Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2020 21:33:07 GMT 1
Some photos taken at airports in Rio de Janeiro state,plus a couple from Sao Paulo which hopefully people will find more entertaining than clearing out the garage, especially now that the weather's changed.
The Museu Aeroespacial outside of Rio is an example to other less-developed nations of how to preserve their aviation heritage. I first visited it in 1984 and I haven't been back for many years, but both the museum and its' exhibits have grown significantly since then.
An imposing entrance to the museum is provided by this ex Air Force DC-3.
T-25 Trainer. Helpfully, many of the Brazilian Air Force serials are preceded by the type number.
The C-119, one of few surviving anywhere,takes up a fair bit of space.
The prototype Bandeirante shows just how far the aircraft was developed before it reached full production.
Some interesting aircraft were around outside, too. This DC-3 was in immaculate condition.
Jacarepagua is a suburb of Rio, which was once an airfield, became a Formula 1 track and then became a housing area with a large park. Before that fate befell it, I managed to see what was left of the airfield and its residents.
A very tidy C-46, which was not something you saw very often.
The VOTEC DC-3 is not looking too airworthy here, however before Jacarepagua closed, it was flown out and fully refurbished.
Not much is heard of light aircraft in Brazil, though there are thousands of them. Just a small selection of what was around.
Congonhas is the downtown airport for Sao Paulo and surrounded by high-rise buildings on the approaches to both ends of the runway,
but generally a 727-100 was about the biggest aircraft to use it. The building to the left of the photo, a customs store at the time the photo was taken, along with the petrol station next to it, was destroyed in 2007 when a TAM A320 overshot the runway when landing in the opposite direction. The flight was full and everyone on board perished, including 12 people on the ground. The irony of this was that the building had become the HQ of TAM's courier service.
Back to Rio now and the downtown airport at Santos Dumont.
Dusk begins to appear in this rather moody photo, as a Varig Electra awaits the arrival of a Rio-Sul F-27. In the background is the Sugar Loaf.
A view of the terminal building from the parking area during a rare quiet moment. London City may consider itself a downtown airport, but Santos Dumont really is a downtown airport. From our agent's office it was a 10-minute walk to the terminal building. In 1999,the terminal was badly damaged by fire, allegedly started by an ATM. For six months during the rebuild, they had to use a hangar as a passenger terminal. Now where have we heard that before?
One of my visits coincided with a 125 demo, so I was able to hitch a ride as far north as Miami. The plan was to stop in Manaus to refuel. On the way up, the crew asked me to interpret the VOLMET, from which we discovered that there were heavy thunderstorms in the area, so we stopped at Boa Vista instead. G-GAEL has an interesting history. It was bought new in 1983 by Gerald Ronson, the man who brought self-service petrol stations to the UK. He was implicated in the Guinness scandal and perhaps fearing a large legal bill, decided to sell it. We were in need of a demonstrator at the time, so after casting a beady eye over it, we agreed to buy it. His wife is called Gale, but that registration had already been taken by a company called Gale Construction in Norfolk and allocated to a PA 34.
The Museu Aeroespacial outside of Rio is an example to other less-developed nations of how to preserve their aviation heritage. I first visited it in 1984 and I haven't been back for many years, but both the museum and its' exhibits have grown significantly since then.
An imposing entrance to the museum is provided by this ex Air Force DC-3.
T-25 Trainer. Helpfully, many of the Brazilian Air Force serials are preceded by the type number.
The C-119, one of few surviving anywhere,takes up a fair bit of space.
The prototype Bandeirante shows just how far the aircraft was developed before it reached full production.
Some interesting aircraft were around outside, too. This DC-3 was in immaculate condition.
Jacarepagua is a suburb of Rio, which was once an airfield, became a Formula 1 track and then became a housing area with a large park. Before that fate befell it, I managed to see what was left of the airfield and its residents.
A very tidy C-46, which was not something you saw very often.
The VOTEC DC-3 is not looking too airworthy here, however before Jacarepagua closed, it was flown out and fully refurbished.
Not much is heard of light aircraft in Brazil, though there are thousands of them. Just a small selection of what was around.
Congonhas is the downtown airport for Sao Paulo and surrounded by high-rise buildings on the approaches to both ends of the runway,
but generally a 727-100 was about the biggest aircraft to use it. The building to the left of the photo, a customs store at the time the photo was taken, along with the petrol station next to it, was destroyed in 2007 when a TAM A320 overshot the runway when landing in the opposite direction. The flight was full and everyone on board perished, including 12 people on the ground. The irony of this was that the building had become the HQ of TAM's courier service.
Back to Rio now and the downtown airport at Santos Dumont.
Dusk begins to appear in this rather moody photo, as a Varig Electra awaits the arrival of a Rio-Sul F-27. In the background is the Sugar Loaf.
A view of the terminal building from the parking area during a rare quiet moment. London City may consider itself a downtown airport, but Santos Dumont really is a downtown airport. From our agent's office it was a 10-minute walk to the terminal building. In 1999,the terminal was badly damaged by fire, allegedly started by an ATM. For six months during the rebuild, they had to use a hangar as a passenger terminal. Now where have we heard that before?
One of my visits coincided with a 125 demo, so I was able to hitch a ride as far north as Miami. The plan was to stop in Manaus to refuel. On the way up, the crew asked me to interpret the VOLMET, from which we discovered that there were heavy thunderstorms in the area, so we stopped at Boa Vista instead. G-GAEL has an interesting history. It was bought new in 1983 by Gerald Ronson, the man who brought self-service petrol stations to the UK. He was implicated in the Guinness scandal and perhaps fearing a large legal bill, decided to sell it. We were in need of a demonstrator at the time, so after casting a beady eye over it, we agreed to buy it. His wife is called Gale, but that registration had already been taken by a company called Gale Construction in Norfolk and allocated to a PA 34.