Carlos ended up enjoying aviation so much that he was invited to become an assistant for the mechanics. He found his vocation and learned a lot about aircrafts during his time as a mechanic, so much he started to work as a technician. And after paying his dues as a mechanic assistant and a technician, he finally found an opportunity to have his own airplane.

“In 1996, there was an opportunity for me to buy an ultralight, manufactured in Rio de Janeiro. So I bought 50% along with one of the owners of the company I was working for, with the condition that he would teach me how to fly. He needed a new pilot, so he was in.”

“I had my first training on Wednesday, for 15 minutes. On Thursday, 15 more minutes of practice. Friday, 15 more minutes carrying a barrel of water. And that was it, 45 minutes of practice and I was flying solo for the first time. At that moment I realized that flying was my gift. I had spent my whole life trying to be a cowboy, a truck driver, a miner, and nothing worked out. And with only 45 minutes of practice I was already flying an airplane by myself.”

He started practicing a lot and before long was doing sightseeing flights around the city. After a while. a friend of his bought him a book about piloting to help him study. He didn’t have much education, having finished only the 5th grade, but he took that book, became a pilot and never looked back.

After some time flying his ultralight, he bought another one from the city of Uberlândia, equipped with a Volkswagen Beetle engine and started doing aerial application in Mato Grosso. 

“I started to apply in a city near Sorriso, called Ipiranga do Norte. Small areas, around 80 to 100 hectares. That’s how I started.”

With the Ultralight, despite some forced landings due to engine failures, Carlos was able to make enough money to buy him his first car and to pay for his Private Pilot course and certification. This allowed him to start flying for the companies in the area, spraying the cotton farms.

In 2013, after a few years working as a private operator, Carlos finally started his own company. He had a dream, and that dream was to buy himself an Air Tractor:

“Air Tractor airplanes are the Ferraris of Ag Aviation, and after having 14 forced landings, I really wanted to have a reliable airplane for my company, and this is the best airplane manufactured on Earth”

“Even before I started my own company, Air Tractor dealers would come visit me to try to sell me an aircraft, but my financial situation at the time didn’t allow me to, even though I really wanted one. At one point, Mr. John (an Air Tractor dealer in Brazil) gave me a beautiful poster as a gift, and I hung it on the hangar’s wall.”

“Every morning I looked at that poster, looked at the hangar, and prayed to God that one day I would have one of those in my hangar.”

He did more than that. After selling one of the smaller aircrafts, he was able to give the down payment on his first Air Tractor.

He owns 3 now, and 2 more are arriving in 2022.

The success of the company speaks for itself, but Carlos is an example of the resilience and dedication of everyone involved in Ag Aviation. Coming from a difficult background and facing many challenges along the way, he now owns one of the best companies in Brazil, operating in the states of Mato Grosso and Roraima.