2023-09-01 11:33 UTC

Featured ADS-B Feeder for September 2022: Nalison (PGANRB501344) - Tabatinga, Amazon, Brazil - The first feeder and ADS-B station in the heart of Amazon

Nalison Martins, our ADS-B Feeder in Tabatinga, Amazon, Brazil - Photo courtesy of Nalison Martins

AirNav RadarBox recently installed its first ADS-B station in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, at the triple frontier between Brazil (Tabatinga), Colombia (Leticia), and Peru (Santa Rosa de Yavarí) - one of the most isolated places on Earth. RadarBox is the first flight tracking company to install an ADS-B station in this region.

The street between Tabatinga (Brazil) and Leticia (Colombia) - Photo courtesy of Nalison Martins

Brazil, Colombia, and Peru - Photo courtesy of Nalison Martins

The city of Tabatinga and Leticia and the region are formed by one of the most diverse and isolated indigenous communities, such as the Tucano, Ticuna, and Kambeba people and other isolated indigenous tribes.

Ticuna people

The Ticuna (also Magüta, Tucuna, Tikuna, or Tukuna) are indigenous people of Brazil and South America (36,000), Colombia (6,000), and Peru (7,000). They are the most numerous tribe in the Brazilian Amazon. The Ticuna were originally a tribe that lived far away from the rivers and whose expansion was kept in check by neighboring people.

Ticuna language

Tucano people

The Tucano people (sometimes spelt Tukano) are a group of Indigenous South Americans in the northwestern Amazon, along the Vaupés River and the surrounding area. They are mostly in Colombia, but some are in Brazil. They are usually described as being made up of many separate tribes, but that oversimplifies the social and linguistic structure of the region.

Tucano people - James Martins, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Tucano bark cloth dance regalia - Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Tucano language

Kambeba people

The Omagua people (also known as the Umana, Cambeba, and Kambeba) are indigenous people in Brazil's Amazon Basin and are present in the city and region of Tabatinga.

Kambeba people or Omagua people - Source: Amazonia.org.br

Kambeba tribe

Did you know?

According to Ethnologue.com, a database with languages spoken around the globe, 170 indigenous languages are spoken in Brazil.

Nalison's story

Nalison Martins, born and raised in Tabatinga, is the featured ADS-B feeder of the month. He is an aviation enthusiast and loves anything that involves flying.

He took his first photo's as a planespotter in 2010, during a visit to the airport of Natal, RN. After moving to Tabatinga-AM, he decided to take pictures with his cell phone at Tabatinga Airport. According to him, with RadarBox, it was possible to check information such as arrival information, allowing him to take pictures of aircraft and track local airport movements. About his favorite airplane, he tells us: "My favorite aircraft are: Embraer 190/195 and the Boeing 737."

A selfie of Nalison and an Azul Embraer E195 - Photo courtesy of Nalison Martins

Here is a photo of Nalison between Brazil, Colombia, and Peru! The three cities in the triple Frontier are trilingual, and Spanish, Portuguese, and the Ticuna and Tucano languages (languages spoken by local indigenous tribes) are spoken.

Triple Frontier (Brazil, Colombia, and Peru) - Photo courtesy of Nalison Martins

He has been feeding AirNav RadarBox since September 2022, becoming the first feeder in this region of the Amazon. He says that it is a fantastic experience to feed RadarBox with ADS-B data in the region and also contribute to aviation safety. "I am happy to feed AirNav RadarBox and be part of RadarBox Family," he comments.

AirNav RadarBox Xrange 2 Receiver - Photo courtesy of Nalison Martins

His antenna is installed 5 meters (16 ft) from the ground. And he gives some advice for new feeders: "Install or put the antenna in a location with a full view of the sky."

Nalison's antenna - Photo courtesy of Nalison Martins

Nalison's ADS-B station currently has a range of 199 nautical miles (368 km), covering a large part of western Amazonia - the world's largest tropical jungle.

PGANRB501344 ADS-B Station Page

Here is a screenshot of his station tracking a Latam flight from Bogota to Leticia, Colombia. Latam Colombia, Avianca, and Viva Air are some of the airlines that operate daily at Leticia Airport with the Airbus A320, as well as other cargo airlines such as Aero Sucre, Air Caribe, LAS; with Boeing 737 and Boeing 727.

Tabatinga city is a route for many flights from South America to the United States, North America, and Central America.

Latam flight 4C4044 from Bogotá to Leticia tracked via RadarBox (PGANRB501344)

Avianca's Boeing 787 Contrails - Photo courtesy of Nalison Martins

Here are some shots of Nalison taken at Tabatinga International Airport in Brazil. Wow! Amazing!

