Fixing and Fishing

Well it has been an exciting time for the last week and a half! I now am 3 days into the year at SMAT (School of Missionary Aviation Technology) and have only 1880 (out of 1904) hours to go till I am a certified aircraft mechanic! I moved to Ionia, Michigan about a week and a half ago and now live with a lady, Marilyn, in her house. School started with orientation day and followed by a long weekend. During the long weekend I had one of the girls, Sun (like the sun), stay with me because her housing situation was not working out and she needed to find a new place. God made that place Marilyn’s home and now Sun is my other housemate! We spent the week getting Sun’s belongings to the house and setting up her room for her. On Wednesday, we had the first official day of school and it went well. Here’s what a typical day looks like:

5:30AM- Wake up!

6:15AM- Bike 4 miles (6k) to school.

6:40AM- Arrive at school and clock in

7:00AM- Class 1: Electricity

10:00AM- Class 2: Math

12:00PM- Lunch

12:30PM- Bible study! We get to study a chapter of the bible every day and are in Hebrews right now.

12:45PM- Class 3: Ground Handling/ Operations and Servicing

3:15PM- Clean up time

3:30PM- Clock out and go home

4:00PM- Get home, run, and begin homework/ studying.

Each hour we get 10 minutes of break. The classes will rotate throughout the year as well. There are a certain number of hours per class, for instance Basic Electricity is 40 hours lecture and 41 hours lab (hands on). There are also 3 main divisions for the year: General mechanics (400 hours), Airframe (body of the airplane, etc.)(750 hours), and Powerplant (engine, etc.)(750 hours). At the end of each division we will take the tests associated with each one.

The class is made up of 6 ladies and 24 guys and it is a great group of Christians who are all on fire to go to the mission field and spread the gospel. Today at the church I visited, The Well, the preacher talked about what it means to be a fisherman. Christ’s first priority for us is to be fishermen- to go out and catch people and lead them to Him (Matthew 4:18, Jeremiah 16:16, Matthew 28:19-20). We are to be patient, courageous, and persevering, but most importantly we need to decrease ourselves and make Christ increase- John 3:30. Being a missionary pilot mechanic is what I will be in the next few years but the important part of my job description is the first word. Missionary. My main goal is to share the Good News of Christ to people everywhere, whether in the remote villages that can only be accessed by aircraft or with your neighbor next door. Our job is to cast the net, go fishing, have faith, and follow Christ (Matthew 4:18; 5:1-11).

Tomorrow, I go back to school to learn how to fix planes, so that I can fly them to the remote areas of the world, so that the gospel goes to every tribe, tongue and nation (Revelation 14:6).

Stay tuned for the next blog on what I’m doing with flying, more on what I’m learning and doing, and where the Lord is leading me.

Fly with Christ,

Helen

I'm BAAACK!

Well it's about time I write a blog about my trip!
What a wonderful blessing it was to see my family again and to travel with my immediate family. We departed on June 18th and flew to Holland via Detroit and spent a couple of days with my mom's side of the family. We even got to go to Amsterdam and see everything there.

Classic french fries and mayo!

AMSTERDAM!

On June 24th we departed for South Africa and came there the same day but at night. We stayed with family for a couple days and then drove off to the "wildtuin" (Kruger National Park- C-G on the map) in the northeastern part of South Africa. We spent a week there enjoying God's creation and seeing His magnificent beasts and birds. Everyday we would depart from our camp and would drive along looking for animals. On a couple of the days we actually met up with family in the park and spent time with them as well. We saw 4 out of the Big 5 (Elephants, rhinos, lions, leopards, and buffalo), the only one we didn't see was the leopard. But instead we got to see cheetah and wild dogs which are both rare to see. Several times we were very close to large herds of elephants and it was magnificent to see how they could just disappear into the bushes.Here are just a FEW pictures (out of the 500+ I took!)

Kudu

Zebra

Cheetah

Giraffe

Me, Koos, Theo (Dad), Francine (Mom)

King of the Beasts- a young male lion

WOW an elephant's foot is large. I wear women's size 10.

4 of the 100+ elephants we saw.

A runway on the highway!

After Kruger, we drove across to Botswana and eventually ended up in Maun.On our way there we drove across a runway in the middle of the highway! Quite strange but cool to see!Click this link to see where it is...Highway Airstrip In Maun, we departed for another wonderful part of the trip. We got to take mokorros (long wooden/ plastic boats in which the guide stands and pushes with a long pole) up the Okavango delta. We camped there for 4 days and each day we would go on hikes with the guide and see the wildlife there. The best part of that trip was being surrounded by 20 elephants who were having dinner 50 feet from our camp! As long as we had a fire going we were safe.

