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| The Douglas DC-3 DC-CLL 0010, Experimental Service Santiago-Punta Arenas Photo taken from the blog "The aeronautical observer from Chile: http://ivansiminic.blogspot. com/2009/04/la-fan-y-la-apertura-de-la-ruta-aerea.html |
The DC-3 blasted at high speed toward the end of the runway and took off as large prehistoric bird, its engines roaring up accompanied by a vibration of the appliance. The deafening engines subsided taking a softer buzz when we go up. On the right side of the plane, the countryside Chilean perspective stretched like a great carpet of varying shades of green and in different ways. On the left side you could see the majestic Andes Mountains with its many blue and gray still dotted with snow last winter. And flew at twenty thousand feet at one of its summits. Accustomed to the mainland during my twelve years, the movement of the plane was something that was not in my plans. My stomach is of course not adapted to unexpected movements and me terribly dizzy. I was provided with paper bags practices that soon came into use. My ears hurt so much by the height difference and the sound of the engines. Interestingly talks of the other passengers seemed redeemed and were unintelligible. Gradually as we went south we saw happen quickly: Curico, Talca, Chillán, somewhat reduced in size and surrounded by endless fields. Sometimes we went they left behind some clouds raindrops trickled quickly through the plastic windows. It was a whole new world of images, sounds, odors, for a guy who had made a common life of children going to school in Santiago and Viña del Mar. I had left the nest, my mother's side and at the time was .. . flying. We landed near Puerto Montt at noon and after a hot and tasty lunch, which fell very well, took off heading south. Fly over the peaks of the Andes and cross into Argentina was quite a spectacle. Bluish gray rock formations and snow where you looked. A bit of turbulence first, then climb six thousand feet and the flight was calmer. In an hour and flew over the pampas Argentina near the town of Esquel with a much smoother flight than on the Chilean side. Chilean aircraft were allowed to fly over the territory of Argentina in that area as the weather on the canals of southern Chile were always covered with clouds and rain.
Flying over the vastness of Patagonia was another experience, appearing from the air as a large gray desert lost eastward beyond the left wing of the DC-3, flying very close to the Patagonian foothills about three thousand feet. A lot of small lakes dot this area whose water color varied from one lake to another, white, blue, red, green, probably by the type of chemical composition of the surrounding land. Further south, huge blue lakes crossing from Argentina to Chile, surrounded by low mountains but striped reddish beige, gray and blue. In the distance Mount Fitzroy appeared with its imposing structure of several peaks that appear needles very steep rock walls with thick snow. Past
and two and a half hours flying start down and landed in Balmaceda, a small airport in the middle of the Patagonian foothills. From a house that was all you could see the airport customs houses on the border with Argentina. The people were only some very simple wooden houses style "cowboy" of American Westerns. They gave us a quick snack with coffee, lamb chops and homemade bread. Soon we were flying again on pre-mountain range some six thousand feet. An extraordinary thing happened, came to me one of the pilots and told me to look out the window toward the horizon from where I was sitting on the left side of the plane. I saw with admiration in the distance, the silhouette of the Atlantic coast. Was even more surprised when I said the car would look for one of the windows. On the horizon in the distance and because it was clear you could see the Channel coast of southern Chile y. .. The Pacific Ocean! That is something that has stuck in my mind forever. What a show! In describing these pictures after so many years still excites me. Being able to see both oceans from that height was unbelievable!
continued for two hours for our flight over the plains of southern Argentina until I felt in the ears that the plane was descending, he turned to the southwest and the landscape started to change. Continued down and in the distance I could see what was the eastern entrance of the Strait of Magellan, very large, with plains on both sides of the Strait. To our left was the coast of Tierra del Fuego. We had already shifted bowing to the right when we started to go down to only fifty feet above the hectic Tues There was plenty of wind. All passengers were told to put on belts and my ears seemed to explode after all the differences in height. A general excitement pervaded me, a mixture of happiness, excitement after such a long journey since I was finding my father, who had only seen a couple of times before in my life. It was seven p.m. and we had been flying almost twelve hours. On the left window I could see from afar a town and the sea was only a few meters below the aircraft.
A tremor and a buzz indicated that the landing gear was down. The waves went very quickly and suddenly, at high speeds saw a pebble beach and then signs of a runway. The plane floated for a few meters and finally settled on a hard and rough terrain that made the device vibrate. He ran a little more in its horizontal position until the rear of the plane falling down the floor on a slope. The plane stopped and the window I saw a jeep full of people in blue uniforms were beaten by a strong wind. They got off the vehicle and several were hanging from the left wing Then they told me that these people on the wings helped the wind did not veer the plane. One inside could not tell the wind speed was and I later learned was fifty miles per hour. Finally the unit approached a house with instruments and antennas on the roof and many people in front. We stopped and immediately opened a large door at the back of the plane and took the cold wind inside. As you walk out the door I could see a sea of \u200b\u200bpeople around the appliance. I started down the narrow staircase that had been placed and the wind coming up my pants I froze. Of Suddenly a tall man smiling with a big coat and a Basque beret approached me and said, - Hello dear, I am your father "and gave me a big kiss on the cheek. I felt like her cheek was cold. I felt a big lump in my throat and I finally said - Hey Dad - ... And gave me a big hug.
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