Getting Ready for Kindergarten!

It's hard to imagine that Abigail is going to be starting school next week! A lot of the last week has been spent getting ready. The children here are expected to bring their supplies to school with them. These include things such as crayons, tissues, pencils, erasers, dry wipe markers, and even four tubs of play dough among other stuff! All the schools in the district put out their "supplies list" in the the two main grocery shops in Coshocton. I am expected to go in, find Abi's school list and buy all the supplies listed for Kindergarten - very different to Scotland. Last Saturday morning all the new kindergarten pupils from Coshocton County were invited to a local school to receive some of the supplies for free.

We headed out at 9am determined to beat the rush. We got a lot more than we bargained for! Abi walked around all the tables collecting supplies to put in her bag and there were balloons to decorate also. Outside there was a fire truck where we could spray the hose - I don't ever remember having a shot of a real fire hose myself so of course, I had to have a go! Then Abi climbed into the drivers seat for a look. There was also a school bus there from the Riverview District for everyone to climb aboard and explore. Our house and Abi's school are both in the Riverview district as we are on the outskirts of Coshocton town centre. This meant I was able to gather lots of information from the lady driver, who may even be the one picking up Abi next week!

As if this wasn't enough free stuff and excitement for one day, while walking across the car park I was asked if we would like our child car seats checked by their safety experts. I agreed thinking this should not take too long. I was wrong! It appears that our British Britax car seats are not recognized by US state law as being safe and therefore we could be fined if stopped by the police. Just as my heart was sinking at the thought of having to buy two new American car seats, they offered me two for free!!! This turned out to be another half an hour of form filling and car seat fitting. Abi and Matthew were delighted with their new seats, and so was I. This means that we can take our British car seats back to Scotland in October and leave them. No more flying with two strollers, four cases, AND two car seats! What a blessing! I only wished I had cleaned the inside of my car out before I ventured out last Saturday!

Later on that Saturday we had a lovely family evening out. We went for pizza and took it to a park in town to eat. Then the kids played and rode there bike/trike. Then we went to the video rental place and let the kids pick a movie each We ended up with five DVD's including a new release. The assistant scanned them all and said they were all free today! How does anyone make a living here? LOL! We topped off our family outing with a trip to "Earls" for some crazy, yet utterly delicious ice cream. I believe Abi and Matthew opted for the play dough flavour. We don't eat like this every day may I add!

Last week was not all fun and laughter. Before Abi and Matthew are allowed to start school, or pre-school, they must prove they are up to date with immunisations. This involved a trip to the doctors last Monday. They wanted to give them four shots each but I felt this was a little much at once so they had two and we shall go back in December for another two. The latter are not essential but very beneficial considering where we may be going in a few years. Abi was quite shocked by the ordeal and was convinced she couldn't move her arm or hand all day. Then she commented later on that the needle in her arm was sore. I realised then I had told her a needle would be going into her arm but had forgotten to tell her the needle would be coming out again! She thought it was still in there! LOL! I am glad to report that everyone is back to normal now!

As mentioned earlier, we can confirm that we are returning to Scotland on the 13th of October and will be leaving again on the 29th. Our primary purpose is to renew our visa in London but the rest of the time we will be catching up with family and friends. We will let you know when and where in Scotland we will be sharing and hope you can join us in person.

Love in Christ

Heather

We have had a good week getting back into a routine after all the busyness of the last few months.

Heather has been getting back into her groove, keeping us well fed with cakes and home bakes! She has enjoyed having the opportunity to get to know MMS’s latest arrivals, the Maddux family, as they are temporarily staying just up the road from us, and it has been good to have some of the other MMS wives round for a “catch up”. Tuesday night brought something a bit different, when Heather went out to a “Taste So Simple” party; think “Tupperware party”, but with lots of different foods to try!! It was a good opportunity to socialise with some friends from church, as well as a few new faces to get to know. Right now she is practicing away on the piano – she is singing at church tomorrow, so is giving me a sneak preview!

Since we have arrived in Ohio, it has been interesting to experience nature from the slightly different perspective that we have over here. We have been fascinated by hummingbirds, crickets and fire flies, and we’ve been amazed by freezing rain, floods, heat and thunderstorms. This week has brought a few more things to add to the list.

In the last couple of weeks many of the trees around Coshocton have found themselves becoming home to an army of little web worms. The little caterpillars weave a silk tent then spend the next few weeks eating all the leaves inside before graduating to moth status. Some trees seem to be more appealing than others - this one that sits beside the road I travel to the hangar every morning.




This morning saw the temperature a bit more civilised than it has been for the last few weeks, so we took advantage and got stuck into a bit of gardening, or “yard-work” as they say here! We got lots done, and the place is looking good, but even though the temperatures were cooler, it was still humid, so these two Scots are feeling a bit tired tonight after all our efforts!!! (…and there won’t be any pictures of us hard at work appearing on here!!) We did meet a few of the neighbours though, and Abi and Matthew were kept entertained with grasshoppers and frogs for much of the morning. Everyone stopped for a good look when Heather found a Praying Mantis, though! We kept it in a jar for the afternoon (to allow for a proper scientific examination!) then let it go just before the kids bed time. The kids are really loving seeing so many things over here that they could only experience on tv back home!

