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RV-7 track to Brazil

pierre smith

pierre smith

Well Known Member
Thomas Milko left Sandersville, Ga. this morning, headed for Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Ray Lawrence had installed an MGL iEFIS, smoke tank system and a VPX module over the last two weeks. The airplane was based in the Northeast and flown down to Georgia for Ray to do the installs for the Brazilian customer.

You can track the trip via the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Dominican republic and down the chain of islands to Brasil:

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0GPRQrr3vngG2hWabZNXK9FXmsFKjNiEz

Quite a trip!

Best,
 
awesome trip

That trip is on my life list. Great to watch someone do it in a RV. Makes it seem more reasonable to consider.
 
This is exactly the trip I am planning to do once my 10 is complete!! Hopefully I can get as much detail as possible about it in terms of logistics. I have a long long ways to go until my project is done but it doesn't hurt to start preparing.


My idea was to fly from Oregon down to Patagonia through Central America and then come back through the Caribbean.

Something to remember "If your dreams don't scare you, then you are not dreaming big enough"
 
If he needs any help...

I made this trip 2 yrs ago flying the RV7A I bought from Radomir. My route was Miami, Provo, St. Marteen, Grenada, Georgetown, Cayene, MAcapa, Belem, Sao Luis and Fortaleza (my home). Our entry airport was Macapa. After that, only the small fields, as the fees for using the big airports are very expensive. The biggest problem he will face when in Brazil is fuel. Very few airports have it. If the guy needs some help, fell free to contact me. If he wants to visit our city, Fortaleza, our flying club - Catuleve - www.catuleve.com.br - has a private field - SJCM - with 820 m (2500 ft) runway and avgas. I pay the first beer. My phone is 55-85-9175-0003. e-mail: [email protected]
 
Stopped over water

Has any body else noticed that the track stopped over an hour ago? Between the Turk & Caicos and the Dominican Republic.

Brian:confused:
 
I saw the 1 1/2 hour missing blips nut they showed up a little while ago.

Either the SPOT tracker is intermittent, or the sattelite constellation wasn't in the proper place for reception during that 1 1/2 hours with no blips. Opinions anyone?

The guy has been in the air for 5 hours now! He sent Ray a message and told him that he was at 11,500, burning 6.4 GPH, giving him over 6 1/2 hour range and he should be on the ground now.

Tough butt, for sure.

Best,
 
Tail Number

What's his tail number? SHould be able to see him on flightaware if he is talking to anyone in the PR area.
 
Pierre,

See if you can get any pictures out of him once he gets there, it looks like a great trip! I need to come see your AirTractor and RV10 someday....

-Chuck in Macon
 
Thanks

Hi Thomas.
Did you spend the day in St. Maarten? The SPOT doesn't show any progress and I suppose you know that you have to "Refresh" it every 24 hours.

Best,
 
ST Maartin

Yes Pierre, went to see the island yesterday, today I tried to solve the lack of energy on the GPS496, as I do not want to rely on my iPAD for GPS database.
Had some trouble with the VPX, the main screw where the power comes from the Battery is broke when trying to take the nut out. All is fixed now, with AN bolt in place.

Should take off tomorrow to the south, not sure destination, perhaps Guadeloupe for more sight seeing, and than I will resume my long flights again.

Tks,

http://rv7br.blogspot.com/
 
Yep, I just spoke with Ray Lawrence who had modded Thomas's RV-7 and from now on, he'll have to be very careful with the planned stops as the areas he's flying through are very desolate and fuel is far between stops.

He's just fueled in Georgetown, Guyana and headed east.

Best,
 
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Maybe I missed it, but where in Brazil is he headed? That fuel stop he made in Guyana brought back Jonestown memories for me.
 
Caribbean inspirations

These sceneries are one of the great reasons why we fly ! Taken over the Carebbean. Hope to inspire more people to fly far and further.

10z71bs.jpg



1f7eax.jpg



2yvouo8.jpg


Some of the written stuff: rv7br.blogspot.com
 
Spot Stopped!!!

Looks like his Spot stopped transmitting about 5 hours ago soon after he crossed into Brazil. Doesn't look like he is near an airport, hard to tell.
 
Macapa

Arrived safely at Macapa, but made big deviations due to rising clouds above FL105. Don't know why the SPOT stopped the tracking,but here is 1 dot far away an than nothing again.

Is the SPOT system down ? Even after I landed, left the SPOT on for a good time. Maybe there is some GPS interference, 2morrow I will try to put on the baggage compartment, maybe no interference there.

A lot of forest covered today, deviated to the fly over some dirt roads, at least if something goes wrong... know where to land.

Let's see if paperwork will allow me to depart tomorrow only 1600NM for home, still a long way, and lot's of forest to cover.
 
tmlkbr said:
Don't know why the SPOT stopped the tracking,but here is 1 dot far away an than nothing again.

Is the SPOT system down ? Even after I landed, left the SPOT on for a good time. Maybe there is some GPS interference, 2morrow I will try to put on the baggage compartment, maybe no interference there.
Click to expand...

Great trip.

My understanding is that SPOT uses the Globalstar satellite network and does not have world wide coverage and may be unreliable over ocean or in very remote areas. See THIS POST on VAF.

I don't want to start thread drift but a different system such as Spidertracks may be a better bet for a flight like this. Spidertracks has 100% world wide coverage through the Iridium satellite network, reporting intervals down to one minute if desired and automatic emergency alerting. Of course it cost more!

Fin 9A
My Spidertracks (depending on your browser you may need to change settings/accept a security warning to view the page)
 
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Finley
Based on what you describe of SPOT technology, wouldn't you expect a gradual loss of signal? Thomas had a strong signal right up to his destination yesterday and then almost no signal from that point onward today. I wonder if he might have a power issue or faulty antenna?
 
diamond said:
Finley
Based on what you describe of SPOT technology, wouldn't you expect a gradual loss of signal? Thomas had a strong signal right up to his destination yesterday and then almost no signal from that point onward today. I wonder if he might have a power issue or faulty antenna?
Click to expand...

It does sound a bit like a power loss or faulty antenna but I have no special knowledge of how SPOT and the Globalstar system works.

Fin
9A
 
My SPOT has a self-contained internal antenna...no option for an external antenna.

I suppose that it could be his location in the universe.

Best,
 
Amazon Flight

After paperwork issues solved, tomorrow the Big Brazilian jungle, hope to be able to make a lot of progress. Idea is to fly a 5h leg and another of 2h ,Sunday another 5hrs and home :):):):):)

Cheers
 
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Well, it appears that Thomas completed his flight to Sao Paulo!

Ray Lawrence just told me that he'll be keeping the RV about an hour and a half's drive north.

A big congratulations, Thomas.

Best,
 
Thomas would you mind share your insurance info? Type of coverage, company, international requirements? No need for digit$$. Did you have any questions/requests about your policy from foreign aviation authorities?
 
Insurance

Hi Vlad,

NationAir Insurance told me theirs policy are not valid outside the US. So I made a Brazilian third party insurance only, hull is very expensive for us, even though I was flying as an N plane with FAA license.

Only entering South America did the French authorities inspected ALL the documents, including insurance. Of course the Brazilians also checked everything.

Over the Caribbean, nobody asked for anything more that the General Declarations (Gendecs). I prefilled them, and printed around 30 copies, and used most of them during the trip. Some airports they will ask for your license, very simple and easy outside South America.

If you have any questions, let me know.

Cheers,
 
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