|
Flight
of the Month – August
Venezuela
Beginnings
For
my first visit to South America I followed Alejandro’s advice and flew
into Reina Beatrix International (TNCA) by way of Heathrow (EGLL) and
J.F. Kennedy International (KJFK). Departing Heathrow in a Virgin A340 (Pic
1) just after 1000 BST, we flew south, crossing the coast at
Southampton, (which just happens to be where I was born !) over flying
the Normandy peninsular and crossing the Bay of Biscay to pick up the
VOR beacon at Santiago, Spain. Then it was west across the Atlantic to
cross the southern tip of Nova Scotia, “feet dry” over Providence,
Rhode Island and descending down the Atlantic seaboard before landing at
JFK. A total of 2,900 miles and duration in the air of about 8 hours.
However, with the change in time zone it was still early afternoon.
After
a couple of hours in the terminals we departed aboard a Continental
767-200, (Pic 2)
flying out into the Atlantic once again before heading south, then
southwest, to cross Grand Turk International (MBGT, Turks & Caicos
Islands) and Gregario Luperon International. (MDPP, Dominican Republic)
Finally we entered the landing pattern for TNCA and landed on Runway 11
after a further 4.5 hours and a little over 1800 miles (Pic
3)
The next morning we caught a local flight in a Commander 560 for
the short hop to Josefa Camejo International (SVJC) (Pics
4-5)
Leg
1 - Paraguana to Maracay
So,
here I was, ready to start the first proper leg of the trip !
As a “fast GA” was recommended, I’d hired a SIAI-Marchetti
SF.260 (Pic 6) and, due to the
prevailing wind conditions, I was directed by ATC to Runway 27. Taxiing
out, I closed the canopy, adjusted the autopilot altitude setting to
5000ft, and set off. Almost immediately I had to bank left to avoid
passing over the refinery (being shot down by a SAM would have
terminated the trip somewhat early) and, as I continued south, I passed
a second refinery to my right (Pic 7)
just short of the coast, which I then followed to the east (Pic
8)
Leveling
off at 5,000ft, I sat back to enjoy the view of the estuary and the
hill, Cerro Santa Ana. (Pic 9)
Banking right, I intercepted the Coro VOR (CRO, 117.30) and flew
along the coast. Over Jose L. Chirinos International (SVCR) I switched
to the Punta San Juan VOR (PNA, 112.90) and headed southeast. Ahead lay
a large bank of cloud, so I decided to climb to 7,000ft to pass over it (Pic 10) The land below appeared to be mostly forest, with a little
farmland. At about 17 miles DME from PNA more cloud had developed so I
descended to 5,000ft once again and flew parallel with the coast (Pic
11)
Over
the Punta San Juan peninsular I changed to the Puerto Cabello VOR (PBL,
117.70) and banked right to follow the coastline then continued my
heading out into the bay, passing over a few off-shore islands (Pics
12-13) As I reached the other side of the bay I could see the
hills ahead and to my right (Pic 14) As
I approached Puerto Cabello I could see the road leading directly to
Valencia. Adjusting my heading slightly to 166* I decided to climb
slightly to 6,000ft, as the hills seemed rather close !
Heading
for the Valencia NDB (VLC, 380.0) I passed over the hills and started my
descent for the landing at Mariscal Sucre Air Base (SVBS) Over Arturo
Michelena International (SVVA) I banked left to 86* and flew towards
Valencia Lake at 3,000ft, reducing the throttle and configuring the
plane for landing (Pic 15) Sighting the
runway, I banked left and made a rather rough landing on Runway 5. (Pic
16)
Leg
2A - Maracay to Charallave
After
a spot of lunch, I picked up my “runabout” for the short trip to
Charallave (SVCS) to meet up with Valentina Quintero. Brian Gladden had
just flown in with his newly refurbished Piper Tri-Pacer and offered to
let me have a test flight. For such a small plane it was very well
equipped ! (Pic 17) With Brian in the
right hand seat I set the GPS to fly direct to SVCS, set the altimeter
bug to 8,500ft, dropped the flaps a notch and taxied over to Runway 10. (Pic 18) Climbing smoothly to miss the hills at the end of the
runway, the Tri-Pacer had no trouble maintaining its 700fpm climb rate
as I slowly leaned the mixture. (Pic 19)
Soon
we were cruising at 8,500ft at about 90 kts IAS with the hills and
clouds below us. (Pic 20) Almost
immediately we had to start our descent. Setting a fixed course of 90*
and the NAV1 to the SVCS ILS for Runway 10 (109.70) we descended at 100
kts IAS to 4,000ft, by which time we had picked up the ILS. At about 8
miles DME from the Caracus VOR (TUY, 115.20) we spotted the airport on
top of a hill ahead of us, I set the autopilot to Approach Mode and
dropped the first stage of flaps. (Pic 21)
Close to the edge of the airport I took over manual control and made a
reasonable landing, then taxied to park over by the Control Tower. (Pic
22) Leaving the plane with Brian, I made my way over to the
opposite parking ramp to pick up the Pilatus Turbo Porter for the return
trip. (Pic 23)
Leg
2B - Charallave to Maracay
The
next day I met up with “Mendi” Mandenblum who gave me the manuals
that Alejandro wanted. He jumped at the suggestion of flying in the
Porter, so we both made our way over to the ramp to meet up with
Valentina and Peter Belov. When all were aboard, we set off. With the
brakes set, I advanced the throttles and only released the brakes when
the nose started to descend, so it was only a matter of a few tens of
metres before we were airborne ! This was done for Mendi’s benefit,
and he was suitably thrilled !
