Hangar Prep...A Family Affair

As we were preparing for the Kodiak dedication, there was lots of work to do to get the hangar ready.  Since it all was to happen right before school started, we had a couple of extra helpers!  The kids were great helpers and even got some paint on the walls.

The funniest part of the whole painting project happened the day I was painting right beside the entrance to the waiting room.  ALAS has a contract to fly for some tourist companies and there were some "gringos" milling around waiting for their flight.  One of the tourists came out and asked me how I  (a gringa) found myself painting the outside of a hangar in the middle of Ecuador.  These tour groups already feel like they're in the middle of nowhere by the time they get to Shell.  The flight into the jungle is the last leg of several days of travel from their homes.  So, to them it probably seems strange to see a white person doing a very "manual labor" type job in the middle of the "jungle".  I thought it was funny and told Chad about it.   A few days later, Chad is flying the same group out of the jungle and they start to ask him why he's in the middle of Ecuador flying little airplanes.  Chad had a chance to share a little about what we do and  Who we do it for.   It was a good conversation and highlights one of the reasons we do tourist flights.  We get to have a mission field in our airplanes as we have the chance to share with these passengers.  The funny thing was that at the end of Chad's conversation the guys said, "Oh... I bet your wife was the one we saw painting the hangar!" You never know what part of your normal day might be a witness to someone else!

Dad comes to supervise the workers between flights.

It took three to four coats of red and blue to finish.

The door for the new hangar was donated to ALAS by HIgher Power Door Company.  We just had to ship it to Ecuador.  It's sweet!!

It's like the whole wall just tilts up out of the way. 

Our new, lighted, sign goes up shortly before the dedication.

Roller Selfie.

The kids did a great job helping out and didn't complain...too much.

Some paint even ended up on the walls.