Me in a mokorro- It's quite difficult to steer but once you get the hag of it and practice you get better.

One of the elephants having dinner within 50 feet of camp (this picture is within 30 feet!)

In the mokorro.

After the Okavango (I on the map) we visited some missionaries and saw what they were doing in a village/ town near Maun (I on the map). We stayed with them for a day or two and got to go to their church! It was a mix of English and Tswani (language of Botswana). The missionaries- the Cronjes- were the leaders/ preachers of the church. It was an encouragement to us and them to see what God was doing and what He has in store for the future. After visiting the Cronjes, we visited another missionary family in D'Kar (J on the map). They planted the church where the Cronjes lead. After visiting we left to go back to Pretoria.
The next part of our trip in South Africa was relaxing and visiting with family. We came back on a Wednesday or Thursday and on Saturday my family and one of my uncles and aunts ran a 25k (14 mile) trail race around the Fortrekker monument in Pretoria. It was to longest race I had ever done and it was on hilly tough trails. But it was the coolest and most fun race I have run!

Our route of travel.

Before the race, with the monument in the back.

After the race we had a family reunion and spent one more day all together (that is Theo, Mom, Koos and I). On Monday the 15th I left early to fly to Lesotho, my parents left at night to go back to the States, and Koos went to connect with missionaries and churches in another city in South Africa.
I spent one and a half weeks in Lesotho, learning from, flying with, and encouraging the missionaries I know there. I got to go flying a couple times in the mountains where I also worked on updating the map they have for navigating. My project is to create a specific flying map (sectional) for them with locations of airports, cell towers, obstructions, terrain, and much more. While flying one day we had the most turbulent air possible in and around the valleys/ ridges. It was so severe that I came off my seat and my head hit the ceiling! I guess that's why the pilots wear helmets. While on the ground I was able to help and learn while the pilots worked on fixing and inspecting the planes. When we were not at the hangar I spent time with most of the families for dinner, mountain biking, or taking trips to South Africa for lunch and touristy things. I had an amazing time and I hope to be back real soon!

Lesotho mountains

Unloading people and cargo

Gorgeous countryside!

Runway

Being a tourist at a game farm with lion cubs!

Simba the lion cub I was feeding.

Being goofy on the train tracks.

I got a "new" motorcycle for my birthday!

After I got back from Lesotho I was in Pretoria for 1 day and then flew back to the States at night. When I got to the States I had about an hour to get off the plane (from the back), through security, immigration, baggage claim, baggage recheck, and then 5 terminals down. I was right on time and was in the plane about 20 minutes before it left! God sure provided for me throughout the entire trip.
I hope you enjoyed this photo blog and stay tuned for the next blog about moving to Michigan!
Fly with Christ,
Helen

Flying Frenzy

It's been a flying frenzy this week! Over the past 7 days I've flown 4 days which is way more than I am used to! One of my trips was my long cross country flight requirement for commercial training. I am required to fly a 300+nm trip with 1 leg being 250 miles and landings at 3 airports. My trip went from Bowman field to KHKY- Hickory, North Carolina, then up to 0A9- Elizabethton, Tennessee, then to KTRI- Tri-Cities Regional, Tennessee, and finally back to Bowman. I was an exciting trip but at the same time not very eventful. My first leg was 253 miles to Hickory, NC. God surely provided for me throughout my trip and the first way was through clear skies (with a few clouds below and some turbulence) and through meeting someone in KHKY. I park at the FBO (Flight Based Operations office) go in there and check the weather and then see a young guy (about my age) sitting there waiting to go flying.
I ask him, "where you flying?", he responds- "oh just around the area, doing training for my commercial."... "oh me too", I said, "so what do you want to do with flying?",... "I want to be a missionary pilot", he responds... "NO WAY!!!!! I want to do that too!!!!" I exclaim. God sure puts surprises in your path especially when you least expect it! Here is this middle of nowhere airport that I pick to go to because it is 3 miles over the 250 mile minimum and near the area I was flying to, and God puts this guy, Colt Feimster, who is my age and doing exactly the same thing as me, right in my path to meet and connect with as a missionary.

Flight plan map: Tri- cities & Elizabethton are in Tennessee just southeast of the Virginia/ Tennessee/ Kentucky border. Hickory is in North Carolina, just south of the Tennessee/ North Carolina border.

