Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY190033A
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00:02 I want to spend my life
00:08 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:09 Hello, friends, welcome to 3ABN Today. 01:11 My name is John Lomacang 01:13 but you know that if you have tuned in before. 01:15 If this is your first time, note this channel, 01:17 we believe that the Lord has ordained it 01:19 to get people ready for the coming of the Lord. 01:22 And I am particularly excited about today's program. 01:25 Now, I believe in the three angels' messages. 01:28 I wrote a booklet on that, still plug in there 01:31 but today, we have three guests that are not angels 01:35 but they are flying in the midst of heaven. 01:37 And you'll find out in just a moment 01:39 what I mean by that. 01:40 But this is an exciting program 01:42 because there are places in the world 01:44 that cannot be reached other than by flight 01:47 and these three gentlemen will tell you 01:49 how you can enhance your future, 01:52 how you can experience what it means 01:53 to get off the ground without your own wings 01:56 and be able to either navigate or pilot a plane 02:01 and since I like flight, 02:03 I am really looking forward to the rest of this interview. 02:06 But before we go any further, 02:07 thank you for all that you do for this network 02:09 as we continue going and growing 02:10 getting ready for the coming of our Lord. 02:13 We're gonna be blessed with a wonderful song 02:14 my good dear sister, Yvonne Lewis-Shelton 02:17 is gonna bless us with the song "In Christ Alone." 02:38 In Christ alone my hope is found 02:44 He is my light, my strength, my song 02:49 This Cornerstone, this solid ground 02:55 Firm through the fiercest drought and storm 02:59 What heights of love, what depths of peace 03:05 When fears are stilled, when strivings cease 03:10 My Comforter, my All in All 03:15 Here in the love of Christ I stand 03:28 In Christ alone, who took on flesh 03:34 Fullness of God in a helpless babe 03:39 This gift of love and righteousness 03:44 Scorned by the ones He came to save 03:49 'Til on that cross as Jesus died 03:54 The wrath of God was satisfied 03:59 For every sin on Him was laid 04:05 Here in the death of Christ I live 04:31 There in the ground His body lay 04:36 Light of the world by darkness slain 04:41 Then bursting forth in glorious day 04:47 Up from the grave He rose again 04:52 And as He stands in victory 04:57 Sin's curse has lost its grip on me 05:02 For I am His and He is mine 05:07 Bought with the precious blood of Christ 05:20 No guilt in life, no fear in death 05:26 This is the power of Christ in me 05:31 From life's first cry to final breath 05:36 Jesus commands my destiny 05:41 No power of hell, no scheme of man 05:47 Can ever pluck me from His hand 05:54 Till He returns to take me home 06:00 Here in the power of Christ I'll stand 06:05 No power of hell, no scheme of man 06:10 Can ever pluck me from His hand 06:20 Here in the power of Christ I'll stand. 06:41 Thank you so much for that song Yvonne, 06:43 I appreciate that. 06:44 Now let me take the time to introduce our guests today. 06:47 To my immediate right is David Macomber. 06:49 Am I saying that correctly? Macomber. 06:50 See, you gotta throw that accent at me. 06:52 Sorry. 06:53 But hey, good to have you, David. 06:54 Welcome to 3ABN. Thank you. 06:56 And briefly tell our viewers and listeners what your role is 06:59 at the Andrews University Department of Aviation? 07:02 Well, so I teach at the university. 07:06 I teach on the flight side, 07:08 so I am preparing our students for all the knowledge 07:11 that they need to know as well as tracking them 07:14 when they are going through flight training 07:15 to make sure that they're learning 07:17 everything they need to know 07:19 as they progress in their career. 07:21 Understanding all the things that pertain to aviation. 07:24 All the switches and everything 07:26 that's going on in the back of the airplane, 07:27 everything that's going on in the pilot's mind. 07:31 There's a lot to it and so I'm gonna make sure... 07:33 We're gonna dive into some of those details. 07:35 I love flight. 07:37 And Jonathan Larson, good to have you here today. 07:39 Thank you. 07:40 And tell our viewers and listeners what you do is 07:42 as it pertains to the aviation program? 07:44 I'm the Director of Maintenance. 07:45 So we do all of our own maintenance 07:47 for the airplanes in house. 07:48 So every hundred flight hours and every annual 07:50 I can take the airplane apart, 07:52 take all the inspection panels off 07:53 and the seats out and make sure the things 07:55 that are supposed to move still move 07:57 and those that aren't supposed to move aren't moving. 07:59 So we make sure the airplanes are safe 08:02 and good to go for the students. 08:03 That is important to know 08:04 because when you are clear for takeoff, 08:06 it's good to know you'll be able to come back. 08:07 Yes. Thank you. 08:09 Good to have here, Jonathan. 08:10 And Assistant Professor, Jeremy Alexander. 08:13 Good to have you here today. 08:14 Thank you very much, Pastor. 08:16 Once again, Jeremy Alexander, 08:18 I work alongside these two quality gentlemen here. 08:22 They help keep me in check. 08:24 They also teach me a lot 08:25 and so it's privilege to work with them. 08:29 Once again, I teach classes 08:30 along with giving flight instruction. 08:33 Soon enough, 08:34 I'll be in the same position as David 08:36 as the assistant chief flight instructor, 08:38 and I'll also be able to give checks as well. 08:40 Okay. 08:41 But in the meantime, I'm happy learning the process. 08:43 Okay, good. 08:45 I found out a small detail about you 08:46 not too long ago that you were in the Navy 08:49 and you were a pilot in the Navy. 08:51 Just kind of briefly tell us about that? 08:53 That is correct. 08:55 I was a carrier qualified Navy pilot 08:59 for the period of about four and half years. 09:01 It's certainly a tremendous experience 09:03 and I learned a lot from that, you know. 09:05 Probably share a bit more about that too 09:07 as the interview goes on. 09:09 Okay. 09:10 But yeah, quite an experience. 09:12 So you've taken off 09:13 and landed on an air craft career. 09:14 That is correct. 09:16 Did they stabilize the ocean to make it easier? 