Author: The Flying Dutchman

I am a man who loves Christ, loves my wife, loves my family, loves my church, and loves aviation. In that order.

Hombres Santos de los Cielos

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, FaithLeave a comment

God has been very good to me indeed. He has blessed me far more than what I deserve. One of His MANY blessings has been the gift of flight. Through flying I have come to appreciate God’s landscapes, His weather, the laws of nature God set forth such as… gravity. I’ve had many suprises crop up in my flying avocation but none have been so surprising as the trend I am beginning to notice among my fellow aviators.

When I first started flying about 15 years ago most of the pilots I met were hard core ex-military types. They were good men, fiercely self-reliant, and had not place for religion in their lives. But now I’m running into more and more Godly aviators. The men I’m beginning to find both on the Internet in various places such as bulletin boards, and at my local field aren’t just the casual run of the mill Christian. Many of them are men who truly immerse themselves in God’s word.

It has truly been heartening to find them.  Where once I was a lone voice in the groups I was in, there are now other voices for Christ.  What’s truly wonderful is that these are young men. On the same Internet groups were I was once derided for having scripture references in my email signature I am not seeing men openly discuss missions and trying to find ways to dedicate their flying to God.  Maybe it’s just God opening my eyes since my true heart change.  Whatever is bringing these men out of the woodwork, I am glad to see them, glad to share the air with them.

Praise God for His wonderful works!

Sacramento, CA (KSAC)

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, RV-4, TravelLeave a comment

This past Friday I found myself needing to attend a meeting in the morning in Sacramento, Ca and another in the afternoon in Turlock, Ca. The two cities are about an hour and a half apart. Coming back from Sacramento in the afternoon wouldn’t be so bad but driving up their in the morning would involve sitting in traffic. Not one of my favorite passtimes.

So I called up my counter-part up in Sacramento and asked him if he’d pick me up at Sacramento Executive (KSAC). Being a lapsed private pilot and looking for any excuse to go to the airport he readily agreed.

Friday morning came and I pulled my trusty RV-4 out of the hangar and preflighted. It was a little chilly but I didn’t bother bringing a jacket because by the time afternoon came I knew I’d be sweating. I put KSAC into the GPS and pointed the RV northwest. 20 minutes later I was on downwind at SAC. I touched down and taxied to what I hoped was transient parking. My partner in crime was waiting in the terminal just as promised and we headed off to the morning meeting.

Four hours later we had accomplished our mission (working with HP to figure out how to redistribute our OSPF routes into BGP… fascinating, I know) and had finished lunch. My buddy dropped me off at the airport again stating that he needed to get back into the air. I took a leisurely stroll out the the RV. It was right where I left it with no parking tickets or anything so I guess I really was in transient parking. That or it was too hot for the airport meter maid to walk out there.

Ten minutes later I was climbing out of SAC at 1700 fpm and hit the one and only glitch of the whole trip. I received the following radio transmission: “1SV, sir, do you have a transponder on that thing?” Thing? THING? Bud not even that BizJet that just left can climb out of your airspace while still over the runway! My reply: “Um.. YES I do, my apologies.” I switched on my transponder just as I climbed out of his airspace.

Twenty minutes later I was on final at Oakdale (O27). I made a great landing with no one there to see it and taxied back to the hangar. I was getting my laptop out of the back seat when my phone rang. It was my co-deacon at church. His message was that the afternoon meeting at church had been cancelled, no need to rush. Cool. I put the airplane to bed and headed home feeling far more relaxed than I would have if I had driven.

Did I save any time? Not really. I could have driven there in about the same time. Did I save any frustration. Yep. Did I have a whole lot more fun? You bet!

