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Petra Draskovic 29.02.2012 04:01:23 GMT
Å¡e malo Matevž... odliÄno napredujeÅ¡!
Lazio 29.02.2012 04:01:15 GMT
@Domen Grauf : is he going to route more to the left to avoid the rain ahead ?
matic 29.02.2012 03:56:34 GMT
Matevž Å¡e malo vzdrži, ne morem verjeti kakÅ¡en neugoden veter. OdliÄno ti gre, zelo naporna etapa. SreÄno Å¡e naprej. Naj motor Å¡enaprej lepo prede.
Adam_NZ 29.02.2012 03:34:15 GMT
Simply incredible! Wishing you a SAFE last leg and a *riotous* welcome here in Auckland. I wish I could be there to see you fly in. I hope you get a courtesy escort from the RNZAF!
NZ Conservationist 29.02.2012 03:33:19 GMT
Your an inspiration dude!
hope you get the publicity you deserve.
Hatch 29.02.2012 03:27:05 GMT
We are all inspired by your adventure for good cause. I am Japanese, married to Italian and living in New Zealand. I have been in Slovania when our train passing through to Croatia. Beautiful country. I hope your journey is successful and get many more people join to protect the earth. Take care. Cheers from all of us.
Franc 29.02.2012 03:25:00 GMT
Matevž, Å¡e dobro uro! SreÄno.
Sam 29.02.2012 03:21:38 GMT
Fantastic job, well done good luck on the last leg of your journey.
dan 29.02.2012 03:18:58 GMT
Wish good luck and safe flight. Remarkable yourney...
ferdo 29.02.2012 03:14:45 GMT
Dobrodošel na naši strani Zemlje
Kiwi Grandma in the USA 29.02.2012 02:44:19 GMT
God speed Pipistrel. Kia Ora! Auckland, NZ.
Jillyvirgo 29.02.2012 02:39:22 GMT
Good luck for a safe landing in Auckland tonight.
Skyboy 29.02.2012 02:21:38 GMT
What RPM do you cruse at and what is your fuel burn per hour?
poppagrumps 29.02.2012 02:20:55 GMT
Well done a true hero in such a small aircraft wishing you all the best and a successful journey
@ Petra 29.02.2012 01:55:11 GMT
The article is for Australian Magazines, they have been invited to attend a function at the Slovenian Embassy in Australia when Matevz arrives. They will probably write their own article but this article has been purposely written for recreational aviation Australia which has the largest magazine distribution to sport pilot is in Australia, some 15,000 copies. I will be short to source some extras and sending through so you have a permanent record. Photographs will be taken at the airport and also at the embassy function to be included with the magazine article. Of course I will also be sending these photos through to the website as soon as they are done
Somphone from USA 29.02.2012 01:54:17 GMT
Keep up the good work! We all supporting you a 100%!
S5-Ivan 29.02.2012 01:52:22 GMT
Now he is flying a little bit faster! Here in Europe it is 2.51 in the morning, I must go to sleep :) Fly Matevz!
Mike 29.02.2012 01:39:24 GMT
Have now established; around 1830 at AKL ... international
Petra Draskovic 29.02.2012 01:37:35 GMT
Thank you for nice article. Where is going to be published? Could you please provide us with link or hard copy of it?
MAny thanks!
Ronnie T Poobum 29.02.2012 01:33:25 GMT
Via Condias Ami
Baz T 29.02.2012 01:26:56 GMT
The citizens of the world need more Matevs (mates) like you and we are all so grateful to you,mate!
@Mike 29.02.2012 01:21:25 GMT
For customs and Immigration it will probably be Auckland
Mike 29.02.2012 01:16:14 GMT
No word yet on where you are landing? Ardmore, North Shore or International (AKL)...?
BnKinAnacortes 29.02.2012 01:15:35 GMT
Go with god, fly safe
Marjan Kramer(Albion Park,AUS) 29.02.2012 00:51:35 GMT
@Australia landing, @S5-Ivan this is what I thought. So we will have to try to meet him in Canberra. Thanx..
Marjan Kramer_(Albion Park_AUS) 29.02.2012 00:46:05 GMT
@Article on Matevz I have written @Michael, Thank you very much for the very well written article about Matevz GreeLight WorldFlight
S5-Ivan 29.02.2012 00:40:33 GMT
Huh, what a headwind!!! Fly Matevz, fly!
