when...(part two)

2010-11-23T08:16:00.000+03:00

...when you find one of these little guys running across your hangar floor. Pretty cool little lizard.

John, our Chief Engineer, found him trying to run across the hangar floor last Friday.

Fiesty little guy. He kept trying to bite us. We think it was a small monitor lizard, but not sure on that one.

Aviation Maintenance video

2010-11-21T09:15:00.000+03:00

See the link below...it's a community college video, with a funny song about being an aircraft mechanic. I thought it was funny, so I'm passing it on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uyStvU5eKM

nate

2010-11-21T09:13:00.002+03:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uyStvU5eKM

Update...

2010-11-04T10:34:00.000+03:00

...on what to do with an airplane. Apparently, they weren't finished painting the airplane. Here is the finished product. It seems the airplane, an Embraer 135, is going to live in Sierra Leone, with the company Fly 6ix.

For those of you who don't know what to do with an airplane...

2010-11-03T16:41:00.000+03:00

For my friend in Mexico...

2010-11-03T08:52:00.000+03:00

...we spotted this guy on the ramp the other day and thought of you. Apparently ALS couldn't use/didn't want/something this Embraer 135 and another one they had and decided to sell them. And this one is coming your way. Quite a strange sight on a Kenyan ramp to see a Mexican registered aircraft, with UN markings as well. Anyway...enjoy, friend.

N181CS, DHC-6 Twin Otter

2010-10-30T07:20:00.000+03:00

The other day I got a message from a buddy of mine that I used to work with at Fayard Enterprises. One of the airplanes I used to work on was going to be in Nairobi for a few weeks, and he was going to be there along with it. I was in the hangar Friday afternoon working with one of the guys and turned around and there was my buddy! It was good to see him; we chatted for about an hour or so, getting caught up on things. After a while, the airplane came and he was busy with it, so we parted ways for the time. They are staying in a hangar 3 hangars down from AIM Air! Enjoy the pictures below that I took when it taxied by the AIM Air hangar. The airplane and crew are with Rampart Aviation, and they are doing geophysical survey all over the world for a company called Arkex. Notice the survey equipment on the nose and wingtips of the airplane. It was good to see the airplane again. Funny enough, Fayard had acquired the airplane years ago from Air Kenya, where it was registered 5Y-BEK. We flew it for skydiving for months with Air Kenya written down the side. Now it's back in Nairobi just down the ramp from Air Kenya. Funny how things work.

The guys in the shop...

2010-10-27T15:52:00.002+03:00

...are what make it all possible here at AIM Air. Here's some pictures that I've taken recently.

Caleb Klay, working on N342EA. I thought this was a neat picture.

Afternoon chai time finds the whole crew outside for a break. Notice the new paint on the hangar doors (its about halfway done in this picture).

Just relaxing with a cup of chai...James, Timothy, and Joseph.

Yours truly working on N213EA.

Group of the guys getting some on the job training from Jose, who is hiding from the camera.

Best pals...David and Timothy.

What would we do without line maintenance personnel? Musyoki is a wonderful example of the servant leader.

And of course, what to do without security? Edward (standing) is our hangar guard, watching the hangar and the aircraft during the day while we're busy with our work.

This is Aaron, our new AA short termer.

Hey, you gotta eat, right?! This is Nyambs, the guy who brings us our lunch. :)

And of course...the hangar.

You know you live in Africa when...

2010-10-15T16:20:00.000+03:00

...there's a monkey in your hangar. Ha. Yep. You know, a lot of hangars in the US have problems with birds coming in and making nests and pooping on the airplanes and whatnot. We really haven't had that problem, at least as long as I've been here. Well, today is a first for me, having a monkey in the hangar. He was actually first spotted by the offices and actually went THROUGH my office. Good thing I wasn't actually in there at the moment. I probably would've screamed like a girl. Anyways, enjoy the pics below. Hope he finds his way out.

Strange Visitor, PK-MPV, MAF Cessna TU206G

2010-10-11T14:19:00.000+03:00

This past Friday, we had a strange visitor here at AIM Air. This MAF Cessna 206, registration PK-MPV was doing a ferry flight from Indonesia to Lesotho and stopped to have some avionics work done. I remember that a couple of my friends are with MAF in Indonesia, and sure enough! Pieter van Dijk has flown this airplane a little bit. It was amazing to see how the Lord brings us reminders to keep our friends in our prayers. This airplane is serial U20605864, it's a turbo 206.

