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"Summer" Stuff

 

 

I recently stumbled upon Heart and Brain comics. They are amazing, and this is exactly what I feel many days, especially this summer.

 

Some things I just finished up with before being given my limited hours of freedom!

 

Aircraft Finishes

 

We each took a control surface, I used an elevator here, stripped the old paint off, prepared the surface, sprayed on primer, sprayed on the base coats, masked and then painted a design.

 

 

I used the Looney Tunes Wile E. Coyote's favorite brand due to some runs I had in my paint. My lab partner did a KitKat because every day he gets one from the vending machine and eats it in bites like that! It stresses me out.

 

 

Part 2 of my toolbox project! Now that the structure is finished it needs painted. I decided to use poweder coat, a technique that uses electricity to make a plastic-paint powder to stick to the metal. (You can see the little clip on the corner of the lid I am painting.)

 

 

Afterwards it is baked in the oven to cure the paint.

 

 

At the end it leaves a nearly flawless and highly durable finish!

 

Landing Gear

 

Adjusting some tricky landing gear stuff takes many people...

 

 

My friend Nate and I took apart an air/oil nose wheel strut together. It uses the compressibility of air to cushion the strut like a spring.

 

 

After the nose gear we did a main gear, then the main gear safety wire...

 

 

The little hole here is an inch deeper than your fingers can reach and only just wide enough open to fit your fingers inside. Thus making it extremely difficult to twist safety wire. When Nate or I would finally finish (it took myriad tries) it would be too loose or a bad twist. This one I did was just perfect, then right at the end the wire snapped! (you can see it on the right bolt where the tail is sticking up too far...)

 

 

This is me rigging the little cotter pin behind the rudder pedals for the brakes In the Cessna 150. It is more than a little tricky!

 

 

And yet amidst the frustrations there is delight, tiny bearings! This one came out of a tailwheel assembly.

 

Other stuff

 

Our neighboring hangar is a museum called Historic Flight owned by a friend of Moody Aviation. He asked us if we wanted to wash and wax the wings on the DC-3. We said yes. Well, one group got a sunny day. For my group it snowed!!! Our fingers froze, it was so cold that the Costco pizza tasted amazing.

 

 

For Easter some friends and I went for a sunrise hike. It was a really beautiful day praising God for His salvation and life!

 

 

These last couple of months my church has been hosting a marriage seminar and I have been doing the childcare. When we were doing play dough, I made this Sun thermometer that uses a thermocouple like we are learning about in school. It also has an umbrella, but that wasn't my idea. I'm not sure what its purpose is, but I'm sure we would all die without it or something.

 

 

An airshow came to our local Air Force base! This is the new F-35.

 

Powerplant

 

We just started Powerplant before summer break to get a head start on some things. This project is a circuit board that we solder up for timing magnetos on the engine. The little aluminum boxes were backordered so I decided to make a wooden one and wood burn the name on it. It turned out pretty neat and was satisfying to create!

 

Summer at last!

 

First thing that happened to me on break. I was robbed.

 

 

Roses in the rain!

 

 

The big news, I passed my written tests, scheduled my orals and practicals in Eugene and passed those too! Now I am an official Airframe Mechanic, which means I can work on airplanes (excluding the engine) legally. The proof is the little paper in my hand there, that cost me over a thousand dollars just in those three tests! Hallelujah for the grace God provided for me in getting this far, and doing excellent. Thank you all for praying for me, it really helped!

 

This summer I am soaking up all the good things:

 

 

Puppies

 

 

The Oregon coast

 

 

Making new friends at the homeschool conference who are making an audio drama! This is me (in the booth) preparing to audition for the evil villains voice. The other tall fellow is my younger brother Andrew also preparing for an audition.

 

God's Grace is enough

 

I have been experiencing grace from God overall, again and again. I praise Him for what He has done. Everything from rent money in time to a time-freezing sunset at the airport. He is a good God in charge of it all. I am looking forward to sharing more soon, when I return to school, but for now I have a road trip and a family reunion, please pray for those. Until then,

 

Fear God,

Jonathan Leever