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The Jahú Restoration |
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It was the passion for aviation and admiration for the masters who crossed and still cross our skies that led Helipark to take up a major challenge: restoring the seaplane Jahú, the first airplane to cross the Atlantic flown by a Brazilian in 1927, and the only remaining "survivor” worldwide of the 170 units produced in Italy during the '20s. The epic story of Commander João Ribeiro de Barros and the different whereabouts of this historical heritage had always been of interest to the president and the executive management of the company, but it was in the year 2003 that the paths of the Jahú and Helipark crossed for real. The Jahú was in the hangar of the Military Police, at the Campo de Marte airfield in São Paulo (SP), and after many years of comings and goings and several unsuccessful repairs to reduce the quantity of termites and keep the aircraft in one piece, the “Fire Bird” - as it was then called - was crying out for help. The cry was heard initially by the Technical Director of Helipark who, moved by the state of the aircraft, brought the president’s office and senior management together around an idea: let's restore the Jahú to its original condition . It was all that was needed, there was no need to insist. What seemed to be quite complicated, in both technical and bureaucratic terms, became a dream, and from then on it seemed easy. The Jahú is a part of the public heritage, listed by Condephaat (the Council for the Protection of the Historic, Artistic, Archaeological and Tourist Heritage of the State of São Paulo) and is under the responsibility of the FSD Foundation (Santos Dumont). It subsequently took a long time to obtain the obtain the countless authorizations required to bring the Jahú to the Helipark hangars, which occurred in April 2004. With the agreement between all those involved (Ministry of Aviation - IV Comar and the Condephaat FSD) in October 2004, we could start thinking about the technical part of the restoration. The initial steps involved a lengthy search to find the original materials that would ensure the fidelity of the restoration. Items not found in the market had to be developed for the aircraft, such as the copper nails used throughout it. The challenge required the purchase of equipment, while a special restoration workshop was set up. . The work began with the return of the aircraft to its original condition, removing from the carcass pieces of wood and other inappropriate materials installed in previous repairs. Likewise, a long period of evaluation was needed to discover the exact color of the plane, which had long been exhibited in a darker tone than the original.
The study involved a large part of the Helipark staff team, with two volunteers and the support of some companies - see table below - The Italian Air Force had also shown interest in the restoration of the Jahú, and has pledged to back the plane. In September 2005, Italy sent a plane to Brazil to bring back the horizontal stabilizer, the elevator and the two assemblies of the rear stabilizer for evaluation and recovery by Italian technicians. However, by the time the restoration of the Jahú was completed at Helipark, these parts had not yet been returned, so the company produced identical replicas for exhibition. The work undertaken on the Jahú earned the Helipark team much recognition. The President of the company was awarded the Santos-Dumont Medal of Merit by the Ministry of Defence, and also received the Legion of Merit award from the Brazilian Academy of Military Engineering, with the degree of "High Distinction". The City Council awarded the Jau Joao Ribeiro de Barros Medal to the President, the Vice President and the Technical Director of the company. The team directly involved in the restoration also received the Bartolomeu de Gusmao Medal from from the Ministry of Defence.
Just like the journey of João Ribeiro de Barros, the restoration of Jahú had no financial support whatsoever from the government. After 3 ½ years and more than 12,000 hours of work, Helipark completed its mission, and presented the nation with a new Jahú. Today, it cannot fly, but it can continue telling its story ... the story of a dream that became reality. Currently, the Jahú can be visited on the ”Asas de um Sonho” (The Wings of a Dream) Museum in Sao Carlos (SP). |
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Helipark wishes to publicly thank:
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