Some interesting things about the MAF 206s. They modify the cargo pod door to open toward the front, not down, like normal. It also has an interesting tail skid, very beefed up.

This 206 also has the second crew door, which is a mod done by Wipaire. It's a really neat safety feature. Notice also the turbo's exhaust stack coming out of the nose cowling up in front of the cowl flap.

Hanging out with the DC-3.

Here's the airplane in Sentani, Indonesia, where it was previously based with MAF.

Here's my friend Pieter with the airplane, weighing in his rooster (dinner) for the flight home.

N213EA gets a JPI 930...

2010-10-05T17:48:00.000+03:00

This past week we've been working on N213EA (ex-N4790U). It's getting an annual inspection, but more exciting is that it's getting the JPI EDM-930 engine monitor. It's been a little bit of a challenge as always trying to route wires nicely and also make everything very user/maintenance friendly. Please enjoy the pictures below of the progress. We're not done with it, so expect some more pictures in the future of the finished panel. Thanks!

Here's the old Cessna instruments. They will all be removed and replaced with the EDM-930.

To make the panel look cleaner and match better with the current panel, we fabricate a new panel and install it over top of the original Cessna sub-panel. This is the dimensions of the EDM-930 so we can locate it on the new panel. As you can see, I'm not the best artist. :)

The old panel, gauges removed, and dimensions for cutting out where the 930 will fit.

All the parts and pieces of the JPI EDM-930 installation kit.

David Marwa, our avionics technician. I don't think he agreed with something I said.

So the panel has been trimmed and wires have been routed.

The two magnetos on the engine, complete with the new RPM sensor installed in the left one (lower one in the picture).

Fitting the new panel, complete with the instrument installed.

The RAD (remote alarm display) located at the top of the pilot instrument panel between the attitude gyro and the altimeter.

Marwa doing some soldering.

Notice the new oil pressure and fuel pressure transducers mounted to the firewall.

The fuel flow transducer, located above cylinder 5. All the fuel hoses and the transducer itself all have to be wrapped in fireproof sleeve. The routing of the fuel line used to go over top of the throttle body, but now (to accomodate the fuel flow transducer), we had to make it pass above cylinder 5, under the air filter (the thing in the plastic bag) and then back up above cylinder 6 and to the flow divider.

EGT and CHT probes.

Look how neat the wiring is now. Kudos to Marwa and Chandra for the way they keep the wiring so clean.

Ready to be plugged in...

The new panel has been powder coated gray to match the rest of the panel, so I'm installing it for the last time.

Marwa finishing some wiring for the fuel quantity senders.

It's on!! Plugged in and lookin' good.

...and the RAD is working too. Lookin' good. Now to do some fuel quantity calibrations tomorrow.

This is Joshua Chandra, a short termer from India. He's helping out in the avionics shop and has been a great help, while learning a lot so far.

The shop at the end of the day. N213EA is in the back of the hangar, with 5Y-BLG on the left. N342EA is in the fore ground, having come over from Entebbe on Saturday for some work, and then N341EA is there on the right, with the blue blanket over the engine.

Arrival of N341EA!

2010-09-18T21:04:00.002+03:00

Today we got to witness the arrival of N341EA, a 1984 Cessna U206G owned by Samaritan's Purse, which is coming to serve here with AIM Air. It is going to get amphibious floats and will be based in Mwanza, Tanzania on Lake Victoria. The guys left Ohio about 5 days ago and have pretty much flown nonstop to get here. They arrived to a beautiful evening and non-eventful landing after like 14hrs of non-stop flight from Luxor, Egypt. Enjoy the pictures below.

On final approach to Runway 07 at Wilson Airport.

Final approach with the famed Carnivore Restaurant in the background.

It sort of looks funny without a cargo pod.

Short final.

Touchdown! Nice shot of the Mombasa Highway skyline in the background.

The gang waiting at the hangar.

I had to include a picture of the DC-3, Samaritan's Purse's other airplane here in Nairobi.

The kids were having a blast climbing all over the tow tractor while waiting for the airplane.

Lookin' good coming to the hangar.

Samaritan's Purse's two airplanes at the AIM Air hangar. The biggest one in the fleet, and then one of the smallest ones for now.

Shutdown! Notice the co-pilot door, which is not standard on the U206G. It was a modification added back when this airplane was a floatplane in the States.

