Not always plans are to be converted in actual situations.

Many things condition them, specially when we talk about flights.

Flight into Sao Paulo was because of the scientific study of Skypolaris. Even if we are studying black carbon over remote regions, I do fly over some areas equipped with LIDAR in order to compare the retrieved data with the LIDAR, the RV aethalometer and the satellite.

Sao Paulo was one of those areas to be studied.

Unfortunately, most universities or LIDAR stations, are in big cities and big cities have huge airports.

Huge airports mean a lot of airplane traffic, and also flight restrictions for light airplane wanting to fly a pattern from the station to some 10000 ft.

Another issue are the clouds. LIDAR and clouds are not good friends.

And there I was, north west of Sao Paulo, trying to fly in a kind of restricted area, and with very bad weather because of the clouds.

From Sao Paulo, I had planned to fly into Rio and get in flight video from the ¨Cristo Redentor¨

World record breaker, the incredible Anequim!

I was going to fly formations with local RVs and also get some images, but again weather and predicted weather were not nice enough in the area, so finally I had to cancel everything and fly direct to Brasilia.

Take off was late, because the lady in charge of the airport fees was really slooooooow. It took almost one hour to find out the right amount to be paid. She was not familiar with the procedure.

Finally, I was able to depart.

Carlos was not present, because he had to fly into Curitiba to help about the horrible crash next to Medellin, where almost a full team of Brasilean soccer players have been killed.

It is very sad to know about aircraft accidents and I feel bad about.

As always, a lot is being said about the reasons of the crash, but the best thing to do is to wait for the official reports when everything is analyzed.

Many times we think that the reasons are clear, but also many times the TRUE reasons are others.

Monica, Carlos´wife, drove me into the Amarais airport and helped me all the time, until my departure. She loves parachuting and aviation.

Thank you very much, both of you, for everything !

My flight was going to be short. Weather changing fast, also deteriorating, because of unstable air.

The nice puffy clouds were to become huge thunderstorms. I had to keep going on and reaching my destination away from those monsters, towering tens of thousands feet.

The closer the Equator, the higher is the troposphere, and the higher are the build ups.

Rain underneath is not a big issue, but turbulence and hail, is risky. Hail would destroy the airplane like being shot down by artillery.

Otherwise, the flight was straightforward. Countryside, when the sky was open under my wings, was green and rich. Farms and cities looked powerful.

Destination airfield is located east of Brasilia international airport, some five miles. It has some 800 meters length , but when landing there, it is necessary to believe it. Pure faith !

Brasilia Runway

It is located inside a valley. Even the approach is made in a valley, very low to avoid the ILS at SBBR.

The runway has a slope of 10 degrees, and is finished but a home.

Making a go around is not piece of cake, so I decided myself to be conservative.would it be necessary.

My speed would not be slow. Some 80 kts instead of 75 kts. Flaps half position, to allow for a fast positive climb would I go around.

As informed, the runway itself would stop my aircraft without using the brakes.

The landing was fine, but I had problems to control the plane at the end of the runway. Fortunately, everything was fine and the RV safe.

EC-XLL Under the trees at Brasilia

Geraldo Piqué, the brother of Brasilean World Formula One champion, Nelson Piqué, was waiting for me. He is a very good friend of Earthrounder Gerard Moss and his wife Margi.

Gerard and Margi are away home, but I am staying there until their arrival. They have a very nice home where adventure and flight are all around.

Geraldo owns a beautiful Stearman, a beautiful Piper J3, and the same with a Robinson 44 helicopter. About to be airworthy, also a experimental amphibious airplane.

Again I am being treated like a king, and feel really grateful.

This morning, before lunch, we have flown the helicopter to visit the impressive Brasilia.

Robinson helicopter owned by Gerard Moss

Bridge in Brasilia

Sports Stadium or giant pizza?

That helicopter flies really nicely. I was able to pilot it some minutes before returning and I did enjoy it.

Thank you very much, Geraldo !

Also visited a nice RV8 about to be completed. Very good job and clever solutions.

As you can imagine, I am having a good time !