This is how Rose describes us to her friends. Telling people we are “Pilots” makes it seem like we fly people around for a living.

It fits us rather well.

Several weeks back we started preparing the airplane. There are certain things that we won’t be able to purchase in South America so we’ve loaded them up and will carry them with us. Really sexy things like oil, fuel additive, extra oxygen tanks. The kind of stuff that makes Anna Wintour drool, not at all.

But now that the plane is well supplied, the next step is to make sure that we have all of the navigational information, customs declarations,immigration forms, Cuba overfly permits (yes you read that right)….all the things we need to fly our itinerary. Doing this on our own the first time for such a lengthy trip would have been too much.

So like many other flying enthusiasts, including five additional aircraft, we have teamed up with a planning company who will make the journey a little easier. Air Journey files our flight plans, gets the aviation approvals, books the hotels and sets up our itinerary for visiting historical and cultural sites. Covid testing apparatus accompanies us on the trip – making us all feel safer and keeping each other safe.

Our job now is to enjoy the flying, the camaraderie of fellow flying enthusiasts, appreciate the people whose paths we cross and try to learn just a little bit more about the history, the landscape, the flora and fauna, the economic and political aspects of the places we visit.

Our preflight briefings take place the evening before our flights. And as you might have guessed, the briefing below means…today is the day. At 9am, we will be on our way!

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