Lets go fly a....

This past weekend I had the opportunity to fly the Cessna 206 after almost three years of not flying that particulate aircraft. This is in preparation for having to fly this type of aircraft at Mission Aviation Fellowship technical evaluation. So if I am going to do some training might as well having some people to do it with right? And I I am going to fly might as well go some where special, and if I am going somewhere might as well pickup up something to make it like a real mission flight right? So with this criteria the final product looked turned into a family trip to go and see my parents in Nampa ID for part of the day and pick up my younger brother to come stay with us.

 So this little excursion turned out to be a really busy and fun day. We were able to surprise "Lita" (my mom) with a visit but was also able to get comfortable again in the 206 again. Having my boys experience an airplane ride (which they can't stop talking about now) and picked up my brother so we could spend some time with him as well.  These are a few cool perks of being a pilot.
 

 Kyle taking control of the aircraft

 Aaron fashioning how to wear headphones

 After a long day it is time to take a nap

Brigade Air

 I (Tyler) had an opportunity given to me to go and help a flight camp in Columbia CA with Brigade Air.   Brigade Air's mission is to inspire young teens towards careers in mission aviation.  Brigade does this by holding camps for young people that have an interest in aviation and talking and showing films about aviation missions and individuals missionaries.  They are held all over the States with volunteers donating their flying skills and aircraft for the camps.  Moody was gracious to lend an aircraft and I was more than happy to give my time to the camp. 

Ryan and I flew a Moody Skyhawk to help with camp

Ryan is making sure that we are on course

Some of the views we see from our front windshield 

Mount Shasta in Oregon

Crater Lake

It is really hard to claw your way to 10,500 feet in an old Cessna 172 at gross weight.  But we made it and were rewarded with these beautiful images from crater lake in Oregon

Lava Flows

Did you know that Oregon had so many lava flows?  I didn't and to see all these old lava fields and domes was just an amazing testimony to God's creativeness

The city built all the way up to the lava field and it looked like the lava just stopped short of their houses

 A lava "dome" kind of reminds me of Sarlacc at the great pit of Carkoon from StarWars: Return of the Jedi

Camp

 The wonderful cabin we stayed in and slept out under the stars since it was so hot inside

The conference center on the airport where the campers learned in ground school about missions and the physics of flying

 Ryan Wolff, Jordan, Nathan, Nathan and Jake

 

This was a great time for myself as I get some flight time but even better was to help some fledgling pilots get behind the controls and experience flying the airplane instead of just watching.   Can't you see how excited I am trying to stay alive? *smile*

Nathan is a typical young man who is looking for purpose in his life.  He sees mission aviation as a good possibility for his future.   He is a Christian but he is struggling to make that more than a Sunday gig.  Please pray with me that Nathan will make Jesus more than just a label but a life changing commitment. 

 Jordan was our youngest camper at Brigade this year and a very bright kid.  He caught on very quickly to the flight sessions in how to control the aircraft and was very excited each time it was his turn to go flying.  At the moment he is looking to got to the Navy to become a pilot and then go to missions.

Jake (right) and our second Nathan (left) in the camp were both great students and pilots. Jake was the quickest to grasp the theoretical talks about flight in the ground school portions.  He shows a great heart for other people and for missions.  Nathan was the more advanced camper in flight since he is involve with Airforce cadet CAP group, and also showed a lot of interest in missions.  I hope to see these guys on the field hopefully in the future.

 

Many wonderful hours spent in my "office" with an excited camper in the left seat

The earthen dam that we flew over every flight

 Our flight took place over a lake and it afforded us some good views of all the water traffic that takes place on the weekends

 

Forest Fires

Can you guess what aircraft this is?  It is a Grumman S2T, an old submarine hunter from the navy converted successfully to a fire bomber

In between two flights I saw 4 new fires start up.  Here is one that has been going for a day and because of the inversion layer the smoke hugs the ground

 OV-10 observation plane, this would be one sweet airplane to fly

We realize we are much overdo for a blog post, and hope you'll take this time to read a brief (hopefully) and quick update of life over the past couple months for us.

April...

•  We joyfully celebrated Easter with Tyler's parents, uncle and aunt, and grandma, who all came to Spokane to celebrate.  What a blessing to have family within driving distance!
• At the end of the month Renae and Aaron flew to ND, where her dad underwent quadruple bypass heart surgery.  He is still regaining strength but is recovering well.  She was so thankful to be there with her family during such a major surgery.  

May...

•  Renae, Caleb, Aaron and I, along with my aunt and uncle, walked the annual Bloomsday race in Spokane.  What an experience with over 50,000 participants!  We were proud to have walked the 7.5 miles in 2 hr and 7 min, while pushing the double stroller with the kids!

• Moody flight students work hard to finish up flights and prepare for graduation.  It's a joy every year to see these faithful men and women training to serve the Lord through mission aviation.

 

• We were able to visit my parents near MAF headquarters in Nampa, ID over Memorial day weekend.  They just closed on a new house and we were thrilled to be the first family to see it and also help a little in the beginning stages of cleaning, etc.  

June...

