Personal testimony regarding some of Rick Lawrence's aviation ministry -- (Left) Rick, Bible in hand, by his Stinson; (right) example of Rick's Cessna 180
The
following is a report of one trip Rick made from the Iowa/Minnesota border to
Re some of my aviation experiences. I had never spoken much about the fact that I was heavily into aviation for lots of years. You might enjoy learning about one of my flights wherein I led 16 people to the Lord, two adults and 14 teens. The Holy Spirit opened their hearts when they heard the Gospel and realized Christ died personally for them, too. I didn't state what the farmer whose hayfield I landed in during a rainstorm said to me that astonished me.
He
said, he had looked at planes flying over his farm for years, and somehow felt
that one day one of them would land in his hay field with a message to him from
God. This farmer now was standing with me just inside his barn door out of
the rain. I said to him, "
Re my offer to witness to my ministry as a Missionary Aviation mountain pilot. I
was not a part of MAF; to my knowledge there were no MAFs operating in the areas
I served. I started private pilot Instructions when I was 16 yrs. of age.
Over the ensuing years I progressed and ended up at age 21 with a Private Pilot
license with instrument training. I had checkouts in numerous aircraft, and
owned two, A Stinson Voyager and a Cessna 180; both planes were donated by a
dedicated fIying farmer. I pray for him and hs family every day. Mountain flying
is quite dangerous, I had a dozen harrowing near-death experiences in mountain
flying -- bush pilot type, Mostly due to thermals and fog. In
My
testimony in this letter is about the fact that I also operated the Stinson
aircraft in evangelistic ministry stateside for evangelistic ministry
before I shipped to
I
will be telling about a trip I made from southern MN to Baudette near
Then,
I flew on to Baudette finished my business there and took off again heading to
the south region of MN. This trip was made many years ago before the advent
of the GPS/ Global Positioning System, wherein you can put in the coordinates of
your destination and it will take you within a mile or less of that destination.
We did a lot of dead reckoning and omni-range back then. The weather was
terrible; I flew instruments until it got so bad I had to set down again. I
chose a grassy strip next to a gravel road and set my plane down. Shortly,
two carloads of teens showed up and pulled off the gravel road and pulled up to
park about 50 ft behind my plane. It was still raining. They were curious. I
told them I was a minister and I figured the skies would clear enough for me to
take off in 2 hrs.. I told them if they showed up before I took off at
Next a
woman with her 10 yr. old daughter came by, pulled off the road and up to the
place where the teens had been. She got out, stood by the car and the
daughter strode up and asked me how I came to be there with my airplane. I told
her the storm had forced me to land; I told her if she came back before
Just
before
I had just eased into the cockpit and started the plane's engine, set the brakes and with the engine idling and prop spinning, I got out to check to see if there was any damage to the tail wheel section. At that moment a car sped down the gravel road turned into the little grassy strip and parked. The door flew open and the 10 year old girl ran screaming toward me as I stood near the tail section of air plane in light rain, "Rick! Rick! Wait for me! She ran breathlessly up and clung to my arm. She exclaimed loudly, "I believe, I believe. I want to accept Jesus as my personal Savior” I taught her more about the Gospel, then I prayed with her-- She, with great sobs, asked the Lord Jesus to come into her heart! She gave me a hug and ran back to her mother who was standing by the car. She yelled, "Mom! Mom! I asked Jesus to come into my heart!. She hugged her mom and they both cried. I figured her mom was a spiritually born again believer.
I
Thanked the Lord for his mercy and grace, then, lifted my aircraft into the
skies and headed south.
PS. If you are reading this account, tell me -- if a 10 year old girl can accept Jesus Christ as her personal Savior and the lord of her life and if you are not 100% sure you are on your way to heaven if you die -- What's stopping you from a decision for Him? In Revelation 3:20 He says, "I am standing at the door. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and fellowship with you and you with me ---" What door? The door of your heart! Pray this prayer that I prayed with the teens and the girl, the same prayer I pray with everyone who wishes to accept Jesus as their personal Savior. Be sure you mean it with your whole heart and when you have prayed, you will know right away, that Jesus, who you have invited into your heart, has come into your heart and given you eternal life.