Brian getting his land legs back under him.

Dale Hamilton (L), the pilot who will be flying the airplane down in Tanzania, along with John Mosby, our Chief Engineer at AIM Air, and Jay Mundy (R), an AIM Air pilot/mechanic.

Good lookin' airplane.

Frontage.

The cockpit. It's a bit different from the earlier model 206s. Note the circuit breaker panel on the side panel to the left of the pilot seat. The instruments are very different layout as well. It looks really nice.

The ferry pilots, Brian and Dale. They did a fantastic job.

I like this picture. Very artistic. :D

Here I am opening the cowling for the first time.

Holy smokes, what is all that stuff?!

It's an Atlantic Aero tuned induction IO-550-N with a FAT supercharger and LEES tuned exhaust. WOW.

AIM Air pilot Jim Streit checking out the new engine. Notice the gleam in his eyes!

Helping unload the cargo.

The family photo in front of the new airplane. Of course we're sporting the Samaritan's Purse t-shirts. Go team!

IO-520 Engine Change, Cessna 206

2010-09-17T16:23:00.000+03:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, we did an engine change on 5Y-SIL this past week, along with some other work. Here's the pictures/info of the engine change itself. We took off a worn out IO-520-F and installed a freshly overhauled IO-520-F, straight from Mzee Kituo's engine shop. It's been good so far with the few hours it has flown since then.

I realize this isn't a part of the engine change, but we had to give the pilot a hard time for bringing the airplane in with a flat tire...this is how we found it Monday morning. Stay away from thorns!

Prop off, working on getting lines and cables disconnected.

Caleb Klay working on getting things disconnected.

Brian Staples, our newest pilot here at AIM Air has joined us down in the shop for his maintenance orientation. It was good to have him around to help with the engine change.

Got the old engine off (the one on the right, on the red hoist) and the new one (on the left, on the yellow stand) all ready to go.

Sounding the alarm. This new swirly exhaust really makes some good music. :D

Remember that flat tire? This is our tube testing unit...otherwise known as the airplane washing barrel. Just dip the inflated tube into the water and the bubbles lead you to the hole. I guess it's a little harder when there's not much water in the barrel! Any idea who that guy is in the barrel??

Stanley (L) and Brian (R) getting things lined up.

All installed. It wasn't too bad to get the six bolts all lined up this time with the new dual mounts on the front.

Prop installed.

Ready to go. She did her engine break-in flight without any major issues and has since done a couple more flights with good results. Praise the Lord for another solid engine overhaul and installation!

Dual Mount Installation

2010-09-15T15:22:00.000+03:00

We just did an engine change on 5Y-SIL (that will be a future post) and as part of that engine change, we did the dual forward isolator mount kit installation. Normally, the engine is mounted to the airframe on four engine mounts, two in the front and two in the rear. This kit effectively takes out the two single mounts in the front and installs two double mounts, making for a total of four mounting points in the front of the engine. It is a kit put out by Atlantic Aero under the STC# SA00796AT. We have installed this kit in all of our 206s and the 210, and SIL was the last aircraft to get the installation. Hope you enjoy the pictures below.

The engine compartment in SIL is painted white, so the first thing we did in preparation was to paint the new mounts white to match. On the left is Marko, doing a great job painting while I am looking on. Please notice that, in a pinch, when you can't find your respirator, ear plugs work well enough for a quick look at the job. :D

The old single mounts.

And...they're gone.

Pretty grungy looking, huh?

Fitting the new mounts. It's a pretty simple installation...but perhaps I'm a little biased since I've done like five of them.

Close up of the new RH mount. Notice the silver flange at the bottom left of the mount. I fabricated new doublers down in that area to help distribute the load more evenly.

This was the newly fabricated doubler on the inside of the nose tunnel. The mounts attach on those vertical rows of rivets. The fabricated doublers on the inside and outside were to help distribute the load more evenly. The old doublers were a lot smaller, because the old mounts were half the size.

The newly installed doublers (the gold things) inside the nose tunnel.

And the newly installed dual forward isolator mounts.

Stanley on the left and me on the right. Stanley is an intern here at AIM AIR and helped me with the installation. He did a great job and the job went pretty smoothly. I'm happy with it!

New paint on the floor...

