GSAAA Update #5 Chillan, Chile January 19, 1996
January 11, 1996
Left Guayaquil after a cricket serenade all night at the hotel. Paul and
Kevin said that even as tired as the flight had left them the irritating sound
of crickets all night made it a pleasure to get up and leave. As the pilots
approached the Peruvian border, visibility went from clear to a dull haze; the
haze remained pretty constant until the pilots reached Antofagasto, Chile.
The haze is apparently due to sand blown into the air from Chile's deserts.
Local pilots said that the visibility is not normally this good- what an
endorsement. The sand is eating/eroding the plane's paint, the prop and the
pilots. No severe damage, but a little unexpected wear and tear.
Landed at Talara, Peru (get the maps out again, this wasn't on the list of
stops) - passed the anti-aircraft guns mounted at the end of the runway. The
date for the annual border war with Ecuador is only about two weeks away (this
is an unusual story; e-mail me if you want more details) so things were
described as "tense." A military air base was adjacent to the field; MIG-29's
were in the air all day for training flights and the pilots were warned on
several occasions that no photos were to be taken. Gas was about $2.80 per
gallon and a tax of 5 cents per Km was assessed for use of the airways. A
local pilot showed Paul and Kevin to a cheap hotel, drank beer with them and
practiced his English on the pilots. Paul noted that hot water and toilet
seats aren't readily available in this part of Peru, but the town was clean,
beautiful and safe. The weather is about perfect; but the sand haze remains
at altitude. The climate in this area is semi-arid, kind of like San Diego,
CA. $15,000 buys a nice house and a good used car is about $2,000. Potential
retirement spot? Lots of off-shore oil rigs and a petroleum refinery supplies
most of the jobs. Hardly any of the cars or people smoked.
January 12, 1996
Left for Tujillo, Peru. A jet passed below the plane. Kevin and Paul were
flying at 5,000 ft. when a large jet passed then in the opposite direction at
2,000 ft. This makes for interesting flying. Landing fees were more than
$100; refueled the plane and pressed on to Lima. Visibility went to white as
the pilots approached the Lima airport; the controller thought the crew was
shooting the ILS on a IFR approach. We know better. Nice landing.
Paul and Kevin stayed at a nice hotel and met Ute, a lady architect who had
been traveling in South America for the past five weeks (nice vacation). She
invited Paul and Kevin to visit her in Germany and offered the use of her
villa if they got to Italy. I'm sure Paul is at least thinking about a
barnstorming tour of Europe!
The controllers in Lima were adamant that the flight plan called for a path
through Peru, then a return by the same route. They expected the plane to
turn around at the Chile border and would not understand that the return leg
would be later. This required a lot of discussion, $300 in fees (read bribes)
to get off to San Juan (Arequipa was too far and too high for the plane to
make it). (The Tripacer looked pretty neat at Lima parked next to the big
jets, including some 747's.)
January 13, 1996
Landed at San Juan, a naval air strip. Paul and Kevin received a warm welcome
(handguns only, no automatic weapons). All the pilots were Peruvian navy and
one spoke good English. Kevin and Paul had to carry gas from town to refuel,
but they said they are getting used to it. They couldn't get a taxi to town;
so the pilots took them into town in the two story crash/rescue vehicle with
sirens and horns blaring all the way. The town is Talaras Yung. All the
streets are dirt, the houses and business district are shanties but still the
town and people are pretty nice but poor. The best hotel in town was $10 a
night. Went to the roof of the hotel to view the town and found a dog and a
fawn penned on top. The Peruvian exchange rate is about 2.23 nuevo soles to 1
dollar US.
January 14, 1996
The haze cleared a little, so Paul and Kevin took a side trip to see the Nazca
line drawings from the air. These drawings are the ones often covered in
National Geographic or cited by the ancient astronaut theorists. Kevin and
Paul had to make three or four passes before noticing the monkey's tail. The
drawings are smaller than they expected and kind of faint. The six or so
major line drawings would fit in a stadium. Went back to San Juan to refuel
and left for Arica, Chile. Paul and Kevin have developed a technique of
flying on the right fuel tank until the engine quits, then shifting to the
left. This extends the range considerably but doesn't do a lot for life
expectancy. Chile seemed a nice change, everything was clean and modern. Hot
water and toilet seats are available, the people are friendly and even the
sand haze has started to lighten. Gas is about 3.50 to 3.80 per gallon; the
exchange rate is 400 pesos to the dollar. No landing fees except for a $20
country entrance fee. Credit cards can be used to pay for fuel. The pilots
are about 3 hours ahead of the estimated schedule. They have been flying at
5,000 to 6,000 feet to avoid the bumps and some of the sand. The sand clears
at about 8,000 to 10,000 ft.
January 15, 1996
Flew to Antofagasta; had to stop and wash clothes and take care of other
housekeeping tasks. Even a plane needs to be cleaned out when people are in
it every day. Kevin and Paul thought they were catching on to Spanish, but in
Chile the people speak with a different accent and a lot faster cadence. They
still think Spanish is a foreign language. The towns on the northern Chile
coast are usually resort towns (like Florida they all have good weather and
beaches) and seem to specialize in fast food like hamburgers and hotdogs.
They must also grow peaches in the area based on the number for sale.
January 16, 1996
Flew to Vallenar, a little inland and nestled between two mountains, to
refuel. The refuel took a little longer than expected and the pilots paid for
the delay on the next leg. About 30 miles north of the planned stop in Vina
del Mar, fog rolled in and was thick enough to cause the pilots concern about
sighting other planes at the same altitude. The pilots climbed out of the fog
and looked for a break in the fog to find an airport. About 1 hour before
dark, Paul and Kevin a break in the cover allowed them to find a small navy
air field and land. The controllers tried to charge an additional 65 dollar
landing fee and wanted another twenty for a ride into town. I think this was
the final straw for the pilots; they refused to pay and insisted that they be
allowed to take off for another field a few miles away. Luckily the cloud
cover had cleared enough to make the short hop even at twilight. At Bodelillo
Kevin and Paul met a local pilot who gave them a ride to town and set them up
at a local hotel catering to pilots. The pilots said that they had an
outstanding meal and a fine Chilean wine with dinner! They also met a church
group from Argentina sightseeing in the area by bus. Paul livened their idle
hours on the bus by passing out kazoos to all.
January 17, 1996
Flew to Los Cerillas(near Santiago); Paul got some great shots of Mt. Cerro
Aconcagua (the highest peak in South America). Picked up staged motor oil in
Los Cerillas - thanks to Shell Oil - and had a good German lunch before
continuing to Chillan. Landed in Chillan and conducted routine maintenance and
changed oil and air filter.
NOTE: The last of the fax communication from Chillan was unreadable except
for:
...found... to develop a minor problem with the....
I'm sure we'll find out the rest next Update.