Cave Tech

Eurocopter AS-350 AStar (PR-TNG)

The AStar is a popular helicopter, over 10,000 have been produced since 1975. They can carry five people and fly about 150 MPH. New they cost pert near two million, used ones can be picked up for about half that. All in, they cost about a thousand dollars an hour to operate. You must really want to get somewhere to pay that kind of money.

The airport code attached to this picture is SSPF. Mouse over the code and we get a popup that says Fly Village (Altos/PL). There is a Fly Village in northeast Brazil. However, SSPF is the code for an airport closer to Sao Paulo, way farther south.

Teresina, Fly Village & Natal, Brazil

Fly village is not far from Teresina, and we got another photo of a military plane in Teresina. Alexandro Dias took both photos, so we're probably in Teresina. Natal used to be the jumping off point for planes flying across the Atlantic to Africa.

Rock art at Serra da Capivara National Park in Piauí state, one of the largest and oldest concentrations of prehistoric sites in the Americas

Fly Village is located in the Brazil state Piaui. Looking at Piaui I find this cool photo of ancient rock art. The rock art might be 20,000 years old. They figured that out using optically stimulated luminescence. Wait, what? Optically stimulated luminescence? Never heard of it.

I looked. Optically Stimulated Luminescence is some real Star Trek shit. It sounds like complete bullshit, but evidently it works. Not only are they using to date cave paintings they use it with dosimeters. It sounds insane.

The Long Way Round Part 2

First of six Embraer A-29B Super Tucanos landing in Gran Canaria on a delivery flight for the Philippines Air Force - thortelde

Flying East from Brazil on the way to the Philippines? That's doing it the hard way. I would have expected them to take the wings off of the airplane, but it in a big box and load it on a ship. I mean that's how we did it with fighter aircraft in WW2. But times have changed and there could be any number of reasons to undertake a long flight like this, the primary one being that we don't have a world war going on right now.

Super Tucano Delivery Flight

I picked up a few clues as to the route they are taking and then made some guesses as to where else they might stop after they leave the UAE and plotted the results on the above map. The range of the aircraft (1700 miles) is the first constraint, and then there are political alliances. Some countries can be real persnickety about letting warbirds fly over them, much less touch down. 

The first stop after leaving mainland Brazil is Fernando de Noronha, a place I did not even know existed. You can't even see it on Google Maps unless you are zoomed in on it, and why would you zoom in on a featureless bit of ocean?

Back at the start of WW2, a Boeing 314 flying boat made a similar trip flying the long way around the world to get home from Australia. They crossed the Atlantic around the same place landing at Natal on the coast of Brazil. Fernando de Noronha probably wasn't high on their list of places to stop. It had a prison, but didn't get an airport until 1942, courtesy of the US government.

African Game of Thrones

Another fine article from Russia. Suck it, White House pansies.

King Misuzulu KwaZwelithini (R) and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (L) attend the coronation ceremony of South Africa's new Zulu king in Durban, South Africa on October 29, 2022. ©  Presidency of South Africa/Getty Images

African Game of Thrones: How will the new Zulu king deal with rebellious relatives? by Kubendran Chetty

The death of South Africa’s Zulu king, Goodwill Zwelithini, three years ago triggered a bitter family feud over succession – one that has found its way to the country’s courts and remains unresolved.

The Zulu nation is the largest ethnic group in the country with an estimated 15 million Zulu-speaking people, predominantly in the KwaZulu-Natal region, whose monarchy stretches back to the 16th century. They are synonymous with resisting British colonialism and oppression in the early 1800s, and the Zulu king is arguably the most influential traditional leader in South Africa.

King Zwelithini’s son, Misuzulu KwaZwelithini, was recognized as his successor and assumed a powerful position that controls vast resources and political power. However, his seat on the throne is being challenged by his uncle, Prince Mbonisi Ka Bhekuzulu, and his half-brother, Prince Simakade Zulu, who is the eldest son of the late king, but was born out of wedlock, and a list of aunts and uncles who have contested the legitimacy of his rule through the country’s courts. At the same time, other family members are firmly behind Misuzulu’s right to the throne.

The lasting conflict between relatives ensures the African ‘Game of Thrones’-like drama has played out in public view, embarrassingly exposing the bitter divisions in the royal family and putting on display the fractious relationships that now exist between those who support the king and those who are firmly against him.

It goes on for a bit about the various pretenders and their legal machinations, but this introduction is just great. Nice change of pace from the horror stories that we usually hear about Africa.