2010-09-14T17:03:00.000+03:00

...of 5Y-CMA! We've been prepping the floor of CMA so that we can go ahead and paint dark gray that is the 206 fleet standard. Today, we finally got done cleaning it all, so we decided this afternoon to go ahead and paint it. We're gonna let it sit for a week or so and get nice and dry, then we'll install the seat tracks back into it and keep on working on the airplane in the mean time. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

210 drivin' and 206 flyin'

2010-09-10T10:35:00.001+03:00

The past week or so we've been working some of the bugs out of 5Y-BLG, our Cessna 210M. It's been going pretty well for the most part and just recently, I went with Tim Carpenter out to do some engine runs.

The instrument panel...

The driver...Tim Carpenter

The airplane...sorry its blurry. This little mirror is out on the right wing and shows the pilot if his landing gear is down. I just thought it was a neat picture.

The pictures below are of N213EA, formerly N4790U. Nate Killoren took it up on a test flight the other day after we did the leading edge repair. It was a beautiful day out, so I thought I would snap some pics of his take-off and climb-out. Enjoy.

New floor in U206G, 5Y-CMA

2010-08-25T13:44:00.000+03:00

I have been working on installing the floor back into CMA the past few days. We replaced the old floor with all new skins, bumping them from .032" thickness to .040". We also put some more stiffeners under the floor on the ribs to help with the often heavy items that pilots put into the airplanes. You don't necessarily think much about it until you see a guy put 2 or 3 200liter fuel drums FULL into the back of the airplane. THEN you understand why we beef up the aircraft the way we do. It's been fairly slow going because it just takes time to shoot a lot of the rivets that are hidden down behind/under/around a stringer where the hole is just barely big enough for my hand to fit through, much less try to balance a bucking bar with my fingertips. There's been a lot of yelling and many frustrated words have been directed at the airplane, but it's coming along slowly. I'm also dealing with re-installing a gearbox mod that allows for easier removal of the outboard gear castings in the event that they get cracked. Below are some pictures of my progress.

This is about halfway done, maybe. You can sort of see the outlines where I traced the Brownline seat tracks. All the stringer rivets that pass under the seat tracks, I made flush so they wouldn't interfere with the tracks. The same goes for the cargo door sill area (lower right portion), as we install a stainless sill cover to help protect the door sill from damage.

All the pink circles are where a rivet needs to be flush so that it won't interfere with something else. The rectangular patch with the inspection hole in it is the gearbox mod.

This is what it looks like at the beginning. Some notches were cut in the main bulkheads where the casting can be removed. To provide the reinforcing strength, some angle pieces are re-installed.

You can see how it is removed. Just unbutton the casting and slide it over, pull it up through the notches, and there ya have it...or something like that. :D

So here's the reinforcements installed.

And the final product with the cover installed. It really was tough to put all together because the reinforcements are held to the top panel here with rivets and are held to the main gear bulkheads with screws. It's a bit of a chore...but supposedly is easier than unbuttoning half the floor to pull the casting out that way. I guess we'll see...with time...

So here I am working on getting the rivets into the gear casting mod. This was still early in the morning, so no hard feelings had occurred yet. :D

Bangin' some rivets. I've been using my new Sioux 3X rivet gun that I bought from Brown Tool. It's pretty nice! I like it pretty well so far. Thanks, Jeremy, for the encouragement to get it!

Personnel...and floor skins...

2010-08-13T08:59:00.000+03:00

Things have slowed down a little bit here in the shop this week. It's a bit nice, because there isn't a HUGE rush to get something done RIGHT NOW. We flew the 210, 5Y-BLG, on Wednesday, and the test flight went great! We're just taking care of a few squawks and waiting for word regarding the paperwork at KCAA, and hopefully she'll be on the flight line before too long. We have also moved back towards CMA, the 206 project and are just about to put in the new floor skins. We're waiting on some parts and an engine, and she will be coming along really nicely! Enjoy some pictures below of folks around the hangar and some work on CMA.

Darvid Marwa, our avionics technician.

Alyssa Roffler (ST from Moody) diligently studying the Cessna 206 parts manual.

Justin Drafts (ST)...doing...something. :D

Rob Wiens (ST) doing some much needed welding on our work stands.

Smile for the camera, Rob!

Justin and John Holtz doing the happy dance on CMA's old floor skins. Glad to get rid of them!

New skins, freshly primed, ready to get installed.

Doing some final cleaning to the floor area before installing the floor skins.

Time to go...