S5-Ivan 29.02.2012 00:39:20 GMT
@Marjan, we will see... I hope that the bad weather will go away!
Australia landing 29.02.2012 00:37:48 GMT
Hello group, the only two places he can land are Sydney or Canberra. Bankstown does not have full-time customs clearance and immigration unless you book by prior arrangement and then pay the appropriate (large fees) to cover their travel etc... he is much better off going into Canberra
Flyinkiwi 29.02.2012 00:36:34 GMT
Goodspeed Matevz! Yours is a truly incredible journey.
S5-Ivan 29.02.2012 00:35:58 GMT
@Michael, thank you for the weather information!
Marjan Kramer _ (Albion Park,AUS) 29.02.2012 00:35:56 GMT
@S5-Ivan I am not part of the team either. I assuming that Matevz would pre organise Canberra as one of the AUS touch down ports as they have the Pipistrel rep there. I am assuming that he could only land at Bankstown Airport closest to Sydney.
Not sure how difficult would be at the Kingsford Smith – International airport.
It looks like that Canberra will be the only option (for us from around Sydney).
Lazio 29.02.2012 00:19:46 GMT
30Kts headwind ? be cool ! NZ ahead !
Article on Matevz I have written 29.02.2012 00:15:50 GMT
If anyone wants to use this for their local media feel free....
Pipistrel World Green Flight 2012
Wednesday, 29 February 2012 Michael Coates
Slovenia is a small central European country at the junction of where the Alps meet the Mediterranean, near the northern end of Italy and part of the old former Yugoslavia. Beautiful, pristine country which is home to one of the most prolific light aircraft companies in the world, Pipistrel.
2012 is starting as one of the best years in the company’s 25 year history. A lone aviation adventurer Matevz Lenarcic is starting his third circumnavigation of the world and his second circumnavigation in a Pipistrel aircraft but unlike his previous adventure in 2007 this time he will be flying westbound, into the prevailing headwinds, crossing the equator more than six times, flying over three major oceans, flying to Antarctica in the smallest aircraft to ever visit the territory and over the top of Mount Everest, a total of more than 100,000 km in what is essentially an LSA (light sport) aircraft weighing a little over 300 kg.
Adventure is not the only mission for this circumnavigation, Matevz who is a biologist, photographer and environmentalist will also be documenting the ever increasing levels of black carbon in the atmosphere in locations and at altitudes never previously recorded helping to provide hard data and help solve some of the problems attributed to climate change.
Departing Ljubljana airport, the capital of Slovenia on January 8 he is already more than half way through this circumnavigation by the time he has reached Australia. Covering many remote areas of the world, documenting his travels not only with the beautiful aerial photographs uploaded to his website each day but he is scientifically recording levels of black carbon in what is basically a standard production Pipistrel Virus SW aircraft. Weighing a little over 300 kg the aircraft has been slightly modified to carry 350 Litres of fuel in 5 fuel tanks, 4 in the wings and 1 central tank in the fuselage. The engine chosen to help the aircraft at the high altitudes of Mount Everest is the ever reliable Rotax 914, but Pipistrel has installed an intercooler unit. Pretty much everything else is a standard production aircraft.
Flying practically daily in all weather conditions this IFR equipped LSA category aircraft is at times crossing more than 3700 km of open ocean without any landing opportunities, completely solo and unassisted in anyway whatsoever. Brave is not the word I would use crossing these vast oceans in single trips lasting as much as 15.5 hours, flying over the highest mountains in the world and even braving sub -30°C temperatures in a flight to Antarctica.
This world flight not only records vital environmental information but is also a proving ground for the aircraft itself meeting so many challenges on a daily basis. The aircraft must continue to operate safely in +45 degrees temperatures experienced in Africa as well as -30° in Antarctica, altitudes from sea level to almost 30,000 feet with the aim of flying more than 100,000 km which is more than two times the distance of a normal around the world flight using just 3,500 litres of 95 octane unleaded car fuel whilst at the same time offering fantastic performance with a cruise around 150 knots for just 18 L per hour.
Black carbon which is being recorded throughout the trip is a pollutant produced from using carbonaceous fuels in the production of energy. Whether this is from electricity generation burning coal, forest fires or cars burning diesel or petrol fuels, all of these contaminants end up in the atmosphere as an omission of gas and particulate air pollutants. These black carbon contaminants can travel vast distances, some many hundreds and hundreds of kilometres and black carbon is a unique primary tracer to the damage we are doing to our environment.
