Andy Porter

Football with Dad

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:52:00 PST

The first section of this post is written in British for a British audience!

This Saturday I did something I don’t normally do, I watched football! Ok not so surprising. But I watched football with my Dad, not so surprising! On TV, big deal!
But all of this took place in the US and it was no ordinary match.

In order to watch football in the States you have to find it on a website. So I subscribed to Fox Soccer. Dad and I got to watch the FA Cup 3rd round match between Fleetwood and Blackpool.

Now you may see the significance of this. Being from Fleetwood means that’s our home team but my family has been long term Blackpool fans! Oh the dilemma! We wanted both teams to win.

It was good to be able to see the match from Highbury Stadium, Fleetwood, Lancashire, England; while Dad and I sat on the sofa in Coshocton, Ohio, USA! We had to watch the crowd closely to see if we knew anyone!

It was a good match and the final score didn’t really reflect the match. Fleetwood fought a good 1st half and lost out in the second half.

. . . . We interrupt this broadcast for an American explanation!

Football is Soccer. Saturday is the day for football in the UK, not Sunday. The home team is the name that is displayed first on the scores.

The FA Cup is the Football Association Cup a knock out competition for any soccer team in the UK. In this competition you can get a small town team playing the big league team, and sometimes winning.

Fleetwood is our home town. Blackpool is the other big town on the Fylde coast of Lancashire. They basically form one large conurbation along the coast. So you get people living on one town and working in the other. So who are people to support?

The fans of Fleetwood Town FC are known as the Cod Army due to the towns fishing heritage.

. . . . We interrupt this interruption:

For those who know me know I don’t really like football, but for such a big occasion I made an exception. I don’t think we’ll ever get to repeat it. Thanks Dad for being here.

Football!

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:52:00 PST

In Ohio they take their sport seriously and football is no exception (that’s American Football, NFL & gridiron and the like!)

Today saw the big game of the season, the Ohio State University Buckeyes vs. the University of Michigan Wolverines. For those of you reading back in Lancashire, think Blackpool vs. PNE or Blackburn vs. Burnley!

This means that the whole state turns scarlet and grey (OSU’s colours)

My OSU t-shirt.

All this means a problem if you aren’t from the state, or you’ve married an Ohioan, hence this maybe seen outside some houses:

The game was end to end and both teams played hard till the end but after a 7 year OSU wining streak Michigan won this year.

As an Englishman I find it hard to believe all this excitement is because of a university sport, just another example of the cross cultural experience that is living in Coshocton.

Fixing other things apart from planes!

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:38:00 PST

Last week I arrived at church to find a frenzy of activity around the sound desk:

“It’s blown a fuse”, was the shout. Hmm sounds like something I could help with.

We had 2 spare fuses and it blow one of those when we tried it again! There was something really wrong inside the desk, so we set up a few guitars amps for the service and I took the desk away.

Upon opening the desk up I found a nice power supply:

Using my previous occupation skills in electronics I check the transformer (the block on the right of the photo) and that tested ok. So I checked the circuit board to find a short circuit on a diode (the black cylinders in the middle of this photo):

A quick check online and I found a new one for the huge cost of 20cents or 13pence! I ordered a new one and had the desk fixed by Friday. Was back and running the next Sunday!

All because of this:

Just shows that the smallest things can have a big impact.

Praying for missionaries daily seems so small and insignificant;
giving a small amount to support a missionary doesn’t seem enough;

but they are all part of keeping missionaries on the field spreading the amazing Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thank you for playing your small part in our ministry.

God bless, Andy P

After repairs . . .

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 12:54:00 PDT

After repairing aircraft you have to put everything back together! Including the parts that are hard to reach.

This is the inside of the wing baggage locker on the 402. The brand new firewall is the shiny stainless steel sheet right at the front of the locker, we replaced this as part of our work.

Unfortunately it needs to be covered. This is the cover once it was installed by a brave mechanic!

Why a brave mechanic? Because it’s just big enough to fit inside and long enough to lay in!

I was the brave mechanic!
Which gave me a great photo!!!!!

Thank you for your support which enables this brave mechanic to work on missionary planes that will wing the Gospel around the world.

New Boots!

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 18:56:00 PDT

Over the past week we’ve been installing new boots on the 402.

