THAT CONDOR MOMENT - 2003
Exercise Andean Condor, Vitacura Airfield, Andes.
By Wing Commander Mike Salter

Each year the RAF is invited to take part in a Chilean Air Force Expedition at their gliding site at Santiago. The gliding is provided by the Chilean Air Force for initial pilot training and the instructors are mainly Chilean Air Force Reserve pilots with the aircraft maintained by full-time engineers. The Vitacura airbase is situated at the edge of the Andes on the banks of the River Mapocho which continues on its way through Santiago to the lush farmland of the Central Valley.
This year 5 pilots from the RAF Gliding and Soaring Association (RAFGSA) were invited to attend the Expedition nicknamed Andean Condor 2003; they were Group Captain Peter Gallagher, Wing Commander Mike Salter, Squadron Leader Willy Hackett, Flight Lieutenant Jon Arnold and Chief Technician Martyn Pike who, as the Chief Flying Instructor of the RAFGSA Centre, kept an eye on our flying.

The flight from Heathrow gave us plenty of time to contemplate the next 10 days in the Andes. Most of us had experienced gliding in the Alps and felt reasonably confident that we could cope with mountain flying but as we descended towards Santiago and glimpsed the Aconcagua, the highest mountain in South America, from the A340's window we were stunned by the sheer beauty of the rugged terrain.

We were made very welcome by Colonel Carlos Bertens and whisked away to the military hotel to freshen-up and take in the charming atmosphere of this City; after the sub-zero temperatures of the UK the dry 30s of Chile were a pleasant bonus. The next morning we were briefed on flying in the Andes and shown how it contrasted with the Alps. We had appreciated already that there was an order of magnitude difference in the ruggedness of the terrain, but there were more subtle changes that we needed to know. The wind below 1400m was normally southwesterly but in the valleys it could be in any direction; however, the upper wind was usually northwesterly. Unlike in the UK, the clouds were not the best indicators of the position for good lift; the shape of the ground gave the best clues. Also, the Alps had many passes and escape routes to emergency field landing areas but the Andes had none and if you slipped into a valley which was not providing lift the only way out was the long trek down the winding valley.

My first flight was to be with Alexander Kaufman who at 6ft 7in explained that he was too big to fit in the Janus with a parachute, but as we would be skimming over the ridges and mountains at 50 and 100ft we wouldn't need one anyway! After the met brief we had lunch while the valley breeze strengthened as the sun warmed the rocks in the high mountains and provided the energy for each valley microclimate.
The Janus CE had been prepared for flight by the engineers and positioned on the grid ready for connecting to the powerful tug; a Cessna L19 originally used by the US Army in Vietnam and affectionately called the Bird Dog. I familiarized myself with the cockpit layout and completed the pre-flight checks; I was ready for take-off. With the flaps fully negative to retain roll control, we accelerated quickly and as I eased the flaps up to +4° we were airborne. I could not see any safe landing area until we climbed through 150ft and made a mental note that a towrope break after take-off would not be pleasant. Like many gliding sites in the UK, Vitacura had been squeezed into a tiny piece of land with a river on one side and a dual carriageway on the other with the Santiago residential area stretching out beyond.

The tug rocked its wings to signal for me to release as we approached the local hill called Manquehue. Perhaps hill is the wrong description but in Chile everything is relative and this stepping-stone to the Andes was actually 5413ft above sea level - almost 2000ft higher than Snowdon. I released the cable and found the first thermal joining Willy and Martyn who had launched earlier. The brief had been accurate and the thermal was not at all like the gentlemanly thermals of the UK where you are gracefully lofted into the air. The thermal was rough but very strong and I had to use a steep angle of bank to remain within the narrow core. After a busy 15 minutes we had enough height to cross the valley to reach the next ridge to the North. We were in the area colloquially called the Laboratory and it was working well with strong fixed base thermals. The local knowledge of the Chilean pilots was invaluable as they could predict with almost total certainty where we could top up our height as we progressed ever deeper into the mountains. With enough height now to cross, what the Chileans called most appropriately 'Death Valley', we set off over the 10km of inhospitable terrain with not a hint of a thermal. On reaching the ridge of the Lagunas we could climb up the thermodynamic lift to 11500ft. At this height we were breathing oxygen through the facemasks and the temperature dropped to well below freezing, although the intense sunlight warmed the cockpit. We pressed on over the river Aconcagua which had its source in the glacier of the Aconcagua mountain which at 22840ft was the highest mountain in South America and our ultimate goal.

