X-atacama

Mittwoch, 25. Februar 2015

13. October 2014 - Calheta Buena

After sleeping close to the upper end of the ridge, in the morning sun I go up to the take off, I had used 2005/07/09. I eat the rest of my second last apple and empty the rest of the second last half liter bottle of water. Now I have left one more apple and half of a liter of water, so I have to ration it, every three hours a quarter of the water, half of the apple in the first half of the day, the other half in the afternoon. But as the uprising air will kick in I will leave anyway to the north or back to the south. But it keeps on being windless at all. I never faced a situation like this on this place or elsewhere in the atacama. Usually you cannot launch a glider here between 10AM and 4PM because of heavy winds, virulent thermic gusts, a.s.o., but today … ? Now my situation is getting worse. I can risk to start and try to fly - towards Pisaqua it looks probably doable. But, if I end on the beach, I will have to go 800m of altitude back up and around 40 km to Iquique or Pisaqua. Although I think, that flying would probably work I decide to wait longer for saver flying conditions. But they do not come. I could wait another day - no second windless day like this can follow, I am sure, but I do not have enough food or water with me - how simple and easy to carry some additional apples or bottles of water, but … No arguing : I am the idiot ! So finally I decide to save the last half of the apple and the last quarter of a liter water for a night walk back to Iquique. 46 km - should be no problem - in military we did 60 km night walks with heavy backpacks, so what …

12. October 2014 - Iquique >> IQQ >> Calheta Buena

First try of the take-off next to the Alto Hospicio flags. There are also two benches to prepare the flightstuff nicer than in the dust. I fly south to the airport first and return, passing Iquique, towards lands end. There the conditions look very compelling and although I do not carry enough water with me, nor enough food and the batteries of my devices are closer to empty than to full I make the mistake to go on in the anticipation to reach Calheta Camarones or at least Pisaqua - what an idiotic decision - never will do this again to leave save territory without appropriate preparation of essential equipment, food and water ! First I get rewarded with an airliner like flight in front or even above the condensate of the coast. At Punta Guaneras it turns into blue sky. It is the point, where I should turn around, but I do not. The following three Calhetas, ending in Calheta Buena are just blue, no condensate and no meaningful uplifts. I flee forward, but this time I do not get rewarded and end on the beach. O.K., thats it - at least for today. I take a bath in the ocean, play with crabs and starfish and as the day turns down and the sun is not heating the surface so much any more I start walking uphill, as I know a perfect launch up there, as I did flying in Calheta Buena from time to time in former years. Sleeping bag, down cloth, air mattress are with me. Tomorrow I will proceed to Pisaqua - Camarones or back to Iquique, whatever …

http://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:fritzdornat/12.10.2014/14:22

http://www.findmespot.com/spotadventures/index.php/view_adventure?tripid=334159

Dienstag, 24. Februar 2015

11. October 2014 - Iquique

Really not so nice conditions in the air above Iquique. The day feels like a hot and blue midsummer day rather than a day in october. Although condensate is to be seen, thermals are rough and unpredictable. Very good to have the smooth air flying of yesterday in my mind. If this would be my first day here, I would be kind of desperate, I guess. But as also the experienced local pilots name it a sh**day, I see it relaxed.

http://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:fritzdornat/11.10.2014/15:11

http://www.findmespot.com/spotadventures/index.php/view_adventure?tripid=334077

10. October 2014 - Iquique

In the morning I visit the office of the air control at the Iquique airport to let them copy my documents and to ask them how about fly-by-permits for the airspace around the airport. They tell me, that they do not do this unnecessary paperwork any more and they hand me over a piece of paper with a telephone number, which I should call, if I would like to fly by. But they would strictly not permit it monday trough friday, but on weekends they usually would allow, but not always - thats why I would have to call before attempting to fly by. Sounds good, but in the following weeks it looks like a personal statement of the guy, that I randomly met in the office. I proceed to the Altazor Flight Parl of Philip and Marlene. Also here a lot has changed : new skyscrapers are omnipresent - more than 100 of them are now in the town of Iquique, at least 20 under construction. Years ago, when serious earthquakes had hit the town and only a handful of skyscrapers were there, we were sure, their time was over - what a misjudgment. The Alto Hospicio launch gets also pimped up, so in the meantime the highest point in front of Alto Hospicio gets used as alternative launch. Just behind the take off there is a children's play ground and it looks a bit less dusty, so I sort me glider there and stuff my harness on a bench and start into very smooth afternoon air to my first flight with the M6 and the Ozium to "groove in" into Atacama flying of 2014.

09. October 2014 - Chanaral . . . Antofagasta

Near Chanaral I sleep about 50m above sea level and wake up, hearing some light rain on the roof of the car. Rain ? Here in the Atacama ? Are you sure ? Looking out of the window, it really looks like and from there on I drive more than two hours through light rain. The desert looks just washed. There is no feeling like it would be full of blossoming flowers three days later, like I once watched in Saudi Arabia, but the fresh colors of the washed rocks still look very nice. I proceed to Taltal to drive on the costal road towards Antofagasta, as I want to take a look at the costal flying opportunities on that part of the pacific coast. Just after Taltal is a bay, called Tierra del Moro and the located mountain Cerro Moro shows a SW-looking shoulder, that looks inviting to take off there and fly towards the north. I am alone in my car and just exploring for the future … From Taltal to Paposo the road is brand-new asphalted and after Paposo it is a dirt track, but again about 100 km road works - looks like in one or two years it will be another nice costal road there. At Calheta El Cobre, about 60 km south of Antofagasta the road ends for a 4x2 vehicle and I have to take the track up to the Panamericana to the Paposo - Mano del Desierto - road to go on. North of Antofagasta I have enough daylight left to take a look at the Los1200 launch of Antofagasta and my N300 climbes up until about 30m of altitude underneath the take off.

http://www.findmespot.com/spotadventures/index.php/view_adventure?tripid=334044

08. October 2014 - MUC --> Santiago de Chile . . . Chanaral

Arriving in the morning on board of an airbus 340 of IBERIA into the typical low laying condensate of Santiago de Chile I take over a Chevrolet N300 commercial delivery van. Its speedometer shows 000024 km - so it is really brand-new. The guy tells me "Take care, the car is not nuevo, it is nuevo-nuevo-nuevo !" I will take care and the van will thank it the whole trip … Since I was here in 2009 a lot has changed. Infrastructure and energy seems to be, where the money, gained from mining, is flowing into. About all of the desert road from Santiago to the north is on its way to a divided highway with two lanes in every direction. Road works are signed for 104km, 87km, 94km, 46km the shortest, a.s.o. Also there are a lot of new road toll stations with low amounts to be paid, but these tiny fees add up. If you counter calculate it to the savings in driving time and less consumption of gasoline it may come close to zero. On windy ridges and hillsides there are wind turbines as far as you can see and every 40 - 60 windmills there is a transformer station, that transformes the electricity into power lines.