09:18 Oh, that would certainly be nice 09:19 but you know, you don't always get that privilege. 09:21 Wow, I've seen that 09:23 in outside of a nice, safe, flight simulator. 09:27 I haven't had that experience, 09:29 but so glad to have you here today. 09:30 David, give us a little brief history 09:31 of the program at Andrews. 09:33 How long has it been around? 09:35 What kind of impact has it had on the world? 09:37 Well, so Andrews has been around 09:38 since the early 1970s. 09:40 Right. 09:41 And for sort of flight program specifically. 09:44 Yeah. 09:45 And Andrews actually started out 09:48 as kind of the mission aviation hub 09:52 for the Adventist Church. 09:53 So from a span from roughly 1976 to 1979, 09:59 Andrews was involved 10:00 in putting out dozens of airplanes. 10:02 We have record of collaborating with Quiet Hour Ministries 10:07 to put out about 50 airplanes in that span of time. 10:12 And by the end of the 1970's 10:14 we had about 120 aircrafts worldwide serving 10:19 in mission positions of the world. 10:21 Wow, that's an interesting statistic 10:24 because when you think about a university, 10:27 well, you know, the other universities, 10:28 I'm sure that have flight programs 10:30 but that was a best kept secret. 10:32 I've been to Andrews many times. 10:35 I've seen the baseball field. 10:37 I've seen so much of the campus but I never knew 10:40 they were hiding a flight school 10:42 behind the little bakery. 10:44 No, it wasn't rare, 10:45 but it's a very interesting program. 10:47 And how long have you been involved in the program? 10:50 So I've been involved with the program 10:53 since early 2018. 10:56 Okay. 10:57 So I'm involved with it, 11:00 before that I was a mission pilot 11:03 in Chad, Africa. 11:05 And I actually came and do the program here 11:07 with 3ABN before talking about that project. 11:11 And now God has guided me and brought me to Andrews, 11:15 so it's a privilege to be involved with it. 11:17 Wow, that's wonderful. 11:19 And that's interesting to see 11:21 that the school offers that kind of curriculum. 11:25 How many students practically right, 11:27 Jonathan, do you know or even Jeremy, 11:29 what kind of student base do you have 11:31 that's interested in this kind of program? 11:32 At Andrews, we have a flight program 11:34 and a maintenance program. 11:35 So we've got about a dozen students 11:36 in the maintenance program 11:38 and about 30 or 40 students in the flight program. 11:40 And there any that do both programs? 11:42 Absolutely. 11:43 Okay, 'cause if you fly, 11:44 you want to know how your plane is working? 11:46 Yeah, so those that are interested, 11:47 we highly recommend having both 11:49 and then you're well rounded, 11:51 complete individual ready for the industry. 11:54 That's good and... 11:56 We have scholarships for those that choose to do both, 11:59 just because we encourage it so much. 12:01 That's right. 12:02 I like that because it does cost. 12:04 It's not like a regular curriculum. 12:06 Just give us... 12:08 And we're gonna talk about 12:09 some of the funding and scholarships 12:10 that can go along with helping this kind of program go on. 12:12 But just give us an idea of what it cost like 12:14 that a four year program for a flight 12:17 including flight hours and use of the plane generally? 12:20 So, in general terms right now 12:23 we're sitting at about the cost of tuition 12:25 for Andrews plus $65,000 12:29 and that brings you from zero experience 12:32 all the way until you can start teaching other people 12:34 how to fly an aircraft. 12:35 That's good because that's what you wanna be able to good. 12:37 That's right. 12:39 And that includes flight experience, 12:40 landing and takeoff? 12:42 Flight experience, land and take off 12:44 and everything in between. 12:45 Yep, we even train you 12:46 into how to fly in a crew type environment, 12:50 preparing you for the airlines. 12:53 And we have a letter of authorization 12:56 from the FAA that allows our graduates 13:00 to go to the airlines in a 1000 hours 13:05 rather than 1500 13:06 which is the current regular requirement 13:08 before anybody going through flight training. 13:11 So that's saying that the training is very extensive. 13:14 Yeah, because of the airplanes that we have, 13:17 because of our maintenance, 13:18 because of our teachers, because of our curriculum, 13:21 all of that comes together in a complete package 13:24 and because it's more complete and more thorough 13:27 than just going and flying your own airplane for 1500 hours. 13:30 The FAA says that you get better training, 13:32 if you come through our curriculum. 13:34 Did you hear that? 13:35 Better training flight instruction 13:38 as well as maintenance at Andrews University. 13:40 When you talk about 500 hours less 13:44 by going through this program, that's cost effective. 13:47 That's right. And that's a lot. 13:48 I mean, that 500 hours is 500 hours. 13:50 When you talk about running a plane 13:52 to get 500 hours 13:53 or going to get 500 hours training 13:55 or whatever the case may be, when you put that together, 13:57 'cause you've been on an aircraft carrier, 13:59 talk about the maintenance? 14:00 I mean, you're talking about the United States Navy, 14:03 those guys that when that plane takes off, 14:06 how critical is the maintenance of an airplane? 14:09 Oh, it's incredibly critical. 14:12 The components, they just, 14:15 they really can't fail, you know, 14:17 they have to work yeah 14:19 'cause otherwise you're gonna find yourself 14:21 going for a swim 14:22 or having to unfortunately punch out 14:25 which is not a funniest aspect to flying. 14:28 Right. Yeah. 14:29 And punch out is not a physical act but... 14:31 No, I'm sorry, eject out of the airplane. 14:32 Right, eject, okay, good. 14:33 I want to clarify that 'cause I knew what you meant. 14:35 But, you know, somebody might say, 14:37 why would they hit the fight instructor... 14:39 You can't exactly pull off on the side of the road 14:41 and fix your broken tire. 14:43 You've got to know 14:44 how to handle everything that comes. 14:45 That's right. 14:47 So you are very particular, 14:48 Jonathan, about what you approve? 14:50 That's right. Yeah. 14:52 So at the end of my inspections, 14:54 I have a log book entry 14:55 and I put my name on it and if something happens, 14:57 the FAA is coming and asking me questions. 