Saturday 16 July 2016

I think you should buy a jet.

Yep. Have you ever thought of having one before? Sure you have. How many good times could be had? Life would be easier (I did not say simpler), you could go anywhere you want whenever you want. Got some sort of event to go to that is located far away? Who cares, just take the jet! Even if flying isn’t your thing, how good would it be to be able to say, “yeah…I’ve got a jet… I never fly it… but still… I’ve got one”.

I realize that normally, having your own jet is too expensive. They’re thirsty and fuel isn’t cheap, not to mention maintenance costs. Then there’s the rest of the airframe too, because I’m sure we’re all aware that by “jet”, that really only refers to the engine. You still need the rest of the airplane. The truth is that if it were easy and affordable, we would all have our own jet! …and airframe.

So what’s all this about? well, right now, for a limited time only! ACT FAST AND YOU WILL… sorry, starting to sound all pressure-salesman here, but you CAN buy your own jet, and it costs whatever you want to put into it! Obviously there’s a catch, and part of it is that even if you had your own jet (with all the costs that come with it), what would you really do with it? You might as well put it somewhere it will be put to good use, right?

Enter, “Wings of Hope”. The Cessna Caravan which fondly refers to me as “maintainer”, at least I like to think so. She gets her name from her registration – D2-WOH, and currently has a jet (engine) that is about to be expired as of this August, and thus, will require A NEW ONE!

Imagine this. You’re talking with one of your friends, or whoever it is you talk to, and they ask, “so, what did you do today?” by helping “Wing of Hope” with the purchase of a new engine, you could tell your friend “oh, just bought a jet”. Plus, you get the added benefit knowing that your jet won’t be sitting idly, no instead, she’ll be flying all over parts of Angola to exotic places such as, Chinhama! Cuando Cuvango! and Cazombo! With the mission of transporting doctors to remote villages, carrying de-mining teams to minefields to remove land mines from war affected areas, and providing a medevac service for sick and injured people to be transported back to Lubango for treatment that sure beats some of their more local methods, like rubbing cow manure on an open wound. True story. This aircraft you can be sure will be put to good use.

But hey, don't just take it from me; see for yourself at https://www.mafc.org/projects/angola-engine



Thursday 7 July 2016

Hi From Marcel

It's pretty quiet around here, at least at home. No, I'm not talking about Canada home either. Sorry to confuse many of you, but while Kelly and Ethan took off to Ontario for the month, I have remained here in Lubango and am staying quite busy.

Why didn't I go too? believe me, I would REALLY enjoy being back in Canada to see almost everyone again (don't be too hard on Kelly if you didn't get to see her, one month just isn't long enough for that), but it's sorta complicated for almost every reason; the biggest of which being potential visa issues, tons of things going on in the hangar, and honestly, I don't even know if I'm ready yet.

I'll explain more in a later post about the stuff going on in the hangar, but will say for now that it involves going to another country for a paint job on one of our airplane, an engine replacement, and several more upgrades. The other going on here was a government inspection last Tuesday of the maintenance on two of our three airplanes. It's an annual check that each airplane gets in order to keep things operational.

Right now, I am preparing to head out in a couple hours to Tchincombe Ranch, where nearly all the missionaries in Angola (roughly 30 adults) gather each year for 6 days of community and spiritual feeding. We will have time each day worshipping God by listening to a speaker, singing songs, and playing games... all in ENGLISH!

On that note, I better finish packing. If you happen to see Kelly, tell her I say hi!