Greetings from the Arctic.

It should be no surprise that the weather is very poor in Michigan this time of year. I spent four winters in Lafayette, Indiana which is not that far south compared to here, but the difference in temperature and precipitation is significant. Almost everyday this past week we have had some snowfall. A major storm hit on Friday dumping 11 inches or more around the area. This was on top of several inches that were already on the ground. This storm provided a rare cancellation of class at SMAT. While I don't mind missing a day or two of class I was looking forward to a special presentation that had to be cancelled. A new Cirrus composite aircraft was flying in for us to take a look at. It has an advanced next generation flight deck that I find interesting. We should be able to reschedule in the future.

We had a brief reprieve on Saturday from the weather. This gave everyone the opportunity to come to the SMAT Christmas party. It was held in our hanger in Ionia, and good times were had all around.

True to form, the weather made a sharp turn for the worse again today. Here is the weather report for the local area:

Now
Winter Storm Warning remains in effect until 10am Monday... Recent trends from the latest Doppler radar imagery indicates the snowfall intensity has decreased somewhat over the last several hours. Light to moderate snow showers can be expected through 2pm...with 1 to 2 inches possible. However...even with lighter snow showers falling...wind gusts in the 30 to 40 mph range with even higher gusts will be blowing and drifting the newly fallen snow around and creating very hazardous conditions on the roads. Visibilities may be reduced to a quarter mile or less at times... with brief whiteout conditions possible. These winds will also be producing very low wind chills in the 10 to 20 below zero range. Needless to say...traveling should be avoided today and venturing outdoors is not advised.

So I guess I am not going anywhere today. The only destination I had today was to go to Church but even that was cancelled as several more inches of snow fell today. It is 10 degrees outside now and the forecast high tomorrow is 13 degrees. The good news is that I am heading home for Christmas in just a few days where it should be a little warmer and maybe I can get some flying done. Here are a few shots out my window today.

Turkey/Snow Bowl

The first semi-annual SMAT Turkey/Snow Bowl was held just before Thanksgiving between students here at the Ionia airport. Teams of 8 met on the designated field for the showdown of the year. What would have otherwise been a mundane day of class erupted into a fierce challenge against each other and the elements. Indeed the elements would prove to be a worthy opponent. It was 35F on this Michigan afternoon, with a stiff 30 MPH north northwest wind that swept across the snow covered playing field. From the photos below you can see that the entire field was covered in a wet snowy slushy mess. It was unbelievably slick and the ability to maneuver quickly was non existent. Nevertheless, the players met on the field, ready of battle.


As rain and sleet fell from the sky the ball was kicked off and the mayhem began. Our team proved to have an able defense, and we repeatedly prevented the opposing team from reaching the goal line. However, quality offensive plays eluded us. Despite the cold and wind no one went inside early. The sight of 16+ grown men using an empty snow covered field to become dirty and hurt on a Tuesday afternoon right in the middle of town attracted some attention from motorists and onlookers. Some of the international students had their first run in with "American Football", and they proved to be fast learners.

The difficult elements, and an untimely interception, gave the other team the advantage at the end of play. Nevertheless, everyone had a good time. Extracurricular activities like this help to develop team building and networking skills which are big reasons why we all came to SMAT. What began as a Turkey bowl turned into a Snow bowl and now everyone is looking forward to the next big showdown on the grass here in Ionia county.

Players prepare for action.

An overly enthusatic player.

Ionia county has never seen talent like this before.

Here in Michigan we have been snowed in for over two weeks. The temperature has not been above freezing since Thanksgiving. This weekend holds some hope of widespread temperatures in the 40's and a general melting of most of the snow and ice on the ground.


The Saturday before Thanksgiving the weather was pretty nice. After flying with a student in the morning I decided to keep up my practice flying tailwheel aircraft. The School has a Cessna 152 that is a tailwheel aircraft. After flying and obtaining my tailwheel endorsement over the summer I have been looking for more opportunities to build tailwheel aircraft time. I will include a photo of a similar Cessna 152 to the one I was flying below. My goal was to practice landings in this frequently tricky to land aircraft on the grass adjacent to the paved runway at the Ionia airport.