15:00 So yeah, I mean, everything I do, 15:01 I have to be very particular 15:03 and very specific about to make sure 15:04 that it's 100% top notch ready to go every time. 15:06 Yeah. 15:07 And the reason I'm approaching this 15:09 so early in the program is this that, 15:12 you know, you hear about accidents, 15:14 whether it's a single engine plane, 15:15 or whether it's a commercial jet, 15:17 FAA is involved at every level. 15:18 Yes. That's right. 15:20 They'll see what happened. 15:21 Like I heard about some planes that it collided in Alaska and, 15:26 you know, the unfortunate incident there 15:29 that which is pretty commercial, 15:30 taking people to see the mountains 15:32 and the things in. 15:33 And so those small little details 15:36 is the difference between life and death. 15:40 So there's nothing that you can overlook? 15:41 Yep. 15:42 So we've got, one of our airplanes 15:44 is from 1959 and it's still flying 15:46 because we do maintenance. 15:48 I mean, how many cars are on the road from 1959? 15:50 That's true. 15:52 But we just inspect them all the time and make sure 15:54 that they're all up and if anything is, 15:56 is even looking like it's starting to go, 15:58 we replace it and make sure it's safe. 16:00 Yeah, and I'm a little bit more detailed 16:02 in flight than many of the regular talk show hosts. 16:05 Because I like to fly too 16:07 but do not ask me to fly you in my plane, 16:09 I don't have one unless you wanna be 16:10 in a model airplane. 16:12 But so you know about the field, 16:14 like how long this piece of equipment 16:16 should be in a plane, it shouldn't go 16:17 beyond these hours and all that kind of thing? 16:19 Yeah. Good, good. 16:20 But now give us some more, 16:22 talk about some of your missions, 16:24 because each one of you 16:26 has been involved in some type of mission. 16:28 Talk about some of these missions 16:30 that you've been involved in? 16:32 Well, you know, the interesting thing 16:34 about being a pilot is 16:38 we happen to have a very unique perspective 16:41 being in the air. 16:42 And also, just as it happens to be 16:45 in Revelation 14:6 talks about, 16:47 "I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, 16:50 proclaiming the gospel to those that dwell upon the earth." 16:52 And so like you said, we may not be angels, 16:54 but we do have the opportunity to spread the gospel 16:57 and we can use flight to do that. 16:59 There is a man by the name of Dick Hall, 17:02 he took that very seriously. 17:04 Back in 1957, 17:06 he was a pastor missionary to... 17:10 I think it was the Hmong people in the country of Laos. 17:14 He helped them build the church there. 17:16 It was actually the first Adventist presence 17:18 in that country. 17:20 And because of his energy, 17:22 effort he put forth their people, 17:24 I mean, a whole nation group in fact, 17:27 in the Adventist Church 17:28 who would not have been 17:30 had he not been able to do that, 17:31 it was all because he was able to fly, 17:32 which is pretty awesome. 17:34 And it shows how important it can be for us. 17:36 And this also, it also has an impact to you too, 17:38 because you had somewhat of a conversion experience 17:42 when you were involved in the Navy, 17:44 tell us about that? 17:46 Well, very, I'll try to keep it as short as possible, 17:50 but I did have a conversion experience 17:52 and I'd always been searching, trying to learn Bible truth 17:57 and I've been to several different churches. 17:59 You know, I won't name denominations, 18:02 but I wasn't afraid to ask questions 18:05 and so that's what I did. 18:06 And as I read the Bible, 18:08 I kept on seeing things about the Sabbath. 18:10 You know, I was like, 18:11 well, I think that's more of a legalistic thing 18:14 that doesn't apply to us now. 18:15 And I asked my pastors, I got like, 18:18 three different answers from all of them. 18:19 And so I decided, 18:21 well, I'm just going to research myself, 18:22 it can't hurt me, you know, 18:24 I'm supposed to know the Bible for myself. 18:25 And so I did. 18:27 And the more I read the Bible, 18:28 the more I realized 18:30 that perhaps I wasn't as right as I thought I was 18:33 that the Bible actually talks about the Sabbath 18:36 and the Sabbath still applies today. 18:38 And that just changed my perspective 18:42 on things actually. 18:43 And, in fact, while I was in the Navy, 18:47 I would have to say that, 18:48 it probably led me to desire a different lifestyle 18:52 than I had then 18:54 and according to my own personal convictions, 18:57 I felt that it was time for me to go elsewhere 19:00 and God miraculously worked it out 19:02 so that I could do that 19:04 and actually learn and submit my faith more 19:07 and that's beautiful. 19:08 Yeah. That was interesting. 19:09 And that was as you are transitioning 19:11 out of the military... 19:12 Correct. 19:13 Because the Lord had another direction for you... 19:15 He did. 19:16 That you were not aware of but, 19:18 you know, those little taps on the heart's door 19:20 made a difference. 19:21 He sort of speak navigated you. 19:23 He did. 19:25 He became the lead pilot. 19:30 He was the lead pilot, I was his wingman, yeah. 19:33 Wow, that's interesting, but now, 19:35 you talked about missions. 19:38 Share some more about missions, 19:39 because missions could be in various parts of the world 19:44 but in various aspects, 19:45 and how does flight play a role in missions? 19:48 Well, I think one of the big things 19:50 with flight and missions, you know, 19:52 you think about the quintessential mission pilot 19:57 who's flying into these remote unimproved strips, 20:01 and drop it off Bible workers 20:03 or construction materials 20:04 to build a church and stuff like that. 20:06 And that is definitely a very necessary part. 20:12 But being a mission pilot, 20:14 you also have the opportunity to reach others 20:17 who may not necessarily 20:19 have the contact that you would need. 20:22 For instance, you're meeting with 20:23 the civil aviation authorities in that country. 20:28 You're meeting with other missionary families. 20:31 So one story that I have from that is, 20:35 I was working. 20:36 When I was in Africa, 20:37 I had the opportunity 20:39 to share an understanding of the state of the dead 20:44 with another missionary, mission pilot who was there. 