24 Nov - On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean

While the Islander was flying back to Brittany, we prepared and loaded the Waco in a cargo plane.
Friday 21st in the morning, we are passengers on board of the Casa 295 lining up on the runway in Dakar.



And here we go, goodbye Africa !



After a six hours flight over the ocean to cover the 1500 nautical miles, we land on the airport at Fernando de Noronha, where we will spend the week end.



On Saturday I could borrow an ultra-light at the local club for a short flight around the island, to see it from the air like the Aeropostale pilots arriving to the hydroplane base after the long crossing.





Then comes Monday morning and we must leave this small paradise...



And here we are at the Natal airport in Brasil, our first steps on the south american continent.



Tomorrow Tuesday 25th we will prepare the Waco and if possible make a short trial flight around Natal. Today, Thomas arrived from France on a commercial flight and is inspecting the columbian DC 3 we have rented to fly for assistance. He will look after loading all our stuff in the plane tomorrow as well.



South America, here we come !

26 Nov - Last trials (Part 1 )

Finally it took the whole Tuesday to finish preparing everything, and the trial flights are scheduled for this Wednesday.

But first a few words about Natal.

Natal is the capital of the Rio Grande do Norte state, built on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean in the North East region of Brazil ( Nordeste ). After living from the salt industry along the XIXth century, Natal is today mostly living from tourism, thanks to its beaches and the famous Fort of the Holy Kings or of the Magi-Kings ("Forte dos Santos Reis" or "Forte dos Reis Magos"), built in the XIVth century by the Portuguese.



A new airport is being built, SÃO GONÇALO DO AMARANTE, which should be the largest of South America and is tailored to handle the Airbus A 380.



Natal still has some memories of what has been the Aeropostale. We can still find some buildings inside the town's Air Base. Besides the Rio Potengi, other sites have been kept in Natal, among which the Lagoa do Bonfim, where Jean Mermoz could finally take off on July 8, 1930 after some 54 unsuccessful trials.

26 Nov - Last trials (Part 2)

In the very beginning of the afternoon, I decide to go for a short trial flight with the Waco for a final check. The wind blows from the sea at 15 knots and quite a few dark clouds hang around at 2700 ft. I go for a triangle flight north of the airport.



As I head towards the coast, I fly over a part of Natal town.



Once across the Rio Potengi towards the north, there are less and less houses.



I can find some boat traffic heading for the Natal lagoon.



On the way back, I see far away south some lightnings, reminding me we are now in a tropical environment and are likely to get thunderstorms in the afternoons.



My two guys also take the opportunity to have a short flight with the DC3, now loaded with all our technical stuff.





Everything went fine, so we are no ready to fly further on the Aeropostale lines on this new continent.

27 Nov. - Some Aeropostale history - Part 2 - South America

Before we go on exploring South America, a quick historical reminder :

3 Décembre 1926 : Pierre Georges Latécoère, whose company CGEA is in financial trouble, travels to Rio de Janeiro to meet there Marcel Bouilloux-Laffont a french industry tycoon with a strong implantation in South America. In order to insure a development of the Line on the south american continent, Pierre Georges Latécoère sells the CGEA to Marcel Bouilloux-Laffont who in return pledges to buy all necessary airplanes from Latécoère. He then uses his local civil enginering company SUDAM to quickly build the necessary airfields.

11 April 1927 : C.G.E.A. becomes Compagnie Générale Aéropostale (L'Aéropostale), whose president is Marcel Bouilloux-Lafont.

5 September 1927 : Creation of "Aeroposta Argentina S.A", to extend the network towards the south and establish links with Paraguay and Chile.

31 October 1927 : Création of "Aeroposta Uruguay".

11 November 1927 : Creation of "Aeroposta Brasilera" (C.A.B).

All these new companies in Argentina, Uruguay, Brasil, are affiliated to the Compagnie Générale Aéropostale.

1st March 1928 : First postal service France - South America (the crossing from Dakar to Natal will be by boat until 1935).

14 July 1929 : Jean Mermoz and Henri Guillaumet make the first postal flight Santiago de Chile - Mendoza with a Potez 25.

29 October to 1st November 1929 : Antoine de Saint Exupéry flies alone the first postal link from Buenos Aires to Comodoro-Rivadavia with a Laté 25 of Aéroposta Argentina.

1930 : Opening of Aéropostale lines in Vénézuela by Paul Vachet.

The Compagnie Générale Aéropostale runs at this time a network of 17000 kilometers, using 80 pilots, 250 mechanics, 53 radios, 250 sailors, for a total of 1500 people. It owns 218 planes, 21 hydroplanes and 8 boats.

After the 1929 crisis, plagued with serious financial difficulties,Marcel Bouilloux-Lafont hopes for subsidies from the french government to save the Aéropostale. It will never come and the company goes down the drain in March 1931.

31 May 1933: The Société Centrale pour l'Exploitation des Lignes Aériennes (SCELA) regrouping Air Orient, the CIDNA, Farman and Air Union, buys the assets of the Aéropostale. Then in October 1933 the SCELA becomes Air France.

