Missionaire International

Aircraft Restorations:

The Cessna 172 has been a longtime project, taking a back seat to many other projects over the years. But 2006 has been the year to spend some serious time on it, providing some excellent in depth restoration experience for students.

The guys installed a STOL kit (Short Take-Off and Landing) on the wings, which will increase the performance for shorter runways. They worked through the entire process of measuring, cutting, fitting, and riveting, and learned some new things about patience in the process. Another accomplishment was the wiring and installation of the instrument panel - before, it looked like a big bowl of spaghetti to the innocent bystander, but each wire was painstakingly attached to the right connection to make it all come together. Another aircraft some of you may remember is the Cessna 140 Missionaire restored for Baptist missionary Jim Winters, who ministered among the Indian reservations in New Mexico. Jim passed away in 2004, but another pastor has recently purchased the aircraft and plans to use it for ministry in Mexico. Missionaire is once again preparing the 140 for ministry. More details will be forthcoming! For more highlights on past and current projects, go to www.missionaire.org and click on Aircraft Projects.