29/12/2025
Aircraft: 5Y-XPA
Goal: Restore for 20 More Years of Kingdom Service
We are so grateful for everyone who partnered with us during Giving Tuesday to support our Caravan Restoration Project.
Whether you gave, prayed, or shared the project with others – thank you. You are a vital part of this ministry, and God is using your partnership to keep Jesus hope and help in the air.
If you missed Giving Tuesday and would still like to give, don’t worry! Not only can you give you can still have DOUBLE THE IMPACT until April 3, 2026 with your gift being matched!
👉 Head to: https://aimair.org/project/caravan-restoration/
We invite you to partner with us as we prepare XPA for another 20 years of service — to continue the work of restoration in countless lives across Africa.
A Legacy of Service
In 2003, a windstorm flipped a Cessna Grand Caravan in the U.S., leaving it a salvage aircraft. But God had other plans. Preferred Air Parts, a Christian mission-minded aviation restoration business in Ohio, saw potential in the wreckage. They restored the aircraft and sold it to AIM AIR for $630,000—a bargain for a Grand Caravan. At the time, it had logged 6,380 hours.
Since arriving in Africa, 5Y-XPA has now reached the 20,000 hour mark, almost 14,000 hours of service to the Gospel. In that time it has:
-Carried South Sudanese pastors-in-training to Bible school and back to their villages
-Delivered relief supplies to the persecuted Church in the Central African Republic
-Evacuated missionaries pinned down by gunfire
-Flown the first-ever Fulani evangelist to minister among the Sudanese people
This aircraft has been a vessel of restoration—bringing hope, healing, and the Good News to remote and often dangerous places.
The Need for Restoration
After two decades of faithful service, 5Y-XPA is tired. Legally, we are required to perform a major inspection—a complete teardown of the aircraft, including the wings, tail, engine, and landing gear.
This inspection presents a unique opportunity: not just to meet regulatory requirements, but to restore the aircraft itself. The restoration will include:
-Replacing worn out components
-Repairing fatigue cracks from years of rough, gravel runway landings
-Repainting the exterior to protect against corrosion
-Restoring the floor and updating worn upholstery
-And a comprehensive avionics upgrade that will replace outdated systems with modern Garmin technology
