April Newsletter

April 26, 2010

The training is complete. We have returned from Nampa, Idaho, where David completed his standardization training for mechanic and pilot. It was a wonderful time not only to receive this excellent training, but also for us as a family.

The training that Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) gave was very airplane specific. I received specialized training for maintaining and flying the turbo-charged Cessna Utility 206 Stationair. It is a 6 person (1 pilot and 5 passenger) airplane that is being used worldwide for challenging “bush” style flying. It carries a very heavy load flying reasonably fast. It can take off and land in very short distances and is rugged to be efficient to operate and maintain in these very challenging conditions. In short, it is about the perfect airplane for this type of flying!

The maintenance training consisted of overall operation of all the systems on the airplane. We were also taught common trouble areas, how to troubleshoot and identify these and how to repair them. We spent quite a bit of time also putting this into practice as we performed much of what we were taught on training components and real airplanes. One of the fun projects we did was to replace a horizontal stabilizer (the back small wing) on one of the airplanes. It was challenging and fun. One bonus for me is that one of the maintenance instructors was a pilot and mechanic in Venezuela and had flown me around as a kid. We had fun talking of the good times in Venezuela, much to the boredom of the other trainee! (Sorry, Nathan!)

The flight training was equally incredible. They definitely ensure that the candidates are prepared for all types of challenging flying. The training consisted of a broad array of flight such as flying at different speeds and airplane configurations; cross country navigation at different altitudes (that river looks a lot different from 2000 feet than it does from 5000 feet!); terrain flying (flying over/through mountains and valleys); emergency procedures; but most of the training focused on short field take-offs and landings.

The last 2 days of training consisted of flying to the “back country” of Idaho and practicing on a variety of very short and challenging airstrips carved out of the Salmon River valley floor. We actually spent 2 days flying the entire time BELOW the ridge tops, in a tight valley turning around seemingly scraping the wings on the sides of the mountains! The instructions for some of the approaches were very different from normal flying in Florida! Since the runway could not be seen for most of the approach, the instructor pilot would say: “Ok, fly to that rock, then turn and fly to that tree, then turn to line up with the runway…then you have about 1 and ½ seconds to decide of you are going to land or go around!”

While it was very intimidating at first, by the end of the second day, I began to feel more confident. While I know I would never be completely “relaxed” in that environment, I am confident. It requires constant alertness and awareness of the environment and to be able to make very quick decisions. I really can’t say enough about the whole training process. The instructors really poured themselves out to us to ensure we have the tools we need to safely fly these missions for the Lord.

One thing that I want to share is the non-technical training that I have received. 3 years ago when we first set out on this venture, I thought I was ready right then to go and was slightly annoyed that I had to wait so long to go through all the technical training. I thought that the need was for airplanes and pilots to fly them. But it’s not about the airplanes. It’s about the people. The airplane is just a tool to reach the people. God has shown me that although he has called us to serve in aviation, that aviation is not the end goal. It is a means to touch people’s lives in a way that will be an inroad to complete the primary task: make disciples of all nations, teaching them all the things Jesus has taught us!

We had numerous opportunities to see the sights and enjoy ourselves as a family as well. Thank you to the Tremperts who lent us their Suburban! We were able to drive to the mountains just about every week to see the sights or enjoy an activity. We enjoyed a super deal on snow skiing, so David, Karina and Josh went skiing. We went tubing as well as just letting the kids play in the snow. The last couple of weekends were really nice and we drove to the mountains and just got out to climb hills and such.

Both Karina and Josh made friends right away in school. They lived very near to us so they were over to the house quite a bit. Jonathan had the little sand box right out front, so he kept busy playing there. The other family there for the training had kids similar in ages, so we were able to enjoy each other’s company quite a bit.

We met many neat people there in Idaho and are grateful to God for allowing our time there to be such a rich experience. We are thankful to all those who made it a great time and count our blessings that we met new, life-long friends through the process!

The kids get out of school here in Tampa on the 10^th of June and we travel to Ecuador on the 14^th. In that time, we will be taking every advantage to share the vision that God has given us to raise awareness, establish our team and recruit those who would commit to praying for us and the ministry in Ecuador. We have several speaking engagements lined up, but if you have a Sunday School class or other group who would like to hear more, please let us know!

We commit everything we do to God,

David, Maggy, Joni Karina, Joshua, Jonathan, Jennifer