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Spring 2025

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“He is Risen!”

Dear Friends and Family,

Happy Easter! HE IS RISEN! We had a beautiful 5:30 a.m. sunrise service this morning outside our church followed by breakfast with our church members while the kids had an Easter candy hunt. After dropping off the members back at their homes, we returned home and had a nice nap.

FAMILY

Our daughter Honora, who is in 7th grade this year (12), has excelled in her academics and set her sights on High School a year early. We encouraged her to try out for the same High School that Tommy (Sophomore) and Raina (Freshman) are going to. We told her that if she didn’t make it, then she could just wait till next year. But she applied herself and was accepted! So next year, we will have our three eldest in High School in grade 9, 10, and 11.

Family building project at the PMA hangar.

VISIT FROM HEIDI’S DAD

Heidi’s dad, Pieter Tuit, has committed to visiting us here in Yap every year. This year he came in January and stayed with us for 2 weeks. He brings loads of goodies for the kids and then while he is here, he helps Heidi with the cooking. We enjoyed having him again and it is good for the kids to continue growing close to him. I always try to take him along on a flight and he enjoys seeing the ministries that we are involved in out here.

AIRCRAFT SALVAGE

You may recall from our last email, informing of the Queen Air, N44MA, which crashed on takeoff on the island of Woleai. Well, we made our first trip out to the island on January 30 where we worked from morning to about 9:30 PM to disassemble as much as we could. We continued the next day until about noon and basically got the wings, tail, engines and propellers removed. Our next trip out on February 20 was just for one day. We arrived early and separated the fuselage from the wing center section, and prepared the engines for shipping.

By the end of the day, all the pieces were delivered to the shore to await the quarterly ship to carry them 370 miles back to Yap Island. On March 6, the ship arrived in Woleai and the whole community pitched in to carry all the parts to the small boats which then brought them to the ship.

When the ship arrived in Yap, our crew brought them from the ship back to our airport with the help of a boom truck. Many have asked if this plane will be rebuilt. No,sadly it will not, but we can use a lot of the components for our other Queen Air which is still flying. If you are interested in watching the salvage operation you can check out these links:

Salvage PART 1, PART 2, PART 3.

HANGAR FANS

Brock, Jay Hibbard and Amos working under the new fans.

Last year we had a second visit from Virgil Gottfried of Samaritan’s Purse. He is the one whom Franklin Graham appointed to help us get the King Airs in 2021 and then also to help us engineer some cargo nets for inside the planes last year. Each time he came out he commented on how hot it was and that we needed to install some large fans in the hangar. He had me put together a proposal and he submitted it to Franklin Graham, who agreed and even sent out Jay Hibbard to help us install them. What a difference they make!

INSTALLATION VIDEO

PMA 50TH ANNIVERSARY

This year we will celebrate PMA’s 50th Anniversary. The first plane arrived in 1974 to provide medical evacuations from the remote islands of Micronesia. Today we still offer these same services for free, and have much to be thankful for as we have more modern aircraft and have the capabilities to reach all the way to Manila with medical evacuation services. We also receive a lot of thanks from the community for our service to provide them with safe and reliable transportation between the islands. The first atoll that PMA flew to in 1974 was Ulithi atoll, and the community there is excited to celebrate this milestone with us. For one day of the celebration, we will be flying out to Ulithi to celebrate with them.

ENGINE FAILURE & REPAIR

The engine that was damaged on takeoff last November was sent to Brisbane, Australia for teardown and repair, and we received an alarming report. A stator blade from inside the engine broke off and was chewed up through the engine causing about $840,000 worth of damage. Insurance won’t cover internal damage and the engine was out of warranty, so we were in a bad spot. But it turned out that this model engine has had other instances of this happening, and we were advised by the engine shop to call the manufacturer and tell them about our situation. The manufacturer came back to us and agreed that it was their responsibility and would only charge us a maximum of $170,000. This was a complete answer to prayer and we praise God for His hand in that situation.

CHECK RIDES

FAA Maintenance Inspector, Brock, Amos & FAA Flight Inspector

In March, Amos needed to renew his Check Airman status, which requires the FAA to come out from Honolulu and observe him teaching someone else. Amos took the opportunity to also train our other PMA pilot Brock Welge to become a Check Airman and they both took turns giving each other a flight check with the FAA observing. It was about 6 check rides total with both Amos and Brock both having to perform up to standards with the FAA watching. There were some high stress times, especially when they went to Guam and had to fly in the controlled airspace. But God was gracious and they both came away with their Check Airmen certificates.

PMF CHURCH OUTREACH

Peter, Sean, Jason, David, Pius, Petrus, and Erik

Last month Erik Spohr, the pastor of Centerville Christian Fellowship of Ohio, and David Knoll, a church leader, came to Yap on their 4th visit to do outreach with our pastor. We had brought in several ministry workers from the outer islands to participate in a workshop to teach about Christian doctrine and answer questions. The workshop went really well, and we also opened it up to other members of the church. We ended the week with a trip out to Fais Island where they were able to also share a message with the people there.
FAA Maintenance Inspector, Brock, Amos & FAA Flight Inspector

ULTIMATE FRISBEE

Every Sunday afternoon, Amos picks up a truckload of kids from our neighborhood and drives them to a soccer field to play Ultimate Frisbee. Most of the kids are alumni or current students of Heidi’s Homeschool. It is great fun and something everyone looks forward to each week.

We hope this letter finds you all doing well. We thank you for your partnership in this ministry. We could not be here without you. (Just a reminder for those of you who send donation checks or who give through PayPal: Please attach a note that says, “Preferred for the Collins Family.” This is a requirement per IRS rules.)