Follow Nalison on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nalisonmartins

Nalison's Gallery

Azul Embraer E195 E1 taking off from Tabatinga Airport - Photo courtesy of Nalison Martins

Tabatinga is one of the most isolated areas and of the world's largest tropical forests. Nalison comments: "I am originally from Tabatinga and lived there three times, two of them until 1997 and the second period after the end of 2014. And now I am back in my birthplace. The city has 60-70 thousand inhabitants; among these, there are indigenous populations (ticunas and tucanos). It is 1100 km from the capital of the state of Amazonas, Manaus, and is on the banks of the great Amazon River, here called Solimões, and borders the city of Leticia (Colombia) and the island of Santa Rosa (Peru)."

The distance between Tabatinga and the extreme east of Brazil (Ponta do Seixas) is the same as between Portugal and Greece.

Distance between Tabatinga (Brazil) and Ponta do Seixas and Portugal and Greece - Image Source: Tabatinga Airport / Vinci Airports

TripleFrontierr from above (Brazil, Colombia, and Peru) - Photo courtesy of Nalison Martins

He comments that transportation to other cities is by air and river. There are no roads connecting the cities, except that Leticia is very close to Tabatinga, and it is impossible to distinguish the borders of the two cities from above.

Tabatinga is a multicultural city: indigenous, Peruvians, Colombians, and military personnel from Brazilian Air Force. This results in a different city with many accents. The two official languages in the city are Portuguese and Spanish, in addition to indigenous languages and dialects. There is a strong presence of indigenous people in all three countries.

Azul Linhas Aéreas operates a daily flight with Embraer E-195 in Tabatinga to Manaus, capital of Amazonas. Talking about military aviation, according to Nalison, you can see a lot of helicopters, EADS Casa 295 aircraft, Hercules C-130, and Embraer KC-390 operated by FAB (Brazilian Air Force). Small planes from the air cab service and Embraer 145 jets operated by the Brazilian federal police are also common in the region.

Amazon River & Embraer E195 E1 - Photo courtesy of Nalison Martins

Besides airlines and air transport, Brazil and Peru have boat transport, both for cargo and passengers, and the direction of the river current is a factor that determines the travel time. A trip from Tabatinga to Manaus may take three and eight days in the opposite direction. A commercial flight to Bogotá or Manaus usually lasts 1h40min. Leticia and Tabatinga are at similar distances from their capitals.

There are always plenty of people stopping to watch, especially during take-offs, and on weekends the number of people is larger, especially on Sundays. A street runs along one of the headlands of the runway in Tabatinga. Therefore it is possible to have an excellent view, which can be compared with airports such as Princess Juliana in St. Maarten, due to the proximity of the runway and the street, resulting in an excellent location for spotters.

He comments to us that nature is very noticeable in the region. The region is surrounded by forests and has a warm climate, with temperatures above 30°C and plenty of rain and humidity.

Flying over Amazon Rainforest

"I always visit both airports (Tabatinga and Leticia), especially Tabatinga, to observe and photograph aircraft. With the RadarBox app, it is possible to follow and track the flights from and to Tabatinga and Leticia Airport.", says Nalison.

Azul Embraer E195 E1 approaching Tabatinga Airport - Photo courtesy of Nalison Martins

Azul Embraer E195 E1 taxiing at Tabatinga International Airport - Photo courtesy of Nalison Martins

Brazilian Air Force Aircraft landing at Tabatinga Airport - Photo courtesy of Nalison Martins

Embraer KC-390 - Photo courtesy of Nalison Martins

Taxiing at Tabatinga Airport - Photo courtesy of Nalison Martins

Leticia Alfredo Vásquez Cobo International Airport (Colombia) - Photo courtesy of Nalison Martins

Amazon River at sunset - Tabatinga, Amazon, Brazil - Photo courtesy of Nalison Martins

Sunset at Amazon River - Tabatinga, Amazon, Brazil - Photo courtesy of Nalison Martins

The Flying Rivers Phenomenon

Flying Rivers - Source: Biofílica

The humidity produced in the Amazon is essential for the distribution of rainfall in the south and southeast regions of Brazil. The humidity carried by these "airborne rivers" is responsible for much of the rain that falls in the Centre-West, Southeast, and South Brazil.

Tabatinga, Brazil

Tabatinga is located in the Brazilian state of Amazonas in the Três Fronteiras area of Western Amazonas in the Triple Frontier between Brazil, Colombia, and Peru.

Location of the municipality inside Amazonas - Source: Wikipedia

Its population was 67,182 in 2020. Together with the neighboring Colombian city of Leticia and the Peruvian city of Santa Rosa de Yavari, the urban area has more than 100,000 residents spread along the Amazon river.