Black carbon affects the optical properties of the atmosphere when suspended. This means Black Carbon has an immediate local effect on the Earth's atmosphere leading to either local heating or cooling depending on the concentrations and the areas affected.
Black carbon is generally recognised as the second most significant cause of global warming and Pipistrel are demonstrating the use of a light aircraft with a very small environmental footprint can be useful in recording black carbon concentrations across the globe.
The aircraft is modified with an Aethalometer which measures black carbon and updates the recording instrument every few minutes of the flight. At the end of each flight the information is uploaded to the Internet immediately so you can see the varying levels of pollution along the flight plan and altitudes. Continuous measurements have been taken in regions where black carbon measurements have never taken place before including areas of Antarctica, Africa and the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Several global atmospheric watch stations lie very close to the actual flight path and the aircraft recordings will be compared to the ground base stations to compare the effects of black carbon and the concentrations at various altitudes. Hopefully when all of the data is crunched at the end of the flight we will have a better understanding of black carbon levels around the globe and these recordings are something which can be researched by scientists for many years in the future.
The world green flight is an unbelievable adventure, leaving Slovenia on 8 January Matevz has flown down to Morocco at the north western tip of Africa, then across the Sahara to Dakar before a 12 hour flight across the Atlantic all the way from Africa to Natal Brazil, this was a very demanding flight and required diversions to go around severe thunderstorm activity often experienced in the tropics. Taking a rest day he then headed North to French Guiana, Puerto Rico and arrived in Florida on January 17 which was starting day of the Sebring Sport Aviation Expo. Cleared on his flight plan to fly directly from Puerto Rico to Sebring Florida (because Puerto Rico is a US territory for customs clearance) he arrived off the Florida coast where they could not believe he could fly all the way without landing (and had suspicions of him possibly landing to collect drugs etc), reluctantly they allowed Matevz into US airspace but he had to divert to land at Miami International airport for a full inspection by the local customs authorities which only took a few minutes and then he was off again heading from Miami to Sebring Florida. A rest day in Florida and a chance to service the engine at Lockwood Aviation before he was off again to Texas, California, Mexico, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, back to Brazil for another Rotax service day then down to Argentina, Patagonia and Ushuaia which is one of the most southerly town's on the planet. One of the great things about this adventure is you can follow the aircraft in real time because he is using a service originally invented in New Zealand called spider tracks. This gives you real-time updating of latitude, longitude, speed, altitude and everything else over the Internet and displayed on Google maps. Following his adventure I have learnt so much about the countries he has visited by checking out all of the destinations he is visiting as well as all of the airports along the way.
At the bottom of the world there was a couple of days delay due to weather and strong winds. Without much fanfare Matevz flew down to Antarctica which I understand is the first time an aircraft of this size has ever been to the Antarctic subcontinent flying alone and without support. Interestingly it almost didn't happen when his prior approvals were rescinded by local authorities not wanting to go to the expense of rescuing him from the Southern Ocean, they were horrified that an aircraft this small without deicing equipment would even consider flying in the Southern Ocean and Antarctic regions. Anyway, common sense finally prevailed and the unhappy local authorities were overruled by the government permits he had already received and the flight to Antarctica went ahead without incident.
Overnighting in Antarctica it was back to Chile and a mini service for the Rotax engine which was suddenly starting to give a little bit of trouble on the flight back from Antarctica. Matevz reported that the engine was not running smoothly and had some vibration, when he was taxiing fuel was leaking from the carburettor overflows. This was eventually diagnosed by the Rotax mechanic in Chile as dirty fuel clogging the carburettors and also the fuel filters. The fuel that Matevz used in Antarctica was shipped down some six months earlier at the very start of spring, the fuel was not normal 95 octane car fuel that the Rotax engine preferred to run but was aviation avgas 100 - 130 and the high octane was too much for the little Rotax engine. Added to this strange fuel are the various (undisclosed) additives in the fuel to protect it from excessively cold temperatures and octane degradation. This fuel was just not suitable for the Rotax giving it rough operation and in all honesty he felt lucky to make it back to South America. The mini service in Chile was expected to fix the problem but departing the mainland on an epic 15 hour flight all the way from Santo Domingo to Easter Island, a massive 3690 km it quickly became obvious that the point of no return at the engine problems were back and this time worse than ever!
