|
|
Post by davebasing on Apr 29, 2019 11:50:39 GMT
Part 1 of a report of a family holiday to Easter Island then on a small ship to Pitcairn and the Polynesian Islands, but still with some limited aviation related opportunities. On April Fools day B787 G-ZBKR took us on BA’s longest non-stop service from Heathrow to Santiago, Chile in around 14 hours. I had added an extra day to visit the Chilean Aviation Museum at the old downtown airport of Los Cerrillos. It’s easily accessible using the efficient Santiago Metro system to Cerrillos (on line 6) from which it’s just a 5 minute walk to the museum. Its worth going by Metro as Cerrillos station has this T37 hanging from the roof of the booking hall.  IMG_5531 by dave tompkins, on Flickr The museum is extremely well laid out and I was fortunately able to visit some areas not normally open to the public, courtesy of the extremely helpful and knowledgeable museum director. Entry is free and it houses around a hundred or so aircraft, both civil and military. There are 5 former RAF Hunters there plus a two seater (formerly G-APUX); 2 Canberras; a pair of Sea Vampires and a Harrier (XZ970). Others with UK connections are Tiger Moth CC-DMC (ex G-BACK) and Bristol M1C replica CC-DMA (ex G-BPLT). Two BAC One Elevens are also stored. Non Chilean military include a South African AF Atlas Cheetah, French AF Jaguar E, Israeli AF Mystere IV, and a Honduran AF Canadair Sabre (ex RAF & Yugoslav AF). First saw this Hunter at the 1960 Farnborough show as XG199  IMG_5527 by dave tompkins, on Flickr This Chilean AF Mirage 5BR was the former Belgian AF BR25, ironically the only 5BR I never saw in Belgian service.  IMG_5433 by dave tompkins, on Flickr A nice selection of Daks (a fourth, CC-CBW, is also there in the storage area).  IMG_5479 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_5480 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_5478 by dave tompkins, on Flickr The storage area is partially wooded but holds a number of aircraft including the two former UK BAC One Elevens; ex LAN Chile B707 CC-CCG; a P3 Orion; Hercules; P2 Neptune etc etc.  IMG_5524 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_5470 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_5445 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_5437 by dave tompkins, on Flickr Just a few others.  IMG_5427 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_5395 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_5449 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_5467 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_5475 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_5491 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_5492 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_5485 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_5474 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_5499 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_5413 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_5418 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_5450 by dave tompkins, on Flickr A few yards further along the road from the Metro to the museum is the Chilean AF HQ which has 6 aircraft displayed on poles, visible with a bit of effort albeit that photography is probably unwise. Part 2 will cover Santiago IAP, the Polynesian islands and Los Angeles on the return. |
|
|
|
Post by billsamuels on Apr 29, 2019 20:10:00 GMT
Dave, excellent mate and thanks for sharing...
Love all of them but the P-47, Catalina and BAC 1-11 all look superb.
When you are ready, we'll take the rest.
Cheers Dave - and good to have you back.
Bill
|
|
|
|
Post by davebasing on Apr 30, 2019 9:15:14 GMT
Part 2. After 2 nights in Santiago we arrived back at the airport in the pre-dawn for the LATAM flight to Easter Island. Scheduled as a 787, young Bill Samuels had correctly advised me from afar that it would actually be operated by one of the two ex Singapore 777s, CC-BKA, which LATAM had brought in due to the 787 engine problems. It’s a 5 and a half hour flight out across the Pacific and the remoteness of Easter Island dictates that the only available alternate is back to Santiago. The airport at Santiago is a joint civil/military one with the Air Force operating most of their transports from here, enabling me to finally catch up with their B767 parked amongst the C130s & C135s and a preserved C47. LATAM Chile is of course the dominant civil operator with Sky and JetSMART as the other main users. The latter vies with Frontier for the best wildlife tail schemes as seen below. Only non-Chilean aircraft of interest as dawn broke was this Aerolineas B737.  IMG_5598 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_5611 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_5612 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_5610 by dave tompkins, on Flickr Easter Island has a single runway and I had not expected to see anything else there when we landed. Surprise was therefore to see Farnborough regular Gulfstream 650 M-OVIE sitting on the ramp! The next day’s LATAM flight was operated by the other ex-Singapore 777 CC-BKB which I graphed from a volcano overlooking the airport. As with BKA, it is in an all white scheme as LATAM don’t expect to have to operate these for too long.  IMG_5768a by dave tompkins, on Flickr It was to be 12 days before I even glimpsed another aircraft in the vastness of the Pacific and withdrawal symptoms were setting in. Perhaps ironically it was then an aircraft preserved on the island of Hiva Oa in the Marquesas. Both the artist Paul Gauguin and Belgian song writer Jacques Brel (“Seasons in the Sun” & “If You Go Away” amongst his songs) are buried in the island’s small cemetery and the latter operated this Twin Bonanza from a rough strip, endearing himself to the locals by flying evacuation flights for them and for the occasional supply flight. It’s preserved in this building as a memorial to him. Shame I don’t do light aircraft any more.  