Today we are starting week two of our first missionary maintenance specialists training class. Three mechanics from New Tribes Missionary Aviation have been with us since November 9th. So far we have completed the G1000 overview and G1000 maintenance functions as well as the first half of the PT6A turbine engine line maintenance and hot section inspection.
This morning we opened up our own Kodiak for a simulated inspection and started Kodiak airframe systems training in the classroom. We are well into the season here in Spokane where we have fewer opportunities to fly the airplane due to the weather. That makes it a great time of the year to do maintenance training.
Today we also have another training class going on in our facility. Our friends from Moody Aviation are utilizing one of our classrooms to attend survival training. They will get to finish up their week out in the woods putting the classroom training to practical use. Another organization is providing that survival training to the Moody folks. Although not a part of Moody, we at STC have similar objectives and cooperate with them whenever we can.
It’s thrilling for us to see how the Lord is using our facility. Milestones like the start of our maintenance training, the first use of our PT6 classroom and hosting a visiting organization like Moody Aviation continue to demonstrate the ways that this facility can be used to further the work of mission aviation.
Serving together.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
End of 3rd class, prep for 4th
We finished our third round of flight training last Friday here at STC. It was a class made up of two pilot/mechanics from JAARS and two from New Tribes Aviation (NTMA). The two JAARS pilots flew in direct from Papua New Guinea; the NTMA pilots came one from their training base in Arizona and one on furlough from Indonesia.
We are humbled and sobered by the investment that mission aviation is making in attending our training. To know that organizations are going to great expense to bring their people from half way around the world sets the bar even higher for us. We dare not squander or even take lightly this opportunity to serve them through excellent training.
At the end of the training we spent a few hours with these customers asking them for honest feedback on the training experience. We were delighted to not only hear the ways the training met their needs and expectations but also to hear where we can adjust and enhance the training to better meet the needs of future classes.
Each customer also filled out an anonymous evaluation form which further allowed us to capture open feedback as well as metrics to track specific and overall satisfaction with the training courses.
It was also good to connect (and in some cases reconnect) with these field experienced mission pilots. They are our eyes, ears and hands on the Kodiak in the field. Every class that comes through STC is another source of real world data. Data that will not only make our training better but will be passed on to all of our partnering mission aviation agencies.
We value the relationships we continue to build in mission aviation, not only for the sense of community but also providing those critical communication paths that will make all of us more capable as professional aviators and turbine aircraft operators.
Now on to maintenance training. We have this week to set the stage for our first three missionary maintenance specialists arriving next Monday from NTMA. Pray for us and pray for our NTMA customers as they prepare for the two weeks of training.
We are humbled and sobered by the investment that mission aviation is making in attending our training. To know that organizations are going to great expense to bring their people from half way around the world sets the bar even higher for us. We dare not squander or even take lightly this opportunity to serve them through excellent training.
At the end of the training we spent a few hours with these customers asking them for honest feedback on the training experience. We were delighted to not only hear the ways the training met their needs and expectations but also to hear where we can adjust and enhance the training to better meet the needs of future classes.
Each customer also filled out an anonymous evaluation form which further allowed us to capture open feedback as well as metrics to track specific and overall satisfaction with the training courses.
It was also good to connect (and in some cases reconnect) with these field experienced mission pilots. They are our eyes, ears and hands on the Kodiak in the field. Every class that comes through STC is another source of real world data. Data that will not only make our training better but will be passed on to all of our partnering mission aviation agencies.
We value the relationships we continue to build in mission aviation, not only for the sense of community but also providing those critical communication paths that will make all of us more capable as professional aviators and turbine aircraft operators.
Now on to maintenance training. We have this week to set the stage for our first three missionary maintenance specialists arriving next Monday from NTMA. Pray for us and pray for our NTMA customers as they prepare for the two weeks of training.
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