"Robert" is the fictional name of a friend I found in one of my jobs . Changed its name in these stories for the purpose of your privacy. Whenever our relationship had been dry in the workplace until one day it occurred to me talk about my passion for aviation. And that's when it was transformed and began to emerge slowly before me an old air force pilot in Chile in the 50's with many stories and anecdotes flight full of flavor and romance of these beautiful lands of the south. Were the first stories I got from my friends pilots. The edited in chronological order. His story "Southern Love" is an abbreviated version that we did a chapter of his book "The Legend of Two Little Lake" which is a novel based on his own life. The photos are from his personal archives. The two drawings of the story are made by himself. You were beautiful! Enjoy them.
DC-3 FLIGHT TO PUNTA ARENAS
Early one morning in October 1946 in Santiago, Chile, arrived at an airport with my mother, my stepfather and my dog. I accompanied my first plane ride to go to Punta Arenas where you would live with my father. It was the end of my childhood. Was twelve years old and finally going to live with him. My feelings were totally confused as I wanted to go to my father, but at the same time I was very sorry to leave my mother, the comfort of your home, my friends, cousins, did not know when the return to see. Also, my dog \u200b\u200bcould not accompany me to have many passengers and would then only the poor on another flight.
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| With my sisters, cousins \u200b\u200band I holding my dog \u200b\u200bbefore your trip. |
But he also had the expectation of the journey into the unknown and the adventure of flying. After lots of hugs and crying I saw a big silver plane arriving with huge engines that inspired confidence. It was a Douglas DC-3, one of the safest planes that have existed and still flying despite being relics of the Second World War. About the aircraft door was written "Experimental Flight National Airline, a precursor of what is now Chile LAN." Nothing very auspicious as experimental, but I had no alternative. Would travel to Punta Arenas, about two thousand miles to the south in about a total of twelve hours of flight.
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| DC-3 of the National Airline of Chile. |
The flight plan was Santiago to Puerto Montt, lunch there, then would cross the mountains south of Puerto Montt to Argentina and a boundary point scale called Balmaceda, which would receive fuel to keep then to Punta Arenas, in about three hours. The weather report was clear with some clouds on the entire route, and quite windy in Punta Arenas. Weather forecast specially prepared by my father who was the meteorologist at the Air Base in Punta Arenas.
in a modest log cabin for passenger terminal met and family. A very nice gentleman, dressed in an American coat of many colors, uncommon at that time, he approached to see my mother mourn and said that would take care of me. - I am a journalist of the magazine "See" and I correspondent to Punta Arenas, my name is Julio Ibáñez Paredes -. With him and his wife would build after a great friendship there. Some time after one day in July I was invited to a dinner offered by the Circle of Journalists in Punta Arenas in 1947 released a new and very thin young singer named Lucho Gatica ... who with his guitar and sweet voice we delighted with their boleros. It took six years to hear it again, but this time on the radio ... The door closed behind you ...
Amid the turmoil and the movement of military personnel and passengers, luggage, etc.., Appeared a couple of friendly and uniformed drivers to talk and tell us how my father had requested that I take care. They spoke with great affection for my old man and his legendary "Meteos" (weather reports for the flight plan). Well, we had three people who would worry me more attention ... impossible. Well, it's time to decide and we boarded the plane he was a former paratrooper military transport, with no seats as we know and without thermal insulation. Two strips of green canvas, one on each side of the cockpit seat made. Behind a mini room with a toilet that through he looked to pass the earth's surface. The windows have circular openings to center, covered with plastic, some covered with paper and neatly coiled. Definitely not a first class flight, especially when flying over the mountains and the temperature dropped to less than eighteen degrees Celsius. Luckily they gave us blankets, which helped a lot to protect us from the cold. Pressurized cabs and air conditioning was not yet in the plans of the aircraft manufacturers.
continued ...
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