“Boots?” I hear you say! Yes boots, de-ice boots. Ice build up on a plane wing can cause problems and so we install rubber boots over the leading edge. They look like this:

If the plane is flying in weather that may cause ice the boots are inflated momentarily, which cracks any ice that may have formed. Then the boots are flattened down again the the wing works the way it should.

Installing the boots involves a lot of glue!

We also install smaller boots on the tail:

I got to work with Ben on of the boots:

Once all the glue is dry we’ll seal the edges and check they operate correctly. Ensuring this plane can fly in North Eastern US and eastern Canada.

Thank you for you support that enables me to part of the unique ministry here at MMS.

Birthday cake

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 14:37:00 PDT

How do you send birthday cake over the Atlantic?

In a box of course!

It was a build it yourself cake though!

And of course you have to blow the candles out!

The story is this: My mum always made me a birthday cake. Since I’ve been a little older she only made cakes for special birthdays. This year I turned 35 and she thought that was special enough to send me a cake! Thanks Mum.

Still here, honest!

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:24:00 PDT

Check check, one two. Is this still working?
Oh yeah I think it is. Can’t believe it was June when we last blogged!

Been a good few months; VBS, Dime a Dog night,

Ohio Wesleyan Family Gathering at Mount Vernon, got a Nephew, Kodiak flight,

Cedar Point, celebrated birthdays (one a special one!)

As well as working on some planes in the hangar!

I’ll fill some of the blanks in soon. So check back regularly!

Wedding Season

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 19:19:00 PDT

So, the month of May is coming to an end. It has been a busy busy month. We enjoyed having Andy’s parents here – as you’ve seen in a few of the previous blog posts. School comes to an end tomorrow, so a couple weeks ago I said goodbye to my friends at the school. Now to figure out what to do all summer!

As I write this post, I am smack dab in between two weddings that I am involved in. The first was Sunday, May 22 in downtown Columbus. It was one of my good friends that I have known the majority of her time here on Earth. It was so good to get to be involved in the day. We had absolutely BEAUTIFUL weather, though some grey clouds did threaten the outdoor ceremony. The rain held off until almost everyone arrived at the reception venue and then it poured the rain. After the rain had slowed a bit, the sun came back out – causing an absolutely amazing double rainbow (check out some of the photos) over the city. Overall, a great day.

The bride and groom

The bride and I at the reception (loved that we got to wear Saris)

The rainbow over the city

As I said, it’s wedding season. This week I am involved in my cousin’s wedding in Maryland. I will be there toward the end of the week and Andy will be coming in with my family for the weekend. Check back for photos from that day as well. I know I’m really looking forward to it.

Thank you for your continued encouragement, prayers, and support. Without your prayers and partnership, we would not be able to travel and be part of these very special occasions.

Blessings,

Esther

Bike Pit Stop

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Sat, 14 May 2011 10:51:00 PDT

The Men's group at church this morning held a bike workshop.
The idea came from my time in the UK where kids would ride any like, even if the brakes didn’t work or the chain was rusty. The kids in Coshocton aren’t any different. So the group decided to run a workshop to check brakes, handlebars, seat and oil the chain.

After yesterdays rain and the threat of thunder today made us wonder if we’d have any customers.

We did get 6 bikes through. One of which needed 2 new inner tubes, which we’d had donated by Auer Ace Hardware.

Mark cleans and lubes the chain

Stan and I check brakes and clean the frame.

Once we checked and cleaned each bike we had to get the “Test Pilot” to ride it!

Every bike got a test ride! Even though everyone though I couldn’t ride this one!

We all had fun and blessed 2 families with getting their bikes ready to ride again.

Thank you for all your support that allows me to be part of fun things like this.

Mother’s Day

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Wed, 11 May 2011 18:55:00 PDT

This post will confuse my UK readers and make my US readers say, “Huh?”

This Sunday was Mother’s Day and I got to spend it with my mum! See Mother’s day in the US is 2nd Sunday of May and in the UK it’s the 3rd Sunday of Lent! Which means I get 2 chances of wishing my mum a happy mother’s day.

This year as my parents are in the US visiting I got to sit next to Mum in church. I’d just explained to her that Burt Ave give out small prizes for special Mums, this year we had; “The mother with the most children with her at church.” “The mother who’s been a mother the longest (ie has the oldest child).” and “The mother who travelled the furthest to be with their child” Ok so the last prize was a fix. Guess who won? hehe.

Me and my Mum (with her small prize)

It’s been a great time with my parents here and they are now on their way home.

