Project what?

Sorry I haven't posted any pictures of N4790U. There has been a lot of maintenance going on in the hangar, so we haven't been working on the project. Nate Killoren has been doing an annual inspection on N342EA, Caleb has been helping with fleet maintenance and doing magneto overhauls (don't feel sorry for him), and I've been working on N208EA helping with the Phase 9 inspection. All the Kenyan guys are also helping with all those, so 90U is sitting in the corner looking lonely. Sigh...

On a side note related to fleet maintenance, we had a Cessna 208B lose half of a power turbine wheel blade the other day on climbout. Luckily, it only nicked 5 other blades on the way out of the exhaust. The pilot was able to safely bring the plane back to Wilson Airport and AIM AIR. Praise the Lord for safety!!

I will update as soon as I'm back on the project. I have a few pictures I might get online soon.

Nate

Funny airplane video

This is a funny video that includes some funny airplane stuff. All in all, it's just pretty much funny.

N4790U happenings.

So...works been happening on 90U, but not as much as I had hoped. I guess the DC-3 does take a little more priority in most peoples' eyes. In fact, this week I was yanked to go help with the Dak, and Caleb and Liz were taken for piston fleet maintenance. So, Nate K. is the remaining one still working on 90U. He's been cleaning and painting the instrument subpanel getting ready for Radio Base...

Progress!! But still more to come, of course.

Liz and Nate K discussing the fabrication of the nose gear tunnel access panel. It turned out good. Great job, Liz!

Hey, it's supposed to be white, not green!

Nate K. cleaning and preparing the forward cabin interior for some primer and paint. Notice the ear plugs...he's tired of hearing about piki pikis.

Wow...pretty gray instrument subpanel and center console.

Here's the newly painted instrument subpanel and console. The light gray is primer; those areas will be covered with the plastic interior panels.

Here's Liz's Flint wingtip fuel tanks gauge panel that she fabricated and installed. It will be powder coated gray to match the rest of the subpanel, center console, etc. Third time's the charm, Liz!! Nice job.


AAARRGGGHHHH! Why is it so hard to find parts that I need sometimes!! It sure doesn't help that we're halfway around the world from Wichita, either. Thanks to the Cessna reps who have answered back so quickly in my quest to find non-part numbered parts. You guys ROCK!!

Overdue update on N4790U...

Wow, so it's been awhile since I've actually put a post on the blog that actually concerned one of the silver bullets. Sorry about that. Things have been crazy and I just haven't done it. Anyway, here's some new pictures of N4790U. We are currently trapped in the back of the hangar behind the DC-3, so we're making the best of our tight spot and getting work done inside the fueselage so we can be ready for Radio Base to come install their wire bundles.


Joseph Tavasi, making some of the stainless steel cargo tie down doublers/brackets.

Here she is...without any legs.

Here's our current position, tucked in by the tail of the DC-3.

Nate Killoren working on the Radio Rax installation.

Caleb (L) and Liz (R) working on getting some of the radio mounting brackets fabricated and fitted.

This was an interesting picture. I took it through one of the holes in the firewall, looking into the backside of the copilot instrument panel. Sort of weird...

Gotta see it to believe it...

So the DC-3 is in for some major maintenance. It's getting main gear replaced and new flaps. The problem was that it needs to be in the hangar to have that sort of work done. So they plan to put it in the hangar. They took off the wingtips (which are like 5 feet long) and maneuvered the thing into the hangar. It's amazing. Here's the pictures.


Starting towards the hangar...doesn't that door look a little small?

Oops, that's a little close, isn't it? This picture was taken to the background music of Ryan Williams yelling, "Push harder, it'll fit!!"

This was a neat picture. My camera LCD screen is broken, so I can't see the pictures that I'm taking; just have to guess and shoot. Anyway, somehow it got switched over to the panoramic view without me knowing it, so this is the result.

Hmmm, what now?

This is the view from the corner offices. Looks a little big, huh?

This is where I left it last night.

And this is where it is today. Wow. They actually did it. First time it's been in the hangar without the wings being taken off.

Gotta see it to believe it...

Not a good week for missionary aviation...

...as you can see in the pictures below. The airplane in the pictures is 9J-CMT, which used to serve with AIM AIR under the registration 5Y-CMT. It is a Cessna turbocharged 210, previously owned by the Baptist Mission (Southern Baptists/IMB), which flew in conjunction with AIM AIR, and is now owned by Flying Mission. It has been flying in and around Zambia/Botswana/etc and went down on January 26 due to engine complications. As you can see, it was in the middle of NOWHERE, but everyone survived due to some good flying by the pilot. Once again, praise the Lord that there were no injuries, just another busted up missionary airplane.

For more info, watch the pilot's account on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDaUHD9zwIc

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

Also, visit the Flying Mission website:
http://www.flyingmission.org

N341EA

N341EA is a Cessna 185 on amphibious floats that AIM AIR has the privilege of operating down on Lake Victoria. Last week, it crashed on landing in the lake and flipped upside down in the water. An AIM AIR recovery team was able to fly down to Tanzania and worked for about four days. They were able to get the airplane upright, but it is still under water. The team is heading back down to TZ today where they will meet a large crane on a barge which will lift the plane out of the water and take it to land. They will then partially dismantle it and bring it to Nairobi.

Please pray for the team as they will be working hard over the weekend to get the airplane out of the water and prepped for travel to Nairobi.

Pray for the pilot of the airplane. He was the only one in the plane at the time of the incident and was able to escape without injury. Pray for him and his family during this time.

Pray for the team of AIM AIR as we assess the damage and seek the best way to proceed.

For a small blurb on the AIM AIR website, go here.

AIM AIR - "Serving those who serve"