Finding joy

On By The Flying DutchmanIn FaithLeave a comment

I haven’t been here in a while. It’s nice to be back. I feel like I’ve come home finally after a long time away. Even still, I’m not fully home, but I’m looking forward to being fully home. I haven’t physically been anywhere. I’ve been mired with work in public and private matters. Work has taken much of my waking attention and private matters have taken most of what’s left. In all the work that I was doing I was rapidly losing much of the joy in my life. There have been many demands placed on me lately and felt no joy in trying to meet all those demands. I was getting tired of serving God as well. Finally, after one tearful prayer session, I felt the weight lift from me.

What I realized after that was that I was getting so mired in trying to please everyone that I was losing track of who I should be trying to please. So right now I’m trying to realign my focus on pleasing God and finding that the joy in life is returning. I don’t always desire to please Him the way I should so that is my new focus. When I come to the place where pleasing God is my complete and entire goal, I’ll be completely at home.  That’s were I’ll find complete joy.
Mrs. Flying Dutchman and I have started a book study together. We’re going through When I Don’t Desire God by John Piper. We’ll keep you posted on our progress through the book.

Those bittersweet moments in life

On By The Flying DutchmanIn FaithLeave a comment

This past Saturday I got to experience one of those bittersweet moments in a man’s life; I gave my son his first razor and taught him to shave.  There wasn’t much to shave off but it was there and needed to be done.  I couldn’t help but think how fast this life really is.  It seems almost like yesterday that he was dancing his “Daddy’s home” dance and wanting to be picked up.  Now his feet are bigger than mine and he’s shaving.  Time is passing and won’t wait for my family.

It’s such a blessing to know that even though this life should pass in the blink of an eye, the next life will last forever and I’ll never have to worry about my friends or family growing up and leaving.  Praise God for His kindness and mercy!

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One of those weeks

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Faith, OpinionLeave a comment

Did you ever have one of those weeks?  I’m sure you have.  We all have and I had another one this week.  A virus outbreak kept me at work late at night for most of the week.  I’ve barely seen my family.  We finally brought the virus under control on Saturday morning.  It was a tremendous relief.  However, by that time I had reached the end of my stress rope.  There were other issues at work that were already weighing on me so I just needed a break from everything.  Even going to church on Sunday morning didn’t relax me as it usually does.  I was short-tempered, emotionally weak, and just flat out tired.  Church didn’t feel refreshing to me this week, it felt oppressing.  My normal duties at church weighed on me like a load of cement.  If our Lord is trying to take me out of my comfort zone, it’s working.  I can’t even see the “comfort zone limits” sign from where I’m standing.

It felt so good to come home and spend a quiet afternoon with my family.  After lunch we rested and talked.  Later in the afternoon I went to work in the garage on my RV-7 and watched my daughter whiz up and down the sidewalk on her bicycle.  I finished another major subassembly of the RV-7; the rudder.  My wife doesn’t get it, she says she would nervous and frustrated trying to build an airplane.  To me it’s relaxing.  I guess we all have different ways of blowing off steam.

Here is a much more relaxed looking Flying Dutchman after hanging the rudder on the vertical stabilizer.

 

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He stood his ground

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I received a call from a parent at church this past Lord’s Day.  He wanted to alert me to an incident that happened just after our church’s fellowship meal.  There was a sudden pop, and then the sound of a child crying.  The room went suddenly silent (except for the child who presumably was the owner of the now-deceased balloon.)  Not much of an incident really, he just wanted to alert me to the fact that my son had popped his child’s balloon.  This didn’t sound charactaristic of my son.  If it had been a few years prior I would have believed it immediately but the child who lost the balloon was in a much younger age group than my son generally takes interest in these days.  However, I apologized to the concerned parent and told him I would address the situation with my son.

Admittedly this is a tempest in a tea-pot but I wanted to give my son the opportunity to confess to what he had done so we could pray about it.  Also I would be able turn this incident into a teaching oppurtunity.  When I confronted him with this information, though, he said he didn’t do it.  He said he was on the other side of the room.  I asked him several times in several different ways over the course of the evening all the while constantly assuring him he wouldn’t be in trouble if he just confessed to what he had done.  Even upon being reminded of how God views a lying tongue, my son stuck to what he knew to be the truth.

