After getting a late start departing Natal, Captain Gordillo has now been flying over the deep Atlantic Ocean for over 5 hours. If you are following the flight you can see that there are several large deviations in the course to Cabo Verde. Michel reports that there are large Cumulo Nimbus (thunder clouds) in his path and he has to fly a wide route around them. Flying under or through a CB cloud is not a good idea due to the turbulence, rain, and hail that they produce.  Flying over them is just not possible for a small aircraft like the RV-8.

Additionally, Michel is encountering headwinds the entire flight. According to WindyTV.com, the headwinds are from 8 – 20 knots blowing directly against him. As you can see, his ground speed has been reduced to 145 knots from the planned speed of 160-165 knots.

As of this writing, Michel is at 5.2 degrees N, -29.8 degrees west. He still has another 700 NM to go before reaching Cabo Verde – another 5 hours.

Headwinds all the way