20:49 He was working with one of the evangelical groups. 20:52 And, you know, God sorted it out 20:56 so that we were able to talk about this subject. 21:01 And, you know, we just opened up a discussion 21:03 and we're like, okay, so do you believe this? 21:07 Why do you believe that? 21:08 And well, you know, 21:10 I was able to sit down with him 21:11 and have lunch and talk through it. 21:13 And we were saying, you know, like, 21:18 how can the soul be eternal? 21:21 It says in eternally burning fire, 21:22 but fire can only burn 21:24 as long as there's wood to burn. 21:26 That's right. 21:27 And so bringing these truths and these principles, 21:30 I was being able to reach him at a spot 21:34 where he was supposed to be serving 21:35 and he was supposed to be ministering, 21:37 but God gave me that opportunity to reach him, 21:43 and I don't think anybody else 21:44 would have been able to reach him 21:45 in the same way and that's a moment. 21:47 Right because you being a pilot, 21:49 him being also involved in the same thing... 21:50 That's right. 21:52 Brought you to a point an intersection that is, 21:54 that's really good and it makes a difference, 21:57 what people believe in. 21:59 I think about flight in this respect 22:01 and if you compare flight and spirituality 22:03 or the Bible together, details matter. 22:07 Jonathan, do details matter? 22:08 Absolutely. Okay. 22:10 That's a small detail. 22:12 It's just a small crack. 22:15 Not a big issue right now, it'd be okay, 22:18 use for maybe 10 or 12 more flights. 22:20 I mean, who knows? 22:22 Details matter. Details matter. 22:24 They make a difference. 22:25 But you also had an experience to touch a person's life 22:31 when an unfortunate experience happened with somebody 22:33 that you were able to get in touch with, 22:35 talk about that? 22:36 So the Lord has blessed me 22:38 in a lot of my ministering opportunities 22:40 have been more friendship evangelism. 22:42 And so right after I got out of AMP school, 22:44 I was in a shop 22:46 where we were painting airplanes, 22:47 and one of my co-workers, 22:48 I was there for about a year and a half 22:50 and it was a secular shop. 22:52 And you know, 22:53 being a Christian in secular shop, 22:55 it was difficult in a lot of circumstances, 22:57 but, you know, 22:58 I chose to remain faithful and my conversation 23:01 and the way I interacted with my co-workers 23:03 was very intentional. 23:04 And so while I was there, 23:06 one of my co-workers, his daughter was born, 23:07 but she was born with a heart defect. 23:10 And a couple of months later, she went away. 23:11 She passed away, that's very unfortunate. 23:14 But that night, when she passed away, 23:16 my co-worker called me. 23:18 And I was the person 23:21 that he called in the middle of the night 23:22 when he needed this help. 23:24 Wow. 23:25 And so I spent some time with him on the phone 23:27 and prayed with him. 23:28 And it's very touching too, 23:31 even though being in a secular environment, 23:33 to have that connection 23:35 where I didn't realize what was going on. 23:37 But when he knew that he needed some help, 23:40 I was his friend that he called. 23:42 That's right, maintaining your faith... 23:44 Yeah. 23:45 Where it might be easy to compromise 23:46 because everybody around you wouldn't even fight the idea 23:49 that hey, you know, Jonathan, let's hang out. 23:51 Let's have a couple of drinks. 23:53 Let's just go out and do whatever. 23:54 And you maintain your faith 23:56 so that when the critical hour came, 23:58 somebody knew who to call perhaps after that. 23:59 Yeah. You know that kind of... 24:01 I know you were in challenging environment also, 24:04 but at the time that you were in Navy, 24:06 at what point did your spirituality 24:08 begin to kick in and you're searching? 24:11 Great question. 24:12 So God has, 24:14 He has many ways of working with us. 24:16 And, of course, he knows us very well. 24:19 I would unfortunately consider myself pretty hardheaded. 24:23 And so, you know, 24:25 just in my normal thought process, 24:28 normal way of doing things, I just thought, well, you know, 24:32 I'm learning these new truths, 24:33 but I've already made my commitment here. 24:36 And so I'm, 24:37 perhaps I might have to do things 24:39 that are going against the Bible, 24:40 but I have to honor my commitment 24:42 that I already made. 24:43 If I said, I'm going to do it, I need to follow it through. 24:45 But as it so happened, I injured myself, 24:49 unfortunately, doing some exercises, 24:51 and during that time, 24:52 God just really spoke to my heart. 24:54 I wasn't flying. 24:56 I had more time to read and understand 24:57 and study Bible truths 24:59 and he happened to take me to a church 25:02 that was very nurturing. 25:04 And so by the time, 25:06 everything was all said and done, 25:07 I was so much more solid in my faith. 25:10 And, you know, it was certainly challenging 25:14 because let's just say 25:17 that people weren't very supportive of my conversion. 25:21 How about that? 25:22 And in the military, 25:24 even if you do want to stand for what you believe in, 25:27 the mission comes first. 25:28 Wow, that's right. 25:30 You know, I mean, that's just the way it is. 25:31 And especially because we're a volunteer military right now, 25:35 you know, you have to keep that in mind. 25:38 And so it was very challenging, 25:41 but God also used me to be able to be a witness to some people. 25:43 Okay. 25:45 I've given those moments when I was struggling, 25:47 which was pretty awesome. 25:49 He could still find, you know, 25:51 whether you are a full burning fire or a coal. 25:56 There's still a flame there. 25:57 Yeah. And that's a beautiful thing. 25:59 There's some light coming. 26:00 Now what I want to kind of show this video we have, 26:03 because we brought some footage here 26:05 to kind of give some people an idea. 26:07 And after the video we'll comment on what they saw. 26:09 Let's roll the video right now. 27:55 I could just say the word nice, that's nice. 27:58 You want to be able to take off. 28:00 Were you involved in the maintenance 28:01 of that craft also? 28:02 Absolutely. Yeah. 28:04 So that was the... 28:05 The end number on that is 27 alpha uniform. 28:07 It's a new airplane that we just purchased in 2014. 28:09 Okay. 28:11 And as you notice it had the glass cockpit. 