"Dear heavenly Father, please forgive me for all of the sins, the wrong things I have thought, said and done in my life. I repent and turn away from these things. I open the door of my heart to you and I ask you to come into my heart as my Savior and Lord of my life. Thank you for this miracle that causes me to be spiritually born again. Help me to obey your commands and do what pleases you. Thank you for coming into my heart an making me a forever member of the family of God. Amen..
Be sure to tell someone about this decision you have just made. (click here) for a believer's bible study, or go to middle of homepage RKL2.org.-- that will help you to know what to do next.
---------------------------------
Rick served in
Q. What was flying in the Mexico Sierras like? A. I refer to the western and eastern Sierras in Mexico being two mountain ranges. Actually they are a continuation of the Rocky Mountains of the USA. They are separated in many provinces by a valley which runs north and south. I did not fly operationally below Durango, so I'm not familiar with the areas below Durango. Thus, only one range. I found flying in these mountains hazardous. and had numerous near-death experiences. I don't mean to be dramatic about my experiences, and I did learn a lot from Alaskan bush pilots, and , of course, my own operations. The biggest problems were fog and thermals (mountain down drafts). As you may know, due to the revolving of the earth in orbit from east to west, winds in general are westerly.. If you happen to be heading east in the mountains and are at an altitude below the summits, the westerly winds create updrafts on the approach or windward side of the mountain and downdrafts on the leeward side. I believe the winds around the north and south poles tend to flow easterly. High and low pressure areas affect wind direction, too. On the practical side of operations, it pays to know about these trends to stay safe in your aircraft. I recall an experience I had before I learned some rules for flying in the mountains.
I was taking supplies to a missionary at Monty Y
Calvo, a mining town in the Sierras west of Cuatemoc. The airstrip at
"Monty" began
right at the edge of a mountain cliff. It was only 5000 ft high, but I made the
mistake of arriving at the strip at about 9:30 AM one morning. I had set up my
180 Cessna for the final and was about 1./2 mile from touchdown when all of a
sudden my Cessna180 dropped 1,100 ft. it stayed relatively level, but it was a ride I
will never forget. Fortunately, I was prepared as a result of learning from
other bush pilots what to do in this type of situation, or I would have crashed into the
mountain side. I headed back to my own airstrip and mulled it over. I was landing into the
leeward edge of the mountain airstrip. The thermals often get strong and create
dangerous downdrafts. I learned that to avoid this problem,
other bush pilots generally take off at dawn
and try to land in the early morning. before the air warms up on the lee side of
the mountains. Some pilots call this the "dawn patrol."
I also learned, e.g. it is imperative that in the mountains a pilot must
do the homework necessary to calculate the various factors concerning the
takeoff weight of one's aircraft, the msl altitude, etc. to prevent having an
accident. Few pilot know that an overweight or underpowered aircraft, an
successfully take off in high mountain altitude, but once airborne, your
aircraft will =soon settle or stall and crash to earth. This may have a lot to
do with the phenomena of "ground effect" support of a planes wings
(extra support or lift equal to the total wing length of your aircraft). oth
back then, both the 172 and 182 Cessnas had the identical 36 ft. wing span;
aeronautical engineers can tell you more about this effect. know that the
ratio where extra lift is at work, is dependent on the total wingspan of your
aircraft. Thus, in the case of a 180 or 182 Cessna the ground effect takes place
up to 36 ft. --- the total wingspan of your 182. What can you use it for? You
can use it to get your aircraft off of a mushy or rock-strewn surface. You can
learn more about it, but I have used "ground effect" lift to get my
Stinson and later my 180 into the air and hold it in ground effect to build up
airspeed while preventing surface drag or avoiding rocks and that sort of
thing, sometimes a feature of primitive airstrips. One seasoned pilot who owned
a Mooney said he never put his Mooney down in questionable places. Hey!
that's the best solution --if you have a choice.
