Help from Heaven - Part Two

VOLO PER VERITAS / FLYING FOR THE TRUTH

Juliana Torchetti Coppick | jutorchetti@yahoo.com.br

Flying over Columbus Cove, The Bahamas.

Last month in Ag Air Update, Juliana T. Coppick wrote about her ferry flight from the Thrush factory to Fort Lauderdale in a new 510G with the H80 engine in Part one. In this Part two, Juliana continues the Brazilian ferry flight from Fort Lauderdale to Puerto Rico.

Fort Lauderdale - Puerto Rico leg

November 26, 2020.

At 12:30 UTC (07:30 AM local time) the GE H80 engine in the 510G Thrush was already hissing on the ramp of the Fort Lauderdale Executive airport. If you recall, last month I completed my first leg of my ferry flight to Brazil from Albany, Georgia to Fort Lauderdale. Because I knew this leg of my journey would be about a seven hours and 30 minutes flight, I filled the hopper with 380 gallons of Jet A and the wings with 230 gallons. The hopper’s fuel was sufficient for the planned time en route and the fuel in the wings would be my reserve.

My biggest concern was the weather. Despite having checked conditions en route several times, I knew that I would fly for a long time without weather radar coverage and without an Internet signal. I shook these thoughts away when I remembered that decades ago, aviation pioneers flew long routes with only compasses and maps. Having GPS, radio and transponder on board put me at a very privileged level.

I savored the idea that every hour of the flight was towards something new for me. As soon as I was allowed to start the taxi, a huge sense of gratitude invaded my cockpit. At the staging area, I saw another agricultural aircraft behind me and for a moment I wondered if it was on a ferry flight. The answer I would find out exactly three hours after takeoff.

Lined up for takeoff on Runway 09, I took off and soon found myself over the Atlantic Ocean; an indigo blue sea that merged with a magnificent morning sky. I climbed to 9,500 feet, immersed in the blue expanse, I reveled at the landscape. Islands, islets, the constant company of the sea and a calm atmosphere were like scenes from an aeronautical fairy tale. But, as things sometimes go, the glee lasted about three hours.

Around 15:30 UTC, I started to encounter clouds. The sea, once blue, began to show nuances of gray, as well as the sky. My idyll had been interrupted and my previously carefree thoughts gave way to only one purpose, to keep myself in visual conditions. I have a philosophy that the mission is important. But the mission is the macro. The current moment is the micro. Without managing the moment, there is no mission to be accomplished.

Trying to get around cloud formations and having to descend more and more, I reached 2000’ MSL. I heard someone calling me on the open radio frequency. It was the pilot of the aircraft I had seen behind me in Fort Lauderdale. He immediately asked me, “Are you Brazilian? Do you speak Portuguese?”. I confess that I felt relief when I found out that he was a Brazilian aviator and that he was experienced flying this route.

At that moment, I understood perfectly the meaning of the term “help from heaven”. As I struggled at 2000 feet between rain and sea, my new friend informed me that at 13,500 feet everything was beautiful. I didn’t think twice when I saw a “blue hole” in that gray expanse. I spiraled upwards. Fortunately, the clouds only lasted a few more miles and I was able to see the sea surface. The sea in that region is a stunning color; emerald green near the islands and turquoise blue at sea.

Occasionally, the other pilot and I would talk on the radio and he would give me information about conditions ahead of me. About 35 minutes before the estimated time for my landing, I started a smooth descent. My new aviator friend had landed about 10 minutes before me.

After 7.7 hours of flight, I finally touched the ground at Rafael Hernandez Airport in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico with four hours of fuel to spare. Exhausted, happy and grateful, I taxied to the airport’s west ramp where ground support was waiting for me. I climbed out of the H80, anxious to breathe the island’s tropical air and remove the life jacket. A long stretch like this requires some logistics in the cockpit with regard to what to take and where to store things. In case of an emergency water landing, it is wise to keep the survival kit at hand and the life jacket is worn. Fortunately, I didn’t have to use either.

In sharing this experience, I feel a responsibility to remind AgAir Update readers that each flight is different. So, if you find yourself in a similar situation, don’t be influenced by my experience alone.

One more leg was accomplished. I couldn’t wait to get to the hotel, take a shower and eat. But, I still needed to prepare for the next day and carry out procedures to officially leave the US territory with the Thrush; prepare the flight plan, paperwork and check weather. Everything had to be ready for the next day. In fact, the next day was very different from what I imagined. That part of the story will be for the next edition of AgAir Update. Stay on board!

The Bahamas; Reserve fuel is essential in this region as the weather can change quickly.