|
planemechanic
|
read my profile
sign my guestbook
Name: Lorin
Interests: Aviation and computers, as well as making people laugh
Expertise: None yet
Occupation: Aviation Maintenance Technicia
Industry: Aviation Maintenance
Message: message me
Member Since:
8/6/2006
|
|
| No, I haven't fallen off the end of the world I could list all the "valid" excuses why I have never gotten around to posting, but I think you have all heard them already, so I will just give an update as to what I have been up to and leave those lame excuses to someone else.
During this summer I have spent most of my time at ALERT. I have been flying with Joel Pierce, trying to finish up my Commercial License. This is basically my proving to the FAA that I am a good enough pilot to be paid to fly. It has been a lot of fun as I get to fly a bigger, faster plane.
I was blessed with the chance to go out to California for a week and help at the Regional ATI Conference in Sacramento, the week of the 4th of July. Nathan Kane, a fellow A&P from ALERT, and I drove the 30 hours out to Sacramento. We stopped and did some hiking in the Grand Canyon, it was really neat to see God's creation. The Canyon is so huge that a picture does not begin to describe it, but we will go with that for now
We also drove over the Hoover Dam. That was so cool to see, its just massive. It is amazing what God has allowed mankind to accomplish. After the dam, we drove through Las Vegas just for the fun of it before arriving in Sacramento. The Conference went really well. We were feeding about 800 for lunch and dinner most of the week. I won't post pictures as so many others from the trip already have. If you want to check them out, visit:
http://www.xanga.com/TheMaskoftheCommenter
or
http://www.xanga.com/AccordiantoScripture
The week out there was an absolute blast. Its a good thing there is no such thing as too much fun!!
These last two weeks I have been home with family. Dad and I had the chance to go up to Oshkosh, WI for the EAA AirVenture 2007. There were 560,000 people and 10,000 airplanes there during the course of the week. It was an incredible time. All the big manufactures save all their big announcements for that week, so we got to see some brand new airplanes, along with hundreds of old ones. The size of the event is just staggering. We camped out in a field near the airport (along with 40,000 other people).
This is a brand new Very Light Jet from Eclipse Aviation. This was its first time out in public. It had about 40 hours of flight time total by this time
We also got to see the brand new Kodiak aircraft. This plane has been designed especially for mission aviation, and rugged back country work. It received its FAA certification just before the show. I have been following the development of this plane for a while now, and it was really sweet to see it up close in all its glory.
Each afternoon there was an airshow. It had some military planes, a lot of old Warbirds fly-bys and formations as well as just about every civilian acrobatics pilot in the nation. It was really cool to see all the big names of acrobatics.
Another cool thing was getting to meet Steve Saint. His father was Nate Saint, a pilot, one of the five missionaries killed by the natives in Ecuador in 1956. He shared his story about how he is now teaching the natives how to fly
in the jungles of Ecuador.
This plane has quite a story behind it. In 1943 it was abandoned on the ice as it was being ferried over to join the war in Europe. 50 years later, they found its location under 260+ feet of ice. The dug it out of the ice, brought it back here to the US, and have now fully restored it. It is one of only 4 flying examples left (out of over 10,000 made)
This was one of the 15 P-51 Mustangs that were there at the event. The day after we left, this plane and another were involved in an accident on landing. This plain was damaged and its pilot was able to walk away from the scene. The other pilot was killed when his plane flipped over and exploded. It was a sobering reminder that we know not what God has in store for us. Everything can change in a hurry. Even though these two pilots were very experienced, mistakes can still happen. As a pilot, it has been a good reminder that I must never get complacent.
This past week, we have spent some wonderful time here together as a family. We finished up some projects around the house, played some games, and hung out with friends. It has been a good week, but now I must head back to ALERT. In the next few weeks, I hope to finish up my Commercial License, and get back to maintenance work. | | |
| I can't believe I am actually posting something Believe it or not, I have actually found the time to post something again. No, I haven't fallen off the earth, I have just been very busy at ALERT. This past semester was a blast. We had 5 guys working in the hanger, so we got a lot of work done. I am down to about a year left on my mechanics apprenticeship, and am looking forward to being done. It will be cool to see what God has in store for me after that. Right now, my Dad and I are down in Hondo, TX (about 30 miles SW of San Antonio). We are at the South Texas EAA Regional Fly-in. Dad is here representing JAARS, and I get to hang out with him at the booth, and see a lot of cool airplanes (over 1000). We will be here through tomorrow night. Hopefully, time permitting, I will upload some pictures from this event tomorrow.
| | |
| Hola, Como estas?As usually, I only update once in a rare while. Well, it is that time again. This past week, I have been working with 27 other ALERT guys in Guadalajara, Mexico. We have been teaching about 600 orphan boys different outdoor skills. It was a long week with not much sleep but it has been worth it all to invest in the lives of the boys. I have learned so much Spanish this past week it isn't even funny. I was leading an event to teach the boys how to do search patterns etc. I didn't have a real translator for most of the week so that made it interesting. The Lord provided and I was able to work with Jonathan Marshall for most of the week. He has been learning spanish for the last six weeks and was able to at least get the point across to the boys. We all had fun, and I think the guys learned a lot. The Lord has showed me so much this week, it has been wonderful. I will post pictures as soon as possible. The group took over 2000 pictures so it will be fun to sort through them. | | |
| Happy New YearAnother year draws to a close. I can't believe it. I wonder what is in store for this next year. God bless all of you in this new year.
| | |
| Merry Christmas EveryoneHave a Blessed Day! | | |
|