May Update

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Tue, 10 May 2011 18:26:00 PDT

May already! Where has the time gone? Andy's parents leave tomorrow. It seems like their month here has gone so quickly.

We have been quite busy over the past few weeks. Some of the most exciting things we have done included: a trip to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania where we visited the battlefields, did a Segway tour (see photo below), went to Hershey Chocolate World (one of my personal favorites) and saw "Joseph" at the Sight and Sound theater in Lancaster. We also took a bus trip to the Creation Museum in Kentucky with a group of about 55 people from our church. It was a great time together and it is a fantastic museum showing that 6-day creation is true.

I have struggled the past week or so with an infection and have been quite ill. Please continue to pray that I will recover soon. I have two weddings I am involved in this month as well as subbing and other things that must get done.

We continue to be busy with house projects. The kitchen has very nearly been finished and we have undertaken a project upstairs as well. All things that will help sell the house once the time comes.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. You bless us in ways we could never even imagine!

Esther (-:

Not just in a Bond Movie!

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 18:17:00 PDT

We had a visitor to the airfield today:

Underneath it was this:

Yes that's a tree trimming saw! Just like the type used in "The World Is Not Enough" James Bond film.
Until today I thought they were just a movie prop!!

A thousand miles

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 18:15:00 PDT

Hmm there's a song there somewhere!

Well as a Brit in a large country I just needed to take a photo of this:

That's the distance we travelled in one weekend, 2 days journey. I know it's not vast in the USA scheme of things but a 500 miles drive to an Englishman is huge!

Once I got back to the hangar I was greeted by this sight:

The new hangar door is on and sided. The construction guys started on the new roof today.

We're now off to Columbus to collect my (Andy) parents who've been delayed.

More updates to come, keep checking back.

Cross centred engines

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 23:30:00 PDT

Its' been a while since our last blog. We have been visiting family and friends and driven over 1500 miles in a month. Back in Ohio now and waiting for my (Andy) parents to arrive.

Last month I was involved in an engine inspection and as we put it back together we found this in the new gaskets:

Proof the Jesus at the centre of all we do at MMS, this a little more literal than normal.

This month has seen a big change in the hangar as it looked like this a week ago:

The old door was removed by a construction crew who have just installed our new hanger door. The new door will be easier to open and also keep the cold our in the winter.

We are all thankful to The Lord for providing funds for the new door. May He be at the centre of all we do.

God bless, Andy & Esther

MMS Aviation: Cake & Ice Cream for Paul

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 18:08:00 PST

Here's an interesting post!
MMS Aviation: Cake & Ice Cream for Paul

Book work over.

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PST

I've completed all the chapter tests of the required reading for my mechanics license.
It was no small task with 4 thick text books to trawl through. Especially as my studying is done after a days work in the hangar.
These are my books:The studies cover General, Airframe and Powerplant of aircraft and is all part of my prep for taking my FAA A&P exam some time next year.

We had a visitor at the airfield today:
A Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk. We have a number of military planes in and out and it keeps the boys happy to see something big and heavy.

Thanks again for your support as I prepare to serve mission aviation.

Engine work!

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 07:30:00 PST

This week has seen me move to a different project. It's a 1961 Cessna 172, yes you read that right it was made in 61! And what's more it around 900 hours time on it, the equivalent of a very very low mileage car! It's been donated to a US ministry who will use it at summer camps for kids to catch the vision of mission aviation.

With this in mind we want to make sure that it's age isn't going to give any problems so while 2 of the guys give a good look at the airframe, we (Ian, Mark and I) are inspection the engine.
Here it is in the engine room at the start of the day:

Firstly we removed all the accessories (starter motor and generator) plus the baffling (that directs the cooling air through the right places)

And here it is just before break time (2 hours later)

Once we could get to the main part of the engine we pulled the cylinders off :

and arranged them on the bench for checking them later:

Then split the crankcase apart to enable use to check the insides of the engine:

It was amazing to be reminded that we are the first to see inside this engine since it was assembled almost 50 years ago! And what did we find? A pile of sludge! But apart from that nothing seems to be wrong with the engine, it hasn't any rust inside which was the worry.

Thank you for your partnership with me as I learn and serve in this unique way.
God bless.

