{"id":466,"date":"2015-06-09T21:26:33","date_gmt":"2015-06-10T01:26:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/paul-wilson\/?p=466"},"modified":"2015-06-09T21:26:33","modified_gmt":"2015-06-10T01:26:33","slug":"a-mechanics-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/paul-wilson\/2015\/06\/09\/a-mechanics-week\/","title":{"rendered":"A Mechanic’s Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DSC03429s\"<\/a>Monday<\/span>\u2014 <\/b>I, Paul, get up at 5:15 AM, get ready, give Joshua his bottle and am down at Tribal Supply by 6:45 to help load the day\u2019s cargo in the NTM Aviation vans and head to the airport in town. It is only a 7 mile drive but as we leave we soon find out that the road is closed due to a fallen tree. We all head back home and wait for the road to be opened. By 11 AM we hear it is okay and head to work. As we head out each driver has Kina (PNG money) ready to give to the locals as they usually charge for cleaning up trees and such road work<\/i>. However, to our surprise, the PNG authorities are present and there is no charge. Praise God for the small blessings.<\/p>\n

The only thing on the schedule for the day is a simple 50 hour inspection on one of the Cessnas. It usually takes about three hours or so to complete. Well\u2026<\/p>\n

Tuesday<\/span>\u2014 <\/b>Same morning routine but no tree today. Due to some discrepancy finds during the inspection and despite staying late Monday, we complete the 50 hour a bit after lunch. Then comes the paperwork.<\/p>\n

Wednesday<\/span>\u2014 <\/b>We arrive at the hangar and find the crew for the dawn departures still hanging around as it was raining. It was <\/i>to be a busy day of flying with a Cessna 206 supplying cargo to the helicopter to then get the supplies into a bush location. (Don\u2019t forget that our remotely located tribal missionaries rely our these supply runs for almost everything\u2026.food, fuel, medical supplies, even mail). Around 11AM the decision is made to scrub the day\u2019s flights and start the helicopter 100 hour inspection a day early (half a day actually now). The hope is to get it done a day early and fit the cancelled flights back into the busy schedule. Sorry Mibu.<\/p>\n

Thursday<\/span>\u2014 <\/b>I\u2019m well into the 100 hour inspection with several discrepancies found right off the bat. (The other two licensed mechanics are away to the capital city attending a couple of aviation training courses).<\/p>\n

Friday<\/span>\u2014 <\/b>I\u2019m able to get the tail rotor disassembled and the hub down to a neighboring helicopter business to do an inspection process that we are not licensed to perform. Now onto other portions of the aircraft inspection. By the way, have I mentioned the dozens of questions I deal with as manager each day?<\/p>\n

Saturday<\/span>\u2014 <\/b>Plans were to work some overtime in the hangar but due to family illness I got to slept in until 7:30 (AH! Thank you Andrea). I head to the airport with Phoebe around 9 AM to pick up two co-workers returning from their classes. It is Phoebe\u2019s first road trip with daddy and the crowds at the airport are a bit much for her. She handles it well (no tears or screaming) but sticks very<\/i> close to daddy, who has a tight grip on her little hand. We welcome the reinforcements back to the fold and return them home to their families.<\/p>\n

Sunday<\/span>\u2014 <\/b>6:30 AM finds me with Joshua fussing for his bottle. (Andrea\u2019s turn to try to sleep in a bit). I prepare breakfast while juggling negotiations with Phoebe and Joshua. This is my turn to get a small taste of what Andrea deals with all week long (minus the sleeping adult). Later on we head down to church in the school gymnasium, dropping Phoebe and Joshua off at the kindergarten classroom for nursery. Andrea\u2019s not working in nursery this week\u2026 I\u2019m not speaking or running video\u2026 so we actually get to attend church and worship together (and try to ignore the church mouse up front).<\/p>\n

\u00a0Kodiak Number 3<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"Kodiak<\/a>Amazingly only a year ago we were blown away at how the Lord provided the first Kodiak through donors for the field of Papua New Guinea. Now we are telling you that HE has provided for the third and final Kodiak for PNG.<\/p>\n

The first one is due to arrive here on the field in late June, Lord willing. Lots of paperwork and government approvals to navigate through yet. Thanks for your prayers in this.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Praise & <\/span><\/b>Prayer Requests<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n
    \n
  • Praise<\/span> \u2014 Paul and the guys were able to complete the helicopter inspection by the following Friday evening. (Pray for our tribal teams as these kind of delays are normal life for them. The Mibu team had to wait an additional 2 weeks to get their supplies).<\/li>\n
  • Praise <\/span>\u2014 God has provided a third Kodiak for NTM Aviation PNG.<\/li>\n
  • Praise<\/span>\/Pray<\/span> \u2014 We are over our head colds and Paul\u2019s elbow infection is almost gone.<\/li>\n
  • Pray<\/span> \u2014 For NTM Aviation as we prepare to import the new Kodiaks, sell the C-90 and some Cessnas, all while short staffed. Please pray for more laborers.<\/li>\n
  • Pray<\/span> \u2014\u00a0\u00a0 Bible teaching amongst the Tangguat people. It is going well as many of the people have demonstrated they understand their lost-state and are following with great interest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Monday\u2014 I, Paul, get up at 5:15 AM, get ready, give Joshua his bottle and am down at Tribal Supply by 6:45 to help load the day\u2019s cargo in the NTM Aviation vans and head to the airport in town. It is only a 7 mile drive but as we leave we soon find out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":321,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,1777,690],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-466","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-family","7":"category-ministry","8":"category-ntm-aviation","9":"category-update","10":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/paul-wilson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/paul-wilson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/paul-wilson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/paul-wilson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/321"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/paul-wilson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/paul-wilson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/paul-wilson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/paul-wilson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/paul-wilson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}