I made it a point to read up on a number of long time mountain bush pilots. I was amazed at their experiences and learned a ton of practical piloting info and the ways and means of flying in Mountainous terrain. One thing you learn right away is you cannot see mountain summits in the dark of night, or fog. If I was forced to fly at night, I climbed my aircraft to a safe altitude above the highest mountain summit. Of course that was years ago. The T182T turbo Cessna I am planning for has a Garmin G1000 panel of Hi-tech ability which includes SVT (synthetic Vision Technology) a system that clearly shows mountain terrain, peaks and all and has warning signals if your aircraft is too close to the terrain. Quite fantastic. SVT will allow me to see through fog clouding an airport runway and allows me to safely descend through overcast, clearly seeing the runway-- as if it were a clear day. Remarkable!.
in closing this article, I will tell you what my best navigational aid was in the mountains of Mexico. Fortunately, my Cessna 180 had a very fine ADF. An ADF is a radio instrument that a pilot can use by dialing in a radio station's transmitting tower and thereby with a RMI (radio magnetic Indicator track the radio stations signal. There is another instrument that has a "to" and a "from" lettering and a red flag that will switch from :"to" when you are tracking the station and then when you pass over the radio tower the indicator will switch to the "from" position, which tells you that you are going away from the radio tower. Years ago when I was in missionary aviation in Mexico, there was very little in electronic equipment in most locations,. When I say fortunately I had an ADF, the fortunate part was that there was a 100,000 watt radio station within a few miles of my primitive mountain airstrip. I could track this 100K watt station from 300 miles away at any direction. So, it didn't matter what direction I was at from the station, as long as I flew above the mountain peaks, I could pilot my 180 to and from. You just need to know how to operate the ADF properly, in a professional manner.
I'll mention my own air operations and opinions regarding .traversing mountain passes through canyons, et. Al. Sometimes when I was running late due to headwinds, etc. I would take shortcuts through the mountains usual flying at 1,000 to 3,000 ft. Never flying through passes on the leeward side of the mountains during the day when thermals (downdrafts were rampant; it was suicidal to do so) But, one day, when I was trying to save some miles and flying time on the way home, I entered what looked to be a canyon with an entrance and an exit. in other words, a pilot could fly through the canyon and on into another one. Thankfully, I was alert, when all of a sudden I saw there was no exit; it was in what is called a "box" canyon. I had enough air speed to pull up, invert wing-high a bit past vertical, hold some top (right hand) rudder into a fairly tight left turn, of course, chopping the throttle, pushing the nose down (temporarily), pulling on 2 notches of flaps, and managing to make an emergency turn without entering into a stall. Once turn is made, ease throttle forward. To You pilots reading this info You can receive strong ADF vectors fairly well even when flying in some canyons, but from that day forward, I stayed at an altitude above the peaks. You will understand why I ceased that day to save a little time by flying the canyons and passes. The maneuver I just described is one you learn and memorize subjectively -- you just don't have time to think about what you should do in an emergency situation at well over 100 mph. Oh yes, when you fly up above the peaks, you often encounter head winds, crosswinds that cause your engine to burn more gas. OTOH (on the other hand) You will avoid having search parties out scouring the wilderness looking for pieces of your plane and probably your body, since you are likely not to survive that kind of a crash.
I'll close by telling you how I managed to get through the mountain and make it to my primitive airstrip. As I have mentioned elsewhere in this article, the mountain peak next to my little airstrip was 13,500 feet high. Regardless of the weather, I could fly to the radio tower near my airstrip and the mountain peak would usually be sticking up with clouds surrounding it. When my instruments told me I was directly over the radio transmitting tower, I would make a certain calculated, timed turn and with my electric gyro compass heading exactly parallel to where my little primitive airstrip was situated. I would then fly on instruments down through approx 12,000 feet of overcast until at about 500 to 1,000 feet above my airstrip I would be VFR (I could visually see my airstrip and surroundings). I always said a prayer asking the Lord to protect me and keep me from being caught in the mountain's down thermals which could cause me to crash into the mountain side.. And I would thank Him for protecting me. Finally, I needed to be sure there were no stray burros or cows on the airstrip. Once in a while, I would have to buzz a burro, cow or someone's horse off the center of the airstrip. This airstrip was only about 500 feet in length by 50 feet wide with another bit of area where I parked my 180 when not flying. Funny thing, these strays got to know my Cessna 180, and when I landed they would be on the sidelines and often they would "kick up their heels" and act silly, which I believe was just their way of welcoming me back home. Why were there animals straying near my airstrip? Well, there were few fences. When owners wanted their livestock they would keep a good supply of feed for them and shut them in at night, or if needed go round them up.. That was back then, most likely things have changed since then.