I left a message for the parent to call me back so I could get some more information because my son was holding to his story.  A short time later the parent did call back and said it had actually been another child.  The parents had assumed it was my son for which reason I’m still not completely clear.  However, they asked their child and she identified a completely different child as the perpetrator.

Now came the learning opportunity.  It was MY learning opportunity.  I went to my son and told him that I now knew he was telling the truth and I apologized to him for doubting him.  I told him that I was proud of him for holding to the truth in the face of a disbeliving parent and even in the face of punishment.  It showed me that the fruits of the Spirit are beginning to ripen within my son’s heart.

The only remaining downside to this incident is why my son was presumed to be the guilty party.  If only they could see him and know him as I do.  He is my son, and I love him.  And today, I’m proud of him.  Praise God.

Flight to Hollister

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, RV-4Leave a comment

After a rough week at work it was a distinct pleasure to run into some friends at the airport. They reported that they were on their way to Hollister for lunch. I asked if they minded if I invited myself along and of course they said I was welcome to join. My three friends were packed into what they wished was a Grumman Tiger (and in fact was manufactured by Gulfstream) but is a MERE Grumman Traveler… and launched for Hollister. I leisurely preflighted my RV-4, used the bathroom, and programmed my destination into my GPS. I took off and pointed my ship southward.

A little over half an hour later I was landing at a very busy Hollister. I found a parking place and started looking for my friends. After a brief search I found them taxiing up behind me. Gotta love those RV speeds. We enjoyed lunch, watched some of the activity at the airport and then headed for home. On the way back I spotted my friends and blew past that aircraft manufactured by Gulfstream and still had time to stop for fuel at Gustine before flying back to Oakdale.
When I finally landed at Oakdale, my friends had just deplaned and watched my landing. (No comment) Really felt good. Here is a link to the GPS track if you’d like to follow the flight. [The Flying Dutchman’s trip to Hollister]

Patching up the wing on the RV-4

On By The Flying DutchmanIn RV-4Leave a comment

Each year we experimental aircraft owners have to put our aircraft through what’s called an annual condition inspection.  Those of us who built our own airplanes are authorized by the FAA to perform the inspection ourselves.  During my last annual, I found some cracking on the top wing skin running along the line of rivets that connect the top skin to the rear wing spar.  The cracking came from careless feet not stepping directly on the reinforced portion of the wing.

This week I finally got around to repairing that crack.  It was only 3 inches long but I ended up drilling out about 2 feet of top wing skin.  That equates to about 200 rivets to drill out!  I had the week off and my wife and kids are vacationing so it was the perfect time to attack the wing.  I spent Tuesday, drilling out all the rivets.  Wednesday was spent fabricating the new top skin a doubler plate (which goes under the skin to give it support).  Thursday I match-drilled the holes in the new skin and reinforcing plate using the old skin as a template.  I also trimmed the plate and the skin to fit the wing.  Friday (today) was spent riveting the wing skin on.  I wasn’t able to completely rivet the skin on however.  I used regular driven rivets where the new wing skin / old wing skin overlap joint is.  I then used pulled rivets (Cherry Max structural rivets) to fasten the skin to the front spar and ribs.  I have to use pulled rivets because I can’t get a bucking bar under the wing skin in most places to drive rivets.  The Cherry Max rivets look fine and are just as strong as regular rivets.

The only reason I wasn’t able to finish today is because I ran out of Cherry Max rivets.  More are on the way and when they arrive I’ll be able to finish that wing off.  There are just a few more things to do to adjust the skin where it meets the flaps and then I’ll be done!  Just one of the many joys of aircraft ownership. 🙂

The weirdness of peace and quiet

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Yesterday I dropped Mrs. Flying Dutchman off at the airport along with the young Dutchlings. They are flying to a country far across the seas to visit Lolo and Lola (Grandpa and Grandma.) They walked past the security checkpoint at about 7:45 pm Monday night. I waved and watched until they were out of sight. Then I drove the quick hour and a half back to our house in the beautiful Central Valley of California.

