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AWA-Tennessee, The First Year!
by Sam Miller
AWA-TN is quickly progressing towards its one-year anniversary. In fact, this will probably be the last article before one year has elapsed. Reflecting back over our first year, I’d like to tell you we have had nothing but blue skies, calm winds, and a simple operation, but then we would not have learned anything. Reflecting back over the first year there have been many difficulties, but God’s grace has endured, and the results of our year far outweigh the difficulties.
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| Jeffrey Shafer | |
In June of last year N66055 was delivered to Heritage Academy from Oklahoma. It was exciting to have the airplane that instantly made our training program a reality. There were only a couple of problems. First, with an airplane come bills, and school was not scheduled to start until late August. How would we pay the bills until the students began training? Second, would we have students to train? We received a donation from a wonderful family in Jamestown, TN, that provided us operating funds for the first couple months. As for the bills that accompanied the airplane, AWA has been very gracious in giving us time to catch up on them. It is very difficult to start a flight school from nothing, but we are enduring and making headway.
When school started in the fall, God provided us with wonderful students eager to learn about aviation. We had 14 students interested in taking part in the private pilot ground school, which we began teaching right away. As for the flight training, it took until after Christmas break to get everything in order to begin flying. This put a real strain on the program, because that meant six months of bills with no income or donations. We continued to have faith that God would provide when He felt we needed help.
Three young men began training towards their private licenses in the middle of winter. I never heard a complaint from them, even when the temperature was below chilly. It wasn’t long before we discovered something else about flying in TN during the winter months. Besides being cold, the wind tends to blow at a steady 15 – 20 knots and is rarely down the runway. This was yet another obstacle we had to deal with. I am thankful for the students God has given us this year. They are patient, hard working and focused. Their attitude has been wonderful even through the weeks that we weren’t able to train due to the weather.
Will Leader
As you read this article, if all goes as planned, one of our students will be in a foreign mission field working as an apprentice missionary pilot. Mr. Andrew (A. J.) McGee decided early this year that he wanted to be a missionary pilot. He has filled out applications and made the necessary arrangements for this to happen. We are now working diligently on his training so that he will be ready to take the private pilot check ride on his 17th birthday early this summer. At that point he will travel to an aviation mission base and spend the remainder of his summer in some remote part of this world.
We are very excited for A.J. and his decision here at Heritage Academy. This is not a decision AWA-TN or Heritage Academy was involved in. A.J. and his family made this decision and have done most of the legwork themselves, but it exemplifies what we are trying to do. We are interested in training missionary pilots, and we are very fortunate that our first student is giving up the summer prior to his senior year to experience missionary aviation first hand.
Now that spring is here, the weather is being more cooperative. We have been able to explore other airports in the area and have been able to get serious about our quest for soloing. Spring also reminds me of another impending challenge. Our annual is due in May, and again we are hopeful that God will answer our prayers and assist us in making wise decisions with the airplane He has entrusted us with.
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Andrew (A.J.) McGee
This first year has been interesting. We have learned quite a lot this year and are eager to continue learning while doing the work God has placed before us. We have many students eager to begin flying next year and are hopeful to accommodate as many as possible. We have amassed a small list of needs for our program and even a few wants. Looking forward from here, I’m not quite sure how God will carry us to next fall; what I do know is that he will, because he is directing too many young missionaries our way to allow the project to end.