2010-08-10T11:49:00.000+03:00

As I've mentioned previously on the blog, we are finishing up the major inspection on 5Y-BLG, our Cessna 210M. We have been doing a lot of the final checks in the past week and today we are hoping to do the test flight if all goes well. It is an exciting time, because BLG hasn't been on the flight line for over a year and a half, and we're ready for it to be flying again. The pilots are excited about getting it back in the air as well.
Here's some pictures of the final work being done with it.

Tim Carpenter (top) and Nicholas Pool (ST from LETU) were getting a fuel sending unit re-installed after resealing it due to a small leak.

Somebody's been workin' out.

Here she is at the door, getting fuel back into the wings to test the new sealant.

This is actually where the airplane sits at this very moment, at the door, all ready for the test flight. It will be exciting to see it flying again.

Leading Edge Repair, Cessna 206

2010-08-09T13:27:00.000+03:00

So the last few weeks have been pretty busy here in the hangar. I've been heavily involved in two Cessna 208B Grand Caravan inspections as well as keeping an eye over the progress of the leading edge repair on the Cessna 206 and keeping the ball rolling on finishing 5Y-BLG, the Cessna 210. This post is about the leading edge repair on the 206.

A couple of the guys got the Cessna leading edge and the Horton leading edge cuff installed, as well as the Vortex Generators. They did a pretty good job.

The next thing to do was to prep for painting it all.

Andrew Roberts (R, no relation to me) and John Holtz (L) doing the painting on the leading edge. It turned out pretty good.

What an action picture! My camera has goofy moments and this was one of them. Andrew (R) looks like he's moving his hand really fast with the paint gun.

Ahhh, the new registration number! I'm sure you all have been waiting patiently for this one. This is ex-N4790U. It was sort of a bittersweet moment, because the airplane had retained that registration since it was delivered to the customer in 1979. That's 31 years of the same number.

Here she is sitting just outside the hangar, looking good in the ~~sunshine~~ cloudy overcast Kenyan morning. We're waiting for some paperwork to go through the right channels, then we'll be doing a test flight and hopefully then she can be back on the flight line!

Inspection Time!

2010-07-21T12:55:00.000+03:00

This week, we have my baby, N827DG, in for a 200hour inspection. As many of you recall from the beginning days of this blog, 7DG was the first major job that I did here at AIM AIR. It still has a special place in my heart for that reason. It has just about 400hours on it since we did the airframe overhaul and things have been looking good and it's been flying really well. The pilots really like the IO-550-N strapped on the front; much relief from the old dogged out IO-520-Fs. So this week, we've jumped in full steam and are well into an inspection with it.

Opening panels and otherwise getting it all ready for the inspection.

Jospeh Tavasi, one of our staff here at AIM AIR, helping to open wing panels on 7DG.

I caught some of the short termers gathering around my toolbox, so I thought I would snap a shot. Left to right is Justin Bethany (LETU), John Holtz (Moody, and future AIM AIR maintenance specialist), and Michael Felts (LETU).

We are also doing some heavy maintenance on 5Y-SIL as well. Below are some pictures of what we've been doing. The main work is with the landing gear. We found a crack in the left hand outboard main gear casting, so had to replace that. We've also removed the nose gear and disassembled, cleaned, painted, and will reassmble and re-install in the next couple days. Below are pictures of SIL.

Caleb Klay, getting ready to do some work with SIL.

This is Nicholas Pool and Michael Felts, both from LETU, working on brake assemblies for SIL.

Robert Wiens, from neither LETU or Moody, working on overhauling SIL's shimmy dampener.

This like open heart surgery. You have to peel open all this floor skin to get access to the gear casting.

This is the new casting, being fit into place. The entire gear casting replacement is about a 2-3 day job. What a pain.

This is currently how SIL looks right now...sort like a taildragger! We have it on its tail to facilitate removal of the nose gear for overhaul.

Marko, one of our staff, doing the painting of the nose gear pieces. He did a really nice job.

Leading Edge Repair

2010-07-08T10:37:00.000+03:00

If you recall a couple months ago, I went into the DRC to patch up an airplane so that it could fly home. Well, we finally received the parts needed to finish the repair. We are replacing the leading edge of the right wing, as well as the Horton STOL leading edge cuff. It is a delicate process, as the installer needs to ensure that all parts are aligned properly and that the sheetmetal will lay down well. This ensures that there will be no wrinkles in the skin once it's time to rivet. I have a friend of mine who is doing the work on it while I am busy with other work in the hangar. It's been great to have him down doing that...he's really a meticulous guy, and he's been doing a fantastic job. Enjoy some of the progress pictures...