On my next leg of my trip I stopped in Elizabethton, Tennessee- a tiny town which was once the headquarters for Moody Aviation (a missionary aviation school). I met with Jon Egeler and his wife Pam who are missionaries with MSI- Mission Safety International- a group dedicated to missionary flying safety (http://www.msisafety.org/index.htm). They have traveled all over the world doing safety audits and teaching pilots about new things they can do to be more safe. I got to talking about maps with him and he put me in contact with some people who work with missionaries and map making. I am hoping to begin working on a project that allows missionary pilots to have up to date aeronautical maps of the countries they are flying in. We will see where God leads me with that.

Sunlight rays shining down on God's beautiful creation!

One of the legs I flew went well but was slow! The leg usually takes about 1 hour 45 minutes but due to a headwind it took 2 hours and 15 minutes! On another part of my trip, I had to wait for a large storm system to pass. I ended up departing at the exact right time and flew through the last bits of the storm (mostly large clouds and rain) and then was racing another severe storm system. I landed with plenty of time before the storm hit and God protected me throughout the trip in many ways! I praise Him for His guidance for my life! Another thing I learned was how to fix the plane! I had a hard landing which caused a ring in the nose wheel seal to become damaged and thus making the nose wheel strut contract. I noticed that the nose was really low and the tail was really high. When I was back in Louisville I was able to help the mechanic fix the nose wheel and change the oil as well. It was a really interesting and exciting lesson to learn how to fix the nose wheel and get some hands on experience.

Getting ready to depart just after the storm had passed.

A couple more things before this blog gets too long. Towards the end of the week I went night flying and also got to take two of my friends, Cliff and Allan, up flying. We flew up to Madison, IN (~25miles north of Louisville) and just explore the area. It was neat to take up friends and I think they had a lot of fun. I also learned a lot about weight and balance of the aircraft. I was going to take up 3 friends but with all of us in the plane and with almost full tanks of fuel we were over maximum weight. So I decided that I will take my other friend, Rachel, another time. (Stay tuned for pictures from the  flight). Also, one more important thing! I almost forgot... with all this flying I made it to 200 flight hours!!! This is a major milestone in training and once I get to 250 hours I can take my commercial rating test. So onward and upward!

The next time I write a blog will probably be halfway through my trip or at the end of my trip. On Tuesday, we (my parents and I) depart for the Netherlands and South Africa for vacation and to visit family and missionaries. We will be traveling/ visiting family in the Netherlands and then meet up with Koos in South Africa and stay with family there. We will also be traveling to the Okavango delta in Botswana which will be a wonderful time to see God's creation. My parents will depart for home on July 15th and I will go to Lesotho then and spend time with the MAF missionaries there. I am super excited to see them again and I know God will bless my time there. 

I come back on July 26th, so until then... or maybe sometime in between.
Fly with Christ,
Helen

Lots to share!!!

God is so wonderful! He has been blessing me with so many thoughts and ideas and trips that I don't know where to begin!

Else and I after running Bolder Boulder 10km

But I'll start with Colorado. I got to go to Colorado to visit my sister and also house sit for her over the past 2 weeks. It was such a great time getting to hang out with her and Norm (Brother in law) and just enjoy some hard earned vacation.While I was there I got to go hiking, running and mountain flying! Else and I ran the Bolder Boulder 10km with 43000 other people! WOW That was a fun race even when it was tough.

Flying up the valley towards Leadville

The highlight of my trip was finally getting to land at the highest airport in North America- Leadville KLXV! Sitting at 9927ft the airport is nestled in the valley between the mountains. On previous trips to Colorado I went flying with an instructor from the local airport but each time the weather or wind prevented us from landing or going over the mountains. But I guess the third time is the charm. We planned to go on a Thursday but the winds were too strong already that it was not worth it to go so we decided to go on Friday.

Leadville!

Friday was perfect! Blue skies and some wind. We checked the weather periodically and the wind was gusty but we decided to go for it and if it was too windy at Leadville we would just go to an alternate airport (Buena Vista). On our way over the mountains we kept getting stuck in downdrafts. Nothing serious, we just couldn't get to the altitude that we needed to cross over the ridges at a safe altitude. A downdraft is when the wind is pushed up one side of the mountain and then crosses over the ridge and is goes down into the valley- like as if you were driving up a hill and then went down after getting to the top. So for us we could tell we were in one because we were descending. But the good thing is that we found some updrafts (opposite effect) which helped us to get a lot of altitude quickly. In flying it is way easier to lose altitude than to gain it, so any lift you can get... take it. We got over the ridges and then flew up the valley to Leadville. The automatic weather was saying it the wind was 10kts gusting to 20kts but the wind was along the runway which is what we needed. We decided to go for it and land! When we landed the wind was not too bad and we got down just fine. We got out of the plane, took some pictures, and took off again since the office was closed.