We were now 80km from Vitacura after an hour of intense concentration and still 30 km from our first turning point at Lake Copin. After the first turning point we made our way eastwards towards the Argentinean border with the ground rising quickly the conditions had changed through the inversion that had capped the thermals on the lower slopes. Now we had the rough rotor conditions associated with the increasing wind speed and wave; the aircraft wings flexed wildly against the churning air and I tugged at the seat straps in a vain attempt to prevent the inevitable head bump on the canopy. Our next step on the ladder to gain enough height for the final assault was at the Alto Los Leones. This was a truly awesome mountain. The peak was at 17650ft with a glacier dripping over a ledge to the south; approaching from the west we were confronted with a vertical wall rising 8000ft from the valley floor. I found a thermal at 13000ft and began my turns 300ft from the rock face. The sheer size of this brown rock dripping with icicles glinting in the afternoon sun was intimidating. I had been used to flying close to the mountains in the Alps but nothing could have prepared me for this experience. My perception of distance and attitude was destroyed; deep in the mountain valleys the horizon changed constantly on each point of the turn. I could not judge the distance from the rock face as the texture gave me no clues and we must have appeared to be an insignificant dot against this background that was not unlike a set from The Lord of the Rings. I had gained 2000ft in the strong lift but the concentration was taking its toll and I decided that I had exceeded my comfort zone for long enough. Despite the sub-zero temperatures in the cockpit there was a trickle of sweat running down my face and the rapidly blinking dolls eye on the oxygen flow meter was testament to my physical and mental effort.

I decided to move on to the next ridge and passed over a bright glacier towards the Inca Lake. Another up draught gave me the energy to progress further along the course towards the Aconcagua. The glaciers were covered in deep crevasses and looking down into the voids, the ice took on the intense turquoise colour like the sea around a Caribbean island. We had been airborne for 3 hours and the weather was changing with the cloud base closing the door to any further climbs but at 19500ft I was not complaining and the cold draught leaking through the front of the cockpit was numbing my feet. We decided to return to Vitacura via the copper mines and ski resort. I caught a glimpse of the condor gliding almost motionless on his 11ft wingspan. Weighing almost 30lb it was a real hazard as, unlike the eagles, it is a very lazy bird and insisted that my 70ft wingspan glider had to make way for him. This part of the flight was mainly down hill but we had to negotiate the strong eddy currents of air to the lee of the ridges to ensure we maintained sufficient height to cross into the next valley. It seemed strange that the altimeter was still registering 17000ft above sea level but our height above the ground rarely exceeded 300ft. We eventually dipped below 10000ft and could remove the oxygen mask. Although we were lower, we did not feel any warmer; the heat had gone out of the sun's rays and now we were speeding home at 150kph the cold air was finding its way in through the smallest gaps in the cockpit.

The sun was getting low by the time we reached Vitacura and I lowered the undercarriage for landing. We had been airborne for over 5 hours and had covered over 300km. The other crews had already landed and we spent the next hour getting warm and relating our experiences of the Condor's domain. I would remember this flight for the rest of my life. The Eagle Team, as our Chilean friends nicknamed us, completed 45 flights and flew 187hrs covering 11640km reaching a height of 29500ft during the expedition. If you would like the opportunity to take part in an expedition of a lifetime then contact your local RAFGSA club through the website at www.rafgsa.org.