We also replaced the outboard rib.

Getting it fitted into place.

Held in by clecos...it's coming slowly...

I thought this was a neat picture...

At the same time of the leading edge repair, we are also changing the registration number. Farewell to N4790U...hello to...oh, you'll just have to wait and see!

Interior and landing gear

2010-06-30T07:10:00.000+03:00

The last week or so, we've been working on 5Y-BLG, along with some other things, too. I worked on getting a lot of the interior re-installed, and Tim Carpenter has been working the bugs out of the landing gear. Boy, I tell you what...Cessna 210 landing gear can sure be a pain to disassemble, repair, re-assemble, re-install, and rig properly. And I'm not even the one doing it! I don't envy Tim at all, but I'm greatly encouraged by his dedication to the task. He has the patience and endurance to stick to the job until it's done right. I think I would have been beating my head against the wall long ago! Anyway, here's some pictures from the work on BLG.

Here I am putting some of the interior panels in.

You know, there really isn't a whole lot of room in the baggage compartment for an adult.

Howdy!

Just so you know, I didn't climb in through that little hole...

What the interior looks like now...I still have some more to do, but have been focusing on some other things the past few days, mainly Cessna Caravans...

Changing out some nutplates on the baggage compartment back wall.

Tim Carpenter, running the gear up and down. Definitely fun to watch.

Almost up!

I caught Tim deep in thought the other day...

Sometimes you just have to slow down, read the manual a bit, and think about how the whole thing works. Thanks, Tim, for your super hard work!

Brown Aviation Tool Supply

2010-06-13T07:47:00.002+03:00

Many of you may be wondering who in the world these people are in this picture. Well, this is the staff of Brown Aviation Tool Supply, which is the major aviation tool company where I purchase my aviation tools. I figured that I would post a few other aviation related things and this was naturally one of the first to come to my mind. Brown Tool is a great company and provide a wide variety of tools, while also providing superb customer service. Thanks, Brown Tool, for providing a fantastic resource for the aviation industry all over the world!

5Y-BLG, Cessna 210M

2010-06-11T13:45:00.001+03:00

     BLG is AIM AIR's Cessna 210. It has been in the fleet for many years and has been a faithful servant to the ministry. It came due for a Check 3 inspection sometime around spring of 2009. Well, most airplanes at AIM AIR that require Check 3 inspection seem to get pushed into the corner and only get worked when all other maintenance is done, as there really isn't enough people for someone to be constantly devoted to that project. BLG wasn't really any different; however, when the accident occured in August 2009, that just pushed it to the side a bit more. You see, Ryan Williams was the one doing most of the tinkering on BLG, and after his death, none of the rest of us really have too much Cessna 210 experience.
     So...it sort of became the prodigal child, taking up hangar space, but not much else. Well, in the past 6 months, we've been working little by little with it to get it back to flight status. Especially now, with the issue regarding US-registered aircraft not being able to do much flying in Kenya, the need has escalated for BLG to be operational again. We have begun pushing hard now to get BLG back into the air (operationally, that is) so that AIM AIR can have another Kenyan-registered plane available.
     Below are some pictures of the work we've been doing. A Cessna 210 is a new can of worms for me. This is the first one I've worked on, and while it is very close to a Cessna 206, there are some oddities that Cessna developed that create "wonderful" learning situations. Anyway, it is a neat airplane, and I'm looking forward to it being back in the fleet, contributing to the mission that AIM AIR is serving throughout East Africa.

Here it is where BLG currently sits, in the back of the hangar. Notice that the left gear leg has been removed. We are in the process of replacing the pivot assembly.

I changed out the old pilot inertia reel and seatbelt assembly with a new one. Actually, it is an STC to install two inertia reels, one for the pilot and one for the co-pilot. This is the "before" picture.

Here's what the new inertia reel looks like. It is an STC by B.A.S., Inc. It was a pretty straight forward installation for the most part. The directions were a little hard to interpret, but we made it happen.

Tim Carpenter caught this picture of me on top of BLG while I was drilling the holes for the new inertia reel kit. Hang on, hang on!

