Oh, what I would have given to accompany uncle Cliff and his nephew Joel Ebersole on this journey from the middle of North America to the heart of South America!Nonprofit organization Wings of Hope had attempted more than once to donate a small airplane to my uncle's mission in Paraguay, which supports an outreach among a tribal group in the interior of the country. However, until now, Wings of Hope lacked a volunteer pilot to ferry the airplane from St. Louis, MO, to Asuncion, Paraguay--roughly a 5,500 mile odyssey for whomever might attempt it.
Well, finally, uncle Clifford--an instrument rated pilot--negotiated schedules with his nephew Joel Ebersole--a seasoned missionary pilot and licensed aviation mechanic who serves with Asas do Socorro, and who lives with his family in Anapolis, Brazil--and the two of them showed up in St. Louis to ferry the donated Cessna 175 Skylark.
So far, they have navigated the 52-year-old airplane from St. Luis, to Ft. Lauderdale, FL, to Stella Maris, Bahamas (where they enjoyed a week-long layover as they awaited a replacement part for a bad magneto--a sort of alternator used in small airplanes), to the Dominican Republic, to Puerto Rico, to Martinique, to Trinidad, to Guyana, and lastly to Boa Vista, Brazil. They must still cross the vast Amazon basin and the southern Brazilian highlands before reaching and crossing Paraguay. Many people are tracking them by satellite.
It has been an adventure of mechanics, navigation, endurance, beautiful vistas, and ornery customs agents. It's an amazing trip with a great cause, and we keep them in our prayers.
Every male, young or old, has expressed their ardent wish that THEY could have been part of the crew! I seem to recall you being willing to donate a body-part to have made that happen!
ReplyDeleteYou never know what might happen in the future--maybe there was a reason why you did that training those number of years ago....who knows?