It was quite windy in Leadville!

Takeoff was even more exciting. On one end of the runway the wind was in the direction of the runway and at the other end it was a direct crosswind! That shows how much the wind can change in just a short distance. The other crazy thing with high altitude flying is that it takes a lot longer to get airborne because there is less "air" to lift up the plane. There is also density altitude which is where the plane thinks it is at a different altitude than it really is and therefore you have to calculate how much distance you need to take off. Basically, takeoff seems very slow and it takes awhile to get more altitude.

We flew down to Buena Vista, got some lunch in town, and then headed off to home. On our way back home we circled a few times over the airport to get enough lift (like birds do when they ride thermals) to go over the mountains and then we were good to go.

Circling after taking off from Buena Vista airport.

After flying I had a few days extra in Colorado and just spent that hanging out with Else and Norm. Back in KY I've been busy flying with my friend Mike (who is a pilot and works at Air Center 1) and working at a kids camp for 3 days. Right now I am at 189 hours! In less than two weeks I get to begin my trip to Holland, South Africa, Botswana, and Lesotho! I am super excited to see family and visit the MAF missionaries in Lesotho and work with them again. I am working on and finalizing a few maps for them now which will be basic maps of where the airstrips are so that they can take it with them in the planes.

God has been so gracious to me that all I can do is praise Him. He has given me the tools to share about Him and I am learning more and more how to use them and share about how He is leading me. Stay tuned for another blog with even more updates on adoption, missionary work, school, and other exciting things!




Fly with Christ,
Helen

Long overdue!

Sorry folks for the long delay in my blog posts. All I can say is that it's been a BUSY past couple of months.

All decked out for graduation.

So where to begin?... School ended in a hectic way. Lots of studying and final projects which kept me stressed and busy. But the Lord got me through it and I was able to successfully complete my last semester at UofL. With that said, I am now proud to say I'm an official alumni of the University of Louisville. But not proud in a self-honoring way but proud that God is the one who lead me through school to get to the place I am now! I could not have done it without the support of my family for which I thank God.

Graduation event at Churchill Downs (horse races)

I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies (Interdisciplinary studies) with a focus on Missionary Aviation. This major is one I was able to create and tailor specifically to me. At UofL I studied Geography, Religious studies, and Health Education, and worked/ am still working on flying through Bowman Field Airport.

God's beautiful creation on my flight with Dominique

A little update on flying: Since school was so busy I was not able to fly for a couple of weeks but finally got back in the plane a week or so ago and went flying with Dominique. It was a great flight and we worked together on radio work so that he could get better. Right now I have 184 hours, and with all the traveling I will be doing this summer my goal is to make it to 200 hours. In order to take the Commercial checkride (test) I need 250 hours. I will try and get close to it this summer but if I don't then I will continue flying at SMAT when I can.

Flying over Tampa/ Gulf of Mexico

On a much larger scale I've been doing and will do a lot of flying... that is through commercial airlines. I went and visited my friend Louise, in Tampa, FL last week and just enjoyed her company and the beach. On Wednesday I will fly to Colorado to visit and house sit for Else and Norm for a couple of weeks. I will be back in KY for 2 weeks and then we get to head off to the Netherlands, South Africa, and Lesotho between June 18th- July 26th. When I come back I will work on flying and start packing up to move to Michigan where I will attend SMAT (School of Missionary Aviation Technology) to get my airplane mechanics (A&P) license.


 

Taxing in Atlanta on my way home at sunset.

It has been and will be a wonderful summer full of travel and new things. I praise God that he has given me the opportunity to go places and proclaim his name. Pray for all the people you know who are going on mission trips or are traveling. It will be my goal this summer also to update you more often on what is going on and how God is working in my life.

Fly with Christ,
Helen

Sunset, Snoopy sandwich, stars and a sick plane.

Sunset, Snoopy sandwich, stars, and a sick plane.