Flying
the back course from the TUY VOR we soon picked up the signal from the
San Sebastian NDB (SSB, 318.0) and flew towards it, (Pic
24) climbing to our jump altitude of 10,000ft. at about 100 kts.
At about 17 miles DME from TUY we reached our cruising altitude and
settled down to watch the countryside go by. (Pic
25) Valentina and Peter checked their equipment once more, ready
for the jump.
Over
SSB I adjusted our heading to 265* and flew the back course from the NDB,
following the road and river for a while. Soon we were over San Juan De
Los Morros (SVJM) (Pic 26) and Valentina
and Peter were able to make their jump ! Peter had a helmet camera, and
took some snaps of the Porter as he was falling. (Pic
27)
Meanwhile,
Mendi and I headed for the El Liberatador VOR (BAL, 113.90) and
descended ready for our landing at Mariscal Sucre Air Base (SVBS) (Pic
28) Through the cloud we could see the lake to our left. Passing
El Liberatador Air Base (SVBL) on our left, I descended further,
continuing on our heading until we were about 4 miles DME from BAL, (Pic
29) then turned left to intercept Runway 28, following the
contours of the hill then steepening our descent to land. (Pics
30-31) After parking up, Mendi met up with Brian Gladden again,
and they returned to SVCS in Brian’s Tri-Pacer.
Leg
3 – Soaring from Maracay to Valencia
After
a further night’s stay at Maracay I tried my hand at some gliding.
I’ve actually been gliding before, having spent a week’s holiday in
the UK with my father. He can remember gliding in the RAF in Germany
during his National Service in the early 50s, when the nearest
they got to any tuition was a man on a bicycle riding alongside with a
megaphone, shouting instructions ! How things have changed ! During that
week we had mixed weather (not untypical for the UK) and with a little
more flying weather Dad would have soloed. Me, I needed a bit more
practice ! I remember my very first cable launch – I spent the first
few minutes saying “Wow ! Oh, wow ! Oh wow !”
Anyway,
back to the flight ! I set up the Schleichter ASW-28 glider as
instructed, the altimeter showing 1,338ft. (Pics
32-33) When I signaled the winch driver to go I received no
prompt for a release altitude, but soon started to go anyway, and
released at about 3,500ft. Heading for Mariara I slowly climbed to over
4,000ft. at my waypoint. (Pics 34-35)
Banking left, I headed for the second waypoint, San Joaquin, climbing to
over 6,000ft by 1.1 miles DME to the waypoint, before losing the current
thermal. Then it was on to Guacara, climbing to 7,500ft by the time I
was overhead, with a large bank of cloud nearby. (Pics
36-37)
Then
on to FF28 4.3 miles further on, arriving at 7,800ft. The next waypoint
indicated my destination at SVVA Valencia, but I was having such a good
time that I tried to see if I could gain some more altitude, and dumped
my ballast. However, although I found some more thermals, none gave me
much lift, so reluctantly I descended towards Valencia, circling the
airport and eventually landing on Runway 28, coming to rest in the field
beyond. (Pics 38-39) In my excitement
I’d forgotten to use my spoilers, hence the run-off, but fortunately
the glider was fine.
Leg
4 – Valencia to Canaima
Putting
the glider back in its trailer, I received a call on my mobile from
Norman, back in England. He’d had word of an English tourist who’d
fallen ill in Valencia and needed transporting back home for treatment.
I agreed to fly the mercy flight, and picked up the St. John Aeromedical
Cessna 421, inputting the flightplan into the Garmin GNS530 GPS. After
out patient was aboard (name withheld for reasons of privacy) along with
my friend and colleague Zoë I taxied out to Runway 28 and took off,
banking left before activating the GPS and autopilot. (Pic
40) We climbed towards our flight altitude of 8,000ft at around
150kts. Turning left at the ATAMU waypoint, we headed for the San
Sebastian NDB (SSB, 318.0) passing the lake on our left. At 8,000ft I
leveled off and settled down to cruising at about 180kts IAS. At this
altitude our groundspeed was about 200kts. (Pic
41)
Over
SSB we altered heading slightly to 95* heading for the ANGEL
intersection, passing another lake to our right. Ahead the hills became
more pronounced through the light mist. Approaching ANGEL there was
light cloud but little wind (about 10kts) Banking right for COLON, we
settled into the long leg to the San Torme VOR (SOM, 116.50) More cloud
had developed with banks below us and a layer above. (Pic
42) Over San Torme (SVST) we turned left for our next waypoint at
Cuidad Bolivar (CBL, 115.10) some 62 miles away.
