Brazilian pilots Fernando Tavares and Mike Buser fly their MXP-740NV through South America, Mexico and into North America to visit EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. Photo by Dave Higdon

You could say Mike Buser and Fernando Tavares like to sightsee. How else could you explain their 16,500-mile, three-month trip to arrive at Oshkosh 2007?

"It’s a chance to get to know the world," said Buser, of Ubatuba, Brazil. "That’s why I learned to fly. We first started taking trips in our own backyard. Now we are changing our focus to other places."

The two left Brazil on April 29 in an MXP experimental single, flying south along the Brazilian coast to Argentina. They then did a 180-degree turn and traveled through Chile and Peru before they entered the western United States and headed to Seattle before turning east to Oshkosh.

Do they have a favorite place they’ve visited?

"Each place has its own beauty," Buser said. "What I like most is seeing nature. We have been across some beautiful places."

It’s also a chance to learn about different cultures, said Tavares, a five-year pilot from Sao Sebastiao, Brazil.

They said the aviation community has been helpful, courteous and open hearted throughout their travels. Their only problems have been weather-related and some occasional "fighting with authorities."

At AirVenture, they spent most of their time preparing for their three-month flight home. Buser said. They purchased survival suits and radios, and made sure their motor would take them back over the ocean.

The two departed Friday for the trip home, and plan on flying to Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Scotland, and North Africa to Cape Town, arriving back in Brazil in late October. By the time they arrive home, they will have traveled between 35,000 and 40,000 miles, more miles than around the world.

Last year Buser flew 11,000 miles to Oshkosh in his ultralight Pelican; however, on the way home, it crashed in Ecuador and is now being repaired.