April 4, 20197 yr Following on from my previous post (here), I'm about to do the IBE6841, these days operated by a new A350-9 but this route seems to use a mixture of A346 and A350 aircraft. We leave at 5 to midnight and arrive in Buenos Aires around 7:40am. Still dark and still have the steps... Taking off towards the north initially. Looking back at the airport with city in the background as we arc round to head off south. City receeding away behind us... Not much to see overnight but there were a number of AI aircraft who stayed with us for much of the journey. Air Europa A330 TAM 767 Alitalia 777, wonder where he's going... Local boys, we must be close now... Found South America Cruising over a fairly large city (Brasilia?) Answers on a postcard. Twilight just starting. Descending towards Buenos Aires. Ah Ha! That's where they were going, Alitalia on approach a bit in front of us. Wing view of our approach Nice view of the TropicalSim SAEZ Final approach Taxiing in Parked up Just as I was about to switch everything off, the sun peaked up over the horizon. Next flight will be the return leg...
April 5, 20197 yr Love the concluding shot. I visited South America in 1990, when I was sent to work on Margarita Island, Venezuela. I flew from SFO-JFK-Caracas-Margarita on United and Avensa. On one of my days off, I flew from Margarita, via Barcelona, then over the Orinoco river which looked like a huge inland sea, on to Canaima and a visit to the Angel Falls region of Venezuela. There I had a native river guide, we took a motorized river boat to a smaller set of falls, then had a picnic lunch. On our way out of Canaima we flew past Angel Falls but that time of year it was only a trickle, although there were other cascades to view.... On the way home I remember seeing a large thunderstorm as we cruised at 10,000 feet in our twin engine prop plane, it looked so beautiful as it towered over us in the distance. On the way into Barcelona our aircraft ran low on fuel and had to declare an emergency, due to strong winds. But we landed safely and continued back to Margarita. Some friends I made while working in Margarita went with me, they were the ones who talked me into booking a trip of a lifetime which I will always remember on my one and only visit to South America. On the way home, I stayed over night at a hotel called the Eurobuilding in modern Caracas' city center, although it was sad the poverty I saw out of Caracas airport on my way to downtown Caracas. On the next day I flew Pan Am my one and only time, on an A310, only one of three such flights I flew on that aircraft make and model, the other two were from Dallas to Puerto Rico in 1997. John
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