Reconnaissance over the Andes- Chile part 3 (13.12)

 When our attention and emotions were focused on issues slopes Polish Aeroclub,
over the seas, far behind the mountains, our representatives are preparing for world championships in Grand Prix.

 

Their base is the airport Vitacura located almost in the center of Santiago de Chile on a narrow strip of buildings free from the riverbank.


In 1987 a catastrophic flood destroyed the airport buildings, the water swept away a lot of planes, which have not yet been evacuated and took almost all the land from the Airfield. However, it was decided to rebuild the airport. Over about 10 years painstakingly reconstructed the entire meadow and built a new airport facilities. Now protects them from floods a highway embankment.
This narrow piece of the river is the perfect base for General Aviation, a small aircraft almost lands near to government buildings in the neighborhood, but it breaks ranks to glider pilots, that the air currents that allows for engineless flight in the valley, is growing here only in the peak heat of the day.
Most competitors arrived in Chile a lot earlier. Some were already here in the years past, so they bravely fly in wild mountain areas, and still  someone of them brings a record of flying more than 1000 km.

 

Staszek Wujaczak arrived here before St.Nicholas Day, so he took a few trips. Sebastian also managed to obtain from the organizers "anointing" of stand-alone flights, so the day before and yesterday they both penetrated the mountains.


Flying starts here until you manage to fly outside the valley. We flew with Staszek 150 km north and then have six-thousand meters peaks, so we did not want to fly over them without oxygen. After returning to the airport, the conditions allowed to rise to 1500 m. In the afternoon the weather improved again, but as it starts about 14 o'clock, because the valley inversion suppresses the growth conditions very long , it can mend a little. Germans have the engines in their gliders, so you can afford to proceed to the mountains, where rock thermals develop early, over inversion, so they flew by 11 o'clock. They obtained today another 1000km.
Conditions are very changeable and strong turbulence hurts. Usually blows from the west
and south-west. I must again, as in N. Zealand to get used to this,
that the sun shines from the north and moves "from right to left hand." 
Movements in the atmosphere are reversed also.

Bare and terribly broken, rocky, rubble earth makes chimneys break away in a completely unexpected places. Once from the west, once from the north,
then again from the east mountains, until it stabilizes in the evening breeze.

And here a few words of Sebastian commentary for the flight, which took place at the time when in a 'glass cage' of 'LOT' ended  battles about the size of contributions to the Board Office of Polish Aeroclub, the enfranchisement of airports and the fate of glider schools, and the cold
night began to absorb the cars of debates participating in the General Assembly of Delegates.

Yesterday Andrea officially staged a training route. We did a joint training with Argentinians and Chileans. We were starting from a common start, as in GP. It was easier for us because we were able to follow pilots who know these mountains well. We had a fly start until about 14:40, but we still managed to complete 617 km with an average speed of 132 km / hr.


Carlos Roca pulled us away to the north of 250km, to the last turning point in the database, near a huge hole in the ground-large copper mine in Pleambres.
Carlos admitted that he was there only few times throughout the career. Back was very
fast.

 

Big impression was made by a long flight at low altitude along the rocky slope, at speeds exceeding 200km / h. With my glider, fortunately, nothing happened. I think the exchange of the tail feathers well done to "Diana".

Unfortunately, at that flying is no chance of making good pictures, but camera installed in my cabin effectively monitor Carlos.
 I forwarded those photos to Alex, who can make them assemble and post. I have not even
opportunities to view these clips on my computer, because it doesn't work with HD files.
Assembling the film is not possible for me now.

Chilean pilots, crew, starting on"Duo Discuss"  abandoned the route and flew
on Aconcagua. Above 5000m  the wind was blowing strong, so easily, they climbed on mountain lifts in the top of 7-thousand-peak, making jealous hundreds of climbers bivouacing in tent camps on the slopes of the mountains. They also had a bit of a wave on the Argentinian side.



I did not have oxygen, but Staszek already mounted apparatus and oxygen, so he can fly over high mountains without fear of succumbing to altitude euphoria. However, due to disagreements with Carlos he was stopped by one of passes and he turned to visit excavations of copper in the world's largest copper mine.
They have probably already taken off the half of top of the copper mountain, but even so the edges of this gigantic hole reach higher than the peaks of the Tatra Mountains. Mine is still hovering above the clouds of dust with the size of congestus and from a pit on the floor, like from the gates of hell, powerfull hot air streams tearing to heaven.
I do not want to make this piece of land my place of work. After the spy flight for KGHM, Staszek returned to the south.

 

For me, there's still time to come the high mountains. At this time is more important to familiarize
the professions and the routes they will normally set among the smaller mountains.

Today, 13 December, at the anniversary of the date on which I did not seen 'Teleranek', here in Chile, policy reached us. 

 

Staszek Wujczak- as elector, a tourist.

Stops are not as we do in such circumstances, plastered with posters, but have found a place for tasteful advertising of our championships.
There is an ability to fly, but the sky is covered with cirrus and it did not make us excited about the flight.
Here we do not have good weather shield. To the west of Santiago, there is no weather station, so we do not have the meteorological data from this area and the wind prevails from the Pacific Ocean, and he brings surprises weather.
But after three days of flying you have to relax a bit. It is time to improve the gliders. My pedals seizing and the tail tank valve leaks, so after a walk we work in the smog and heat.

Ppre-running to the Grand Final - 7th Open Championship Soaring Andes starts tomorrow.

Our representatives will take part in these competitions, because it is the best, although certainly
mentally exhausting, an opportunity to get to know the area championship.
   
Sebastian Kawa and Tomasz Kawa