IMG_6932 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_6927 by dave tompkins, on Flickr There are some 44 airfields in the Polynesian Islands, some with just one scheduled service per week. Others, like Pitcairn, have insufficient flat areas to accommodate an airstrip. I saw more wind socks than aircraft on the coral strips of the islands on which we landed in our zodiacs. The islands which have strips are primarily served by the ATRs of Air Tahiti such as this one which I caught departing from Rangiroa Atoll in the Tuamotos Islands.  IMG_7144 by dave tompkins, on Flickr Final stop after 3 weeks was eventually Tahiti where some 90 odd percent of the movements are by the ATRs of Air Tahiti although I did manage a gap filling Air New Zealand 787. The French military of course have a presence there with at least one CASA 235 and some choppers. From there the Air Tahiti Nui midnight flight took me on B787 F-OMUA to Los Angeles. The aircraft continues to Paris and had I stayed on board it would have probably passed over Basingstoke several hours later. Instead I transferred to (the far better) BA 787 G-ZBKA to Heathrow. Annoyingly it took 2 and a quarter hours to get through passport control on arrival at LAX! The place is a nightmare. My favourite airside spot in the international terminal at LAX is the 4th floor smoking area accessed close to the Umami Restaurant there. It’s a large glass fronted outdoor area (so no need to worry about any smoke) which overlooks some parking bays and with good views of runways 24L & 24R. Spent probably around 2 hours outside and logged well over 150. To give a few examples of the views from this spot –  IMG_7510 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_7498 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_7458 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_7468 by dave tompkins, on Flickr  IMG_7445 by dave tompkins, on Flickr So ended a fabulous trip of almost 4 weeks. Uninhabited islands with great birdlife, dusky maidens in grass skirts, great food, swimming in crystal clear waters, the statues of Easter Island, meeting the descendants of the Bounty mutiny, a few aircraft but many memories. Just waiting for my brain to catch me up. Thanks for looking. Next stop the Tiger Meet at Mont de Marsan with young Mr Samuels. |
|
|
|
Post by filair on Apr 30, 2019 11:33:39 GMT
I am exhausted just reading it all!!
|
|
|
|
Post by billsamuels on Apr 30, 2019 13:25:30 GMT
Superb Dave.
Great write up, you ought to write a book of all your experiences - well, err, just the aeronautical ones!!
Only ever been to Venezuela, in South America, and I’m still not sure about going back, but if I do I think Chile might well be on my list...
Cheers Dave.
Bill
|
|
|
|
Post by zz on Apr 30, 2019 13:52:38 GMT
Great read, great photos
Welcome back to sunny Old Basing!
|
|
|
|
Post by keithh on Apr 30, 2019 21:06:32 GMT
Was that a Globe Swift in the museum?
|
|
|
|
Post by graham on May 1, 2019 5:46:01 GMT
What a fabulous report and photos Dave, certainly the first ever from South America let alone the Polynesians. Wonderful stuff.
|
|
|
|
Post by davebasing on May 1, 2019 7:26:55 GMT
Was that a Globe Swift in the museum? Hi Keith. It was indeed a 1946 GC1B Swift. The blurb stated that it belonged to the Air Club of Chillán after being gifted to it by its former owner, a certain José Maria Martinez. The condition was that after removal from flying service, the Club would donate it to the Aviation Museum. It was restored by the museum's excellent team of mechanics and unveiled there a couple of years ago. Although I gave up on light aircraft years ago I still have a soft spot for the oldies (including Raquel Welch). They are also restoring a 1935 Miles Hawk Major CC-FBB, apparently used on commercial services in Chile from 1936 (not sure if it has any former UK identity). It really is a very interesting and extremely well presented museum. Sadly it has no shop as the museum is prohibited from taking any revenue, hence the free entry. Would have loved to have had a book on the exhibits (and a shirt as worn by the very friendly & helpful staff). |
|
|
|
Post by Jeff on May 1, 2019 8:09:12 GMT
Just caught up reading this in the departure term at LHR, sounded a fantastic trip mate, thanks for posting
|
|
|
|
Post by keithh on May 1, 2019 16:56:34 GMT
Was that a Globe Swift in the museum? Hi Keith. It was indeed a 1946 GC1B Swift. The blurb stated that it belonged to the Air Club of Chillán after being gifted to it by its former owner, a certain José Maria Martinez. The condition was that after removal from flying service, the Club would donate it to the Aviation Museum. It was restored by the museum's excellent team of mechanics and unveiled there a couple of years ago. Although I gave up on light aircraft years ago I still have a soft spot for the oldies (including Raquel Welch). They are also restoring a 1935 Miles Hawk Major CC-FBB, apparently used on commercial services in Chile from 1936 (not sure if it has any former UK identity). It really is a very interesting and extremely well presented museum. Sadly it has no shop as the museum is prohibited from taking any revenue, hence the free entry. Would have loved to have had a book on the exhibits (and a shirt as worn by the very friendly & helpful staff). Fascinating place, sadly I doubt I’ll ever get there! |
|