I drive along a lot. In fact, most of the time. But driving that minivan back just felt plain eerie. There were no requests for kid songs. There was no constant chatter. This is something I would normally LOVE but with my family winging their way through the night over a black ocean, it just felt…strange.

The weirdness continued when I entered my house. There was finally the peace and quiet that I LOVE! But…it was just weird. All the bedroom and bathroom doors were closed to keep the dog out. Nothing strange about that but when I reflexively opened the doors to ask my kids what they were doing… there was no one there. I knew that.

The flight to where my wife and children are going takes 16 hours with one refueling stop. Strange as it may sound, Mrs. Flying Dutchman does not like flying. On our last vacation air travel was involved and the Mrs became violently ill on every approach to landing. As I puttered around the house that night and the next morning I worried about her. I worried about the flight. I tried to keep myself busy with work around the house (mostly cleaning up after the packing frenzy) and with prayer of course. I did and do completely trust my sovereign God to see my family safe to their destination.

Finally the next day at about 4:00 pm I called my in-laws to see if they had arrived. I was greeted with the jubilant voice of my father-in-law at which point I knew they had arrived safely. I spoke briefly with my daughter and then to my wife. Unfortunately our fears had been realized. The fancy electronic gizmo that is supposed to quell nausea from motion sickness did not work and she barfed non-stop on the approach to land at the refueling stop and also their final destination. I felt bad for her but I was still overjoyed to hear her tired voice. They were there and they were safe. I spoke briefly with my son and reminded him that he was the man on the trip and to take care of his mother and sister.

So the house is still just as empty but the weirdness is gone. I know my family is safely on the ground. I know, it’s weird for the Flying Dutchman to worry about air travel but the fact is I just don’t trust airliners. I know the pilots are trained way beyond my skill level, and the aircraft are maintained way beyond my skill level. It’s just that I have no control over what happens on an airliner. I have as much control as God wills me in my airplane. Somehow the fact that they are safe makes the peace and quiet a little more bearable. I know the noise will be returning soon and that gives me joy.

So in the mean time I will replace wing skins during the day on my RV-4 and in the evening I will work on my RV-7 tail and the hours will pass like a blur. Before I know it I will be picking up my family at the airport, complaining about the traffic, putting on a kid’s song tape, listening to chatter, and being very content and happy.

Has God changed me or what? May God bless you and your family today.

Refinement

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About two years ago I had an odd dream. I saw a silver object set against a backdrop of crimson flame. The object looked similar to a trophy or urn. The surface was so shiney it almost looked like a mirror. The roar of the flames was deafening but the sound was more felt than heard. That’s hard to put into words adequately but the description will have to do. Then I heard two words, only a whisper but easily heard above the flames: Holy Spirit.

I can’t explain why but I’ve always felt that dream was letting me know that God was about to refine me. Just as silver has to be put in flame to separate the dross so God has to put us into situations that burn off our spiritual dross away. He has certainly done that for me these past two years. It’s been nothing dramatic like disease or near-death experiences. But what He has done is to place me in situations that have forced me to trust Him completely. He has taken me more and more out of my comfort zone and piled more and more responsibility on me. What I’m finding is that the more I humble myself and ask how I can serve those around me the more capable I seem to become. I’m handling situations now that would have sent me over the precipice of anger just a few years ago. I’m feeling genuine concern for people that before I would just feel that they were getting what they deserved. I’m finding myself worrying less about everything and just trusting that God already has it all worked out.

The more I trust and rely on my God, the more I find that His yoke truly is easy and His burden is very light. Doing what He asks isn’t always easy, but He’s always got it all planned out. All you have to do is show up.