Green Light World Flight is closely linked to environmentalism and sustainable development, which is also a commitment of the development of tourism in Slovenia.

Slovenia has summarised the advantages and character of its tourist offer in the slogan "Green. Active. Healthy." From the green resources and a responsible attitude towards the environment, through various activities offered by the diversified country situated at the meeting point of the Alps, the Mediterranean and the Pannonian Plain, to the rich health and wellbeing offer.

http://www.slovenia.info/

Weather rules here in Patagonia. A day of a bit brighter weather is followed by really bad day with low clouds and rain in horizontal direction. So got opportunity to visit unique museum of Ice  Glaciarium. It lies about 6 km out of the city and it is shaped like an ice cubes. The man behind the walls or the man who create most of the content is one of the most well known glaciologist ing. Pedro Skvarca who was born in Slovenia. With his brother Jure they made several firsts in the Patagonian mountains and left deep traces in mountain history of this incredible place. The message of Glaciarium is about how to protect Patagonian ice from ourself. The life of the ice behave like an indicator of human stupidity. So visit the place of concentrated knowladge perfectly fit with emptiness and intuition around the building and fit as well fully into message of our GreenLight WorldFlight idea.

Early in the morning weather in Calafate was quite good, so I really thought we will fly today. Mountains were covered by thick clouds, so there wouldn't be much to see. Pedro advised me to wait until mid day, and then fly over the glaciers, if weather will improve. So we went to the airport and checked the conditions;  wind up to 33 kts at the airport, strong westerly winds at 1500 m created rotor clouds, so there was no way to fly on the leeward side of the mountains. Pedro suggested that we drive an hour or more with his car to Perito Moreno glacier. There he researches the life of the ice – in the past, now and in the future. His knowledge is very precious for all of us. It is a real indicator what is going on in our only world. 

in the past days I met many incredible people who share positive thoughts about our project and help in many different ways.

Mayor of San Fernando Luis Andreotti received on the 2nd of February at the International Airport of San Fernando Slovenian biologist, who is flying around the world in an ultralight airplane and with the mission for protection of the environment.  Santiago Aparicio, Chairman of the Advisory Board of San Fernando, Thomaž Mencin, Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia and others were also present.

<sub>San Fernando Municipio - El avión ultraligero esloveno visitó San Fernando

En el día de ayer el Intendente Luis Andreotti recibió en el Aeropuerto Internacional de San Fernando al biólogo esloveno, Matevž Lenarčič, quien está recorriendo el mundo en un avión ultraliviano promoviendo una campañaa de protección del medio ambiente. También estuvieron presentes Santiago Aparicio, Presidente del Honorable Concejo Deliberante de San Fernando y Tomaž Mencin, Embajador de la República de Eslovenia, entre otras autoridades del municipio y de la embajada.</sub>

While waiting for Matevž to fly over the Patagonian glaciers, please have a look at our results of Black carbon analysis.

Black carbon concentrations are very heterogeneous: they are much higher close to the sources then far from them, the difference being several orders of magnitude (an order of magnitude is a range with the factor 10 between the upper and lower limit). Measuring such a wide range of concentrations with the same instrument is quite a challenge. This is possible with the Aethalometers – instruments for measuring black carbon made by Aerosol d.o.o. with the brand name Magee Scientific.

The Aethalometer, made by Aerosol d.o.o. for the installation into the ultra-light airplanePipistrel Virus SW is a prototype, based on the well established measurement principle, yet allowing measurements in different conditions: from high concentrations at ground level to very low concentrations high over the oceans.

Black carbon concentrations, measured during Matevz's flight, confirm our expectations. Over the Mediterranean (with very high winds), the Atlantic and the Caribbean, very low concentrations were encountered. Over the shores of Africa, the US, and South America, the concentrations were higher, not only due to proximity to sources in cities and industrial areas, but also because the winds transported air pollution  into the flight path. The concentrations decreased with height and particles were washed out by precipitation. It is interesting to note that in the presence of relatively stable meteorological conditions black carbon concentrations remain fairly constant: for example, concentrations were very similar during the flight to and from Rio de Janiero on a very similar route but with a two-day difference. This means that the captured data can be used in modeling of regional effects of black carbon concentrations on the climate, weather and agriculture.

More details:

http://www.worldgreenflight.com/index.php?id=15

and

http://www.cgsplus.si/portals/0/WGF/index.htm

GLWF team

After 26 years I am just back to the place where I spent my most intense climbings, reaching the summit of Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy with my friends Boris, Bogdan and Rado. I spent a pleasant evening and dinner with Mr. Smon and Bajda, Slovenians from Mendoza, and they took me back to hotel quite late, so some of my homework had to wait for first weather brake. 