28:12 It's got the G1000 avionics in it. 28:14 So the older aircrafts have the round steam gauges 28:17 as what we call them. 28:18 But the newer ones are the glass cockpit. 28:20 Nice. 28:21 But then you have secondary instruments? 28:23 Yeah, we've got secondary instrument on the side. 28:25 So it's brand new cutting-edge technology type stuff. 28:27 Yeah. 28:29 Well, have either of you driven or flown an airplane? 28:31 Yeah. We fly in them regularly. Yeah. 28:33 I also want to show this picture we have 28:35 because you guys flew down here. 28:37 You know, most of our guests drive here. 28:40 They did drive from the airport here, 28:41 but I want to show this plane 28:43 and let's talk about that plane, 28:44 the nice plane that we have. 28:46 This is a Piper Arrow. 28:48 It's got retractable gear. 28:50 And this is what we flew down on yesterday. 28:51 Nice. 28:53 And does this have the glass cockpit? 28:54 This is an older airplane. 28:56 This is from 1974. Okay. 28:58 But it's got the same paint job as what we currently have. 29:00 Talk about this picture here briefly? 29:02 So this was an airplane that was donated 29:04 about a year and a half ago, it was down in Tennessee. 29:07 And we took about 10 students down 29:09 to Tennessee over the weekend 29:11 and we took that airplane apart, 29:12 took the wings off of it, 29:13 took the horizontal stabilizer off it, 29:15 put on a semi-truck trailer 29:16 and drove it back up to Andrews. 29:18 What kind of plane is this? 29:19 This is Leo 25 jet. 29:22 Holds about six or eight people. 29:23 Wow. Wonderful. 29:25 That's nice to be able to, 29:27 "Hey, let's go for a flight today." 29:29 It's very convenient. Very convenient. 29:32 How much flying is a part of the program? 29:36 Let me rephrase the question. 29:38 What interval does the student transition 29:40 from book to the equipment? 29:43 Right away. Right away. 29:44 Right away. 29:46 Yeah, we found that if you try to teach theory 29:49 without the practical application, 29:51 it just goes in one ear and out the other. 29:53 People don't really understand it. 29:55 So we strive to get people, 29:57 our students in the airplane as soon as possible 30:00 so that they're marrying the two together, 30:04 the theory of aerodynamics 30:06 and whatever else with the practical application, 30:10 and so they come together 30:12 and it makes a more holistic pilot out of it. 30:14 That makes sense 30:16 because if you're teaching somebody art, 30:17 you could teach them the history, 30:18 you could talk about all the various artists 30:20 with the 17th century, the different types of art. 30:23 But if they never pick up a paintbrush or a pencil, 30:26 he's like, we're just learning about art, 30:28 but I've never drawn anything yet. 30:29 Right. That's true. 30:31 That makes sense. That makes sense. 30:33 I mean, I like pertaining to flight. 30:38 I'm not a flight instructor. I'm not a pilot. 30:41 But I'm very interested in the fact that 30:44 when you talk about this kind of program, 30:46 it's not just something that's for overseas. 30:49 Talk about some of the local benefits 30:52 of having the gift of flying in local missions? 30:56 Well, so one of the big things 30:58 is that the aviation industry here in the US 31:03 is very secular and unreached. 31:08 Typically, because it's a 24x7 job. 31:10 Right. 31:12 And so people are running constantly, 31:13 you know whether they're going to get 31:15 Sunday or Saturdays off to go to church, 31:17 it's not a guarantee. 31:19 And so there's close 31:22 to 1 million aviation professionals, 31:26 whether they're pilots, mechanics, 31:27 dispatchers for the airlines. 31:30 And I'd say, based on what I've understood 31:34 and learned throughout the industry, 31:36 there's just a handful of Adventists 31:38 in the entire industry here in the US. 31:41 So it's a very unreached mission field 31:44 that somebody, you know, it's... 31:46 We don't have people 31:48 who are there to share these truths 31:49 and to build the relationships 31:51 that cause people to turn to Christ. 31:54 So somebody watching or listening to the program. 31:57 Let's talk about this. 31:58 How can people get involved in this program? 32:01 The Andrews program, 32:02 I'll pitch it to any one of you. 32:03 Go ahead. 32:05 Well, see, the number one thing they could do for us is, 32:07 you know, continue to pray. 32:09 You know, we're certainly praying for our program. 32:12 But we could use as many prayers as possible, 32:14 because, you know, 32:16 we've given the program over to the Lord. 32:17 We left it in His hands, 32:19 and we want Him to guide and direct it 32:20 to be the program that He wants to be. 32:22 But along with that, 32:24 there's also contributions as well. 32:27 I think Jonathan could probably say 32:29 a lot about that. 32:30 Right now we're wanting to grow our student population 32:34 as much as possible. 32:36 The industry right now 32:37 is just crying for pilots, the airlines. 32:41 Yeah, both. 32:42 I mean, it's astronomical right now. 32:44 They cannot fill, 32:46 they're canceling flights in the airlines 32:47 because they can't come up with enough pilots 32:49 and mechanics to keep them going. 32:50 Wow. 32:52 And so the whole industry because that the top industry 32:53 needs pilots and mechanics 32:54 that everybody underneath also needs pilots and mechanics 32:57 and so what used to take 12 years ago 33:02 to the majors is now taking like five. 33:06 And the pay is almost doubled in some of the industries. 33:09 So they're trying to really appeal to the people 33:12 to get involved in the industry 33:14 because so the demand is high. 33:16 The demand is high. 33:17 So we're trying to train professional pilots 33:21 to fill those roles, 33:22 but not just professional pilots, 33:24 but individuals that are passionate 33:26 about Jesus Christ. 33:28 And so we're trying to double the amount of students 33:31 that we're putting through our program. 33:32 So with that, we need more airplanes, 33:34 we need to do some infrastructure upgrade. 33:37 We want to put in a parallel taxi way 33:39 and some stuff like that 33:40 to make it make everything flow a lot better. 33:42 Okay. 33:44 So you're taxing is on the strip itself. 