After almost an hour of landing practice I was on final approach at about 60 knots airspeed and all was well. I let the aircraft down gently on the main landing gear and held the tail of the aircraft off the ground for a second or two. At this point the Cessna was rolling over the grass at about 40 knots and rapidly slowing to a stop. This is a critical point in the landing process because a tailwheel aircraft is particularly susceptible to a phenomenon known as a ground loop at this speed. A ground loop is an uncontrolled spin on the ground. It is similar to an accidental donut in your car, however, in an aircraft they frequently result in expensive damage.


It was at this critical, vulnerable moment when the otherwise graceful aircraft is quite awkward on the ground that something caught my eye just to my left out the window. A DEER was running right at my airplane! It would have hit my aircraft and could have sent me skidding out of control but at the last second the Deer made a sharp turn and began running WITH my airplane at about 40 M.P.H. I was shocked. The Ionia airport is very close to a dense residential and commercial area, but deer sightings were not infrequent around the airport. However, one had never run right up to my airplane before. Across the country deer vs. plane events are rare but often result in catastrophic damage.


The animal edged closer. It was underneath my wing. Its head was inches from contacting the lower corner of my flap which was down for landing. Its feet were almost rubbing against my landing gear. In a flash I pushed forward on the yoke to keep the tail heavy aircraft from settling on the ground and having the flap hit the deer. In the same second I pushed the throttle all the way forward in a desperate bid for more airspeed and control. I yanked back on the control yoke at a speed that was probably a little too low for normal lift off but I needed altitude no matter what. The laws of physics were on my side. Ground Effect reduces drag for an aircraft very low to the surface of the earth. By very low I mean only about within 10 feet of the surface. I took advantage of this and popped the aircraft up a few feet off the ground. It is not recommend by Cessna to take off with full flaps. They are only used for landing. However, I had no time to reach for the flap handle in my haste to avoid a crash. Full flaps add a great deal of lift at a low airspeed but they also increase drag significantly. Ground Effect helps to minimize this problem briefly but I had to be careful not to over rotate and have a takeoff stall which would led to an even worse crash.


By the Grace of God the Deer slid right under my landing gear. I could almost swear that my left tire brushed to top of the deer’s back or head as it ran on. That animal is capable of great bursts of speed. After squeezing past me, the deer headed straight for some corn a few dozen yards away. My heart was in the throat. My stomach had dropped out. Adrenaline and kicked into high gear. I still had to fly the airplane. After a normal traffic pattern, a warning over the local radio frequency, and a very carefully final approach I landed with out incident. Not to have my confidence shaken I made a few more trips around the airport, always looking for any animals making an unauthorized runway incursion. This entire deer event only took about 5 seconds but it seemed much longer than that.


Should I have slammed on my brakes? I think not. The distance between my propeller and the ground is not much and a slam on the brakes is a good way to have a propeller strike in a tailwheel aircraft. The brakes are not anti-locking and braking action is average at best on grass. Perhaps most importantly, if I had stopped the aircraft suddenly the Deer may have kept on running a head of where it was parallel to the cockpit and into the propeller. The mess that would have created would have been beyond description.


I try to teach the people I fly with to turn the carburetor heat control to off or cold shortly before landing. Many people don't do this out of habit but with carburetor heat applied engine performance is robbed especially in an emergency go around situation as outlined above. You want as much climb ability as you can have if you have to do a sudden go around and inches matter.


Finally, I am writing a letter to the officials in charge of the Ionia County Airport requesting that something be done about the deer over population around the airport. We will see what, if any, action this brings. Below you will find my highly technical and detailed drawing I created of the incident. Don't laugh it took weeks in Windows Paint.


JMG

Greetings from Michigan!

Today is the first of December and I have several interesting stories and projects to share. Recently I was able to purchase a new tool box to hold my small but growing collection of hand tools. It is nothing amazing but I will include a photo below.

