July 2021 Update

1. A women needing spinal surgery was transported by Jay & Gloria Gebhard in our Cessna 172 from her home near Tallahassee to the hospital in Jacksonville for surgery.
2. Following surgery, a 3 year-old boy with a club foot and his dad were transported from the hospital near Barstow, FL to his home near Panama City, FL.

Lt. Col. Rob Sunman USAR Chaplain Corps, and a volunteer Network Engineer for Wycliffe Bible Translators, has reactivated his A&P Certificate and has been elected to the SAMI Board. He volunteers his time with SAMI serving as a mechanic for SAMI and procuring our parts. He is also a Sponsor for our 172.

1. The 172 has been having some GPS dropout issues so the GPS antenna was replaced. That has reduced but not eliminated the problem. Please pray! Also, we replaced all three tires recently due to wear and during the Young Eagle event we noticed our engine cowling had shifted due to a problem with several fasteners. The entire system holding the cowling in place was replaced and upgraded by an STC’d system provided by Skybolt. The cost and labor required were expensive with the total cost being about $1200. But now the cowling can be removed quickly and pilots can immediately see if the fasteners are secure during the preflight inspection.
2. The annual inspection was completed on the Aztec and it identified many items that need to be addressed before it can be flown. The Board will be evaluating the best path forward for SAMI which may include repair or sale of the aircraft. Please pray for the Board to discern God’s will regarding the Aztec and for a buyer to come forward, if that is required.
3. The Sierra has been re-positioned in the Hangar and cradles have been built for it so it is less likely to be damaged. Work to correct damage to the right wing has started but then was paused as we have found additional damage which requires an expert assessment of how to do the repair. That assessment is scheduled for late June. Please pray that the wing may be repaired and that a replacement is not required. Pray also that missing documents for the new propeller and engine overhaul can be replaced.
4. Record keeping regarding maintenance logs is vital in aviation. We have begun an effort to significantly update our log keeping using a system called AdLog.
5. To improve our maintenance capability in the hangar, SAMI purchased a parts cleaner and a sandblast enclosure.

Special Thank You

We greatly appreciate the skilled hands of A&Ps. Thank you Rob, Lee, Jerry, Yahn and Adam for doing the Aztec Annual and fixing the 172 cowling!

Thank you Jason for organizing SAMI’s hanger and parts cabinets.

Your membership and participation in SAMI helps make all this possible.

Thank you!