33:45 Right now, yeah, and right now we have to back taxi 33:47 so if somebody is taxing, he can't land, so... 33:49 Okay. 33:51 So that would be able to double the amount of flights 33:52 that we could get out of there. 33:54 So let's just start mentioning some... 33:55 What is simple like that cost to put and just generally, 33:57 you know? 33:59 Our parallel taxiway, we were looking at, 34:02 what was it, $50,000? 34:04 I think it was more than that. 34:06 Because it's asphalt, 34:07 there has to be regulations and all that. 34:09 Yeah, yeah. 34:10 The two new archers that we purchased, 34:12 those were 200 grand plus, 34:14 almost 300 grand, 350 plus. 34:17 So for a brand new airplane, it's not cheap. 34:20 No. 34:21 But the amount of pilots that we can push through 34:23 with that single airplane, you know, 34:25 we can take four or five flights a day 34:28 with a single airplane. 34:30 We can push 10 students through a week. 34:33 So each airplane is a massive asset. 34:36 And how many do you have in the fleet right now, 34:38 is it about five? 34:39 Right now we're working with five 34:40 Piper low wing aircraft that we're flying currently. 34:43 Yeah. We'd like more. 34:45 And honestly, put in more aircrafts 34:49 that are these SN type, 34:51 maximizes our potential 34:52 because we can have rolling over so right now, 34:55 if one of the airplanes goes down for maintenance, 35:00 now we have one less aircraft 35:01 and so the amount of flying 35:03 that's able to happen becomes reduced 35:06 because we just don't have the airplane. 35:10 And so by having additional aircraft, 35:13 they are all of the same type, 35:16 you know, if one goes down, all right, 35:17 well, here, we'll just address the schedule and for these guys 35:21 who were going to fly on that airplane 35:23 into the existing schedule for the other aircraft. 35:26 Now, I know there's a certain age to drive. 35:28 What is the age introduction into flight? 35:31 So I know most mothers would not want to hear this, 35:34 but you can solo at age 14. 35:39 But that's how safe our training is 35:41 and how safe the airplanes are, 35:44 is that we can do it at a much younger age. 35:45 Wow! 35:47 You got to be 16 to get a private license, 35:49 so you can solo at 14. 35:50 So when did flight become 35:52 an interest of yours, professor? 35:55 For me that happened 35:56 when I was probably five or six years old. 35:58 I grew up in Dallas, Texas 36:00 and lived right underneath the approach path 36:04 for a lot of the aircraft going in DFW. 36:06 So for me, you know, it was from an early age, 36:09 I knew that's what I wanted to do. 36:11 Yeah. 36:12 And just continued from there. 36:14 That's a unique place. 36:15 My wife and I think of the places 36:17 like St. Martin in the Caribbean, 36:20 where the beach is right in the approach path. 36:22 Oh, yeah. 36:23 You know, people, it's almost an attraction. 36:27 People go to St. Martin, 36:29 you know, they see these 747s 36:31 or big commercial planes diving in just, you know, 36:35 feet above the sand to land and then also take off 36:39 but not toward the ocean. 36:40 Very interesting thing. 36:42 So, at an early age, you kind of get the idea 36:44 that this is what I want to do for my life. 36:47 And then did you include that in your later years 36:50 or you read books and just... 36:52 Oh, yeah, I just, 36:54 once again I got myself into as much as I could. 36:59 I attended camps, things like that. 37:02 And the more I read, the more I thought, 37:03 man, it'd be really cool to be an astronaut. 37:06 So I thought, well, 37:07 what do I have to do to be an astronaut? 37:09 It looks like the Astronaut Corps. 37:10 They're like Navy pilots, 37:12 maybe I should become a Navy pilot 37:13 and I thought well, so where's the best place to go? 37:16 Maybe I should go to the naval academy, 37:18 and so I put in my paperwork and, you know, 37:21 they accepted me to the naval academy. 37:23 And so I just did all I could to put myself in a position 37:27 to pursue that dream. 37:29 Okay. 37:30 Then, you know, once again once I met God, 37:32 he had a different direction which has been even better. 37:37 Yeah, I guess your favorite hymn 37:39 is I'll fly away. 37:43 So let's talk about some of the specifics when you... 37:45 If a student enters 37:47 into Andrews University flight course, 37:50 I wanna specify that, you have the regular tuition, 37:52 but then if you want to enter into the flight program, 37:54 that's a separate cost altogether, 37:57 but that includes, 37:59 the regular tuition includes the basics of flight 38:02 or kind of help me understand that? 38:05 Yeah, so the cost of the airplane 38:08 is really the major factor that adds to it. 38:11 Okay. 38:12 Ultimately flying costs money. Right. 38:15 And unfortunately, aviation is 38:19 a high expense ticket item. 38:24 But initially they're getting training 38:28 in the airplane flying, their private pilot license. 38:32 And so they have to do the flight training, 38:34 they have to pay the flight instructor 38:36 for that time. 38:38 And then we transition them to an instrument right in, 38:41 which is training students how to fly through the clouds, 38:45 how to understand navigational charts, 38:47 and so that we can follow navigational systems 38:50 and you can make an approach and land in 38:53 without ever seeing outside. 38:55 Now that's, I like that. 38:58 It's a lot of fun 38:59 especially when you get right down 39:00 to the bare minimum altitude that you can fly to 39:03 and you're just coming out of the clouds, 39:06 right when you hit it. 39:07 I'm one of those guys that I could hear very well, 39:09 my wife and I, because of our mileage, 39:11 we get a chance to sit in first class 39:13 and sometimes I could hear through the door, minimums. 39:18 I know on approach what that means, 39:21 that means if you're gonna decide 39:22 to keep going or go around, 39:24 this is the time to do it. 39:25 Right. 39:27 You know, but it's really interesting. 39:28 What else would you say 39:29 as people are listening to the program? 39:31 What would you say to those who are trying to decide? 39:35 Is this what it is for me? 39:37 Is this for girls and guys? 39:40 You know, it's just something that what would you say 39:43 to attract somebody that may be thinking, 39:46 what do I want to do for my future? 39:47 For me aviation maintenance, 39:49 I got in the maintenance program, 39:51 I needed to do something with my hands. 