terbang wrote:
They had to cancel their vacation
Pity, should not take too long to fix once the part is there.
In any event, thank you very much yet again for letting us share your experience! Very inspirational indeed!
I wonder if you could post some of this on Mooneyspace. I think it would be very appreciated over there.
Were you not anxious over these areas?
Of course we were! Especially I was afraid of the jungle while Mrs. terbang didn’t like the Atlantic. The risk of a catastrophic engine failure is small as has been discussed here many times, but anyway, I think it would be naïve not to be anxious at all.
Very cool trip.
I’m also personally in awe of anyone who ventures out over such long stretches of open, unforgiving water in a single engine. But I’m even more in awe of anyone who does it over the Amazon! The Amazon scares me more than the Atlantic – you go down there and the jungle just engulfs you, never to be seen again. Were you not anxious over these areas?
Thank you all 
Peter wrote:
Am I right in that you do actually speak Spanish and Portugese?
No, unfortunately only Spanish. The languages are similar and Spanish native speakers can get along in Brazil, but for us Spanish is a second language (a distant third actually compared to English as my second language) and it doesn’t help much.
Peter wrote:
OTOH, I would hope that a well maintained plane, flown by a pilot who knows how planes work, should do 168hrs without something breaking.
Well, hopefully. However, three days ago two friends wanted to fly to France for a week with their Mooney. When they primed the engine their electrical fuel pump went south. They had to cancel their vacation but if such things happen in a remote location, it can get very expensive quickly.
Now THAT is a very cool trip !
A very interesting background – thank you for posting it, terbang.
It’s amazing that you did all the permits yourself. Most people who have done long trips have used an overflight agent – even if the subsequent trip report doesn’t mention that. Am I right in that you do actually speak Spanish and Portugese? That said, I have heard many stories of an overflight agent basically not doing the job he’s been paid for.
As you say there is no “Eurocontrol” down there… I recall one guy who did a trip there some years ago saying that all flight plans are basically like VFR ones over here – distributed over the AFTN, no receipt or ack, no database, and they don’t always arrive.
It’s a great point about luck with the hardware; it would have been a big hassle if something went and I have heard of many planes which were basically abandoned. I know someone who collected one such, a C172 I think, from Greenland. OTOH, I would hope that a well maintained plane, flown by a pilot who knows how planes work, should do 168hrs without something breaking.
What an amazing adventure, and to a part of the world where not so many have travelled using GA
Impressive! Thanks for sharing
A stunning trip and stunning write up. The best read of this or any year. Thanks so much. (Thinks: “language school. Spanish in a fortnight. Hmm”)
What a trip ! Congrats and thanks for the inspiration.