From 1933 to 1939 : The Aéropostale activity will be taken over by Air France which will run the south american network. From 1935 onwards, the link between Dakar and Natal will be regularly flown by hydroplanes replacing the boats. It will done afterwards by airplanes.

Marcel Bouilloux-Lafont, once president of many important companies in France, in Brasil, in Argentina, dies ruined in 1944, in a hotel room of Rio de Janeiro.

Good to see you've made it to South America, I've really enjoyed reading your reports and history of the Aeropostale.

Thks for reading and your msg, always feel good to have some positive returns !

28 Nov 14:45 Z - Heading South

Here we go ! Today the first stage of our south american adventure will take us from Natal to Recife, capital of the Pernambuco state. The flight plan is 137 nm and will follow the coast, with an overflight of Joao Pessoa about half way.



I take off from Natal at 12:45 local under a clear sky with a light 12 knots breeze from the ocean.



Quickly though, after 30 minutes in flight, I find myself making a slalom between thunderstorm cells at 2500 ft. It's not raining yet but I can see some lightnings under the darkest clouds.



This slalom leads me towards the coast. The landscape is flat, with agricultural zones and forests from indian reserves near Rio Tinto ( Terra Indigena Potiguara et Terra Indigena Jacaré de Sao Domingos ) I also fly over small coastal towns, like here Lucena north from Joao Pessoa.



After fifty minutes I fly over the Aeroclub airfield in Joao Pessoa near the coast, under a darkening sky.



João Pessoa is the capital of the Paraíba state, situated on the coast. Also known as the town where the sun rises first, as its Cape Seixas is the furthest eastern spot of the Americas. Founded in 1585 with the name Filipéia de Nossa Senhora das Neves, the country's third oldest town was also the last one created in the XVIth century.



Fifteen minutes later I can see in the far the huge lagoons network north of Recife, around Ilha de Itamaraca. In the middle of these islands is the Itapessoca airfield (SIPE) I chose as a diverting destination in case of problems on the way.



The airport Guararapes Internacional lies south of Recife. The tower gives me a clearance for runway 18, which is for me a straight approach above Recife. As I start flying over the town, I receive the first rain showers.



I land without problem among the traffic, after a one hour and forty minutes flight. Quick, let's go park the plane and find a shelter, these tropical showers make you really wet !



Further program is a weekend in Recife (could be worse...) hoping the sun comes back so I can appreciate the beaches !

Thanks for creating this, is cool to see you reflying this historical lines.

1st Dec - To the Maceio springs

Water was hot, so were the brasilian girls and the music was great. Everything to make a nice week end for pilots on tour on the other side of the pond...
But everything has an end, and it's Monday ! Time for the next Aéropostale stage. I'm lucky this one is short (97 nm) so I can take off a little late to wait for the caïpirinhas side effects to disappear !



It is around 12:45 local when I start taxiing across the Recife airport all the way to the holding stop of runway 18. We have a good visibility, quite a few clouds with a ceiling aroung 2300 ft. We have 82°F and the trade winds are quiet at 11 knots.





Same as yesterday, I soon meet thunderstorm cells, and as this is a short flight I decide to go follow the coast where it seems clearer.



Moreover I find very good landmarks, like this river mouth where the brown muddy waters rejoin the ocean's blue.



Or small coastal towns like here Porte de Pedras.



The closer I get to Maceio, the more visibility goes down.



26 nm away I contact the tower of the international airport Zumbi dos Palmares. They give me clearance to get in the left hand pattern to land on runway 12. With a short guidance message from the tower half way to confirm I am on the right heading, I arrive across the airport and turn right for the downwind leg.



An easy landing right into the wind and I am soon on the GA parking, this time without getting wet, despite many lightnings around us.

02 Dec - A few words about Maceio

Maceió is the capitale and largest city of the Alagoas state. The name "maceio" of indian origin, indicates the natural water springs coming out of the ground. Most flow to the sea, but some are stopped and form lakes ( "lagoas" in portuguese )



The city began in an old sugar mill and plantation complex around the 19th century. Its development started with the arrival of ships taking wood from Jaraguá bay.
With the installation of the sugar mills, Maceió started to export sugar, then tobacco, coconut, leather, and some spices. Prosperity made it possible for the settlement to become a village on December 5, 1815. Thanks to its continued growth, Maceió became the capital of the Alagoas state on December 9, 1839.
Maceió is also a port city and due to its port development about 200 years ago it changed from a village into a city.



The new international airport Zumbi dos Palmares links Maceio with many towns in Brasil and also offers a few international flights.

02 Dec - Day off

The day has been no-flying day, dedicated to swmbo's birthday !

03 Dec- 15:30 Z - Assistance is on the way

After staying 24 hours more in Natal because of a light oil leak on the DC-3's right engine (quickly repaired) Thomas and François fly down to Maceio to catch up with me.
Their flight plan will be the same, except they fly "modern style" with autopilot, GPS and VOR/NDB guidance, plus the fact they fly 170 knots instead of my 95...



