Looking for Fun

This past week has been a busy one. Student pilots were breaking airplanes faster than we could fix them, and on top of our regular inspections, it got a little crazy at times. One student even managed to land so hard that he set off the airplane's emergency beacon (which usually only activates due to the G forces when an airplane crashes). I think I'd be seeing the Chiropractor after that one! I managed to take friday off though, and catch up on some much needed errands. In order to exercise the privileges of my Commercial Pilot's License, I'm required to complete a flight physical exam every 12 months. I am tested on vision (I have to have 20/20), colorblindness, and a variety of other factors. I was able to get that done, along with finishing up our summer newsletter (soon to come). The weekend has been flying bye, and today Joy and I went driving around the greater Vancouver area in search of small, grass and dirt airstrips that Servant Wings will be able to use as "training" airstrips once we get the engine back in the 206. Here are a couple that we found:

The airstrip above runs right through the clump of trees. The little white dots are all airplanes, and the big white dots are hangars. This will be a really good training airstrip for our soft-field takeoffs and landings. You can't tell from the picture, but the strip has a huge dip right in the middle of it where all the water collects after it rains, creating a huge mud puddle. There are also 100' trees at one end, making for a challenging approach and landing, not to mention taking off!

This airstrip is called "Fly For Fun," and is a rather benign strip to what Moody has prepared us for. There are no obstructions to avoid on takeoff or landing, but it is pretty short, testing our accuracy in being able to touch down in a very precise spot (try landing a 2 and 1/2 ton airplane in a 15 foot zone at 70 mph!) Each airstrip has its unique challenges, and both of these airstrips will provide excellent experience for me in preparation for field service. Hopefully we'll get the engine back from the overhaul shop soon. Right now there are no airplanes to fly...the 206 is waiting on the engine, and another member of Servant Wings has the 172 on a long cross-country trip to Arizona and back (which is why we drove to the airstrips instead of flying).

Tomorrow we will try yet another church. Pray that we will find a good church here to get involved in. It's stressful going from church to church every Sunday and not really feeling a part of anything.