OVER THE ANDES

Taranaki Daily News, 16 January 1933, Page 3

OVER THE ANDES

DIFFICULT AIIR ROUTES EVERY VARIETY OF WEATHER. PILOT’S STRANGE ADVENTURES. Flying the mail over “the most difficult aeroplane route in the world”— between Santiago, Chile and Buenos Aires, Argentina—is trying enough under ordinary conditions, which often include fog, rain, sleet, hail and blinding snowstorms in the Andes passes, but recently volcanoes added volcanic ash to the visibility hazards, and all aeroplanes had to be grounded for two days. To take the mail across the sheer sky-scraper Andes from Santiago, the lone pilot boards a special single-seater aeroplane, equipped with a 625 horsepower * supercharged motor, and almost instantly out of the bowl where Santiago nestles among its encircling peaks the aeroplane .climbs into the mountains, heading for the winding trail through a lonely bleak pass of the Andes known as Uspallata, the Khyber Pass of South America. Here, 12,300 ft above sea-level, as high as ten Empire State buildings piled one on top of the other, the aeroplane must seek another 2000 ft or more for safety’s sake. On either side the steep masses of the mountains rise—first to 16,000 ft then to 18.000 ft, and ever upward to the 21,500 feet height of Mount Tupungato on the south and the 23,080 ft peak of Aconcagua, the Everest of- the Americas, on the north. Both mountains are guarded by menacing rock formations (says an American paper). However, flying west to east the machine does not seek a close-up of scenic wonders. Instead, it climbs to the ground “ceiling” of 100 ft or more ’of clear atmosphere over Santiago, plunges into the clouds above that, and many have to go through layer after layer of clouds before clear air is reached- at 14,000 ft or more above the ground-level. It must attain that altitude very soon, because the “foothills” of the Andes round Santiago are that high. Later, the aeroplane usually climbs much higher—in fact, one pilot has reached 26,000 ft—before a descent is made, often through solid clouds above the clear ceiling in the vicinity of Mendoza. There mail is swiftly changed to another aeroplane for the level flight across the pampas, where supercharging is not necessary. MORE GRADUAL. Flying westward, to Santiago, the mountain geography calls for an entirely different technique.. The prevailing, wind is head-on against the aeroplane; the ascent is more gradual than on the steep w.est side of the mountain. The flyer literally hugs the ground. Often he is climbing the saw-tooth trail, with steep ridges ahead, trying to keep in the zone of clearer atmosphere, which in bad weather extends only about 25ft above the surface.

Steep walls, sometimes higher than those of the Grand Canyon,, rise on either side. Winds sweep snow in sheet-like clouds off the adjacent ridges. Sharpshoulders and ridges obstruct the pass, so the flyer must know the route as he knows the way round his. own house by night. He must be ready for swift turns and quick climbs —the aeroplane used can climb 20,000 ft with a full load in 335 minutes.

The flyer telephones ahead to find whether there is adequate ceiling for landing ,at Santiago. He keeps close to the ground to make the swift western descent beneath his ceiling. To get above the clouds and try to plunge through to a landing-place among the surrounding peaks would be perilous. Once, however, a mail pilot had to attempt that. He had taken off from Santiago in a fog. Up and up he circled, through layer after layer of mighty clouds, soaring to 19,000 ft, where the air was cold, the humidity-for that temperature near the saturation-point. Ice formed in the carburettor and choked the engine. The engine sputtered and almost stopped. Aloft, 19,000 ft, clouds stretching away like ocean surf, shielding jagged peaks, and no power. There was nothing to do but come down, and, making allowance for wind drift, hope that he would land in the Santiago basin. But, as he shot into a clear gap among the clouds at about 7000 ft, the flyer was facing—not the haven of a landing-field, but a sheer snow wall of mountains. The motor was picking up, he must stay aloft, so he swerved into a canyon that seemed to end blind. But it was his only chance. Above him were dense clouds, thousands of feet thick..

Completely encircling him, dimly seen through the vapours, were mighty peaks of the Andes. He had no idea fo his location. Suddenly he saw the canyon curve, and trickling through it was a small creek which must have an outlet. Down the canyon he flew, following the creek, which became broader and broader and finally spread out into the Mapacho River, which flows into Santiago.