Full Lotus in the Amazon
Letter to Full Lotus
RE: Columbus 9000 Amazon
Flight to the Amazon
Gentlemen,
As you know we left on our flight to the Amazon from Orlando, Fla., on July 10, 1992. With the help of sponsors including Full Lotus and a lot of luck and God we finally made it to Manaus in the Amazon on August 14th, 1992. As you know we had brand new 503 CDI, dual carb engines on our Buccaneer XA Amphibs.
We are not aware of any other ultralight trip in this class. The trip was made without any ground support and limited communication capability due to the distance and remoteness of most of our route. The trip covered 3,500 miles and 2,000 miles of that were over ocean and islands in the Caribbean.
We did have engine problems with some high octane Av Gas in the islands, however after cleaning carbon on the pistons cured this pre-ignition problem. Flying over the ocean for up to 3 hours at a time gave us time to think about all kinds of things that could put us down in the 6-10 ft. seas below. Having the best floats available made us much more at ease in case we had to ditch.
My engine failed over the ocean near the Island of St. Kitts, however, I was at 1,800 ft. and glided into a sugar cane field with no damage to the plane or the floats. Bob's engine quit over Puerto Rico and he crashed into trees on the side of a mountain. The plane was damaged however the floats were not.
I was also caught in a thunder storm over the Amazon river and thrown down so hard that the engine flexed and the prop cut through one third of the boom tube. If the floats had broken I would have turned over in the river. Drowning may have been a lot better than the alternative as the Indians warned us about the Piranha that infest the river.
Thank you again for the best floats made as without them we may have had an unhappy ending.
Roy E. Zimmer & Robert C. Heideman
Letter to Full Lotus
RE: Columbus 9000 Amazon
Flight to the Amazon
Gentlemen,
As you know we left on our flight to the Amazon from Orlando, Fla., on July 10, 1992. With the help of sponsors including Full Lotus and a lot of luck and God we finally made it to Manaus in the Amazon on August 14th, 1992. As you know we had brand new 503 CDI, dual carb engines on our Buccaneer XA Amphibs.
We are not aware of any other ultralight trip in this class. The trip was made without any ground support and limited communication capability due to the distance and remoteness of most of our route. The trip covered 3,500 miles and 2,000 miles of that were over ocean and islands in the Caribbean.
We did have engine problems with some high octane Av Gas in the islands, however after cleaning carbon on the pistons cured this pre-ignition problem. Flying over the ocean for up to 3 hours at a time gave us time to think about all kinds of things that could put us down in the 6-10 ft. seas below. Having the best floats available made us much more at ease in case we had to ditch.
My engine failed over the ocean near the Island of St. Kitts, however, I was at 1,800 ft. and glided into a sugar cane field with no damage to the plane or the floats. Bob's engine quit over Puerto Rico and he crashed into trees on the side of a mountain. The plane was damaged however the floats were not.
I was also caught in a thunder storm over the Amazon river and thrown down so hard that the engine flexed and the prop cut through one third of the boom tube. If the floats had broken I would have turned over in the river. Drowning may have been a lot better than the alternative as the Indians warned us about the Piranha that infest the river.
Thank you again for the best floats made as without them we may have had an unhappy ending.
Roy E. Zimmer & Robert C. Heideman