Avionics News December 2012 - 26

In Your Own Words

Commentary by

MIKE DELORENZO,
AIM media missionary and former AIM AIR pilot
Excerpted from www.aimair.org

Steve Moffitt, AIM AIR radio base manager, installs a JPI EDM 930 engine data management system in a Cessna 206G.

AIM AIR

Missionary Aviation?
It’s hot, it’s tiring, it’s a foreign landscape unfolding before you at 150 miles per hour. It’s noise and vibration, a heavy load and an aching back from loading it. It’s dusty and turbulent. It’s wrinkled maps and a bag lunch under the seat, a missionary family asleep in the back, exhausted and tranquilized by the cool air at 10,000 feet. It’s a tiny airstrip carved out of the open savanna, zebra grazing nonchalantly on your runway, a Land Rover in the distance making its way to this place where the sky touches earth, the missionaries anticipating your landing, waiting and waving as you taxi in. It’s being expected and appreciated. It’s being the answer to a prayer, the bearer of mail and good news, or the bringer of a lifesaving drug or a needed load of supplies. It’s pulling the gold bars off your shoulders and spending some time on your knees, under a truck, in a ditch, or at the side of a filthy child. It’s about flying and fixing airplanes, mastering them and making them useful tools. It’s all the adventure of Africa, all the thrills of flying, all the frustration of the third world, all the camaraderie of a military platoon, all the grace of the Church, and all the joy of serving. It’s about being a missionary … who happens to be a pilot or mechanic. It’s about being a servant to servants. It’s a great job. q
Mike Delorenzo served with AIM AIR for 12 years, logging some 4,000 hours mostly in Cessna Caravans flying in nine different countries. Today, he works with AIM’s on-field media missionary team. 26
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Adapting in a Foreign Land When Moffitt arrived 18 years ago, the AIM AIR fleet included a few Cessna 206 aircraft and a Beech 18, all flying visual flight rules. Today, half the fleet is comprised of turbine aircraft, and all of the aircraft are instrument flight rules capable. “We have adapted and changed to accommodate the more complex aircraft as well as the requirements to maintain IFR status,” Moffitt said. “Wilson Airport is an extremely busy airport with a large Cessna Caravan population. We are seeing more glass panels on the field, but it is coming slowly. I believe there is concern about the sustainability of the technology. There is really no AOG system here, and a significant failure could leave you looking at a large hole in your panel for a week or more. That’s not very comforting if your aircraft is sitting on a bush airstrip in another country that is not very stable.” With an aircraft fleet registered in multiple countries, navigating the regulations and paperwork can be daunting for the small staff. “We are trying to adapt to new Kenyan regulations in which there really is no equivalent of Part 91, Moffitt said. “Being in the capital city gives us access to and relationships with government officials who have been helpful in trying to iron out the issues. Training is probably our biggest repair station issue. We have an on-the-job training program coupled with whatever we can find online that is appropriate. We would like to do more factory and other training, but the cost and access have been prohibitive so far. Continuity of radio base management also is an issue, since we are required to return to our home country every so often. Sometimes, it’s a struggle to find a qualified person to fill the gap.” All of the avionics and maintenance technicians and pilots are volunteers and missionaries in their own right. Not only do they not get paid, they’re required to raise their own income and financing through family, friends and faith-based organizations. They feel deeply proud to serve. “We live a degree and a half below the equator and a mile above sea level in a wonderful climate amongst generous people,” Moffitt said. “On a clear day, we can see Mt. Kilimanjaro out our hangar door. We work with a highly skilled and committed team, truly a band of brothers and sisters, who trust completely in God for their daily needs. Mostly, we are privileged to use our talents to serve an amazing God, and we fully believe our work has eternal value and eternal rewards. Frankly, I can’t think of any better way to use our God-given aviation skills than this.” q

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Avionics News December 2012

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