And here's the "after" picture. The old style reel assembly came out from the plastic escutcheon in the middle of the ceiling. Now, the new ones are mounted on either side of the escutcheon. Much more effecient.

This is what BLG looks like on the inside. Since I took this picture, I've put the covers back up next to the compass and the OAT gauge in the top of the windshield, and also the sun visors. I'm currently working on getting the insulation and side panels back together as well.

Sometimes you just have sit down and read the manual. This is currently my "office" next to BLG, where my toolboxes live and I can work comfortably. As you can see, I am sporting my custom-made, one of a kind, none others in the world, hoodie with the logo from my A&P school, Missionary Aviation Institute. I am proud to represent my school to those around me who went to some other school called "Moody" something or "LeTourneau" who? I'm proud to be an MAI A&P grad!

Instrument panels and wiring a Cessna 206

2010-06-11T10:19:00.004+03:00

So the past couple weeks, we haven't really worked on 5Y-CMA too much because there has been a lot of fleet maintenance occurring. However, David Marwa, our avionics technician, has been steadily doing his wiring while he has free reign of the aircraft. Nate Killoren also has been helping him by fabricating the instrument panels. Here's a few pictures of the past week. I'd like to give a big shout out to David, who's been doing a great job!

Here's Killoren punching the holes out of the panel. That hydraulic press was made in Travelers Rest, SC, which is where my aunt and uncle used to live! Crazy!

Fitting the removable right side panel onto the subpanel.

Check out all those wires David has installed! He's almost done! We've already tested all of the radios and lots of the electrical items as well...

...including landing and taxi lights! Nice!

Our famed avionics tech.

Call to action!

2010-06-06T08:04:00.006+03:00

Below is a video posted by Brian and Jami Staples. Brian is a pilot/mechanic who is coming with his family to serve with AIM AIR here in Nairobi, Kenya. They are hoping to be out here by July. Please watch the video and respond in the way that the Lord is calling you. You can view their website here. If you have trouble viewing the video, you can also view it here.

AIM AIR - Serving those who serve

Supercharged IO-550-N, N341EA, Cessna U206G

2010-06-02T14:55:00.000+03:00

Below are some pictures that I found on the website of Forced Aeromotive showing the new supercharger installed in N341EA, the Samaritan's Purse floatplane that is scheduled to arrive later this summer. It sure looks good, doesn't it?!

What I see...

2010-06-01T11:31:00.000+03:00

This past week, lots of things were happening around the hangar. Below are some pictures of what I witnessed.

Look above the propeller blade...what do you see?

Here's a closer shot. It's Mount Kilimanjaro! This is like the tallest peak in Africa, and its down in Tanzania! On a really clear day, you can see it from the hangar. Wow!

Here's the view of the hangar with the DC-3T in the door.

This was the view I had the other morning. They were working on getting it out the door. It's been in the hangar for about 4 weeks getting an avionics/wiring overhaul.

Marko, cheesing for the camera while riding in the cockpit operating brakes when needed.

The now empty hangar...but it was only empty for about 15 minutes. We filled it back with airplanes that had to live outside when the DC-3T filled the hangar.

Yikes! I found this picture on my camera the other day...looks like the Wolfman!

But wow! What a difference a haircut makes! Jeremy really had people doing double-takes when he showed up clean shaven.

Inspections, avionics, and a whole lot more...

2010-05-22T08:24:00.000+03:00

This has been a busy week here at AIM AIR. We have the DC-3T in for its avionics work as well as other inspection/maintenance, 2 Cessna 206s for inspection/maintenance, a Caravan for inspection/maintenance, another 206 which came Friday for inspection/maintenance, and then the three "projects" that are currently in progress. Wow. We've been spread out pretty thin, but are still getting the work done on time...great job to the guys in the hangar! Below are some photos of the week.

This rainbow appeared last Friday, I think. It was a beautiful sight to see.

I caught the King Air 200 coming in on final approach...

...so I figured I would snap a few photos. It really is a good looking plane.

Touchdown, with the Mombasa Highway stretch of Nairobi in the background.

Jeremy Hamilton gave a hand to David Marwa, our avionics technician, with some work on 5Y-CMA.

David has really been doing a great job getting all the wiring taken care of on CMA. Here he is getting the GPU plug attached and wired in.

An interesting shot of 5Y-CMA, with Jeremy working on some things in the cockpit for Marwa.