It is 12:30 local when the DC-3's exhausts start spitting their smoke on the tarmac in Natal, and the engines let everyone hear their great musical sound.



The weather is almost similar to the one I had, with a grey clouds ceiling at 2300 ft, which will go down to 2000 ft over Recife, before lifting up again at 2500 ft when closing on Maceio.

The cowl flaps are still fully opened after take-off when the plane stabilizes at cruise altitude and speed.



A cockpit seat with a nice sea view !



Flying over the Aeroclub in Joao Pessoa



Flying above part of the town in Recife



Approach on Maceio under threatening clouds.



And in the end they land at Zumbi dos Palmares with help of the ILS on runway 12 with a little backwind leg, after a one and a half hour flight as planned.



The team is together again, I feel less alone and François can take a look at the Waco tomorrow morning before I take off for the next stage.

Due to unexpected IRL events (but nice ones) I'm on the road again. Flights will resume on Monday. A nice weekend to all.

08 Dec 13:30 Z - Here we go again !

After this long stop in Maceio, I resume flying down the coast of Brasil. The next Aéropostale stop is Aracaju, capital of the Sergipe state (a planned flight of around 116 nm for one hour and fifteen minutes.)



At 11:45 local I take off from Maceio with broken clouds at 2000 ft, a soft 11 knots trade wind and an average visibility of 20 kms.



South fromMaceio, after crossing several lakes I decide to fly to the coast to have some landmarks, as the landscape inside the country looks somewhat uniform.



The mouth of the Rio Sao Francisco is a great landmark !



After almost one hour in flight, the visibility gets better and I can see far in front of me the Rio Sergipe, and on its banks the city of Aracaju. The Santa Maria airport is situated in the southern part of the city.





There is some traffic and the tower asks me to get into the left hand downwind leg to land into the wind on runway 11. End of base leg and aligning for finals.



It is shortly after 13:00 local when I land on the Aracaju airport, between a King Air waiting to take off and a landing Piper following me.



Aracaju is the capitale of the Sergipe state, some 350 km north of Salvador. It is a city with more than 600.000 inhabitants, which is one third of the state population. If we add the towns around forming the complete agglomeration, Nossa Senora de Secorro, Barra dos Coqueiros et Sao Cristovao we get a total of 900.000 habitants.



The coast at Aracaju offers many beaches like on San Luzia island, and even urban beaches like the most famous Atalaia.



Aracaju, one of the first planned cities in Brasil, was built in 1855 to become the state's capital. Although it is the least populated capital in the Nordeste, it remains an important economical, cultural and political center. Its climate is tropical, hot and wet with an average temperature of 79° F and yearly rainfalls averaging 1695 mm.

09 Dec - Grounded by weather

Spent the day in Aracaju under heavy tropical rainfall - no chance to fly.

Every post you've made is a joy to read before a day's work. Thx again for sharing this adventure, although you've forgotten to post pics of the hot Brazilian girls.

Cheers,
Slug

Thanks. I think it is against this forum's rules to post hot pics, but it's easy to find some...

10 Dec - Weather gets better !

After a day of heavy rain, weather cleared up a bit, so I decide to fly the next Aéropostale stage to Salvador de Bahia. 136 nms and roughly one and a half hour flight to go.



It's under a much friendlier sky than yesterday that I take off from Santa Maria de Aracaju airport. Visibility is good (around 20 nm) and the trade winds remain moderate at 10 knots.



Bad surprise, as I fly south along the coast, the sky darkens, the clouds ceiling falls down to 1700 ft and the visibility cuts down to half of what it was. Considering what happened yesterday, I get a little worried...



The landscape is flat and rather uniform, with some agricultural zones in the middle of huge tropical forest patches, and there is a lot of water.



I am finally happy to see the visibility getting better again as I close on Salvador de Bahia.



I am only about 30 nms away, just about to call the tower, when I realize I'm a bit fed up with big international airports. I decide to cross the bay and make the stop at the Aeroclub de Bahia field, just on the other side from the town.



First I have to fly over part of Salvador city to cross over to the other side of the bay.



Then after flying around to come back into the wind, I land on the 1300m runway 08 and taxi to the Aeroclub buildings.





That's it for today... I think tomorrow , weather permitting, I will make a flight around the famous Salvador bay while waiting for the DC3 to catch up.

12 Dec - Still in Salvador de Bahia !

Yesterday Thursday 11th, the heavy tropical rains were back, I had to stay in the dry.

Today around 11:30 local, I took off to try and make a tour around the famous bay, but the low ceiling and bad visibility wouldn't allow it in good conditions, so I landed back at Bahia Aeroclube...





During that time, the DC3 flying in from Aracaju had to land at the international airport in Salvador using the VOR and the ILS. Later in the afternoon, weather gets better for a short time and they hop across the bay to rejoin me.



Looks like we'll stay here over the weekend doing some tinkering on the planes, hoping to have a better weather sometime to make this bloody tour of the bay !