Hi, I'm Elliott Parfitt, a private pilot. This logbook is my personal blog. Please do not reproduce anything on this blog without permission; write to me at elliott@wings4africa.com! I hope this will be an encouragement, especially to aspiring pilots and to Christian young people who want to follow God's will for their lives. A more up-to-date personal blog can be found at elliottparfitt.blogspot.com
- After Trip Reflections
- 05/02/2010
- The trip is finally over. I have learned probably twice as
much as I could absorb, been bitten with twice as many
mosquitos as ever before, and seen five times as much as
most people see on a missions trip. Conclusion: it was worth
far more than the couple grand it cost to go. The experience
was priceless. I have had the little bit of missions
philosophy that I had before shaken to its core, split
apart, and totally transformed. Perhaps the greatest lesson
I learned this past month is the dangers and effects of
"destructive generosity". Many missionaries have harmed
their church instead of helping it by running it exclusively
with American dollars. It is a very controversial topic. But
don't argue about it until you go see for yourself. Read more >>
- A Soul...
- 02/02/2010
- A soul -- is that what you see when you meet someone? A soul
that will spend eternity somewhere? Lord, forgive and help
us all! Read more >>
- I Meet a Missionary Pilot
- 30/01/2010
- Finally! Our trip to Chingola today got answers to all the
stuff I'd been dying to know. We all (Damon's family and I)
went to Mike Dobbin's flat. He has a work in Chingola and he
knew a missionary pilot nearby. Damon and I rode in his
truck to the Flying Mission station. There is a large school
there that many missionaries' children go to. We met Don
Amborski, the pilot. He was a swell fellow who has been in
Zambia since he was two years old and was very willing to
share with me whatever I wanted to know. We talked for a
good hour, I should say. Read more >>
- Passport Problems!
- 28/01/2010
- This morning Damon and I went to Mufulira to do some
evangelizing. I handed out a lot of tracts, and we each got
a good witness in to someone. There is so much belief in
works here! Thankfully the Bible is filled with verses that
deal very specifically with that topic. Then a couple of men
in shirts and ties walked up to me and showed me a card that
showed that they were from the immigrations office.They
asked a few questions and wanted to see the visa in my
passport. I showed them everything and answered their
questions, and they were satisfied. Read more >>
- Witnessing in Zambia
- 27/01/2010
- Thank you to all who have been praying for me! I have been
very busy running around with the Matacchieras (both
families) doing different things. Read more >>
- Nothing Is Easy
- 25/01/2010
- No, nothing is easy in Zambia. Damon and I just returned
from an afternoon in town. We were on a simple mission - get
the window on the car fixed. It's an electric window, and as
a matter of security you shouldn't be able to just push the
window down by hand. Everything that can be stolen here, is
stolen. So, off to one of the most knowledgeable electrician
mechanics in Kitwe. Boy, was it painful to see him working
with his homemade tools! He was using the wrong bits in the
screws and everything... oh, I had to stop watching. We
finally had the problem pinpointed. The cable that operates
the window had overlapped itself and chewed itself up and
broken. It took the guy and his helper an hour to get the
cable out and the rest put back together. He directed us to
Afrope, a cable factory outside of town. They gave us a
bunch of trouble though, because they "didn't sell just the
cable." They would install it for us too. Well, that was
fine -- but then it came out that all they wanted to do was
put the actual cable in the frame, not take the panel off,
fix the window, and put it back together; no sir! We finally
got them to sell us 4 metres of 2mm cable. We have to go
back tomorrow morning to get the clamps to put on the cable,
pay the rest of our bill, and go have the mechanic (who
really is a nice fellow) to install it. I pray that
everything will work out fine, but if it doesn't; well the
Lord saw that we needed to learn even more patience, and...
welcome to beautiful sunny Africa! Read more >>
- Chinsali Part 2
- 20/01/2010
- I'm back with more on the trip to the Northern Province!
Sunday morning we went back to church. Bro. Mike preached on
repentance and the true Biblical meaning of it. He preaches
in Bemba, so I didn't understand much of what he was saying.