(Pic 43) About 19 miles DME from CBL I started our descent to
5000ft at a leisurely 500fpm. Soon we crossed a river (Pic
44) and over CBL we turned south for the final leg to Canaima (SVCN).
At
this point I reviewed the requirements for landing at SVCN, setting up
the GNS530 to prompt me when it was time to descend to around 2,500ft, 5
miles before our destination. I also set the NAV1 to read the CMA VOR
(117.50) ready for our final approach. At our present altitude, the
clouds were above us and we could see some hills to our right. As we
continued, more hills became visible. We flew past Ciudad Piar (Z29W)
and at about 40 miles DME from CMA we crossed another river. At 19 miles
DME from CMA I started our descent to 2,500ft and headed for yet another
river, although I couldn’t see the dam Alejandro had spoken of. When I
sighted the runway I disengaged the autopilot, and prepared the plane
for landing. (Pic 45) Once I was down (Pic
46) I turned round and headed for the Terminal. I parked up next
to the ambulance and off-loaded our patient, much to the relief of her
waiting family. (Pics 47-8)
Leg
5 – Canaima to Kavenayen
The
following day I made use of one of Alejandro’s contacts in the
military and borrowed one of the Fuerza Aerea Argentina’s DHC-3
Otters, and, after picking up my passengers, taxied out to Runway 18.
This was to be a scenic tour over-flying the famous Angel Falls. Setting
NAV1 to CMA, the ADF to pick up the Kavenayen beacon (KAV, 398.0)
and the altimeter to 8,500ft. Once in the air I turned left to
get on track and climbed, only just clearing the nearby hill. As we
climbed the passengers could see the rugged terrain to our right. (Pic
49) Soon we were
passing over rolling hills. At 8,500ft I leveled off and settled down to
cruise at about 105kts IAS. To our right were sheer cliffs. When the
Angel Falls came in sight, I banked right and headed towards them. (Pic
50) Over the Falls I banked right again and after a steep descent
I landed at the airport there (“Salto Angel”)
A
quick turn round and we were off again, the plane not having gained much
relative altitude as we passed over the edge of the cliffs. Heading to
intercept the previous signal from CMA I banked right at the appropriate
point and climbed to 12,500ft. Ahead lay more steep cliffs. (Pic
51) At about 49 miles DME from CMA I altered our heading slightly
to 125* so as to line up with the approach to Bolivar (SVKA) Runway 16
and started my descent, passing over some sheer cliffs to my left. At
5,000ft I halted my descent and looked for the airport. When the ADF
read 162* I made that my heading. When I saw the runway below I dropped
the flaps and prepared to land. On approach I needed full right rudder
and even this wasn’t enough to stop me from drifting off the runway
onto the grass. Good job the Otter has a sturdy undercarriage !
A
few of the passengers wanted to go on to Uon-Quen (SVUQ) so we
transferred to a tundra-tyre-equipped DHC-2 Beaver of Bush Flying
Unlimited that happened to be available, (Pic
52) set the flaps for take off and the heading bug for 161* ready
for our landing. We were soon airborne (great plane, the Beaver !) and I
adjusted my course to fly to the right of the cliffs at about 4,500ft. (Pic
53) When I failed to pick out the airport ahead I decided to gain
some height. Eventually I noticed a large hole in the ground and
overhead realized that the airport had been built in a ravine !
Executing a curving descent, I tried to line up with Runway 16. With
full flaps I dived for the runway. (Pic 54)
Pulling up at the last minute, I made a halfway-descent landing and
taxied back to the terminal.
Now
left with just the one passenger, bound for Uriman (SVUM) I prepared for
an “interesting” take off ! Climbing steeply I made it over the lip
of the ravine and banked right to intercept the Uriman NDB (URM, 220.0)
Climbing to 8,500ft, we passed over the top of the hills and flew with
the edge of the cliffs first to our left then directly below. (Pic
55) Spotting the river we started our descent and I elected to
follow the river curving off to our right as I knew that it would take
us close to the airport. (Pic 56)
Eventually I spotted it up ahead, dropped all the flaps and made a
normal landing on Runway 36, pulling off onto the grass. (Pic
57)
By
now I had come close to my maximum permitted flight time so I met up
with Alejandro and we flew back to Canaima. Then it was on to Manuel
Carlos Piar (SVPR) and Simon Bolivar International for the flight home
to the UK. Like most holidays it seemed that I’d been away far longer
than I had !
My
thanks to Alejandro for sharing his beautiful part of the world.
Alastair
September
2003
|
Click
on image for larger view
|