Alone and overnighting in Easter Island new fuel was added and the trip continued hoping that the engine problems would not continue because it seemed to be obviously fuel related and Matevz was hoping by now that all of the contaminated fuel from Antarctica had been used by the aircraft. At appeared all was well for the next 11 hour trip until the aircraft refuelled again at Totegegie in French Polynesia. The fuel ordered by Matevz and shipped to this tiny Pacific island from Tahiti several months earlier and had its own problems making the Rotax run sick again, who even knows what was in that 200 litre drum six months earlier!
Arriving in Tahiti phone calls started going all over the world as Matevz looked for a mechanic who could service his aircraft and carburettors, the Rotax 914 is a fairly complicated installation especially in the tight installation of the Pipistrel and the repairs could not be attained from anybody except a Rotax aircraft engine expert. Answering our calls to help was Colin Alexander the Rotax distributor from New Zealand, calling him at midnight on Saturday he eagerly displayed his enthusiasm to immediately fly out to Tahiti and fix the aircraft! True to his word the very next day he was on the twice-weekly service to Tahiti and after nine very active hours in +30° temperature he had finally flushed the aircraft of all remaining contaminated fuel, completely stripped and cleaned the carburettors and the fuel filter system and returned the aircraft to perfect health.
Proof of his expert mechanical abilities were shown the next day when the aircraft flew 4.5 hours to Cook Island and again the little Rotax 914 ran perfectly. The next day from Cook Island to Auckland was again a mammoth day of over 3000 km in fairly ordinary weather dodging a lot of bad thunderstorms in the region. It was only arriving in Tahiti two days earlier that Matevz noticed his storm scope had stopped working. The storm scope is used to record lightning strikes and tell the pilot where the worst of the thunderstorm activity is. Without a working storm scope you are really relying on good luck and some of those nine lives to get through this tropical thunderstorm zone. Again phone calls went out across the world and the manufacturer of the storm scope immediately organised a replacement unit to be fitted to the aircraft when it arrived in Australia. It is just amazing how fellow aviators and suppliers all come together to provide whatever assistance is needed and then they become themselves a small part of this epic adventure.
A rest day in New Zealand and it is off again for a non-stop 2000 km flight directly into Canberra…. To be continued because he is not here yet or even in New Zealand for that matter.
This is really where my story ends but the adventure doesn't, leaving Canberra and flying via Melbourne to Ayres Rock to overnight before heading to Townsville and then on to Indonesia, Thailand, Nepal, over the top of Mount Everest, down into India and the Seychelles, across to Tanzania, over the top of Kilimanjaro and then down to Johannesburg, up to Namibia through the Congo to Chad and finally another ten-hour flight to Malta followed by the last 4.5 hour leg back to Slovenia for the planned completion of the trip on April 3.
Matevz Lenarcic is truly an aviation adventurer, not only sharing his flights online with many thousands of people following him daily on his website but he is also documenting the state of our planet with not only aerial photographs but also by recording levels of black carbon which will be research many years to come.
I for one take my hat off to this modern day adventurer!
http://www.worldgreenflight.com
END
@ S5-Ivan 28.02.2012 23:46:36 GMT
Regarding the difference between Canberra and Sydney, really there is not much distance between the two locations, just a couple hundred miles and normally they share very similar weather patterns so if it is raining in Canberra there is a good chance it will also be possibly raining in Sydney. If he takes a couple of days break in New Zealand and plans to arrive on Sunday or Monday he should miss most of the weather, today is Wednesday in Australia so this would give him three days in New Zealand, 1 day for Rotax service, two days for rest and then he leaves on Sunday to Australia hopefully with the worst weather behind him. Remember however I am not part of the team and am only giving you my an educated opinion. He may be thinking of doing something completely differently. He has promised to call me when he arrives in New Zealand later today and if I have any new information I will be sure to let the group know. Many thanks Michael
Lazio 28.02.2012 23:39:24 GMT
Happy birthday, you're ONE DAY older !
K1 28.02.2012 23:36:16 GMT
Awesome! Nose up and enjoy your view of NZ
bin li 28.02.2012 23:34:55 GMT
i am Chinese, i am in Auckland now, i want to know how long you will saty in Auckland? Do you have time to meet? thanks
Marjan Kramer_ (Albion Park,AUS) 28.02.2012 23:34:47 GMT
@Denis don’t worry. We will look after Matevz here down under. Ozzy food is not bad either. (Of course not as good as Slovenian ïŠ).