39:52 Okay. 39:54 So that's how I went with the maintenance side of it, 39:57 but it's a very rewarding career. 39:58 It's a very professional career. 39:59 It's very clean career. 40:01 You got to be very honest, 40:03 you got to have a strong character. 40:04 You know, if you mess up something, 40:05 you gotta be honest about it and let other people know 40:08 and you double check each other. 40:10 My double check, the guys are working with me 40:12 and they double check me. 40:13 It's just the way that we do things. 40:14 You know, these guys are flying yesterday 40:16 and they double check each other even now, 40:17 just how we roll. 40:19 That's just how aviation works. 40:20 That's how we fly. 40:21 That's how we fly. That's right. 40:24 So, yeah, it's for guys and girls. 40:26 There's specific programs for females 40:28 that are involved in aviation, 40:30 both in the maintenance side and the flight side. 40:33 We've had a number of female students, 40:35 they've have come through the program 40:36 so we definitely welcome them as well. 40:39 'Cause I've seen a lot of female commercial pilots. 40:41 Yeah. 40:42 And they're more entering the industry 40:44 flying large equipment, you know, 40:45 and some people think, 40:47 well, isn't it tough for the flyer 40:48 larger and larger. 40:49 Well, you know, the principle is the same, 40:51 aviation principle, let's talk about those. 40:53 I asked you before the program, 40:55 the language that they use to communicate, 40:57 Alpha, Bravo, Kilo, Romeo... 40:59 Where did that come from? 41:01 Well, it certainly came from 41:03 back in the day in the World War II. 41:06 We had fundamental radios that were hard to understand 41:10 and so when they were trying 41:12 to communicate the different needs 41:14 or the different co-ordinates or whatever it maybe, 41:17 they found that some words sounded like others 41:21 like three became tree 41:27 because the th wouldn't come through on the radio 41:34 and, you know, nine became niner 41:36 because the German word for no is nine 41:40 and so then took niner and made it that way 41:43 so that it wouldn't be confused with the word no. 41:47 Wow, that's interesting. 41:48 And so there's a lot of elements of it. 41:50 You've got Alpha, Bravo, Charlie 41:53 the phonetic alphabet 41:55 and they are very intentional to make sure 41:57 that those words don't sound like, you know, 41:59 if you have said C, it could be D, 42:02 it could be E, it could be G over the radio, 42:05 we're not sure what you've said. 42:07 So now, if we say Charlie, Delta, Echo, Golf, 42:10 it's very clearly different. 42:13 I like the C, D, E,F, 42:14 I mean that makes a lot of sense 42:16 and it's a language that sounds funny sometimes 42:19 but when you wanna be clear, I like what you pointed out, 42:22 the honesty needed because if a pilot just says," 42:25 Oh, I messed up again, I don't want anyone to know. 42:27 The plane is ready to go. 42:28 That could be the difference between 42:30 somebody's life and death. 42:31 So you might say, you know, 42:32 wait, wait, wait, I am not done yet, 42:34 I need to get this switch put in. 42:35 Yep. Can I fly without it? 42:37 No, you're not gonna fly without it. 42:39 So that kind of really pulls you 42:40 into that perspective and being a professor now, 42:42 you're dealing with the students teaching. 42:44 Talk about some of that curriculum approach? 42:46 It's actually very awesome process 42:49 to be a part of, you know, 42:51 once again, I'm pretty new here, 42:53 just six months under my belt here at Andrews. 42:55 Okay. 42:56 But I've come to learn and appreciate 42:58 that the way we do things is very systematic 43:01 and it's very well thought out. 43:03 And, of course, 43:04 there's always room for improvement, 43:06 but I'd say we have a pretty strong program 43:07 which is awesome. 43:09 Coming from military background, 43:11 even charter background, 43:12 I love the systematic approach 43:14 because you know, 43:15 for me there's safety in that, you know, 43:17 it's like, I don't know, yeah, like I said, 43:20 just safety in that and so it's pretty awesome. 43:23 I'd say the way we are creating the curriculum 43:25 for the students and just giving them 43:27 some nice building blocks at the beginning. 43:30 And so by the time they get to their junior and senior year, 43:32 they have what they need to be able to give it back 43:34 to the students that are coming up behind them 43:37 which is pretty cool. 43:38 You know, somebody might be watching this program 43:40 from a warm country, 43:42 they have no clue where Andrews University is. 43:45 Give a general location, give us some specifics as to. 43:48 In America, 43:50 where would Andrews University be located? 43:52 Andrews is in the north of the country, 43:55 it's in Michigan. 43:56 On the East Coast. 43:58 Yeah, more towards the East Coast, 44:00 kind of in the central. 44:01 If you look at the Great Lakes region of the US, 44:05 Michigan is literally sitting 44:06 in the middle of all the great lakes. 44:08 So, Michigan kind of looks, it's like, 44:11 kind of looks like a hand or a mitten, 44:14 and Andrews is the very south west corner. 44:16 We're just north of in South Bend, Indiana. 44:19 Okay, now, there's a text in the Bible says, 44:22 "Pray that your flight be not in the winter." 44:25 Is that true in Andrews? 44:26 Yes. 44:28 The winter slows us down quite a bit 44:30 and so we have simulators 44:32 and we focus a lot of our in flight training 44:34 in the winter in the simulator, so. 44:35 Now the reason I'm mentioning that 44:37 is because when you go to Andrews, 44:38 you have to pray for the sun. 44:40 You know, you say good bye to it 44:41 when the summer is on its way and you say, 44:44 well, we have four more months before the sun shows up again. 44:47 So, you continue training but in simulators. 44:50 Right, we do simulators 44:51 on a fair weather days, we do go out and we fly. 44:54 We might have a little bit of snow on the runway 44:57 but it's plowed but it's snow... 45:00 So it's like, yes, the sun is out today. 45:02 That's right. 45:03 So we take advantage of it, 45:05 I mean that gives you cold weather environment 45:06 so you get to learn how to fly 45:08 and you're not depending on how the wind is. 45:09 So it does make for a better pilot, 45:10 you get a more well rounded experience. 