So, you are interested in serving in missionary aviation! I’m glad to help in any way I can. Nearly everyone reading this is coming from a different starting point, but most will have common ground leading toward the Biblical objective: a thriving Church for every people. When you live near the ends of the earth, it really helps to have an aircraft to get there. Teaching people to observe all that Christ commanded requires a sustained effort over many years — aviation teams help make that possible to accomplish in one lifetime. Aviation personnel hold to high standards as professional aviators to serve missionary teams and remote people groups. Would you like to join the team?
Missionary aviation is glamorous… for a little while.
It doesn’t take long for the enthusiasm for glamor to wear off and a pilot to begin asking, “Why am I here?” For this and many other reasons, missionary aviation organizations look for people with a high level of commitment: the heart to serve as a career missionary and professional aviation skills. If your heart is not in what you are doing with your skills, a lot of time, effort, and expense will be invested for too little return as you get bored, tired, or discouraged enough to leave. It often takes a career missionary pilot ten years to get the training and experience needed to serve effectively in another country. That’s a long time — and most people who start toward missionary aviation don’t persevere to complete the equipping. Count the cost; then, if God leads, go all in.
Three preparations
- 01
Missionary equipping (about 4 years)
A working knowledge of God’s written word is a prerequisite for every Ethnos360 missionary — pilots and mechanics included. Ask yourself: What is the mission — according to the Bible, what are missionaries trying to do? Who sends missionaries? Would your local church leaders want you to represent them in doing God’s work far away — and if not, what are you doing to change that now? For those without training, I recommend Ethnos360 Bible Institute (two years), followed by Ethnos360 Training (two years) before Ethnos360 Aviation’s specialized training.
- 02
Professional & technical training (often 4-6 years)
A secular organization can teach you to fly — FAA standards are the minimum, and anyone who meets them can train you. But a missionary aviation school will most likely save you time and money, and give you four things worth more than the tuition: experience (staff who have already done what you want to do), integrity (training without cutting corners or prolonging for money), accountability (high standards with systems to maintain them), and above all judgment — aviation is full of judgment calls, and what your instructors demonstrate will influence your decisions for a lifetime. I received much of my training at local airports and wasted a lot of time and money doing so; beware quotes near minimum standards rather than real-world averages.
- 03
Team building (about 1 year)
The first question most of us ask is, “How am I going to do this alone?” The general answer: you can’t. God designed His work to be accomplished by His Body. Dependence upon God is the only way this works. (John 15:5) A caution learned the hard way by many: going into debt for training leaves people in bondage, not free to serve. God’s normal provision is through people who give by faith — and people must know about the needs before they can respond. Your needs are opportunities for others to engage in God’s work among the unreached. See the Bible basis for support.
Missionary aviation organizations & schools
- Ethnos360 Aviation — Millions Unreached, None Unreachable; where I served, flying and maintaining aircraft in Papua New Guinea.
- International Association of Missionary Aviation — and their member schools and agencies.
- Moody Aviation — missionary pilot/mechanic training.
- Networking: the Missionary Aviation Networking and Future Missionary Pilots and Mechanics groups.
Free resources: start with the FAA
At some point you will realize that every training program refers to, draws upon, and teaches toward the official information published by the FAA — all public and free at faa.gov. The sooner you get familiar with the sources, the faster your training will progress, especially for teens looking into aviation:
- Become a Pilot — the starting point, including student certificate requirements.
- Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge and the Airplane Flying Handbook — beautifully illustrated and the sources most other books draw from.
- Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) — required reading for all pilots — and the Pilot/Controller Glossary: knowing what to say when is where many pilots struggle, so learn it early, then listen to live ATC until you understand.
- The full handbook library — instrument flying, weight and balance, weather, and the Airman Certification Standards by which examiners will measure you.
- AOPA: Learn to Fly — plus the free Air Safety Foundation online courses.
See the flying
- PNG Bush Flying — my own collection of flying clips from Papua New Guinea.
- Aviation in Missions and the Ethnos360 Aviation video library.
- The Hewa story — what all those flight hours are actually for.
This page is introductory, based on the historical experience and perceptions of the author. Up-to-date information and policies for Ethnos360 Aviation are at ethnos360aviation.org. Questions? I’d love to talk aviation with you.