Some of you have probably heard us talk about the Kodiak aircraft at one time or another. It is a newly designed aircraft that is more than just a cool airplane. It is going to be a very big blessing for mission and humanitarian flying organizations. It is designed specifically for ruggedness, safety, and economy. It is the answer to a worldwide crisis that is coming upon backcountry air carriers, that is the drastic decline of the availability of "avgas" that most piston-powered aircraft rely upon. The Kodiak is powered by a turbine engine, which means it operates on jet fuel. Jet fuel is very readily available all over the world, and in many places it is a third to a fourth of the cost of avgas. This plane will bring safety, more carrying capacity, the drastically increased economy of jet fuel, and remarkable short field takeoff and landing performance. It will be able to get to those little 1000 foot airstrips in the middle of the jungle. I am so excited about this airplane because of the type of blessing it will be to those living in isolation. If you have the time and the interest here is a video done by the Kodiak's makers, the Quest aircraft company. The big missionary aviation organizations have tens of these airplanes on order, hoping and praying to get them available, made, funded and sent out as soon as possible. Would you pray for the Kodiak's distribution? It seems silly to pray for something like an airplane. But when you understand what this plane will mean to those living in the third world, I don't think it is silly.
If you're still reading, imagine a Kodiak being rolled into the "bone yard" for retirement after fifty years of use. Imagine if that plane had a resume attatched to its wing of all the things that its cargo accomplished. In a typical day that plane could evacuate a villager with an emergency medical condition, deliver a team of doctors to an isolated village to run a clinic, deliver much needed food or medicine to a village in dire need, and bring a team of bible translators in or out of a place where they are working, and maybe finish off the day by flying a well digging crew and their supplies into a place so they can make fresh water available to a village. At the end of that single day the airplane may have saved its passengers weeks of difficult and dangerous travel by foot or over dangerous roads and enabled them to bring supplies they otherwise wouldn't have been able to bring. If a typical day for the Kodiak is anything like that, imagine what a blessing each one will be over the decades it is in service!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Instrument Rated!!
What a beautiful end to a great day! I took that picture on the drive home yesterday from the airport. My friend Nomad and I took off at the crack of dawn yesterday to fly up to Traverse City for our instrument checkrides. And I came back with an instrument rating!! The culmination of five months of preparation.
There's Nomad and I on the flight back. And here I am afterwards, back at Lowell, with my "Temporary airman certificate" that I get to use while waiting for the FAA to mail me the plastic one!
While we were flying back, Nomad and I were talking about how fortunate we are to get to enjoy the beauty of God's creation from the perspective of flying. I remember my friend Matthias talking about that and saying "sometime I wish my eyes were a camera." So to share with you some of what we saw yesterday, here's a slideshow of the pictures we took. You will see Michigan's frozen lakes, the Grand Traverse Bay, and in one picture you even see lake Michigan shining way off in the background. Enjoy!!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
What a party!
Two evenings ago, we went to a very fun birthday party. It was for our neighbor Kaitlin, turning two! I never knew a 2 year old's birthday party could be so fun. Kaitlin and her parents live two floors above us. Her dad Corey goes to my school and it has been so fun living in their building. Kaitlin is all into Elmo, so it was a sesame street themed party. "Aunt Heather and Uncle Ricky" as she calls us, were lucky enough to get their picture taken with the birthday girl!!
Perhaps Kaitlin's favorite birthday present was a framed picture of her stuffed bunny, Floppy. Here she is with Floppy and the picture. Hilarious!!
Last night my friend Jeffrey and I had a surprise in store for our wives. We cooked them a surprise dinner. Afterwards we had them wear blindfolds while we went to a few different places. The first was Wal Mart (as a joke!), the second was a place to view the sunset, and the third place was a hotel where were surprising them with a night's stay. Jeffrey works for Holiday Inn and hooked us up with a sweet deal on some rooms. We all had a great time together!
While I am on a roll I might as well throw in a few things about school. There has been a lot of action out there lately. I recently had the privelege of doing the annual inspection on the engine of this Cessna 185. This is a "mean machine", and many of the students at the school drule as they pass by and look at it. Here I am with the engine, a Continental IO 520 for you aviation literate.
And while I had my camera out there I could not resist photographing my friend and fellow maintenance worker Steven working in the incredibly cramped confines of an aircraft wing. He is extremely skinny, and if he weren't he wouldn't be able to be in this wing in the first place. After he was done I measured the thickness of the space he was in, and it was seven inches from top to bottom. I couldn't even fit my head into it sideways, much less my whole torso like Steven! Have a look. It's hilarious:
Perhaps Kaitlin's favorite birthday present was a framed picture of her stuffed bunny, Floppy. Here she is with Floppy and the picture. Hilarious!!
Last night my friend Jeffrey and I had a surprise in store for our wives. We cooked them a surprise dinner. Afterwards we had them wear blindfolds while we went to a few different places. The first was Wal Mart (as a joke!), the second was a place to view the sunset, and the third place was a hotel where were surprising them with a night's stay. Jeffrey works for Holiday Inn and hooked us up with a sweet deal on some rooms. We all had a great time together!
While I am on a roll I might as well throw in a few things about school. There has been a lot of action out there lately. I recently had the privelege of doing the annual inspection on the engine of this Cessna 185. This is a "mean machine", and many of the students at the school drule as they pass by and look at it. Here I am with the engine, a Continental IO 520 for you aviation literate.
And while I had my camera out there I could not resist photographing my friend and fellow maintenance worker Steven working in the incredibly cramped confines of an aircraft wing. He is extremely skinny, and if he weren't he wouldn't be able to be in this wing in the first place. After he was done I measured the thickness of the space he was in, and it was seven inches from top to bottom. I couldn't even fit my head into it sideways, much less my whole torso like Steven! Have a look. It's hilarious:
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Our Fun Weekend
This is my (Heather's) first-ever blog entry. I have always left this up to Ricky in the past, but I've had on my to-do list: "learn how to update blog" for some time now, so here we go.
Last weekend we spent time up north. Our church had a retreat at Au Sable, an environmental center about 3 hrs north. The depth of the snow varied from our knees to our waist. It was beautiful! We tried cross-country skiing for the first time, snow shoeing, ice skating, and we even played broomball! Broomball was a first for us as well. In case some of you don't know, it is like hockey, except you wear shoes and use a broomstick and a small ball. It was fun and painful all at the same time.
We came back to Grand Rapids and had dinner at a Chinese place to celebrate my birthday. (I had gotten a coupon in the mail for a free birthday dinner the day before.) Afterwards, we celebrated with friends and had an ice cream cake. It was a fun birthday.
Last weekend we spent time up north. Our church had a retreat at Au Sable, an environmental center about 3 hrs north. The depth of the snow varied from our knees to our waist. It was beautiful! We tried cross-country skiing for the first time, snow shoeing, ice skating, and we even played broomball! Broomball was a first for us as well. In case some of you don't know, it is like hockey, except you wear shoes and use a broomstick and a small ball. It was fun and painful all at the same time.
We came back to Grand Rapids and had dinner at a Chinese place to celebrate my birthday. (I had gotten a coupon in the mail for a free birthday dinner the day before.) Afterwards, we celebrated with friends and had an ice cream cake. It was a fun birthday.
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