45:12 Yeah, how to take care of your airplane 45:13 and everything else. 45:15 They say, "If you can land at Andrews, 45:16 you're good anywhere." 45:18 What length of the runway is it? 45:19 It's about 4,300 feet. 45:21 Okay, that's good. 45:23 And any specifics you wanna add to that about... 45:26 Anything else you wanna add to what we just commented on? 45:29 As far as just flight training there? 45:31 Yeah. 45:33 Yeah, you know, 45:34 major contribution I'd like to say or add to that is that, 45:39 we're always looking for ways to improve 45:41 and like we said before, 45:43 we are definitely trying to create pilots of character, 45:46 and that's a lot of times easier said than done. 45:50 And so, we're finding that 45:54 the more we're close to the God, 45:56 the more we can give to our students. 45:58 So we always covet you prayers for that, 46:00 and the other thing we wanted to talk about 46:03 is that we do have students that come through occasionally, 46:05 who are interested in going to the mission field, 46:07 and we just wanna support them 100% 46:09 as much as possible, 46:11 give them the best stepping stone to succeed. 46:18 And a lot of times, 46:19 it's difficult for them to get past 46:22 some of the financial obligations 46:24 that come with flight training 46:25 in order to go to the mission field. 46:27 And so I'd say, 46:28 that's one of our big needs too is, 46:31 you know, we do have a mission fund 46:32 and it's at a certain level that we feel could be better 46:38 in order to help support that aspect of our training. 46:43 We're gonna talk about that how people that are watching 46:45 and listening can donate to that, 46:47 but talk about some of the physical needs, 46:49 some of the equipment needs, 46:50 what are some of the things that 46:52 Andrews can actually look forward to, 46:55 if it's new computers, new planes, new equipment. 46:57 What are some of the things that will make this program 47:01 more stable or refurbished? 47:04 One of the big things is our need for new airplanes. 47:08 We have two very nice, 47:10 brand new in 2014 built airplanes 47:14 and we need to have incomparable airplanes 47:18 that are also available so we can hand off, 47:23 you know, like I said, 47:24 if one goes down for maintenance, 47:26 now that slows down the entire program 47:29 because we only have two. 47:31 And so if we have three or four of these types of aircraft, 47:35 now our availability, 47:37 if one of the maintenance items comes up, 47:41 everyone is still able to fly and continue flying. 47:45 So that's one of our big needs. 47:46 Another need that we will have very soon 47:50 when we start getting more students 47:52 is larger facilities 47:54 and being able to have a larger classrooms, 47:58 more office place for our flight instructors 48:01 to do their flight instruction, 48:03 training on the ground, 48:07 and the parallel taxiway, that opens up our capacity, 48:11 that will almost triple the amount of flights 48:15 that we can accomplish in a day. 48:17 Yeah, that parallel taxiway 48:19 is not an understatement by an means 48:20 because you know right now 48:22 if you think about it this way, if this is the runway, 48:25 this way you wanna take off or land, 48:27 if there's no parallel taxiway, 48:28 where you're kind of going up and down 48:31 and you can't take off and land 48:33 while somebody is taxing which is very important thing. 48:35 Any other equipment, 48:37 what about maintenance equipment, 48:38 anything like that needed or...? 48:39 No, we are... 48:41 I mean eventually facilities if we get more airplanes, 48:43 we're definitely gonna need to have a bigger facility 48:45 to be able to maintain them all 48:48 and that's just growing pains 48:49 and just part of the process of making it happen. 48:52 But we're, I mean, we're an international school, 48:54 we're prepared to take students from all over the world. 48:58 Andrews where it proclaimed to famous there, 48:59 we're the most internationally diverse, 49:02 ethnically diverse university in North America. 49:04 So we know how to handle visas, 49:06 we know how to handle all that kind of stuff 49:07 so we're willing and ready to take students. 49:10 And so that's another big thing we need, 49:11 we just need people to come. 49:13 That's right. 49:14 We are passionate about aviation 49:15 or passionate about sharing Jesus, 49:17 we just need people to do it with us. 49:19 And this is a... Yes. 49:21 And I was gonna say one of the advantages 49:23 of having the in common aircraft fleet is that, 49:29 if something goes wrong now 49:31 because we're flying the same airplane, 49:35 we can already have parts available 49:37 and we can already have pieces and components 49:39 of the aircrafts available 49:41 so we don't have to order it out 49:42 and wait for a week for it to be shipped from wherever. 49:46 Jonathan can have it on the shelf 49:49 and just pull it out and put it on the airplane 49:51 and get it out that same day if need be. 49:54 Uniformity is important. 49:56 It will make a big difference in the operations. 49:59 That's why is the Blue Angels Navy? 50:01 They are. 50:02 I thought so, 50:03 those kind of pilots you can trust them 50:05 to any other branch of the military but the Navy. 50:08 I'm just putting in both. 50:10 But I wanna be able to give you some information 50:12 to get in touch with David, Jonathan and Jeremy 50:16 and also to find out more about this Aviation program. 50:19 As you can tell, I am excited about it 50:20 but you may want to find out 50:22 what your student prospectfully would want 50:26 to be able to do to get to enroll in this program 50:30 for the maybe upcoming semester. 50:32 Here is the information that you're going to need. 50:36 If you are interested in the flying career 50:39 or if the Lord has impressed you 50:41 to be a missionary pilot, then check out 50:43 the Andrews University Department of Aviation 50:46 and their flight, maintenance and missionary pilot programs. 50:49 Their website is Andrews.edu/aviation. 50:54 That's Andrews.edu/aviation. 50:57 You may also call them at (269) 471-3120. 51:03 If you prefer, you may also write to them 51:05 at Andrews University Department of Aviation, 51:08 3898 Griggs Avenue, 51:11 Berrien Springs, Michigan 49104. |
Revised 2019-08-14