As long as I can remember I have been fascinated with flight. My first flight in a small aircraft came in high school. A local pilot friend (Myron Lasater) took me up in his yellow Cub. I’ll never forget it. I was hooked. I never pursued a private license, and I regret not taking the opportunity earlier in life to join the military. However, I never lost the love and fascination of aircraft, especially military aircraft. For many years, Microsoft Flight Simulator became my escape. I have all the historical great aircraft in my hanger. I have flown under most all the airline liveries and logos. With all this experience around and about aircraft, I never knew you could actually buy a military plane; well, at least in pieces.
I was reading about one of my favorites and most recognized, The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit. Better known as a stealth bomber, everyone knows it if they are lucky enough to see one (or unlucky depending). Anyway, the story goes that one of these great birds was in need of a repair. Brion Edwards was a communications technician in the US Air Force. He was stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, which is home to the fleet of B-2 Spirits. One day, he heard from a non-commissioned officer, who was on his way to pick up some spare windshields. Brion tells the story to Dario Leone of the The Aviation Geek Club https://theaviationgeekclub.com/did-you-know-a-man-bought-all-the-spare-b-2-windshields-and-used-them-in-his-daughters-tree-house-the-usaf-had-to-buy-them-back-to-replace-a-damaged-spirit-windshield/
“He told me that over 20 years of service and thousands of hours of flying transcontinental missions, a B-2 has never needed a windshield replaced. The windshields were believed to be indestructible. During what was intended to be a routine flight, one of the stealth bombers struck a Canadian Goose, resulting in a hairline crack on the B-2’s windshield. The obvious solution was to order a spare windshield to replace the cracked one, but there was a problem…The Maintenance Squadron placed an order with the Air Force parts depot, but they replied back that there were none in stock. The spare windshields had been in the warehouse such a long time with no orders for them, that someone thought they belonged to a discontinued air frame. The windshields were sent to the Air Force DRMO [Defense Reutilization Marketing Office] program, which sells surplus items to the public. The company that made the windshields had long moved on to other things and would be too expensive to start up again. The maintenance crew then had to track down the citizen that had bought the surplus windshields. The man still had all of the spare windshields in his possession and through an undisclosed amount, agreed to sell them back to the Air Force. As for why the unidentified individual made the unusual purchase in the first place? He used them as windows in his daughter’s tree house!”
This story produces all kinds of thoughts and questions, but my mind goes to Scripture. In Isaiah 49– The prophet addresses a people who feel forgotten by God. They feel abandoned and alone. Isaiah has to remind them that God never forgets His people, He never leaves us alone. In verse 14-16 we are told. Zion says, “The Lord has abandoned me; the Lord has forgotten me!” “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the child of her womb? Even if these forget, yet I will not forget you. Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.”
When I read that last part, I am reminded of the nail scarred hands of Jesus. By His wounds we are healed. Our transgressions are forgiven, we are washed white as snow by the shedding of His blood. This Easter season, like those windshields left in an Air Force supply room to be sold away, you might feel like God has abandoned you. But no, He knows where you are and has moved Heaven and Earth to buy you back to Himself. You are needed, loved and useful. Don’t let the situation you are in at this moment define you for life. You were not built to be the windows of a tree house; you are designed to soar to great heights and do great things.
Stop listening to the voices that want to keep you down and focus on the voice of your Father in Heaven. He’s calling you back into service today.
“Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.” Luke 9:48
Serving the Savior,
Bro. Jonathan
I was reading about one of my favorites and most recognized, The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit. Better known as a stealth bomber, everyone knows it if they are lucky enough to see one (or unlucky depending). Anyway, the story goes that one of these great birds was in need of a repair. Brion Edwards was a communications technician in the US Air Force. He was stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, which is home to the fleet of B-2 Spirits. One day, he heard from a non-commissioned officer, who was on his way to pick up some spare windshields. Brion tells the story to Dario Leone of the The Aviation Geek Club https://theaviationgeekclub.com/did-you-know-a-man-bought-all-the-spare-b-2-windshields-and-used-them-in-his-daughters-tree-house-the-usaf-had-to-buy-them-back-to-replace-a-damaged-spirit-windshield/
“He told me that over 20 years of service and thousands of hours of flying transcontinental missions, a B-2 has never needed a windshield replaced. The windshields were believed to be indestructible. During what was intended to be a routine flight, one of the stealth bombers struck a Canadian Goose, resulting in a hairline crack on the B-2’s windshield. The obvious solution was to order a spare windshield to replace the cracked one, but there was a problem…The Maintenance Squadron placed an order with the Air Force parts depot, but they replied back that there were none in stock. The spare windshields had been in the warehouse such a long time with no orders for them, that someone thought they belonged to a discontinued air frame. The windshields were sent to the Air Force DRMO [Defense Reutilization Marketing Office] program, which sells surplus items to the public. The company that made the windshields had long moved on to other things and would be too expensive to start up again. The maintenance crew then had to track down the citizen that had bought the surplus windshields. The man still had all of the spare windshields in his possession and through an undisclosed amount, agreed to sell them back to the Air Force. As for why the unidentified individual made the unusual purchase in the first place? He used them as windows in his daughter’s tree house!”
This story produces all kinds of thoughts and questions, but my mind goes to Scripture. In Isaiah 49– The prophet addresses a people who feel forgotten by God. They feel abandoned and alone. Isaiah has to remind them that God never forgets His people, He never leaves us alone. In verse 14-16 we are told. Zion says, “The Lord has abandoned me; the Lord has forgotten me!” “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the child of her womb? Even if these forget, yet I will not forget you. Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.”
When I read that last part, I am reminded of the nail scarred hands of Jesus. By His wounds we are healed. Our transgressions are forgiven, we are washed white as snow by the shedding of His blood. This Easter season, like those windshields left in an Air Force supply room to be sold away, you might feel like God has abandoned you. But no, He knows where you are and has moved Heaven and Earth to buy you back to Himself. You are needed, loved and useful. Don’t let the situation you are in at this moment define you for life. You were not built to be the windows of a tree house; you are designed to soar to great heights and do great things.
Stop listening to the voices that want to keep you down and focus on the voice of your Father in Heaven. He’s calling you back into service today.
“Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.” Luke 9:48
Serving the Savior,
Bro. Jonathan
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