Hello Friends.

I would like to provide a list of the various mission organizations who have visited us here at SMAT since the start of the year along with links to their websites. We have had either an actual missionary or a recruiter from each organization listed visit and speak with us about their program.

The year started off with a visit from Africa Inland Mission (AIM) the very first day of class. They are based in Kenya and work through out east Africa. We were visited by Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF) later in the year. They are one of the oldest and largest mission aviation organizations in the world and are based in Idaho. We have had guest pilot/missionaries from both Canada and Alaska. We had a BBQ with representatives of Missionary Flights International (MFI). They use the venerable DC-3 to fly out of southern Florida to Haiti and other destinations in the Caribbean. New Tribes Mission (NTM) is another well known Bible translation and flight organization. They have not met with us yet this year but I expect a visit from them soon. ABWE or American Baptists for World Evangelism came not long ago and talked to us about their efforts to spread the gospel in east Africa. Most recently, a United Indian Mission (UIM) pilot spoke to us about trying to minister to tribal peoples in the remote mountains of Mexico. As the year is only about half over, I expect to have visits from many more organizations in the future.

With so many visitors to SMAT, I would not want anyone to think that we are not staying busy in the lab. Over the past week major emphasis in class has been placed on landing gear and braking systems. We have removed brake lines and pads and bled brake lines. Additionally, we have removed and rebuilt master brake cylinders, shimmy dampeners and air oil struts. Soon we will be studying the hydraulic systems that operate retractable landing gear.

Aviation events have dominated the headlines over the past week. From the Indiana pilot who destroyed his multi-million dollar aircraft when he bailed out of it in an attempt to flee prosecution, to the freak Airbus landing in the Hudson River, it has been a busy time in aviation news. As a note of interest and small pride, the Captain of the Airbus that landed so skillfully in the Hudson River was a graduate of Purdue University.


JMG

Links:
http://www.aimair.org/
http://www.ntm.org/
http://www.abwe.org/
http://www.missionaryflights.org/
http://www.maf.org/
http://www.uim.org/