Engineers are remarkable people!

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‘How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.’ Psalm 119:9-11 (ESV) 

The Manual Part 1, is 60 thoughts most written by Carl Beech but here is one of mine which fits well with Kees interview. Thought for the day Number 21 of 60.

MAF pilots, have a great working relationship with our engineers! On a recent operational assignment covering a crew shortage in Uganda the Chief Engineer showed me some cracks, he had found on two tiny little compressor blades from the turbine of one of our large single engine Cessna 208 Caravans. Almost impossible to see with the naked eye, and if the component had failed almost certainly catastrophic to the engine and not great news for the rest of the flight!

Ignorance can appear to be bliss; if the cracks had not been spotted I would have continued hauling passengers and cargo into and out of rough, short bush airstrips, in South Sudan and Eastern Congo, ‘blissfully unaware’ that these tiny cracks, which had developed slowly over time were there. Their presence meant the engine might failed just when I needed it’s maximum performance.

As soon as the engineer knew there were cracked blades in the engine - his inspections are designed to hunt down such things, the aircraft had to be grounded, as he knew what these tiny cracks were capable of causing. I could have protested and said ‘the aircraft is needed for another urgent flight, MAF could not afford the repair.’ Perhaps I could have tried to persuade him,  ‘come on, fix it later, after all the cracks are only on a couple of blades, the rest are perfect.’

No, only a fool would ignore the promptings of a Chief Engineer! It is amazing how we sometimes fail to sort out cracks in our lives, even after they have been shown to us, so advice for today is ground yourself and get them sorted, it may be ‘expensive’ and uncomfortable but if we want to be a disciple of the King you owe it to yourself and those around you to be fully operational, so you are always ready to give of your best when the time is needed.

Prayer: Lord please reveal to me an area in my life that is failing.  Let me be brave enough to get it sorted out with Your guidance and help. Amen

AVAILABLE from CVM or AMAZON. In fact there are now 4 books in the series all recently written and launched!