Welcome to the blog site for Nevin Urey. Feel free to browse through my recent updates below or if there is something specific you are looking for (like contact details, prayer points, etc) then see the ‘Tag List‘ on the left.
Keep in touch,
Nevin
al island and spend a few days. Unfortunately I was there to work and after 2 1/2 days of cutting grass with a strimmer (weed whacker for all you Americans) I was ready to come home. Here is a picture as we approched the island. It is a beautiful island and as there will be a Bible dedication there soon we flew in to prep the airstrip for all the visitors during the celebrations. Click on the pic to make it bigger.
Working all day in the hot sun really saps your energy but praise the Lord for coconuts! Did you know there are over 150 uses for the coconut tree. I kept it simple and just stuck to 2 - DRINKING and EATING! They say the coconut water can even be injected straight into your body through an IV drip … thankfully I didn’t have to try that, but it kept me going. Now all I need to do is to learn how to climb the tree so I can get my own 
Enjoy … Nev
ood hit the centre here and surrounding villages. We praise the Lord that no one on centre was hurt even though numerous people got caught by the strength of the water and were washed into trees and fields. The force of the water was strong enough to uproot tress, move cars and even buildings!
News of the surrounding area is still sketchy but so far we believe the death toll to be 6 people. Please pray for the families of those that have lost loved ones or for those that have been injured. Hundreds of families have been affected by this flood and everyone is in disaster recovery mode. We are thankfull for many people who have already come to help many of which have travelled for hours to get here.
Please pray
Praise Him for the many blessings He has already given us even in the midst of disaster!
PS - I hope to post some more pictures under the ‘album’ heading on the right hand side shortly.
Well I arrived safe and sound last week and here is a pic of my new temporary surroundings. This is the guest house here in Manila and is just a hive of activity of people coming and going all the time. Some of the stories of people experiences so far have just been amazing and it has been great to have had an opportunity to briefly get to know other Wycliffe people who have spent much of their lives doing translation work out here.
Most of the time however I am taking part in the orientation process and a major section of this is clearing the government quarantine for my visa extension. So far I’ve trekked numerous times to the local medical lab to have blood taken, chest x-rays and give lots of samples. Most of the results came back fine apart from one that suggested that I was close to death with a fever. Thankfully this was just a contaminated sample and the next day my results indicated a miraculous recovery.
So tomorrow it’s off to the visa office with all my medical results so I can extend the visa. Once that is complete I’ll then concentrate on finishing the orientation, getting a local drivers license and then heading down south to the Mindanao branch where I’ll be working.
Well it took a while but I finally made it back safely. The first delay was caused by a problem with some of the train tracks between Grand Rapids & Chicago, then the flight was delayed due to weather. When we did eventually land at Philadelphia there unfortunately were no free gates to park at. I could actually see my plane bound for Dublin sitting there as we taxied to and fro past it a couple of times. By the time we eventually got of the plane the Dublin flight was gone and the next one 24 hours away! Anyway, it all worked out OK as I managed to get on a flight to Shannon and make my way home from there. It took around 36 hours in total but I finally managed to make it back home
Since then its been all go, and has been great catching up with friends and family. I’ll be here for another 4 weeks (until Nov 6th) before heading out to the Philippines. I even have a new mobile number for my time here … so give me a call on 07515 160 699 to catch up. Talk soon … Nevin
Well … no more exams, and no more study (for a while anyway). Today began at 5am after a sleepless night. The day of my commercial checkride had finally arrived. It was initially scheduled for Monday but a combination of not feeling ready and a bad weather forecast put it back to today. By 6am I was at the airport, with strong coffee in hand, and talking to a weather briefer. By 7.15 the finishing touches to the fictional flight plan, that was to be used for the test, was complete and the waiting game began. At 8am the FAA examiner arrived and after a few minutes of small talk, the gloves came off and the oral test began. We spend the next 2 hours going over the finer points of aerodynamics, airplane systems, federal regulations and the dreaded topic of weather. All went really well and the preparation material I’d studied held strong.
Then it was time to fly … 1st in a small 2 seater airplane - we took off and went on a simulated cross-country. Then a fictional divert due to bad weather, followed by some commercial air maneuvers (stalls, slow flight, lazy eights, eights on pylons, etc). The weather was really good today, in fact it was the only good day for a checkride this whole week. Then it was back to the airport for some landings, most were pretty straight forward but finally came one called the ‘180 power off approach’ - this one can bite you. You fly in the pattern at an airport 1000′ above the ground, then pull the power and have to glide through a 180 degree turn and land within a 200′ mark. If you land either too short or too long then you fail the whole ride. No pressure … Its a real judgment thing and every day is different due to the wind so its really hard to practice for. Anyway, I had about an 80 deg crosswind (far from ideal and NEVER practiced), and I turned a little too early ending up on final way way WAY too high. The maneuver involves doing what it takes to land safely at the spot so I went straight to full flaps and hammered the rudder putting the plane into a maximum slip. This means you effectively fly the plane sideways and the idea is that the extra drag will give you the glide ratio of a grand piano. As we got closer to the runway, I prayed harder and harder, holding the slip right down until a few feet from the ground. I don’t know how, but praise the Lord we hit the spot pretty much right on. Even the examiner said ‘Wow … I really didn’t think you would make it from there’.
Then it was time to change planes into a more complex one, with retractable gear and a variable pitch propeller. After some more stalls, emergency procedures and airport work we finally taxied back into the airport. Testing had lasted 5 1/2 hours, and finally I heard the words … Congratulations you are now a commercial pilot!
So thank you all who lifted me up (and helped me come down) in prayer today. Yet again another milestone has been met! Luke 1.37 says that with God nothing is impossible and I’m walking proof that God can take a telecommunications engineer and turn him into a commercial pilot. He can take someone who had never done an oil change before and make them an airplane mechanic. Praise Him!
Oh yeah … the day wouldn’t be complete without yet another pic of an expensive piece of paper, at the end of a long day.
This was taken in front of the Cessna 152 tailwheel that I used for most of the flight test. What a fun little plane to fly!
Thanks to all who have been praying for my remaining flight training. The end is in sight! The weather has been pretty cooperative recently and I’m almost ready. I’ve one more flight to do tomorrow (Monday 10th) and I should be good for the FAA exam sometime mid week. The format will be first an oral quiz lasting around 2 hours. Then if that goes well we can go fly. There are 2 planes that i need to fly for the practical tests, a small 2 seater Cessna 152 (tailwheel) and then a slightly larger 172 with retractable gear and adjustable propeller. Should be a pretty intersting day. I’ll let you know as soon as the the test date is confirmed … Nev
