Saturday, March 20, 2010

Auntie Popeye and the travelling duck!

Another month and another visitor!! Jenny's sister Pippa came for a week ... although Abigail soon renamed her Popeye ... it seems that was easier to say!! At the beginning of the week it was still pretty cold (coats and scarves still necessary!) with thick snow on the ground and at the end of the week the snow had gone and we were just wearing t-shirts when we were out!!!
We had a great week with a mixture of showing Pippa around and relaxing ... she plans to come again so there was no pressure cram everything into one week!!
Sunday afternoon (although cold!) was beautiful and sunny so we went for a walk at lake park to feed the ducks ...
Monday we visited the hangar ... where Pippa spotted that Mark had a secret stash of Little Debbie donuts in his big yellow tool box ... BUSTED!!! Tuesday morning we went for a drive up in Amish country and bought donuts of a whole different quality back with us for all the guys in the hangar ... it seems Mark was quite popular that day!!
Abigail soon got used to another unusual face staying in our basement ... here the two of them were rubbing noses like Eskimo's while sharing a banana ... very cute!! Lot's of silliness ... it was to be expected!!
We took a walk around Coshocton town centre on Thursday and on Friday Pippa even came to MOPS with us and met some of our friends (as well as babysitting so Jenny could have her first haircut in over 6 months too!!!). As you can see Pippa and Abigail got on like a house on fire!!
So what's all this about a travelling duck?! Pippa is a guide leader and they've just celebrated 100 years ... so the Centenary duck ... otherwise referred to as Lola ... who has been photographed all over the place by other guides ... came for a little vacation of her own!! As you can see she visited some American ducks at Lake Park ...
Enjoyed playing in the snow (and the bath!!) with Abigail's other ducks ...
Wanted to get patriotic outside the County Court House with the star spangled banners (and Popeye!) !!! ...
And was trying to get posted back to the UK to tell the guides all about her travels before Pippa was ready to leave!! ;o)
As you can see ... a great week was had by all ... including Lola the duck!!

Saturday, March 06, 2010

Man At Work

Hey there everyone ... after Jenny had written about what she's been up to ... I thought that I'd write about what I've been up to in the hangar. As you can see from the photos below ... the Cessna 206 that we've been working on is now looking very smart. The wings have had their final coats of paint ... which I had a hand in doing. Also, the fuselage has now got it's stripes ... blue, green & yellow ... the colours of Brazil where it will end up flying once complete.
Me standing in the paint booth with the wings.
The fuselage with it's stripes.
It is all looking pretty, we have put the wings, vertical & horizontal stabilisers on. I am now busy rigging all of the control cables that run through the fuselage and the wing and connect the rudder, elevator, ailerons and flaps ... but not all together ;o)
Now with it's wings, just waiting for the rudder & stabiliser.
The work that we do here at MMS Aviation is to help out other Aviation Missions with their aircraft and try to help save them a buck or two. For example, as all the staff & apprentices raise their own wages, MMS Aviation do not charge the Missions man-hours for the work they do, just the cost of all the new parts and materials. There are other areas that we try to save them money too. The Cessna that I'm working on will be converted to an amphibian aircraft with floats, this means we have to loose the undercarriage and nose wheel. To do this we have to add various new parts. We needed to order two brackets that are needed but they came to over $300 new. So I was tasked with manufacturing them out of stock aluminium, below you can see the originals and the two that I made. By doing this we have saved the mission a lot of money!!!
Can you tell which ones are the originals and which are mine???
(The ones I made are at the bottom)
Last week, five of us travelled north for about an hour to Preferred Airparts in Kidron, Ohio (Visit www.preferredairparts.com for more of the things that they do there). The reason for the visit was to remove the wings from a DC-3 which had been purchased by Missionary Flights International (www.missionaryflights.org) who have been doing a lot of flights to help the people of Haiti after the earthquake. They will be putting the engines of this newly purchased aircraft onto one down in Florida that has been flying overtime lately and needs it's engines overhauled, like yesterday.
The wings had to be taken off, so that it could fit in the hanger with all the other aircraft they have at Preferred Airparts. They will now be able to remove the engines and do some modifications to the fuselage/flaps/avionics etc. As you can see below, a DC-3 is not a small aircraft so there were many challenges. First, we had to remove the ailerons (the things on the wings that help it turn), flaps (the big things on the wings that come down when taking-off or landing) and disconnect the control cables. Then, each wing is held on by 330 1/4inch bolts that have been put on with a locking compound. Each wing was a challenge in itself but we managed to remove both of them in around 5 hours. I'd like to thank the guys at Preferred Airparts for all the help and for the lovely lunch they provided (boiled ham, green beans and grated potatoes in a cheese sauce followed by a trio of homemade ice-cream cakes). There is a possibility that later on this year, we will go back up there to help remove the two engines. Below are a few snap shots of our day.
The DC-3 ready & waiting for it's wings to be pulled off!
One of 660 bolts!!!
That's one down, one to go.
The DC-3 back outside without it's wings.
(Ian in the cockpit with Dale and myself up front)

Thursday, March 04, 2010

How to make an American Quilt!!

Jenny's beginners quilting class has come to an end ... it was just three, 3 hour sessions long ... and not only has she learnt a new skill but a whole new vocabulary too ... basting, binding, scant quarter of an inch, batting, floss (or what we might know as thread!) ... the list goes on!!
So in her own words this is how it's done ...
  • Pick some material (for those of you who are surprised by the choice ... to cut a long story short due to the snow I couldn't get to the shops I wanted too ... but figured this was going to be a trial run!!)
  • Go to a class ... round here it's not difficult to find one ... quilting is a way of life for many people!! (The Vacshak in Downtowner Plaza, here in Coshocton is where I headed!!)
  • Lots of work at home and in the class ... the sewing machine was smokin' ... anytime Abigail was asleep I was usually working away (the class was over just 3 weeks ... so there was lots of homework!!)
  • A class photo at the end of the 3 sessions with our handiwork ... it was great to meet new people in town all of whom were doing the class for different reasons ... clockwise from me, Becky, Susan (mother & daughter), Mary & Kay.
In such a short amount of time, as beginners, we weren't ever going have a completed quilt ... but we now have the skills and knowledge to finish these ones ... and then start new different styled ones ... and the lovely Brenda and Denise who run the Vacshak are always there to help when we get stuck (thank you ladies!).
Unfortunately for Mark ... I'm hooked!! Whether it's the possibilities of different colours/patterns/materials ... the precision involved ... the fun of laying it all out & piecing it together like a jigsaw ... I'm not sure ... but I'm definitely already getting ideas for my next project!! For those of you rolling your eyes and thinking there's no hope for her ... you're right!!! With each passing day I seem to be turning into the stereotypical missionary wife ... he he!! I now just need a few extra days in the week so that I can actually get on and keep stitching, on top of everything else!!