GroundCrew Issue - April 1997 - Page One

NEW LIFE FOR THE WEARY

"What is that!" a visitor to our facility asked. After viewing a couple of our finished products out on the ramp, his eyes had stopped on the cockpit framework of a Helio Courier. To the untrained eye, it was nothing more than a "bird cage" of welded tubing and appeared to be far beyond any hope of reconstruction. But to the MMS staff, our apprentices, and the missionary waiting in Honduras, this bird wasn't in any trouble; she was just receiving some well earned tender loving care. She would indeed return to Central America but would return refurbished and refreshed, ready for many more years of service spreading the Gospel.

"Wow, I haven't seen one of these for a long time. Are you restoring this plane for a museum?" The DC-3 project this visitor wondered about had been one of the longest and most extensive restorations MMS had ever done. Reconfigured from "cargo only" to a convertible "cargo-passenger" combo, this DC-3 provided opportunities for training in many areas. Structural repair, flooring installation, wall panel and headliner fitting, cockpit wiring replacement, window and door replacement, a thorough inspection, and a complete paint job were some of the major tasks accomplished by our apprentices and staff. No, this airplane wasn't going to a museum though it could have. Instead, because of your support, this airplane returned to active duty to serve 380 missionary families and 42 mission agencies by providing a link to critical supplies as well as dependable transportation between Haiti and the US.

A mission's Cessna 206 broken in the Canadian bush...no injuries.

The same airplane, a few months later, nearly ready to fly.

Our own vision is renewed as we remember additional projects that MMS has completed over the years: the tornado damaged, twin engine Navion (repaired, restored, and engines overhauled) now back in service with Missionary Flights International; the Evangelical Methodists' Cessna 185, "war weary" after ten years of use on rough, Bolivian airstrips (completely disassembled, inspected, repaired, and painted); and the Lutheran Association of Missionary Pilots' Cessna 185 (repaired, electrical problems solved, and painted) now serving again in Canada.

Many of the airplanes that find their way into our hangar are no longer in production. This means that when mechanical needs arise, most missionary organizations have two options: repair and refurbish the airplane they have or purchase a used one. Your support allows us to keep their airplanes flying, train missionary aircraft mechanics, and "catch the vision" once again as we visit with the missionaries who accompany the airplanes we repair.

The Cessna 185 ready to return to Bolivia.

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