Through school work we have been making a number of tools ourselves. A spark plug box which offered riveting experience. A beading tool which helps bend a non-flexible line in fluid lines and fittings class. We machined a tap holder to help put threads in a project. One of the most functional items we have put together is a multimeter for our electric projects. Volts, amps and ohms of resistance can all be measured with this common yet useful tool. The multi-meter was particularly helpful during our group electric projects. We put together an electrical board which included a functional radio and "surround sound" speakers. We had to assemble and mount a long list of items which included a starter magneto, volt meter, a rheostat, circuit breakers, a push-to-test light and navigation lights. It took about two weeks of daily work to bring all this to a functional conclusion from random spare parts. Photos below.

Welding and fabric are our current major projects, and I am finding both require skills I do not yet posses. Despite the difficulty in making a quality weld or a respectable looking fabric job it is a great learning process.

My tool box.

Our electrical board.




Busy in the lab.


Look for updates regarding my deer near miss (maybe the story of the year) and the annual SMAT Turkey/Snow bowl football game in the near future. Stay posted.

Hello Friends and greetings from Michigan. I am writing to update you on how things are going with maintenance training and work at the flight school. Over the last several weeks my class has been studying electricity. We have begun a group project of putting together a mock up board of an aircraft electrical system and troubleshooting it. It will take most of this next week to complete this project.
Additionally, we have been studying weight and balance of aircraft. This study has included the process of actually placing aircraft on scales to weigh. A pilot of an experimental aircraft was kind enough to fly his aircraft to Ionia to allow the other students and me to weight it. This pilot is a fellow Flight Instructor and as a courtesy he took me for a flight in his airplane. The aircraft is an experimental home built Glassair. It has a high thrust to weight ratio and jumped off the ground during takeoff. This aircraft if mostly made of fiber glass, and has many digital gauges. I will include photos of this type of aircraft below.
In class we have also been reviewing how to read and make technical drawings. We have also constructed our own tools to help secure fluid lines in aircraft.Work at the flight school has been productive.
November in Michigan is not the best time for flying. However, we have had the longest stretch of 70 degree weather on record here in the Grand Rapids area. Election Day saw a record high temperature along with record high turnout. However, after a full week of excellent weather, reality has set in as temperatures fell well below normal for this time of year. The drive to church this morning was completed in the snow thanks to a deep low pressure system and cold front that had moved through the area.
This past week I began teaching a Private Pilot Ground School course through the school. Though small in number, my students are attentive and serious about the material which makes my job easier. I look forward to Thanksgiving and a return home soon!

Hello friends. In the period since I last updated this blog several positive developments have taken place. The School of Missionary Aviation Technology in Ionia, Michigan has been working with a generous new partner and is looking to greatly expand its facilities. Everything has not yet been finalized, but it looks like a large new academic building for Airframe and Power plant students will built in the new future. This will allow the flight and internship programs to expand into the present academic building. This should allow class size to more than double at my school.

Other good news. One of my student pilots Matt had a huge achievement recently when he completed his first solo flight. It was a fantastic fall evening and Matt did a great job landing on the long, wide grass here in Ionia. I will include some photos of the event and hopefully a video. Additionally, two new friends and classmates of mine were able to take a fall color tour flight over to a grass strip owned by one of our instructors. It was great fun and a good opportunity to get out of town to see some country side.

As November nears here in central Michigan the seasons are changing in a big way. We have had a few mornings with a little frost but the past two nights have seen hard freezes with temperatures dropping to the mid 20's for many hours. This weekend I will get to return home to see some family which will be great, but I can expect snow showers on my return to Michigan.

JMG

Perfect weather for solo flight. Matt before takeoff. On a fall "color tour" with some friends from school.Matt taking off runway 18.

