Lisbon–Macau Raid
The idea of the raid and all the preparations were made by the aviators themselves with popular support and with limited involvement from the Portuguese state, contributing to their heroic public image.
[1] The aircraft used for the first part of the journey was a Bréguet 16 recommended by Beires and Brito Pais for purchase by the Portuguese government in order to make long-range flights.
A line from Os Lusíadas, "ESTA É A DITOSA PÁTRIA MINHA AMADA" ("This is my beloved Homeland") was painted on both sides of the fuselage.
[2] The original plan was to begin the journey from Amadora but this was changed to Vila Nova de Milfontes due to its having better conditions for a safe fully loaded takeoff.
They flew over Vila Real de Santo António, the last location on their route in Portugal, and then crossed over Spanish territory.
Though visibility improved, a heavy rain began to fall and Brito Pais set a route over Seville at only 30 meters of altitude.
[4] Flying over the Algeciras Bay at an altitude of 800 meters the aircraft was hit by turbulence and dropped vertically for a few seconds and stalled.
Wind and rain continued to hinder them until they reached Malaga, where they completed the first stage of their trip, flying 632km in 4 hours 22 minutes.
[citation needed] Brito Pais, Sarmento Beires and Manuel Gouveia took off from Tunis on 14 April at 09:03 and flew south through sandstorms towards Sfax before turning towards Djerba and Zarzis.
[citation needed] In Cairo they enjoyed a brief stay during which they visited the pyramids and had an audience with King Fuad,[4] On 23 April at 05:35, they burst a tyre on the runway while nearing takeoff but managed to bring the plane to a safe stop.
As rain fell they flew over the Suez Canal, Gaza and Jaffa at just 200m of altitude, and as conditions improved they ascended to 300m over Haifa and Beirut.
They ascended to 2,800m to cross the mountains, flew over Damascus and after an uneventful trip landed in Baghdad six hours later, having covered 850 km.
On 27 April at 07:18, due to spark plug failure after just eighteen minutes of flight, the crew turned back to Baghdad.
[citation needed] At Bushehr there were several days of delay because the authorities insisted they have a visa in their passports before allowing them to leave, but eventually agreed to accept some money instead.
The terrain and flying conditions were similar to those of the previous day, but once again they had a clear flight and covered the 500km to the end of their stage, landing at Chabahar at 09:28.
Shortly after passing Gwadar they encountered dense, dark clouds full of sand that completely obscured their way, forcing them down from 1,100m to just 50m.
At this altitude the pilots could just distinguish between land and sea, and they flew as low as they dared as far as Sonmiani, just short of Karachi, where a powerful windstorm struck them.
As they descended however they managed to restart the engine, so flew on without landing, covering the remaining 50km to Karachi in the teeth of the storm that still raged.
Despite the terrible conditions the pilots made a safe landing there at 13:00 after an exhausting flight lasting six hours and twenty-nine minutes.
[citation needed] The next day they made an attempt to head for Yangon but after one hour and fifty five minutes of flying through a thunderstorm they had covered only 260k.
While they were in Yangon they received a message from the Portuguese Government promoting Brito Pais and Sarmento Beires to the rank of Major and awarding them the Military Order of the Tower and Sword.
[citation needed] Though they were nearing the goal of their expedition, the final stages proved very hard for Brito Pais and Beires.
[citation needed] By 17 June about 100m of runway was serviceable, so Brito Pais and Beires decided to lighten the Patria II of everything possible and fly her to the airfield at Sơn Tây 40km away, from where everything could be reloaded and a full length takeoff could be attempted.
[citation needed] On 20 June at 09:58 the Patria II took off into clear skies, ready to attempt the final 1,000 km to Macau.
[citation needed] The governor of Macau, Rodrigo José Rodrigues, arranged for the pilots to return home via North America.
[citation needed] Despite the immense popularity enjoyed by the pilots, the Lisbon–Macau Raid crossing was soon largely forgotten because Sarmento de Beires opposed the military dictatorship and the Estado Novo.
