GCA Volunteer Profiles

	Cliff McKinney, an A&P who had worked as a Maintenance Supervisor for Ford Motor.  Cliff accepted a buy-out offer and was praying, recently, about how he should spend his time when I called him and asked him if he would be interested in helping with some work on N538JP (the 336).  Cliff's help with work on the aircraft is greatly appreciated.  We re-installed the Ailerons a few days ago, a job that definately requires two people.  Thanks Cliff! , an A&P who had worked as a Maintenance Supervisor for Ford Motor.  Cliff accepted a buy-out offer and was praying, recently, about how he should spend his time when I called him and asked him if he would be interested in helping with some work on N538JP (the 336).  Cliff's help with work on the aircraft is greatly appreciated.  We re-installed the Ailerons a few days ago, a job that definately requires two people.
Jim Chapin of Ypsilanti, MI works for FedEx as an aircraft mechanic.  He is donating his time to work on the N538JP (The 336) in Jackson and we sincerely appreciate his time and talents.   You are a blessing Jim.  Your work will help save lives and support Christian missionaries working in some of the most remote locations in Central America.  Jim and his wife Pam attend Trinity Presbyterian in Plymouth.	Jayson Owen, originally from Alaska recently returned from his fishing camp in Kodiak Island to help work on the 336.  Here he is installing a Horton STOL kit to help is slow the approach speed of the aircraft so that we can use it on the short airstrips in the Ixcan.  Jayson also donated a trip to his camp, The Bear Paw Lodge (click the link to see the webiste), for our auction.  Thanks Jayson!
John Solo of Solo Aviation continues to donate hangar space and very kind use of his time, talents and associates, like Sharon Wyant, who manages the offices there.  Just the other day, we sprang a big fuel leak in the quick-drain of N6CV and John came by to personally help fix the problem.  Thanks John! and Sharon!	Brad and Kim Newman of Tiffin Aire Inc. kindly donated the labor of their company to inspect the rear propeller of N538JP, (the 336).  This is a process that could have been very expensive and we appreciate their willingness to donate the labor portion.  You are a blessing to the ministry!  Your donation WILL help save lives and ease suffering.
	Jim and Joan Rucker, who years ago donated a gorgeous sailboat to our ministry, recently has also donated several avionics radios that we will be selling on Ebay to raise funds for fuel and to support operations.  As it turned out, one of the radios was badly needed to replace our Number 1 Nav/Comm in the N6CV (the 337).  Jim, thanks for continuing to be a blessing to this ministry!  Your donation will help save lives and support missions.
Tim Kramer, who donated a flight in his amphibian aircraft at the auction last March, has also agreed to fly with Rob during some domestic charity flights that we will be providing for medical patients here in the U.S.  Tim is a CFI and his time will be used to help satisfy insurance requirements.	Edward and Sharon Sweeten of Las Vegas, NV donated a cargo pod for a Cessna 206.  This is the type of aircraft we flew in Guyan and Guatemala previously and we were hoping that the pod would also fit the 336/337 aircraft we are now preparing.  It is close, but not quite the same.  This isn't a problem as we are confident that we can trade it or sell it and use the revenue to purchase one that will fit.  Thanks Ed!  Your donation was a great blessing to the ministry.
A dear family in Ft. Collins, CO has donated a nearly new Continental IO-360 aircraft engine that we were praying for!  It has now been installed on the front of N538JP (the 336) and is ready to receive its propeller.  This was an amazing blessing and will vastly speed our progress towards getting the 336 field ready.  They (the engine donors) are a wonderful, committed Christian family and a blessing to this live-saving ministry!	David Goudsmith of Golden Aviation, has agreen to sell two propellers (front and back) to GCA at a greatly discounted price.  This will be extremely helpful as we expect to have to replace both propellers over the course of time.  Having spares on hand, and at a very affordable price, will be a blessing - thank you David!
Bill and Audra Skiba of Washington D.C. invited us to stay with them while they hosted a recital at their church, the Lake Ridge Baptist Church, to help raise funds for Great Commission Air.  Bill and Audra are special friends that attended Scio Community Alliance at one time.  We were blessed to be able to share the the youth group, adult Bible Study.	Mitch Nobel, who is also a CFI and has been providing many hours of instruction to Rob in order to satisfy training and insurance requirements, continues to provide those services as well and may also accompany him on domestic medical transports.  Mitch was introduced to us through our new Board member, Will Minette.  They both attend Saline United Methodist Church, an active sponsor of GCA.  Mitch also generously donated a artificial horizon (attitude indicator) that we recently had re-built and will incorporate into the instrument panel of one of the aircraft to act as a backup unit.  Thanks Mitch!

April Praises:

Another incredibly generous sponsor from Muskego, WI has donated a Cessna 337 Skymaster aircraft.  This is a retractable gear, turbocharged, pressurized and de-iced version of the 336 we are currently working on.  It is the equivalent of a Lincoln, compared to our sparse 336 and will not be used in the rugged Guatemalan environment.  It is a beautiful aircraft in fine condition and it will make a very good missions support aircraft somewhere. We are diligently seeking out potential projects for this plane.  Friend, you have blessed our ministry by doubling our work load!  Thank you!

Mitch Noble, who has been working with Rob as an instructor for the 336, has donated an Artificial Horizon that we have had overhauled and will install in one of the aircraft as a backup unit.  This type of backup AI greatly improves the safety of instrument flight.  Thanks Mitch!  You're a blessing to the ministry!

Russ Rinaldi, son of Joyce Gant who helped manage our auction last March, donated his vacation time in April to work on the 336 (and the 337).  Every hour that Russ worked on the plane was another hour we are closer to getting it into the field and saving lives.  Thanks Russ!

Will Minette, a pilot and long-time supporter who attends the United Methodist Church of Saline has joined our Board of Directors.  We are excited about the prospect of Will, a strong believer, coming on board.  Will has also gone above-and-beyond by introducing us to his church.  Saline United Methodist has provided support to Great Commission Air and we are very excited about that too!  Thanks Will!  Your support and partnership will save lives and ease the suffering of many.

Mitch Noble, VP of Aircraft Maintenance Technology (I think that is roughly correct) works for USA Jet in Willow Run and has offerred to volunteer his time to GCA.  He is qualified as an aircraft mechanic (and I believe an inspector) and is a multi-engine flight instructor.  We just happen to really need a ME CFI right now in order to get through some onerous insurance hoops.  He has volunteered to fly as my ME CFI in the 336 and he has also worked on 336 type aircraft!

John Solo of Solo Aviation in Ann Arbor has offerred to let us use their HEATED hangar "with tools" in Jackson.  This is a big deal and we'll likely take him up on it, eventually. He runs a Fixed-Base operation from the terminal at Ann Arbor and is also going to discount fuel for us from their business in Ann Arbor Airport.

Robin Fazio, a man we have known since our work in Guyana has offerred to help us with Grant Writing.  He has had experience in this field, has a PhD in Education and has written several grants with values up to $600,000.  His success rate has been "80% successful".  He has also offerred to speak with his churches where he lives in GA.

There is more!  I'm just too tired to write it down!!!