It's progressing! Still lots of spaghetti, but that's to be expected for a little bit. It's going to be another week or so until we can go back to working on CMA...there are other more pressing tasks at hand now...

...like doing inspections! Jeremy removed the fuel reservoir tanks from 5Y-SIL and cleaned them. These "kidney tanks" are where the main fuel tanks dump fuel to be a last holding point before the fuel passes through the fuel selector and then into the engine plumbing. They don't often get cleaned out, but these tanks sure needed it. We cleaned out all sorts of dirt and yucky stuff. Safety first!

Garrett Watson (L) and Reini Schmidt (R) opening up some inspection panels on 2EA. Garrett has been here for 2 weeks working in the shop and learning about mission aviation.

Currently we are working on N342EA, which is typically based in Entebbe, Uganda.

We have #4 and #6 cylinders off because of sticky exhaust valves. You can see the DC-3T in the background with the avionics guy working in the nose.

Garrett and Mzee Kituo cleaning the cylinders from 2EA.

Mzee was teaching Garrett what needs to be accomplished when cleaning cylinders and repairing the valves. The cylinders are now ready and will be installed on Monday.

Cleaning corrosion! Everybody's favorite!

Sheetmetal, sheetmetal, sheetmetal...

2010-05-14T20:41:00.000+03:00

I'm sorry about not having posted in a couple weeks...things have been busy, or I just keep forgetting. You can decide what you want it to be. :) Anyway, here's a bit of an idea of the things we've been working on with 5Y-CMA. Caleb Klay and I riveted the belly skins all together, so that was nice to have completed. Nate Killoren came down from upstairs and helped us by installing the Radio Rax, which is the new mounting for the radios. He did a really great job and really fast, too! Congrats to him and his wife and son as they welcome their new son/brother, Quinn! Continuing on, our avionics guy has begun working in the airplane, installing his wire harnesses and other equipment, while we've been working on other sheetmetal projects, like some cargo tie-downs and also fabricating the new floor skins. Thursday afternoon we began an inspection on 5Y-SIL, so that's what we'll be working on for the next week, as well as an inspection on N342EA. Hopefully, I can get some pictures of those and you can see what happens during routine maintenance. For now, enjoy the sheetmetal!

Belly skins, primed and ready to go.

We primed all the points of contact, to help prevent corrosion from growing within the lap joints.

This was Caleb's position for about 2 or 3 days, as he shot the rivets from the outside and I bucked them on the inside.

Teamwork is essential when shooting rivets. Caleb and I have shot a lot together and work fairly quickly. Notice that I'm always sporting the SP hat...gotta have the shout out!

Behold, the magic bucking bar. This is the bucking bar that I made when I was in A&P school at Missionary Aviation Institute back in NC. I still use it more than any other bucking bar.

Nate Killoren and his Radio Rax. Note the jig that holds the two Rax pieces the correct distance apart.

It really is a detailed installation. He did a great job.

Doing some final touches to it.

The finished product. Since he's installed it, we have also painted the instrument sub-panel gray, but I don't have a picture of that yet.

You can see that there is not a whole lot of stuff left in the airplane when we do these overhauls. We remove it all to clean, inspect, and repair when necessary. We have a visiting missionary aviation veteran who commented that he's never seen an airplane that stripped down before. Wow!

A close-up of Caleb...had to make sure he wasn't sleeping down there!

Me with my freshly shaven head installing a few Cherrymax rivets...booooo!

A shot of our finally installed belly skins. No more looking through the airplane and seeing the ground!

Jeremy Hamilton is back with us for a few weeks and he just installed the two green cargo tie-down doublers in the picture. It's great to have him around again. We really enjoy the time he spends with us serving the Lord with his excellent talents.

Don't touch my plane! Haha, this was my "bad guy" pose...probably not that intimidating though, huh?!

A beautiful reminder

2010-05-01T07:54:00.000+03:00

Yesterday, we had a really good rain during the afternoon, and I saw this rainbow and had to snap a couple photos. It was really beautiful.

This is the newest Caravan to our fleet, just returning from up north.

Some relatively non-moving aircraft. In the back is a Shorts Skyvan which has only gone further down into the grass since I've been here in Nairobi. Then on the right is a Cessna 210L, which a friend of ours flies regularly. Then center and left are two Twin Commanders. The one on the right has Garrett turbine engines on it, and the one on the left still has the piston Lycomings. I've seen neither of them fly.