Finally an update!

Lots of things have been happening in the past few weeks!! 

Maintenance hangar with all the projects/ planes we work on.

Work area

Other half of the lab. The classroom is at the far right corner.

The multimeter that I soldered together from scratch!

 

CLASSES update: 

In Electricity class we learned how solder and made multimeters by attaching all the components to the PC circuit boards and learned how to troubleshoot circuits. Today we had our final for electricity and I think it went well and are moving on to rules and regulations.

Troubleshooting circuits and seeing how they work.

Safety wiring

We finished Math, Safety & Ground Operations, and moved on to complete Physics as well. We are now are into Cleaning and Corrosion class and Tools & Hardware class. In cleaning class we are in groups and working on different cleaning projects. My group is working on a rusted old landing gear from a PT19 military training plane. We spent a day cleaning it with soap and water, another day taking the tire and wheel off, another day for beat blasting and wire brushing off the rust from the nuts, bolts and the strut, cleaning off paint, priming it, and now we are almost done painting it.

Being fancy for the banquet.

Some of the other projects we have been working on include, de-riveting (taking out the rivets) on damaged plane wings and cleaning airplanes to get ready for our banquet. The banquet was for all the sponsors of SMAT and those who are connected and support the school. A few of us students served at the banquet as tour guides, and clean up crew so we go to dress up and be fancy.

In hardware class we’ve been working on have been identifying nuts, bolts, cables, rivets, and much more. Some of the fun things we get to do is safety wiring, crimping cables, and installing helicoils.

 

 

FLYING update:

SMAT planes all lined up

Fying with Caleb

A week or two ago I got checked out with Benz Aviation and now am able to fly in their plane and so I can take it up when I go flying. I also got to fly in one of the SMAT planes. Caleb, one of the other A&P students who is a pilot, wanted to practice some instrument approaches and so I flew as his safety pilot along with 2 other students who just came along for the ride (and to reduce the cost). It was neat to fly in the SMAT plane- it is a regular Cessna 172 but they add a missionary checklist box that helps you to go through the procedures methodically and safely. In the next few weeks/ month I will explore the area more, do a night flight or two, and get up to date on instrument flying. Tomorrow I’m flying to Grand Haven which is right on the lake.

 

FIXING update:

So I noticed my coolant was leaking in my car about a week ago. I checked the fluid level and noticed it was a little low, so I added new fluid. By the next day everything I had poured in was on the ground (at least ½ a bottle). Hmmm. Something is wrong here. I asked around and some of the guys in my class thought it might be the water pump that was bad. Since I’m a mechanic student, I figured it would be a good experience to try and fix it myself. So I called up AAA and got my car towed to school so I could fix it there and use any tools that I might need. I ordered the parts (water pump, gasket, and radiator hose), and with the help of some knowledgeable friends we got it fixed! Now it does not leak anymore! This was the first major project I have ever done and was a neat experience to learn how things work and how to fix them.

School is going great even when it’s long, tiring, and tough. But God provides us strength and energy every day.  

Fly with Christ,

Helen