Hello Friends. Many topics of various interest are on this update from Michigan. Maintenance training is progressing on schedule with the School of Missionary Aviation Technology. We have been working on corrosion prevention and riveting this week. Electricity has been a difficult topic to conquer with its dense nomenclature and sometimes illogical behavior. Flight training has been a blessing as I can help train missionary pilots from all over the country. I am looking to begin teaching a ground school though SMAT soon. It is also tool purchasing time. This is a very complicated and expensive process. A pair of safety wire pliers can cost $9.00 or $120.00. What is the difference? Which will last and which won't?

Back home things have been shaken up suffocatingly. Elements of Hurricane Ike hit hard back home in Indiana. It is surprising and odd that over 1,000 miles from where this tropical system made landfall in Texas, Ike still packed a huge 80mph punch. Hundreds of trees fell down and homes were damaged. Power was out for hundred of thousands of people for days and days. My parents were without power for 8 days! A total mess. Here is a photo of my old home and a huge tree that came down.

KSDF 141756Z 22033G65KT 5SM HZ CLR 30/17 A2955 RMK AO2 PK WND 22065/1751 PRESRR SLP999 T03000167 10306 20256 55008

Above is a meteorological update taken at the worst of the weather from the airport in Louisville. If you do not know how to read a METAR it indicates that the wind is from the south west at 33 knots and gusts to 65 knots. A very strong wind.

On a more positive note, I was able to make it home last weekend for the annual "Wood, Fabric and Tail wheel" fly-in at the Lee Bottom Flying Field. The weather was great and over 500 airplanes and spectators showed up for the event. I had the fabulous opportunity to fly in a 500HP Stearman bi-plane. Below are photos from the event.

Greetings from Michigan. For several weeks now my fellow maintenance students and I have been working hard logging time in the shop and classroom. We have been studying physics, math and electronics. It has been challenging and rewarding over the last few weeks. Additionally, it has turned out well so far working as a flight instructor for the school. My boss is very nice and the students I have been working with are dedicated.

Above is a photo from the Brigade Air camp at Bear Lake Camp this summer. I had the wonderful opportunity to work with some great students as we all learned about Missionary Aviation. The week spent at camp introduced the campers to aviation through hands on flight experience and ground school. Everyone was very gracious and friendly. The camp would only be possible through the volunteer efforts of pilots, aircraft owners and donors.

In class we had the opportunity to here from a former maintenance student at the School of Missionary Aviation Technology who is about to begin serving with Missionary Aviation Fellowship. This person is about to begin working in some very difficult and dangerous locations. However, the focus and dedication of this individual was very encouraging. In the day to day drone of life here at school it was good to be reminded of the bigger picture and the long term goals of why I am here.

An aeronautical engineer would tell you that Bernoulli's principle (an increase in the speed of a fluid occurs simultaneously with a decrease in pressure) makes an airplane fly. A pilot, like myself, would tell you that he or she makes the airplane fly. However, the truth is that it takes money to make an airplane fly. In the end, the propeller only turns with cold hard cash. It is the same with tuition. I still have money due for this semester's tuition and over $13,000 of tuition bills are looming in the near future. Many of my classmates in maintenance school are facing a similar scenario. But that is the nature and power of the call to go.

Hello! Thank you for your interest in Missionary Aviation. This site is a useful tool for me to stay in touch with those of you who are supporting me. A big thank you to my new friend Ron for helping me set up this message board and the website. Another big thank you to Joe and everyone else in Vero Beach. I was blessed with the wonderful chance to come and speak at your services a few weeks ago and your response was great.

I am a full week into training in Ionia, Michigan for my FAA Airframe and Power plant Mechanic certification. The School of Missionary Aviation Technology has brought many unique individuals from all over the world to spend a year here learning how to inspect and fix aircraft. I have learned a lot this week already and am looking forward to more training despite the rigorous curriculum.

It is my intention to make regular updates on the 1st and 15th of each month so that the many people who are backing my progress in Indiana, Florida, Kansas and many other places, can keep up to date.

Look for new updates on jacobgoering.com in the near future, and feel free to email with questions about this ministry.

JMG