Stargazing

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 12:00:00 PDT

We have just been outside to look up at the stars! BUT we were not looking for stars but man made objects. Here's a photo:
The the white streak is the ISS (International Space Station) and it passed over in about 2 minutes.
Here's my second photo:
This was taken on a tripod with a 15 second exposure.

It was very cool to see it fly over 200 miles above! Very cool.

More suprises in Africa.

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 10:00:00 PDT

Here's some more things that we saw in Africa which made us say, "No way, really!"

A restaurant:
At a shop (all the way from Orrville, Ohio!):The beach (it was 70F 21C and cloudy but I still got to fly!)

This was one that surprised just me, in South Africa (they also have Spar!)

Back Home

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 09:00:00 PDT

Well after 10 days out of the country and 7 days in Gabon I can report the plane is in the container and Paul and I are back home in the USA.

Here's a break down of our journey home:
Libreville to Johannesburg: 2192.6 Miles 4 hrs, 33 mins
Johannesburg to Dakar: 4108.4 Miles 8 hrs, 32 mins
Dakar to Washington DC: 3976.7 Miles 8 hrs, 15 mins
Washington DC to Columbus: 307.6 Miles 46 mins
Total of 10585 Miles

But well worth the travel to enable repairs on such a vital plane as this. We hope it arrives in Ohio soon, check back for updates on the repairs.

Thank you for being partners with me and enabling me to be on this trip, it was a great blessing.

Update from Africa

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 03:30:00 PDT

Here's an update written by the missionary who's plane we are repairing.

The joys of Africa!

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:00:00 PDT

We have arrived in Gabon, safe and well. The project is going really well, I'll post about it tomorrow.
But one of the joys of being in Africa is European foods:Walls Ice Cream! HMMMM. It's a hard life being a missionary.
Thanks for being a part of enabling me to experience this. God bless Andy P

Guess the place?

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 07:00:00 PDT

While in Washington Dullas airport we saw this flag as part of their terminal display!
We were very puzzled by it:
It turns out to be the state of Hawaii. The story on Wikipedia is a very interesting one and we've enjoyed reading it.
Just thought I'd share it with you all.

Africa Bound

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 06:40:00 PDT

We are on our way to Libreville the capitol of Gabon in Africa. The we being the guys in the photo below. Left to right: Dale Coates (Supervisor at MMS and our team leader), Me and Paul Jones (Senior Apprentice at MMS)
We are going to help Air Calvary who have a Cessna 207 which had a little accident a few months ago. Their insurance has agreed to the cost of shipping the aircraft back to MMS in Ohio, USA for repair.
So an MMS Aviation Rapid Response team has been requested to pack the aircraft into a sea crate for shipping.
And so that's ho I end up on my way to Africa! I'm part of the team going to disassemble the plane and secure it in a 40foot container for shipping.
Pray for Dale, Paul and myself please. For safe travel and a quick disassembly and safe transport of the plane back to Ohio.

Big Aircraft!

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:56:00 PDT

Here are some photo's of plane! Just for a surprise :)
This is a Douglas DC-3 operated by Missionary Flights International in Florida. If you're observant you'll have noticed that the engines don't have their covers on. That was because we were about to take the engines off to change them for lower time engines. The really observant (or geeky) amongst you will notice that the aren't the normal huge radial engines on this DC3! That's because this plane has been converted to Pratt& Whitney PT6 engines which are turboprop engines that burn jet fuel and so are cheaper to run.
This is a closer shot of the PT6 engine going back on.
All this happened in Florida in May when I was part of a team from MMS who helped make the engine change happen.

This is a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, which is one of the main planes MAF operates through out the world. This one is at MMS during our recent Open-House. The weekend saw lots of visitors tour our facility.This is what it would look like flying the Grand Caravan in Peru! The flight simulator was part of the open house and I was responsible. Both small kids and big kids liked it.

And this is a Piaggio Avanti! I thought they only made scooters but this proves they can make really unique planes too! It came into the airport the other week. Last week we had a visit from a Chinook helicopter too but didn't have my camera!

And this is a new modification that we've installed to one of our aircraft at MMS. It's a human landing gear system and built in mechanic! It's actually Mark Beckwith (the other MAF apprentice) and I inside the wing of a Cessna 402. We are currently installing a wing reinforcement after part of the wing has had a specialist inspection completed on it. We hope this project will be returned to it's owner in Maine USA soon where he uses it to pastor and plant churches.

Once again thank you for your support while I am here in Coshocton training. God bless.