It is hard to believe that it is nearly one month since the annual pilgrimage of the faithful came to an end.   We are all back in Ghana, and busy getting ready to start 4 more girls from the bushlands on a 4 year programme of learning to fly, build and maintain aircraft, run an airfield and use a computer...as well as drive a tractor and a truck!  

Being at Oshkosh is like a medicine - it really is.  You know, when you get an infection you need anti-bodies to fight it off, at times you need a shot of antibiotics to enable you to get ahead in the battle. In the same way, when you get down, after a full year without seeing your friends in the developed world, you need a shot of Oshkosh to boost your morale, remind you that you are not alone in the world and to feel the love that only Oshkosh seems to know how to share.

This year, visiting with Patricia and Lydia, was even more fun than last.  It was Lydia's first trip outside of the country.  She had been to the city about a dozen times before travelling to the USofA.  Lydia can fly, is swift with cleco pliers, can use file as well as any of us, and runs the tower at the airfield like a General.  But she had never seen an escalator!  Watching her face as she was whisked up two flight was a delight itself.  She is now renamed escalator girl - and is spreading the gospel of 'moving stairs' to many.  

For the many of you who came across at Oshkosh - THANK YOU!  WE loved meeting with you, some for the first time, but many for the second or third.  Your kind words to the girls,  your well-wishing-nesses, you demonstration of care for what we do.  Some of you came and told Lydia how she inspired you - that went a long way, and you will never know just how much you have changed a little persons life.  One gentleman sat for an hour waiting for Patricia to come by and autograph a card for him, that meant so much to us all.  We felt the love, and we have brought it back to West Africa and are nurturing it, passing  it on, changing lives, one flight at a time...

The Zenith Builder evening was fun and we enjoyed sharing with you, we hope that those there enjoyed the song that the girls gave you.  Song is a gift that we cherish in West Africa, and I noticed a lot of people recording it on their smart phones!  Play it back, and think of us, we will feel it!

Lydia is back in the saddle of our Rotax 912iS powered 701, and we are working towards completing an 801, probably it will now be sold to raise funds to enable us to embark upon a 750.    We will soon share with you how we installed the 912iS - and how much we enjoy it!

We all like the 750.  We have been involved in helping fellow builder and Webmaster of MoM, Clay Hollenback (seen above with Lydia and his son Garret at OShkosh), based in Iowa (if you live near him, look him up and go pop some rivets with him!).  We also got to help out with the repairs to the Sun n Fun pilotless-aerobatic 750 - the one that did back flips at the command of a tornado last year.  Watching Lydia and Patricia work on the 750 and seeing the look in their eyes, coupled with the load capacity, range, fuel tank systems, and more make the 750 appear to be an ideal airframe for the sort of work we do with these bits of kits.  

So, we thank you all once again for reading, for visiting us in Ghana, for chatting to us at Oshkosh and for being such an encouragement to us all.

Take care, fly safe.  IF you fancy a flying holiday where your funds will go towards changing lives, one flight at a time... let us know, our new accommodation unit will be operational very soon, and we would love to host you!  http://www.medicineonthemove.org/