100 Hours!!!

Many people like to end the year with a bang. Usually they end up starting the year with quite a few bangs. But don't worry we always get out mid-year fix on July 4. I ended 2010 on a high note. My last flight of the year also happened to be the flight that logged my 100th hour. It's one of those milestones you think you'll never reach but when you keep plugging away an hour at a time it adds up eventually. In actuallity the real milestone is 1,000 hours. And some pilots claim they've flown so much they just lost count. To put the number into perspective, about 40 hours are required for the basic Private Pilot License. The big goal I'm working on right now is the 200 hours that are required for the Commercial License. Note that it requires 200 PIC (Pilot in Command) hours as opposed to the Total Duration of Flight in the picture. To date I have logged 58.2 PIC hours, meaning time that I was the pilot responsible for the flight in contrast to a student pilot.I have also logged a little over 200 landings (practice makes perfect). More like perfect weather and perfect practice and perfect prayer make perfect landings, but the point is I can get us on the groud in one piece... hopefully.

So much for not getting technical... 100 HOURS YIPPEE!!
Pretty soon I'll have 100 PIC and then 200 PIC and my commercial license.

Thanks for the support thus far!

What's Up With Alex - September 2010

A Job Well Done

Today was the last day of my summer employment at Epps Aviation. I worked as an aircraft mechanic at Peachtree-Dekalb Airport (PDK) in Chamblee of Atlanta, Georgia.  PDK is the second busiest airport in the state and we had plenty of customers with broken airplanes. The best part of this job was not merely the financial boost it had for my next phase of flight training but instead was the learning experience. One day I could be in a jungle miles from the nearest airport providing mechanic service. Who am I supposed to call when a tire blows or I find a fuel leak? Who is supposed to change the oil and maintain the proper working condition of every pulley and cable and rod? One day I could be the only door of an entire group of indigenous people to clean water, medicine, and most importantly the gospel. If that door breaks, I ought to be able to fix it for the sake of the salvation of a tribe. I have certainly learned, at least the basics, of how to do many of these essential mechanical tasks to maintain an aircraft.

I will be heading back to Liberty University next Saturday to continue my flight training and bachelors degree. Junior year here I come! 

Also my biannual newsletter (summer edition) should be on the way within the next two weeks. If you would like to be added to the mailing list please Contact Me. Please list if you would like additional copies for church bulletins, etc.

Passing on a Legacy

This is a special blog post in that it is not about me but about an individual who has invested in me. Jerry Cooper, my grandfather, is the man who introduced me to aviation. Since I was very young he would pour his aviation knowledge into me pointing out how an airplane flew or how an engine worked. He would begin giving me official flight instruction by the time I was 16 and eventually led me to obtaining my private pilot license when I was 19. About one year and a week after he soloed me he once again left me, but this time I remained on the ground as he flew off to glory. My grandfather and dear flight instructor Jerry Cooper (ATC, INST, CFI, CFII, ME, MEI, ATP) unexpectedly passed away on May 21, 2010. The last time he flew was with me at the controls of a C-150 on May 14 just before sunset, exactly one week before his death.

Jerry was a huge fan and avid reader of Terry Thompson's The Aviator's Devotional. The 29th day of the devotional is entitled "Passing on a Legacy." It speaks of all the great aviation legends and industry leaders that have shaped how we see aviation today. It also speaks of the importance of passing on our personal legacy to children and grandchildren, and that's exactly what he did. He invested in all of his children, grandchildren, and especially me by instructing me all the way through to my private pilot license. He taught his wife, three children and a granddaughter all the way up to the point of solo. I can't attempt to explain how I feel that Jerry has passed and has essentially passed down the mantle to me as being a pilot. But what I do know is he fulfilled his calling, if nothing else in my life. He got me my license, helped me to get my newsletters started to raise support for my missionary endeavors, and most recently helped me secure the job here at Epps aviation. He definitely got me started rolling and established in the aviation industry and there's no stopping now.

Terry Thompson takes his devotional one step further. He implores us to "ensure that our spiritual legacy is planted deeply in the minds and hearts of those who are following in our foot steps." If Jerry were not a pilot he would still have much legacy to pass on. He was a spiritual father to many and he ensured he passed his spiritual legacy by gifting a New Living Bible to each of his children and grandchildren with his hand-scripted favorite verses in the front page. Thompson's devotional ends with this verse:

Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come. Psalm 71:17-18

Jerry never felt that he was necessarily called to missions but he had a heart for sharing the gospel just the same. He had a role in many coworkers' lives as a corporate pilot and had a huge influence on countless students he instructed. No one left a flight with Jerry without first learning about how an airplane works and second learning how large an effect God had on his life. He may not have been on the front lines as a missionary pilot but you can be assured he was watering the gospel everywhere he flew. And what better way to pass that legacy on than for his grandson and flight student to take a part of him to the mission field as a missionary pilot.

Over the Hump!

I have officially completed two full years at an institution of higher learning. Liberty University has treated me well  these past four semesters and I'm half way through! It has had its ups and downs and curve-balls just as any period of life but I emerge accelerated for what is to come. For those of you interested in knowing I have a mere 53 credits till completion and I currently have a 3.04 GPA. This past semester I have studied Jazz, Statistics, Physics, GPS Navigation, and Aerodynamics. The Physics course was highly enjoyable for me as I was able to relate the physical processes of the world scientifically to both aviation and music. My GPS and Aerodynamics courses were taught by my aviation professor Kurt Reesman. His excellent instruction has challenged my assumptions and encouraged me to study for myself especially in his assigned paper The History of Aerodynamics in Aviation. This 16 page report stretched me to research the founding fathers of aviation and my knowledge has expounded proportionally. I thank him for the level of professionalism he has brought to my learning experience. As I look towards the horizon I await the many blessings God has in store for me in my next chapter as I aim to complete my education. The first step for me is a summer job at the Peachtree-Dekalb Airport in Atlanta, Georgia as an aviation mechanic. This incredible opportunity with Epps Aviation is a blessing for me to gain the mechanical experience I need for my missionary career along with some financial sustenance to help pay my quickly accruing flight training costs. I cannot wait to see how God will not only use this to do amazing things in my life, but to use me in the presence of many other lives in North Atlanta.