Abi with the mantis still in it's jar...

Matthew saying his good-byes!

Work goes on at the hangar with the Gabon 207, and this week has seen me working on repairs to the section of the tail cone below the horizontal stabilizer. The work I was doing at the beginning of the week started with me just stripping paint off the old skin. It needed to be prepared for the fuselage being rolled into the paint booth to get it’s final paint job. As we removed layers of paint, and examined the structure in more detail we found a bit of damage that needed attention. Repairs were made to the aft bulkhead and the rest of the structure was inspected.

The skin that covers this section was also badly damaged, so the decision was made to replace it also. That gave me opportunity for another “first” in my time at MMS – my first skin! The old skin was removed and used as a template and after a bit of drilling, cutting, filing and bending the new skin was all ready to be painted then riveted in place.



The aluminium was .040” thick (quite heavy…) and had a couple of tight bends to be put into it, so that gave us the opportunity for another “first” – the new slip roll we have at the hangar (http://mmsaviation.blogspot.com/2011/05/tennsmith-slip-roll.html#links ) has now had it’s first use “in anger” and has proved it’s worth!



Unfortunately I managed one more “first” on Thursday morning – I have been driving now for almost 17 years, and have never run out of petrol before, until now! Needless to say I was late on Thursday morning, and spent most of the day feeling a bit thick!

Thanks for checking in!

A

July has been a bit of a slow month on the blog front, but certainly not because nothing has been happening!!
Our first Independence day came at the start of the month, and Heather, Kirsten and Sarah were able to get out and enjoy the fireworks! The show put on at the Coshocton Fairgrounds, came complete with an appearance by Elvis himself!! The plan had been for all of us to go out, but the kids were pretty much knackered by the time darkness approached, so I stayed home with them.
The middle of July brought a short break away for us to the Carolina’s. We drove down to our good friends, the Baisley’s, in NC and had a few lovely days there catching up with them. It was good to have some family time as well, and a day trip to the children’s museum gave the kids the chance to experiment with planes and fire engines!




Heather and I then took a couple of nights away to Charleston SC on our own. It was great to be able to have some time to ourselves after such a busy summer – I got some touristy sightseeing done and Heather topped up her tan!



We’re now back to just the Swanson’s here again, and are adjusting to having our home return to normal for a while!!!
Back at the hangar and things are moving along as always. Work is progressing on the Gabon 207, and the work on the cabin floor has been finished for the time being. The damaged rear wing spar has been removed, and once the new part arrives, it will be installed. That will allow the roof to be put back together, and another major job ticked off the list!



Last week saw work starting on the damaged tail cone, with the damaged skins, spars and ribs all removed. The process of rebuilding has now started and sheet aluminium is being formed into the various skins that are needed to replace the damaged parts, and create the aft half of the plane.



It is exciting to see things moving along so quickly and great for me to be getting so much valuable experience making up skins and doublers for various parts of this aircraft. We are making good progress towards seeing this aircraft to be returned to service and sent back to Gabon to continue its important role there!!
Thanks for your prayers, support and interest!

Scotland comes to Coshocton!

Life has been rather different going from the usual two adults and two children to six adults and three children! June began with Gary and Johanne and Iona Smith coming to visit. A few days later I was back to the airport to pick up Sarah and Kirsten who had spent an unexpected night in Newark Airport due to thunderstorms. We have had a super time exploring animal parks, and Amish country and enjoyed local festivals such as the hot air balloon festival. The weather has been fantastic and we have been able to be outdoors lots. Sarah has been taking Abi and Matthew for a few walks in the cool of the morning and coming back with bunches of wild flowers for me! Gary and Johanne and Iona hired a car and left for a week to explore Niagara falls, and visit a friend in Kentucky. While they were away Andy and I left the children in Sarah and Kirsten's capable hands and I surprised Andy with dinner and a night in Columbus and we were able to explore German village. We had lunch at the famous German Sausage house and then visited a book loft with 32 little rooms for a few hours! Then we enjoyed some child free shopping before returning to a beautifully clean house with the children in bed! I wonder how I can keep our "nannies" forever!;0)

All our visitors have enjoyed a tour around the hanger to see where Andy works and get a real feel of what we have been called to do.

One of the highlights so far has to have been our trip to Columbus Zoo a few weeks ago. We felt so privileged to capture a family of Elephants taking a bath, and to watch the gorillas, and polar bears up close. We arrived at the zoo at 9.30am and we did not leave till near 7pm! It was a wonderful day with a little rain to keep us nice and cool.

Abi, and Iona have really enjoyed each other's company - Matthew has been quite humorous going about hiding prams and toys so Iona does not get them! He is working on the concept of sharing! He doesn't grab toys but instead waits patiently till Iona is distracted and then runs off with the toy she was playing with and puts it somewhere out of her reach!

The Smith's have now returned safely back home. A few days after they left I gave Kirsten and Sarah the choice whether they wanted to visit Canada to see Niagara falls. Obviously I can not take every visitor we have to Niagara mostly due to the expense, but if our visitors are happy to pay for accommodation and fuel then I am happy to chauffeur. So we left last Tuesday and had an amazing time.

