GroundCrew Issue - April 2010 - Page One

MMS Sends Rapid Response Team to Florida in Support of Haiti Relief Efforts

Volunteers organize relief supplies in MFI’s main hangar.

Shortly after the earthquake hit Haiti, MMS Aviation sent a team of three mechanics to Ft. Pierce, Florida to assist Missionary Flights International (MFI) with their relief airlift efforts.

With MFI’s maintenance staff committed to eighteen hour work days in order to keep their operational DC-3’s in the air, MMS’s team of Ian Hengst, Chuck Egbert, and Josh Adelsberger went down to help return N400MF to flight status and to move N300MF closer to airworthiness.

N400MF needed an engine pulled and a new engine to be prepared, installed, and tested. Ian, Josh, and Chuck took the lead on this project and successfully returned 400 MF to the flight schedule.

(Left) Ian prepares the engine for removal. (Center) Removing the engine from the airframe.
(Right) With the old engine on the ground, Chuck prepares N400MF’s firewall for the new engine.

N300MF was on the ground waiting for a new engine to be delivered but also suffered from some corrosion issues. Josh completed several structural repairs outside and inside the fuselage.

Our team also assisted with a 100-hour inspection of the left engine of N200MF, MFI’s turbine powered DC-3, changed out the fuel nozzles, and corrected several other discrepancies on the airplane.

While they were there a Piper Aztec with a pastor and church workers onboard landed on its way to Haiti. The pilot reported a high level of oil consumption and determined it necessary to replace the cylinders on the right engine before continuing. Our guys stepped in, replaced the cylinders, and sent the pilot on his way to Haiti.

It was a good trip. Our guys came home tired. Much was accomplished, but there’s still a lot more work to be done before life in Haiti returns to any type of normalcy.

(Left) Cylinder replacement on the Piper Aztec headed to Haiti. (Right) Josh makes structural repairs to N300MF’s fuselage.

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