Richard 28.02.2012 23:28:56 GMT
WOW, wonderfull, best wishes to you
Marjan Kramer_(Albion Park,AUS) 28.02.2012 23:23:51 GMT
@ Flight to Australia @Michael, the weather in ACT/Canberra will improve over the next few days according to weather channel which is usually accurate for 7-10 days period. http://www.weatherchannel.com.au/WeatherMap#act/sth-tablelands/canberra
Lazio 28.02.2012 23:23:31 GMT
@NZ welcome cometee : do not forget beer at arrival ! (with moderation of course !)
Denis 28.02.2012 23:18:16 GMT
@Flight to Australia: Matevz forgot mechanic guy behind on Tahiti(mr.Colin Alexander) so he should wait for him in NZ for few days. Anyway regular service was planed and some rest too. So be kind with Matevz down under, and give him some food, he is already skiny too mutch, with kind regards from Slovenia.
CityKiwi 28.02.2012 23:15:58 GMT
Kia Ora and welcome to New Zealand, Aoteroa. What a mission, maybe a fly over of Christchurch will help lift our spirits.
Piper 141 (dave) 28.02.2012 23:10:53 GMT
Best of luck Matevz. May the weather be kind and you enjoy your stay in New Zealand
Nathan 28.02.2012 23:08:28 GMT
Great work! Awesome to hear about people like you! Watching live from Newcastle, Australia!
Allybee 28.02.2012 23:05:59 GMT
Hi Matevz, just heard about your epic journey, be prepared for a warm welcome to NZ. Big respect to you and your team for your efforts. We need to be educated and inspired in this way to bring a positive attitude towards humanity and our future. Salute!
Buddy 28.02.2012 23:05:45 GMT
All the best with your trip, enjoy my homeland, NZ!!
NZQN 28.02.2012 22:59:20 GMT
Any chance of a stop off into NZQN on your way south to invercargil? come and fly over the beautiful southern lakes
S5-Ivan 28.02.2012 22:54:38 GMT
@Michael, I wish that everything will be ok!
Is it possible to fly to Sydney in the next days?
Bob 28.02.2012 22:50:45 GMT
Good on you mate, I admire you and wish you well.
Brownie 28.02.2012 22:46:56 GMT
Good luck, Matevz. Hope you have clear skies all the way to NZ/Aoteoroa!
Tardus 28.02.2012 22:42:46 GMT
@Henry: The enhanced standard version of Virus ultralight plane was build by Slovenian manufacturer Pipistrel, see all at www.pipistrel.si
Flight to Australia 28.02.2012 22:40:59 GMT
Hello group, even though Matevz is only half way between Tahiti and New Zealand it is important to look slightly ahead to the next challenge which is the flight to Australia. Matevz will be going directly into Canberra, this is the capital city of Australia. Over the past 24 hours Canberra has experienced the worst weather in at least 10 years with many areas flooded and lots of people isolated. The good news if you are looking forward to the end of the drought in this area but bad news for Matevz! All the weather from this region travels East directly to New Zealand... so the weather experienced in Canberra today will quite often be the same or worse in two days when it arrives in New Zealand. It may be that Matevz has to take the planed rest days in New Zealand after all rather than flying through to Australia because of a wall of weather that is impassable in his aircraft. As I get more information I will be pleased to forward it to the group. Many thanks Michael
Luzard 28.02.2012 22:36:13 GMT
I applaud your generousity to our world. Farthinking people like you are the only way this planet is going to survive humans severe mistreatment of "home". even the animals know better! are we the superior intelligence we presume to be ?? I think not......Bravo, Kia kaha.
Henry 28.02.2012 22:32:31 GMT
Wish you all the best and good luck.
Did you build the plane yourself?
Moli 28.02.2012 22:31:02 GMT
how do you amuse yourself over long flights.
Petra Draskovic 28.02.2012 22:30:11 GMT
Keep fingers crossed for another good half of the flight"
jordo 28.02.2012 22:24:18 GMT
Half way!!
Lazio 28.02.2012 22:23:52 GMT
after the clouds...the sun : http://img859.imageshack.us/img859/6923/1020situation.jpg
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