We even went to Marine Land in Canada on the Thursday morning and saw the killer whales and dolphins and seals all doing their own shows. We could have stayed there all day but alas we had a six hour trip back to Ohio so left around 2pm. We got back to Ohio near 11pm that if you include all the stops you have to take with small children.

July the 4th is Independence Day so Andy has the day off work. We thought we would go and explore the city of Canton which is an hour and a half away and then enjoy the local fireworks display in the evening. On Wednesday we take Sarah back to the airport as she returns to Scotland. Kirsten remains here till the 25th of July and we plan to take her to North Carolina for a visit on the 11th of July. Andy is taking a weeks holiday from work so will be coming this time. I am glad I will have someone to share the driving with! It certainly has been a busy summer and I have had a few MMS things on also such as a baby shower for my English friend Jenny. Myself and another lady were in charge of the food. It's amazing how a watermelon can inspire you! You can see my food project below with Abi's old baby hat on and a dummy (pacifier) kindly donated by Iona! :0) Thanks for sharing this journey with us. God Bless, Hx

I have just realised that if you receive our blog posts by email, the link might not work to the video below... copy the following address into your address bar, and all will be revealed!!

http://youtu.be/uX4r4Ovnba4

After working on the gearbox area for the last while, we now have the Gabon 207 back on three wheels, and one step closer to heading back to Africa - have a look at the video below for a taste of what I have been up to...

Big scopes and little scopes...

One of the first things I was told when I started training at MMS was that the thing that makes a good aircraft mechanic is the ability to switch seamlessly from microscope to telescope and back to microscope. In other words, you need to be able to focus on the minute detail of the immediate task in hand, whilst keeping in mind the bigger picture of the whole aircraft system. The microscope / telescope analogy is just as applicable to mission aviation, and this week has given me a few good examples of this at work.

I am still assigned to the Gabon 207 project and it is satisfying to feel like real progress is being made as jobs are slowly but surely being ticked off the big list of things to do. To the casual observer though, I am still hunched over the same bit of the airframe as I was 3 weeks ago, and you would be forgiven for thinking I haven’t moved too far. The level of detail that goes into every task and the work that needs to be done on every component is impressive, and is a great reassurance to anyone who will fly in this aeroplane in the future.

Towards the end of the afternoon on Tuesday, I was refitting a nylon fairlead around a control cable where it passes through one of the gearbox bulkheads. It is a small 2-part nylon grommet held in place with a little spring clip. As I squeezed the clip in place, the fairlead moved slightly and I heard a ping as the little clip took off a few months ahead of the rest of the plane! It is not an expensive component and it would not have been a big deal to pay a dollar or two, order a new one, and move on to the next task to keep the project moving along.

The little clip - all 1/2" of it!!

The problem lay more with where the old clip had landed. Smaller and more insignificant things than this clip have become jammed in control cable pulleys causing loss of control, or have bridged electrical terminals causing short-circuit’s and fires. The hangar I am working in is home to 3 other operational aircraft and 2 more “mothballed” planes, all of which might have been within firing range of my little clip. So for the rest of Tuesday afternoon, and the first 5 hours of Wednesday, I hunted every corner of the Gabon 207, the hangar floor around it, the aircraft beside it, the floor below them – everywhere! I definitely felt this was a “microscope moment”, after spending most of my time with my face 2 inches from the floor! My reserved Scottish personality didn’t go quite as far as a “whoop-whoop” or a “high-five”, but I was definitely chuffed when I finally found the clip lying about 30 feet from the launch site!!

The detail is so important when it comes to aircraft, and the responsibility sits squarely on those who work with these planes to ensure the microscope stays in focus.

Back where it's meant to be!

My “telescope moment” came on Thursday when we were able to join representatives of http://www.brigadeair.org/ as they held a dedication service for their Cessna 172 which has been one of our main projects for the last few months. It is a 1961 model which was donated to Brigade Air, still bearing its original paint work and lots of other “retro features”. The transformation over the last few months has been immense, and N7792X will soon be flying out of Coshocton to take part in the first of many summer camps, inspiring the next generation of young people into mission aviation service.

Brigade Air's Cessna 172

At the dedication, Ron Wyrtzen shared a few thoughts from Exodus 4, v2. Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied.

The chapters that follow feature Moses’ staff in all sorts of miraculous events, but it wasn’t a magic wand, just a stick that was used in amazing ways in obedience to God’s plan. The planes we work on are just planes, but when they are used in obedience to God’s plan they have a life changing impact on countless people, whether on summer camp in America, on a med-flight in Africa, or in any other corner of the globe.

MMS is filled with people who want to be obedient to God’s plan for their lives, they want to serve in whatever corner of the world God wants them in, and they want to see God glorified in all they do. For us, our “staff” is the aeroplane we see flying off after spending time in Coshocton, or the spanner we use to get it in the air. Just an object, but dedicated to bringing Christ’s hope to a world that needs it.

Thank you for being part of this with us!