Tomaz Avsenak from the company Albatros, who performs composite works for the Pipistrel and Matej Fucka, who is an expert for the airframe & Rotax engine from the Pipistrel, examined the airplane in detail and they found two small cracks in the rear of the airplane, but in spite of this cracks, I was still able to fly. There are still demanding stages in front of us, including flying in the Himalayas, because of that they decided that it is really necessary to repair the cracks. Since the Ayers Rock is in a really remote location, repair of the airplane will take a little longer than it would be at home in Slovenia, but they both ensured that then the airplane will be 120%.

Project GreenLight WorldFlight presents an extreme test for the aircraft and also for the pilot.60,000 km two months, extremely long flying stages, where it is impossible to predict the weather, flying in polar and tropical temperatures, landing and take-off in the Antarctic, strong winds of Patagonia, storms over the Pacific, the turbulence in the Texas desert, Patagonia and Australia - all this represents an extraordinary stress on the plane andfor the pilot. Therefore it is not at all unusual that in this kind of conditions problems with health or technique occur. I personally believe that the aircraft which I'm flying is the best of all the aircraft that I have flown. I firmly believe that it is currently only in the world with which you can fly throughout the Pacific with only90 gallonsof fuel in one stage, it can still reach 150 + kts, when it is fully loaded at an altitude of 3000 m, it can go easily over Aconcagua and just in a few minutes drops to the level of the sea, lands on the extremely difficult terrain in the Antarctica and goes through tropicalstorms - all this in just one package.

Matevz

Hi, everybody!

Yes, finaly the Pipistrel team is here, Tomaž and Matej arrived right on time from Sidney. We were back at airport early in the afternoon just to see the aircraft and to make further plans, but it has just happened that we pushed aircraft into hangar of Professional Helicopter Services with great help  James. Tomaž and Matej started working immediately althoughts they were tired from almost 3 days of flight from Slovenia. We will add more news tomorrow, but as it looks at the moment, it is going to be 4 days of work on the aircraft.

Cheers,

Matevz

Sunday morning is not as clear as in the last days. Yesterday sunset was not as beautiful as before. But it is only one day to arrival of Matej and Tomaz what brings light in my future. Detailed inspection of the aircraft on Tuesday will show how bright the future actually is. Only after we'll be able to speak about schedule. Because of huge delay I think the best option would be direct Darwin and from there to Indonesia. Stop in Cairns for Stormscope servicing will add more delay and there is absolutely no guarantee that it is going to be successfull. Anyway final decision depends of weather in this area as well.

It is good to be away from the aircraft for some time, to grow desire for flying. In the meantime I did some touristic trips to get fit for the coming flights. It is so beautiful around here. Take a look. It is not too bad to be grounded in the middle of Australia.

Matevž

Another sunny day in the Yulara, which is 6 km from the airport, about 4 km from entry into the National Park. Matej and Tomaz from Pipistrel company are coming on Monday 12^th of March, so I was trying to arrange hangar and some tools for repairs.

I visited Professional Helicopter Service from Melbourne, which are operating Scenic flights around The Rock in Robinson R44 helicopters. James was ready to help, took me to their hangar and showed all the tools they have and after that, he invited me on free R44 flight in the evening. It was great, way better light than I had two days ago and detailed information about this ancient place. Thank you guys!

It is so good light in the evenings and mornings, so much to explore from the air, almost no restrictions, but my "little one" still on the ground. GRRRRR… Nothing else but switch myself into waiting mode.

Matevz

Flying over Ayers Rock, magnificent monolit in the middle of nowhere in Australian desert, was my wish for a looong time. After Michael Coates, Pipistrel dealer for Australia in US helped me with my problem, which I had with “my little one”, I was ready to go. The weather along the coast up north was rainy and with thunderstorms, so I decided to fly right in the heart of Australia outback, direct to Ayers Rock. Armed with information about Australian way of flying, which I got from Michael, I was ready for the next day. I spent the night at an Aeroclub on the airfield. First light showed quite good weather to the west, and black wall to the other directions. After a brief chat with Domen about weather conditions I was off. I soon got clearance from Brisbane center for direct flight to Ayers Rock. Their service was terminated after a few miles, I was free as I could be. No controllers for the next 9 hours is a privilege possible only in Australia. First couple of hours I was flying between the layers - in and out of the clouds, and from time to time I had to go through some showers. At Charlesville I went right, where Domen predicted the sky will clear and remain deep blue to the final destination. The farmland slowly changed into green desert. Last two seasons were very wet, so this year Australia's outback is showing completely different face. Lakes, wide brown and gray rivers, green grass, trees, made flying very difficult, as I had to photograph all the time. It was the most concentrated beauty so far. Later the sun warmed up the ground, and because of the strong thermals I got my seat belts on again. In such conditions hand flying is more practical and more comfortable, because you leave aircraft to the elements - autopilot always sticks to the altitude and heading, and changing pitch of the plane all the time. Just about two hours inbound Ayers Rock, I engaged autopilot, set iPad to Michael's gift -iPad knee board, which he brought for me from Sebring (almost around the world to Australia), to review special flying procedure around “The Rock” before landing. Suddenly, terrible turbulence and vibrations have shaken the aircraft, and first I thought that it will fall apart - autopilot off, throttle back, pitch up, stop the speed and terrifying vibrations. I carefully checked controls and found out that aircraft is still flyable. I made some pictures with my iPhone through the window to find the cause of unexpected incident. Everything looked like it should be. After short flight over the Rock and Uluru-Kata Tjuta National park, I’ve put the aircraft very carefully down to the runway, because I was not sure in what kind of condition it actually is. I checked everything in details and found two minor crakes in tail section, I sent pictures to Pipistrel and then got an answer that it is probably serious. I soon got instructions to remove rear wing, elevator and rudders. This took me the whole next day on the hot apron, strong wind and with very limited tool.

Matevz

Yesterday at 21:00 UTC Matevž started his flight from Jacobs Well, Heck Field Airport to Ayers Rock Connellan Airport. The flight was 2298 km long and for this distance he needed 8h and 30 minutes. Congratulations, Matevž!

Keep shining and follow us again!

GLWF team 

Matevz already has passed almost two thirds of the planned route. According to our calculations he successfully flew 57,682 km and spent 235 hours and 48 minutes in the air. According to the information available to us his aircraft consumed around 4400 liters of fuel. His journey across Australia will largely depend on the weather, because of the weather conditions he already had to cancel planned landing in Canberra. Today at 21:00 UTC flight from Jacobs Well, Heck Field Airport to Ayers Rock Connellan Airport is scheduled.

GLWF team