After much prayer and consultation, the mission gave the go-ahead to purchase some amphib floats for the 4-place Bearhawk. This occurred last fall. The floats were finished (in Canada) and shipped to Brazil in March. They arrived in April, and of course were delayed in customs. Almost to the day they were liberated, the truckers went on strike here in Brazil protesting the increase in diesel price. No trucks equal no lots of things. Flights were canceled as airports ran out of jet fuel.  Final exams were delayed as classes were canceled because gas stations didn’t have gas and people couldn’t get to class. Grocery stores began to run out of fruits and vegetables……and our floats were stuck in the port because the truckers blocked the exit!! Well…after a few weeks they were finally released. During this times, we began the project of moving the Bearhawk to the hangar that has a ramp down into the water. Matt had had hernia surgery just a week before, so Janelle had to be there making sure he didn’t lift anything. That meant the kids might as well help also! The wings were taken off. For an abbreviated video, you can click here if you don’t want to read all the way to the end. Placed on a trailer that Jaelah and a good Brazilian friend stood on and held the wings as Matt drove them about 10 miles to the hangar. Jaelah decided that she probably didn’t HAVE to be on the trailer securing the wings from falling off but since she had asked, her dad said, “definitely!”.

Although Matt wanted to drive the fuselage 10 miles to the hanger on the road, that was vetoed and we hired a tow truck. Then the process of putting the wings back on and preparing the floats for installation. We are in the middle of that process now.