In closing, I want to make it clear that some mountain flying is a "heads-up" affair; not nearly as easy as it sounds. Different mountains have their peculiarities. I learned a great deal from some of the finest bush pilots flying Alaska and other areas. You can crash in any mountain range if you don't focus, but I yield my bush pilot knowledge and experience to the Alaskan bush pilots who face challenges which I did not face. My work was demanding with hazards, at times, and you must have a bit of aerobatic type experience and skill piloting your aircraft. Also, weather experience. Well, some of you know all about it. Some of you probably have things you could teach me. So it goes.
To the person who contributed the following link for my website: www.bush-planes.com/index.html Thanks; it is interesting and the many pilots who access RKL2.org will find it interesting, too.
My friends, I strongly believe God answers prayer. He also appreciates our acknowledgement of this fact, which we can show Him, when we ask Him for help with providing answers. I have so many recollections of different happenings in ministry meetings. I held a meeting in Monterrey Mexico; it was in a public hall and one big hunk of a man, who sat in the back row, pulled out his 45 caliber pistol and pointed it at me as I preached about Jesus Christ from the platform. He kept "thumbing" (pulling the hammer back, then, slowly releasing it). I have owned a variety of hand guns, rifles and shotguns in my life and I knew if the hammer slipped the gun would fire. After the service, I asked him why he pointed the pistol at me. he said, " I wanted the truth, and I figured if you thought you might die, you would for sure preach the truth. The truth saved you and I will pray about making a decision to accept Christ as my savior and Lord."
I remember a meeting I held in the mountains. It was next to a peasants hut. I remember there were chickens and a goat inside the hut. When I preached in open air meetings, I had a small wooden table, on it sat a two mantle Coleman lantern and my Bible. The people would sit on the ground. I could only see as far as a few rows in the dark; the men always sat on one side and the women on the other side. I remember thinking to myself, "Lord, how come I 'm up here on this mountainside -- this raw, primitive environment while back in the USA, people and their preachers are sitting comfortably in their fine churches, yet here am I, trying to convince a few dozen peasants and their children to accept Jesus and have eternal life in heaven." The smell was kind of rank coming from the hut where the host family lived; the chickens were noisy and the goat kept voicing his concerns. I don't know if you are aware of the difference between goats and sheep voices; the goats say, "mah" and the sheep say "bah." The goats can be really smelly, and they are not docile like sheep, Goats are independent and do what they please.
Well, I preached my heart out
to what I thought were maybe a few dozen Mexican people. I knew it took a
lot for them to journey up the mountain side where this bit of level spot
existed. The air was thin and cool. I felt that if these people made this effort
to hear about the promises of God in Christ, I would give them my best effort to
preach His truth. I finished and invited the people to come to the altar -- so
to speak -- and stand publicly before the table and the Lord whose Spirit was
there, while I led them in a prayer of acceptance to receive Jesus as
their personal Savior and Lord of their life. And they came and they came; I
couldn't understand where they all were coming from, until a light happen to
shine over the crowd and there were not just a few dozen, but several hundred
people had quietly come to that spot -- even as I was preaching. That night, at
the small Rick Lawrence family's house in a village 20 miles away, I knelt in prayer
before the Lord and asked him to forgive me for comparing my ministry --
thinking it was too meager -- with the great churches in the USA.
I realized
that many times in the USA, I had prayed and said , "Lord, I'll go wherever
you wish to send me. I had forgotten that He was sending me where others
might be unwilling to go. He called and anointed me with His God-given, and God-called ministry
permitting me the privilege of sharing Jesus Christ with these people, many who
were very poor in worldly goods. A typical trip is Connie, Rick's wife and
friend driving him a mile to the airstrip just before dawn. Rick climbs out of
the pickup truck and preflights the aircraft to be certain it is ready for
flight. he had already filled the gas tanks with avgas (100LL) at the regional
airport when he was returning from his last flight. He kisses Connie goodbye,
slides into the cockpit of the Cessna 180, taxis to the far end
of the strip and is soon airborne. He climbs to 5,000 feet and heads for a
distant mountain pass wanting to get there and through the narrow pass before the
dangerous thermals (downdrafts) begin. Rick goes about the Lord's business. He
thinks this ministry may be expanded, some day in the future, to more countries in the
western hemisphere. PTL below, the T182T turbo Cessna Rick is expecting to have,
soon.
www.rkl2.org/abtrickgh2cdd.htm
Your prayers are important to me. God bless you. ~ Rick