After Sunday School was the main service. When someone does
special music or a group does a chorus, they usually do two
or three. I gave my testimony, with Pastor Samuel
interpreting for me. They really liked it. They are all very
enthusiastic about missionaries coming. Then Brother Mike
preached again, this time in English with the translator. He
did it for my benefit, which I greatly appreciated. Read more >>
- Chinsali Trip
- 18/01/2010
- I just got back to Kitwe, Zambia, from a 3-day adventure in
Chinsali with Damon and missionary Mike Dobbins. Chinsali is
a village, or actually a rather sprawled-out cluster of
villages, about ten hours' drive from Damon's home. We took
some Bibles, tracts, and other materials with us to give to
Pastor Samuel, the national pastor who has a work in the
main village of Chinsali. The roads weren't very good, but
they could have been a lot worse considering that it's the
rainy season and the roads are given very poor bases. We saw
a couple of accidents, but the Lord took us there safely. We
stayed Friday night in a dingy little hotel. My room had a
bed with a mosquito net, a filthy shower with only the cold
(very cold) working, a temperamental toilet (you reach in
the tank and pull on the wire loop to flush), and a sink
with a faucet that spins in a circle when you try to shut it
off. Really, it was a blast. The food was pretty decent; the
cook made some very good rice to go with the dry chicken or
beef. Read more >>
- The Adventure Begins...
- 12/01/2010
- I am writing in the terminal of OR Tambo Intl. Airport in
South Africa. I left this morning...no, it was yesterday
morning...right; for a three-week stay in Zambia. I will be
visiting missionaries Damon and Lisa Matacchiera in Kitwe,
and working with them and Damon's parents, the Joe
Matacchiera family (can I figure out some keyboard shortcut
to write that name automatically?). I will be searching for
God's will for my life and getting a feel for the field in
Zambia. Read more >>
- A Big No-go!
- 25/12/2009
- I’m writing this from Arkansas, where our family is on
vacation visiting relatives. While I was here I figured it
might be a good idea to check out a missionary aviation
training school I’ve been praying about attending to get
my mechanic training. It’s called Alpha Aviation. The
downside is that it is 3 or so hours away from here. Well,
that shouldn’t be such a problem. I have my hard-earned
pilot certificate, right? And there's an airport nearby that
rents aircraft. I contacted them...and the problems began!
They require a checkout, since the only planes
for rent are Cessna 172 SPs. These are a technologically
advanced aircraft because of the "glass cockpit" electronic
flight displays they have instead of the conventional
layout. That is a lot of extra money, since I'd have to pay
for an extra hour plus the instructor. Then when I called to
go ahead and schedule the checkout (I figured it would be a
good experience to learn a new aircraft), the man said, "Oh
yes, I didn't tell you -- your renter's insurance has to be
$120,000 coverage or more." Well, that was it! I pay enough
premium for my $5,000 coverage; I can't afford the $1,500
annual premium for enough coverage to please some rental
place. It's just another reminder that there is more than
bad weather that can ground a pilot. Read more >>
- Pilot Missionary Matt Allen
- 23/11/2009
- I have had the privilege recently to hear pilot missionary
Matt Allen speak at our church. Before the service I was
able to go with some other young men to our pastor's house
and listened to Brother Allen talk about how he went about
getting his certificates and ratings. He painted the "dark
side" of missionary aviation for us. It just isn't like the
videos portray. Unless you pick up the winning ticket off
the sidewalk tomorrow, you had better be ready to have no
time, no money, and a lot of hard work for a few years. I
already knew that but it was a good reminder. If you would
like to find out more about Matt Allen and his work in
Paupau New Guinea, go to his web page. Read more >>
- No longer Student!
- 09/11/2009
- Last week I got in touch with the FAA designated flight
examiner and scheduled my practical test. He had a cancelled
trip, so he was able to be in the area on Monday. I went
ahead and scheduled for Monday morning at 10:00 (1500 UTC). Read more >>
- Last Lesson...
- 02/11/2009
- Yesterday I had my last training lesson before the
checkride. We went up and he just threw random maneuvers at
me . I "failed " the first one, but after that I watched my
altitude better and went through the rest okay. Read more >>
- Glider Pilot
- 26/10/2009
- Glider Pilot? I thought you were applying for "single-engine
land". Well, yes, but that involves some training for the
un-called-for unknown scenario - Engine Failure. This was
not new material but simply a review, so I knew exactly what
to do when my instuctor pulled the throttle to idle. The
automatic checklist: Read more >>
- Flight on October 19
- 19/10/2009
- Another early afternoon lesson. We did another hood
(instument) flight to Olean County. This weeks TOL(TakeOff
and Landing) focus was soft-field. The main objective is to
keep the weight off the landing gear. I'd like to fly into a
soft field like Geneseo before winter, to get a more real
soft-field experience. Read more >>
- Flight on October 12
- I am beginning the final stage of training- review! We are
also using these last few hours to get the few hours of
simulated instrument. Read more >>
- Flight on October 5
- 06/10/2009
- Monday, October fifth I arrived at the airport at 6:30 PM.
The rain cells that had been bumping around western New York
were clearing away, exposing a beautiful sunset. Read more >>