chapter hangar
A King Air awaits a detailed inspection and full rebuild. Special modifications will
be added including mud flaps, special seat tracks and 9g seats, and an antenna
system specific to the rugged terrain it will be flying in.
remote area for missionary support.
The pilot, Nate Saint, 32, as well as the
other four men—Jim Elliot, 28; Roger
Youderian, 31; Pete Fleming, 27; and
Ed McCully, 28—were killed by Auca
natives. Their bodies were recovered by
military personnel, but the plane sunk
into the sand and was buried when the
river flooded during a storm several
days after the incident. It was recently
recovered and is now on display here.
(Their story is depicted in a book and
film entitled The End of the Spear.)
The MAF is funded solely through
donations, and with a $30 million
annual operating budget, help is always
needed. The pilots must be commercially
rated, and 98 percent of them have an
airframe and powerplant certificate.
They need to be able to maintain the
aircraft they fly because of the remote
areas in which they operate. The
pilots go through months of training
and have to help in the fundraising
efforts prior to being deployed to their
destination. They stay for three-and-a-half years before returning home for six
months to reacquaint with friends and
family before returning for whatever
remaining years of service they’ve
contracted for. Spouses and children are
with them wherever they are deployed
and are part of the MAF support team.
Many people work toward their
commercial certificates, make great
salaries, and fly to exotic places. On
the opposite end of the spectrum
are the MAF pilots who make a
modest salary and spend their time
on 30-minute hops into treacherous
terrain to help others. Ralph
summed it up when he said, “We go
not because it’s safe or fun to do so,
we go because we need to.”
Ralph joined our chapter for
lunch after the tour, and the stories
continued. Flying a Piper Colt over
the Blue Mountains and the Cascades
to get to Arlington, Washington,
for the Arlington Fly-In, one of
our annual chapter adventures,
just didn’t seem like much of an
adventure after this tour. The MAF
needs more pilots to volunteer, and
donations are always welcome. For
more information, visit www.MAF.
org or call 208-498-0800.
EAA will recognize humanitarian
aviation efforts, such as those
provided by the MAF, during EAA
AirVenture Oshkosh 2009. To learn
more about the activities planned,
visit www.AirVenture.org.