•  Our hearts are broken over the loss of a mission aviation couple who were killed in a plane crash in Zambia, Africa.  Jay & Katrina graduated one year after Tyler, so we knew them through Moody and Renae through Bible study with Katrina.  They left their two daughters, 3 and 1 and 1/2, behind.  Pray for them and all the family and friends grieving.  It is a big loss to the aviation community.
• I take off on the 16th to CA for a week at a flight camp, where I will be flying the "campers" every day and giving introductory flight lessons.  Pray for safety as a friend and I fly there in a Cessna 172, and throughout the week with the campers.  Also pray for endurance for Renae during the 9 days I will be gone and she will be alone with the kids.

You're doing what?!?

What do you make when you mix woods, people, airsoft, and a spoonful of fun?

 Can you spot the guy hiding?

Missionary work

Missionary work?!?

Well actually yes, missionary work.  I don't have to travel to a different continent to find someone that is in need of Jesus, just across town.

"Then saith He unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;"    Matthew 9:37 King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)  (Thought I would go with a different version you're not used to reading! :o)

 MAF aircraft in Ecuador

Over the past couple of years I have been actively training to become a missionary in the technical aspect of flying.  However my training should not be limited to just planes, the whole reason I wanted to become a pilot (other than flying really cool aircraft) is for the PEOPLE that I will be SERVING while I am there.  

 Spokane Sunrise

Who am I serving now while I am here in Spokane, WA?  I have been thinking and struggling with this thought about being a witness while I am here state side.  It is hard to reach out to non-believers when my work, school and home life all consist of Christians.  Now, through the wisdom and humorous way that God works, He has shown me that even through airsoft I can reach out to others and share Christ with them.  Crazy huh?
 

Robby in his airsoft gear

Robby is a friend that I have been reaching out to and trying to show what the love of Jesus looks like.  We met last October with our common airsoft interest and have struck up a friendship in the meantime.  He is an ex-marine with a very colorful history, and has a hunger to have some stability in his life.  Over the past eight months I have helped him and his family move two times.  Although helping them only took my time and gas, to them I was the only one that actually cared more for them when their friends didn't.  Through these times of interacting with Robby I asked if he wanted to go to church with me.  He and his girlfriend have now been coming to church consistently for the past four months and hear the gospel preached weekly from the pulpit.  He is hungry to hear truth.  While we know that Jesus is Truth, Robby is still looking elsewhere for truth and finding only emptiness.  Many times he has told me "you have restored my faith in humanity" and I just want to scream that humanity is lost and only Jesus is the One you should put your faith in.  Although I don't scream I do try and redirect that I am a Christian and only am following the example that Jesus has given me.  Jesus is the only answer that will change our lives for good, not me, not more money, not a new house to live in.     

I have shared many times with them about their need for Jesus but they have not responded yet. Please pray with me for their salvation and that the Lord will grant them mercy and soften their hearts towards Him.  I want to see Robby turn away from the destructive path he is going down so that he will honor and glorify the Lord with his life.

Robby and I at an airsoft game

It is amazing how God can use a hobby that I LOVE to do and change it into an opportunity for me to share my faith with someone else.  I am excited and humbled by this chance to share with Robby.


Being a missionary now,

Tyler

Ever gotten a 147 ticket?

Well Moody Has!

 Part of the STC hangar floor used for the A&P school

Finally Moody Aviation in Spokane has their 147 "ticket" to now officially start airframe and power-plant maintenance classes.  This has been a long process and we are praising the Lord right now that this part of the process is complete.

 In lough of Moody getting their certificate I have been heavily involved with this "project" for the past three weeks and this last week I got to spend it in the blackest of caves....the parts room :)

Doesn't look like much but we organized and labeled everything

Another Tyler and I were tasked with trying to organize all the tools, parts, and consumables in this room.  Then put labels on the tools themselves and shelves and then create a tracking system for it on Microsoft Excel.  Needless to say it was a long process but so much fun to look back and see the progress we had made with all these new shiny yellow stickers everywhere.  Nothing makes a A.D.D person like me more happy than seeing shiny things everywhere. I think we went through 80 feet of labeling tape in this project.

Many happy hours spent at the desk printing labels and cataloging

A top view of a Cessna 150 being used as a project for the A&P students

Well I think I am going to get outside now and get some fresh air for a change.

Tyler

"Caveat Hostis"

141st Emblem. Caveat Hostis

This is the 141st Washington National Guard emblem atop their hangar located in Spokane WA.  Their motto in Latin was Caveat Hostis which means "let the enemy beware."  This statement was the dedication ceremony theme for the new Moody Bible Institute A&P (airframe and power plant) aircraft maintenance school.  The history of this Latin saying came from the Washington air national guard, who build the hangar in the 1930's for the purpose of preparing for war.  World War Two was just around the corner and many men who served and trained in this facility went to distant lands to protect their country.  Now the purpose has changed but we are still preparing for war, but this war is not against nations but against Satan for the eternal souls of man.

Moody is preparing men and women to go into inhospitable areas of the world with an expertise to repair and maintain aircraft so that missionaries can spread the gospel of Jesus to the dark places.  Most times the only missionary that the people will see will be the pilot who flies in and helps bring medical supplies to a village suffering from small pox or taking a loved one to hospital to save their life.  Without the proper training the effort to reach these people with the tool of aviation would be dramatically slowed and could take countless more years.

 

The old Air National Guard Hangar Moody is in

 

I am very excited to see the changes that are happening at the hangar from an old dusty storage area to a bright and vibrant training facility.  This is such a blessing to have this available for the students to come and learn from instructors that have been overseas and know what it is like to not only work on airplanes but minister to people as well.

Here are some of the before and after pictures.

Before

Before

After

After