“For want of a nail, the war was lost”. This is a story that tells how a small problem can have a ripple-effect that spreads and causes so many other more serious problems.

The spiteful and unnecessary action that US Homeland Security Supervisor Eric Rios did by taking away Captain Gordillo’s visa waiver caused so many other problems:

•  Michel could not land anywhere in the US, which was critical to the flight and had been planned for years.
• The flight had to be re-routed to the Bahama Islands so that the required checkpoint of Lakeland, Florida could be over-flown. A deviation that adds 100’s of miles to the flight.
• The friends, officials, the newspaper reporters, magazine writers, and dozens of others who came to the Sun-n-Fun International Fly-In and Expo for the purpose of meeting and interviewing Michel could not see him. This in itself caused many problems for lack of stories in the magazines, lack of exposure for the Sky Polaris Project, and thus lack of possible donors to the flight.
• The required survival equipment (flare gun, parachute, etc) that Michel was to obtain in Lakeland could not be given to him.
• And on and on.

For lack of a nail, the war was lost. However for lack of a visa waiver this project will not be lost. Michel is smart, resourceful, and can overcome any problem.

As you can see on the Home page, the tracking system stopped working soon after entering Florida. I have not confirmed it, but Michel is sure to be in Freeport, Grand Bahama at this moment. There will be more updates later today.