It was a long flight down from Mendoza along the Andes. Weather forecast was not very good and it was promising strong western winds which usually bring bad weather to the mountains. The take off from La Putilla Aeroclub was almost without delay as I really got a good support from the local pilots. My fuel tanks were not as full as I would like because the runway was quite rough for small wheels. The ground speed was very low right from the beginning, so after discussion with Domen I soon decided to stop in Neuquen for some reserve fuel as weather might chang the plans. In the middle of the day the weather in the desert was turbulent anyway but with strong wind even more. After Neuquen the forward visibility dropped to zero due to volcanic ash coming from Chilean volcano, so I had to climb higher to get some fresh air. An hour or so later the visibility improved but Domen sent me message via Iridium about some bad rainy weather in front of me and advised me to detour to south east. It was strange to me to find heavy rainfall in the desert so I just keep flying south and soon I found not so bad conditions and also luckily enough space between dark clouds and dry ground. More in the south, the sky got brighter, so I was able to climb higher to avoid terrible turbulence. Right above me there were long lenticularis clouds which are indicators of mountain waves that made my flying challenging in strong down and up-drafts. Crab angle of the aircraft was unbelievable, more than 35 deg. so I was always looking at the scenery where I haven't been yet. Mountains were hidden in the clouds so there was no need to circling for images. After almost 10 demanding hours I finally got Lago Viedma and Argentina in sight and approached - sideway to the new International airport named by legendary pilot Armando Tola. Final for runway 27 was slow as I had 35 kts blowing into the nose of the plane. LAN Airbus was waiting on hold and I just hopped not to crash in front of their eyes. Taxiing was demanding in gusting wind but soon Aeroclub pilots grabbed my wing tips and helped me inside Lago Argentina hangar. Pedro Skvarca, legendary Slovenian, Argentinian glaciologist was there with his daughter Carla and waving with Slovenian flag. He did so much for our project that my eyes got wet when we made a hug, Argentinian style. He took care of me in Calafate so I feel like being at home. Sadly, I missed 10 days of good weather and landed in the first bad one. The forecast is not very promising but lets wait and see. Keep your fingers crossed for some weather windows. 

Upon arrival in Calafate Matevž was greeted by Peter Skvarča. Peter Skvarča is the legendary Slovenian glaciologist in Patagonia and on the Antarctic, which is well-deserved for an exceptional reception in southern Argentina. We would like to thank him for the tremendous effort and friendly reception. Sincere thanks also to Aeroclubu Lago Argentina, Pablo Wyss, Mario Iglesias and Armando Tola International Airport, named after legendary argentinian pilot. Matevž is staying at Hotel Sierra Nevada, owned by Silvia De Bellini Tola, daughter of the before mentioned famous argentinian pilot. We also thank the Los Glaciares National Park, where they issued a special permit to fly over the glaciers.

GLWF team

Hello, today it was planned to fly over the Patagonian glaciers, but the weather is still windy with light rain. Currently the wind is blowing 48 km / h and because of that it is extremely difficult to fly over varied terrain of Patagonia. Tomorrow's forecast looks slightly better. 

The plan is to stop and wait in Patagonia four to five days for suitable weather. It looks like the first day Matevz will stay in hotel. We’re hoping that in the next days weather will improve. Once you’ve arrived to the south of Argentina, you are surrounded by blue ice and towering glaciers. I'm sure that Matevz will not miss the chance to take some amazing photos. Along the way, he expects to see Beagle Channel, Perito Moreno Glacier, Lake Argentino, Lake Escondidio, Lake Fagnano and Ushuaia.

GLWF team

Matevz began his flight in Mendoza at 10:20 UTC, expected flight time is around eight hours.  After two hours of flight, with strong headwind, he made a new calculation of flight plan – with the current quantity of fuel,  it is not possible to fly directly to the El Calafate.  He decided to land and refuel the airplane just to be on the safe side. He landed at the airport Neuquen.  One hour later he continued his flight down south.  Now he has less ground speed then I expected inbound El Calafate.

El Calafate is a small town in Patagonia, Argentina. It is situated in the southern border of Lake Argentino, in the southwest part of the Santa Cruz Province. Its name comes from a little bush with yellow flowers very common in Patagonia, with dark blue berries: the calafate (Berberis buxifolia); the word comes from the word “calafate”, which is Spanish for “caulk”.