One week down and one week to go of Convair 240 ground school. The Convair is a 1950-1960's twin engine cargo plane. Not many are still flying today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_CV-240_family

Interesting article about aid efforts in Haiti through Aviation. Check out the Slide Show of photos.

http://www.aopa.org/members/files/pilot/2010/march/feature_haiti.html?WT.adv=adv1

David's First Solo Flight

A little over a month of instruction here at KBAK and things have been going well. It has been a little slower than I like but I am new here and February is not known as a great month to fly. However, several students have been flying and making great progress. First, great job to John who has been working for a long time on his license. He passed his flight test just last week and is now a Private Pilot! It took almost all day down at the Seymour Airport but the hard work paid off for him. David came out the airport almost everyday for two weeks and did his first SOLO! He said he knew he could do it but it was a big psychological barrier. Well barrier no more! On a cool clear February evening David landed his plane nicely several times. See video and photo.

I've been doing some biannual flight reviews for people as well. Winter is a good time to do that so a pilot does not have to slow down flying in the summer for a flight review with an instructor. Hopefully more solos and flight tests to come soon.

The two hour daily commute to and from work is wearing on me a little as I find my patience decline and road rage increase. However, it makes for a good alone time when no one bothers me.

I hope you are keeping up to date on the continuing relief efforts in Haiti. Below is a link to a group that has been doing lots Missions work in Haiti for years. I would love to volunteer with them later this year for a week or more and they are at the top of my list of places that I would like to serve long-term with.
http://www.missionaryflights.org/

A couple feet of snow here last month. Got stuck several times and could not get up my driveway. What a mess. Hopefully no more big snows here as it is now March. Spring can never come fast enough.

JMG

OK wow. A lot has happened in the past month. Christmas in Indiana was good. While I was home I was offered a job as a flight instructor at the Columbus, Indiana airport. Ken is a friend of mine from Purdue who had been flying since graduation in Columbus. He has now moved to flying Cargo in the Caribbean and I have his position as a flight instructor. This has required me to move out of Michigan just after Christmas and start a new job. Talk about a lot going on. Stress in involved with any out of state move and job change, but his has all happened very fast. I have completed a weeks work at Rhoades Aviation and find the environment to be relaxed and enjoyable. Due to a foggy week I have not been in the air yet teaching, but I hope to soon.

I'm back living at home which is not what most people would want to do at 24 but it is good to be back and I don't think I'll be there permanently. I'm hoping my dad and I can get some flying done together. Maybe this will be the summer he can get his pilots license.

Speaking of my dad, he was just days away from a missions trip to Haiti when the earthquake struck there. I'm very glad that the church team was not there when disaster struck. However, everyone is in a scramble to get as much help as they can to the Capital now. As I said before, my company flys cargo in the Caribbean and they are going to try to lend a hand. Also, several Churches in the area are getting together supplies to be sent down. Missionary Flights International specializes in flying from Florida to Haiti. I've tried to put some people in contact with them and Missionary Aviation Fellowship to see what help can be offered.

Just after I left Michigan a very sad story unfolded involving a former SMAT pilot and missionary.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/01/allegan_county_plane_crash_und.html

The aviation community is small and any loss is a tragedy, but this crash involved an alumni of SMAT which makes it all the worse. He was receiving training so that he could return to Kenya and fly missionaries there in support of Africa Inland Mission. The weather looks to have played a roll in the crash.

More to come soon about relief efforts and the new job.

Now from Indiana!
JMG

Winter flying in Michigan. Lake-effect snow has hit Western Michigan hard and fast. Our first snow of the year has come later than usual. However, with as much as a foot of snow in some places it has been a significant event. Lake Michigan is still fairly warm compared to the surrounding land. As cold winds move across the long expanses of warmer lake water the air picks up water vapor which freezes and is deposited on the leeward shores. This results in a unique phenomenon where very heavy snow falls in localized areas. Large parts of Michigan saw almost no snow while some cities close the the lake got dumped on in a big way. As I am toward the center part of the state we saw a lot of snow but just a short distance south or east of here very little snow fell. Grand Rapids will often receive twice the amount of snow as Lansing even though these cities are not far apart.

In flight snow does not stick to an airplane very well. This means that a fair amount of flying can still go on even with scattered snow showers. However, great care must be taken to insure that all snow, ice or frost is removed from the aircraft before flight as even a small amount of contamination will add significant drag and destroy lift. Even large airliners must be very sensitive to ice contamination or they could crash on takeoff as happened to Air Florida Flight 90 which crashed in the Potomac river in 1982 from ice on the aircraft. Flying at night in these conditions poses an even greater challenge. A student and I flew down to Ft. Wayne a few nights ago, avoiding the locally heavy snow on our way.

The not so nice weather and long nights has given me a chance to catch up on some reading. I just finished a book written by a British Apache helicopter pilot. It covers the two tours he spent flying in Helmand province in great detail. It is called 'Apache' and is by Ed Macy. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the current conflict in the middle east.

Thanksgiving back home was great. I put on 10lbs from eating Turkey. Home for Christmas in the near future and the possibility of a hunting trip to see family in Kansas are both events to look forward to soon.

JMG

Wow, a lot of flying has been going on here at SMAT. Usually things slow down in November as the weather gets worse, but several students have been getting licenses and ratings in the past two weeks. Jeremiah and Peter were both in my instrument ground school class in the spring and now have their IFR rating after passing a check ride last week. Steve has been a very dedicated student and now has his private pilot license after starting flight training just two months ago. Dave was in maintenance class with me and I helped him get his commercial license last week. He is now on his way back to Texas to obtain a flight instructor license and work with a mission. Eric is another student I have been flying with over the past few weeks and I signed him off to take his commercial check ride. He passed his flight exam with ease flying the 172RG.



Students from outside the country have been flying here also. Ester from Papa New Guinea recently soloed for the first time. She wants to return to her country and use aviation to help her people. Cleo is from Kenya and I have had the privilege of helping him get his Kenyan license transferred to a U.S. license. It is great to play just a small role in the training of these individuals.



As the days have been getting shorter here, I find myself doing a lot more night flying which I enjoy. I have also been doing lots of tail wheel flying which is a good experience for both student and instructor. The Lowell airport is a favorite location to fly into because it has short, narrow runways and tall trees on all sides. This adds to the challenge and is similar to the type of airstrips that the many mission students can expect to see in remote locations.



On the maintenance front, one of our Cessna 172's is undergoing an engine change. After the 2000+ hour life of an engine it is time to put a new one in and send the old one out to be rebuilt. I have had the chance to play a role in this change when I have not been flying.



Looking forward to Thanksgiving and being home soon!

JMG

More from the Virginia trip to the Shenandoah valley.

JMG