[Ted Davisson]

Greetings From Covington ,
Just a few more MPI re-construction pictures !
Smooth Sailing !
Ted Davisson WA-4141

Originally Posted by Ted Davisson

Greetings From Covington , La. !
MPI's ( Maritime Pilot Institute ) , scaled manned model school located just outside Covington , La. is slowly but surely recovering and making it's way back from the direct attack and damage it sustained six months ago from a category 4 tornado !
MPI's down town Covington campus , which houses it's world class simulator was spared and is and has been in service since the storm .
The storm totaled MPI's , scaled manned model office/class room , sank and damaged all three of it's manned model ships , and destroyed a new covered floating dock which had just come into service .
Fortunately two of the the three manned model ships were raised and salvaged and is expected to be back in service some time in the Spring of next year !
ALso , the scaled manned model facility was fully insured and with a little time , money and elbow grease it is expected to return to service in the Spring of next year as well . In fact , the new renovations will actually be an improvement over the old facility with the addition of new state of the art electronic gear that will be added to the two remaining manned model ships .
What makes this particular manned model ship training facility unique is the fact that it employs a current making device to simulate the river current that we as NOBRA pilots experience on our route out on the Mississippi River .
More good news is the fact that although the MPI , scaled manned model facility has been out of service , many other state pilot associations around the country have chosen to come to MPI and have signed letters of commitment to have MPI conduct their required continuing education and training programs . Such state pilot associations as the Columbia Bar Pilots Assoc., the Houston Ship Pilot Assoc. , the Tampa Bay Pilot Assoc., just to name a few will now be attending MOP for their training !
Smooth Sailing !
Ted Davisson
WA-4141