Sunset over London, KY

That pretty much sums up our flight yesterday evening. I went flying with Lee (my instructor) on a 200+nm trip. The requirements are that I fly with an instructor two cross country flights with 1 leg being 100+nm, one at day and one at night with an instructor. We decided to fly to a destination, KLOZ- London, KY, 101nm from Bowman field and eat dinner at the restaurant airport and then fly back at night after the sun had set. We departed around 6:30pm and had a nice tailwind that got us there in one hour. We taxied in just as the sun was setting. For dinner, we ate at the Hangar Restaurant and I had a Snoopy sandwich (cajun chicken sandwich) which was delicious. After stuffing ourselves silly, we climbed back into the airplane and took off for KJVY (Clark County). The night sky was so beautiful with stars dimly lighting up and entire towns blanketed by white and yellow lights. Night time is my favorite time to fly.

N66198

The way back took us a little longer (about 1 hour 20) to get back because of a headwind, though it had lost some of its strength. The proposed flight plan had us getting to London in 48 minutes and from London to Clark County in 1 hour and 30 minutes! We heard on the radio on our way to Clark County that there was a disabled aircraft on the taxi way at KJVY. We found out that there was something wrong with the nose wheel of that plane and by the time we go there they were pulling it off the taxiway and to the maintenance hangar. So it was no major factor to us. We landed at KJVY and did a couple of landings so I could become night current again, fueled up, and hopped back over to Bowman.

Flying through the clouds on a trip with Dominique

A week or so ago, Dominique and I went flying again to split the cost. We flew to Lexington and back and even got to fly in, under, above, and around the clouds. It is such a spectacular sight to see- flying through all white/gray and popping out to a bright blue sky with puffy clouds all around.

God's creation is so amazing. And what is even more amazing is Easter which we celebrated this weekend. God sent his Son to die on the cross for our sins and to bear the wrath of God even though he was innocent. He was in Hell for 3 day and he overcame the Devil and the grave and is now risen and sit at God's right hand! What an amazing thing that God would do this for us, people who are not perfect and are sinners. Hallelujah, what a savior! Christ wants you to be part of His family and to be covered by what He did for us. So that we may be perfect in God's eyes. This song, Scandal of Grace, and these verses (Acts 2:22-28) sum it all up.

Fly with the risen Christ!
Helen

Update #2 the scoop on what's up!

Well... last time I wrote it was before my trip to SMAT! So here's a recap of my Spring break week.
Monday: I still had class at Boyce Bible college (New Testament 2 class) so I attended that.

Tuesday: I had 2 flights planned. My Monday flight got moved to Tuesday due to weather. The first flight was to get signed off in the Piper Arrow (I needed 10 hours). However, that got delayed due to technical issues with the lights. My second flight was to get checked out in Air Center 1's Cessna 172 for insurance purposes. I went up with a new instructor in a new plane. The check out went alright but I needed to practice slow flight and landing maneuvers since I was rusty but also due to gusty, windy weather. I had planned to fly to Ionia, MI (2.5 hour flight to there) on Wednesday but decided against flying due to weather and not being signed off to be able to rent the plane solo. Oh well.

Ionia, MI- Airport and SMAT buildings/hangars.

So... Wednesday: I got up super early (5am) and was on the road by 5:30. 6.5 hours later I arrived in Ionia, MI just in time for lunch. I then spent the afternoon with the students in their class. From 12:30-3:30 they had lecture and lab where they were working on reassembling the plane. It was really cool to meet the students and instructors and see what SMAT is like. After class Danae, one of the two girls, and I went apartment hunting/ just looking at them. We then rounded up some other students and went bowling. I got to spend the night with Danae in the house where she is staying with a family.

Thursday: We got up early again, 6 am this time. Class starts at 7am! The students had a test in the morning so I decided to drive home then. But first I explored the town a bit more and got some food for the road and such. I ended up heading out of Ionia around 8am and got home to Louisville around 2:15pm. It was a great trip and was very helpful to see how SMAT works and also hear from other students what it is like.

Sunrise in Ionia, MI- Class starts even before the sun gets up!

Now it's Friday... Today I had a lesson in the Arrow in order to get signed off and it went really well! We practiced stalls, slow flight, and landings which went better and better. I got signed off and now I can fly in the Arrow solo. :) The next step is to get signed off to rent the Cessna 172 solo and complete my long distance flights and of course build up 80 hours of flight which I plan to do with other pilots as much as possible so that the price is cut in half!

Piper PA28-200R Arrow

Spring break was not much of a break but I am definitely glad that I got to see a glimpse of what God has in store for me at SMAT.
Fly with Christ!
Helen