| TURBINE PILOT | BEATING THE CLOCK A two-day return from the edges of South America BY THIERRY POUILLE Air Journey has been conducting escorted flying trips for pilots for 22 years. Of course, along the way there have always been challenges, both great and small. It's part of the job when you hit the road and travel through distant nations. But the two trips to South America in February and March 2020 set a new record. In the middle of the trip, the novel coronavirus pandemic struck and threw us plenty of curves. We had the experience and the contacts to minimize the disruption caused by the global response to this threat, but several times there were doubts about whether we'd be able to return to the United States before borders closed. I L LU S T R AT I O N B Y DA N I E L H E R T Z B E R G P H OT O G R A P H Y C O U R T E S Y O F A I R J O U R N E Y aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | T-9http://www.aopa.org/pilot