Leg 010

"The mighty Macagua"

The five flags look good on you, Wanda.

After listening to the pings and drips of the Lycomings, I was contently walking across the Tumeremo ramp when a beat-up minivan approached me.  A grease-covered mechanic in overalls asked me in rapid Spanish if I could take a few passengers down to El Dorado real quick.  I believe he was trying to tell me that the regular 'Sociedad de Tareros de Venezuela' (an FSEconomy company) Cessna 206 was still down for maintenance, and without my help, the passengers wouldn't be able to get to El Dorado on time.

I asked the mechanic, "Amigo, cuantos tiempo?", to which he replied "vente minutos."  20 mintues to El Dorado and 20 minutes back.  I could spare an hour, sure, but was it worth it?

"Cuantos dinero amigo?"

"Mucho" he replied.  I wasn't sure what that meant, but what the heck, let's do it.  I smiled my 'mucho dinero' smile and retraced my steps back to Wanda to preflight her once again.

Following highway 10 to El Dorado.

Wanda was ready for her little nap, so I made sure to whisper sweet nothings to her in order to arouse her once again.  'It's OK, girl...it's only an hour more of work.  The money we earn will buy you some nice oil changes in the future.'  Like a champ, Wanda was ready to roll.

I collected the Sociedad de Tareros de Venezuela tickets from the three passengers, looked at my borrowed VFR map, and decided we would follow highway 10 south to El Dorado.  I should easily be able to spot the dirt landing strip, which would form the 'crossbar' of the giant letter "A" formed by the Rio Cuyuni and its tributary.

"Welcome aboard (consults notes) Sociedad de Tareros de Venezuela, ladies and gentleman" I said.  "It's a short 20 minute flight down to El Dorado today.  My name is Maxwell and it is my pleasure to fly with you this afternoon."

The city of El Dorado on the banks of muddy Rio Cuyuni

Aside from being paid several thousand dollars to fly three Sociedad de Tareros de Venezuela passengers down and three passengers back to Tumeremo, looking back I was glad to take this flight.  El Dorado was a pretty picturesque destination.  The weather was still perfectly smooth and I enjoyed the one hour little side trip, which further cemented my finances into the 'green'.  I am building a maintenance reserve fund now, especially as I will soon be ready for lots of overwater flying in the Caribbean.

I arrived back to SVTM airfield at 17:30 local and decided to ignore any additional approaching vans if they came my way.  Luckily for me, no one was around.  I found an envelope with my name on it at the FBO dropbox, which contained my nice little stash of cash.

Feeling tired and ready for some excellent Venezuelan cuisine, I headed for the Rosa Bela hotel, soon finding its rooftop bar as a place to relax for the evening.

A passenger takes a photo of me the next morning working on preflight.

As previously planned, this morning I am scheduled to pickup three passengers and fly them to Barcelona (Venezuela), with a stop in Ciudad Guayana to drop off the 200kg crate of airplane parts that I've been shuttling since Georgetown.  The weather is a nice, high VFR day all the way to the coast, so I plan to cruise at Wanda's favorite altitude of 6,500 feet.  This particular altitude is great for several reasons: (a) excellent fuel economy, (b) enough safety margin to cross Las Cascadas and (c) still low enough for great scenery-watching.

The passengers are early, so our full boat (passengers + crate + me + fuel) lifts off a few minutes before our scheduled 0:800 departure time.  Wanda pulls the load without breaking much sweat, and in less than 4 minutes, we are established and configured in cruise, level at 6,500 feet.

Venezuela has so many little 'patches of private heaven' it seems.

The passing Venezuelan landscape is much more brown than what I've seen the past several weeks.  I spot so many isolated driveways and homes beneath our craft.  I can't help but to wonder who lives there and what is their lifestyle?  I'm envious of their privacy and peaceful surroundings, but I cautiously remind myself of the plight of the Venezuelan people.  Without getting too political, I decide that Venezuela is nice to look at, but it would serve me well to make these two stops today, then head for the next country as soon as possible.

The air is clear and smooth, so I'm ready for some tunes.  I hit shuffle and begin to relax to "My Kind of Girl" by Brian McKnight.  Wanda, you are my kind of girl.  You're zooming along at 185 mph, sipping a 100LL martini, looking so fine in the sunlight.  You're fast, you're curvy and you're mine.  Bullseye.

Upata, half covered by cloud shadow, resting at the feet of Las Cascadas

As we near the midpoint of our journey, Las Cascadas come into view, and the landscape begins to become more green.  Just ahead is Upata, which was my backup stopping point for fuel (as I mentioned in the previous leg).  Instead of departing with 25 gallons as planned, Wanda drank 15 gallons on the journey to and from El Dorado, so I filled her to 30 gallons this morning.  The extra five gallons give me plenty of safety zone on fuel, so a quick glance at my fuel gauges is all I need to confirm that we do not need an extra stop in Upata.  Instead, I marvel at the dense city layout, which is accented by dark shadows cast by the clouds floating another 10,000 feet above us right now.  I likely will never see Upata again, so I take some photos and keep watching as the landscape shows me patches of browns and little villages scattered every 5 miles or so.

Overhead Patio De Distribución Macagua 400 Kv

Today's first leg is a short one at only 100 nm.  Only 15 minutes after passing Upata, Cuidad Guayana begins to come into view.  I descend down to pattern altitude of 1,500 feet a few minutes early in order to try to spot the large power plant and mighty Macagua Dam which should be seen on my base leg to SVPR runway 26.

It's easy to spot the massive power distribution center, which is adjacent to the several sections of the Macagua Dam.  I turn for a wide base over the power lines, slowing for final approach, all while marveling at the prominent dam and the intense rapids flowing from it.

Passing the mighty Macagua Dam

The Macagua Dam not only provides power for this central Venezuelan state, it also siphons a large amount of freshwater for long-distance irrigation lines to the farming regions just north of here.  It is amazing that human beings have harnessed the power of nature in such a way to be so useful.  It is also incredible that nature responds by creating these wonderful rapids, tiny waterfalls and lush islands just after the humans' attempt to hold her back (the dam wall).  It is perhaps one of the most picturesque base legs I will fly on my tour, so I take a moment to really appreciate the fantastic scenery below, while Calvin Harris sings "Feel So Close" in my headset.

Wanda and I are cleared to land on runway 26, so I turn to final, now over a heavily-populated city of large traffic circles and parallel apartment buildings.  It is a shame that we won't be staying to explore Ciudad Guayana, as it looks pretty interesting from up here.

Pulling up to a massive hangar in order to drop the crate we've been flying since Georgetown.

In normal fashion, Wanda rewards my textbook landing configuration and approach with a gentle touchdown.  We make the first turnoff and head toward the crate's destination, which is one of the largest hangers I've ever seen.

"Ladies and gentleman, we'll only be on the ground for 15 minutes.  Since we need to refuel the airplane, I kindly ask you to exit and suggest you use the facilities and enjoy a cup of coffee."

"Uno para ti, amigo?" asks my front seat passenger?

"Si, muchas gracias, amiga" I say.  The morning has gone smooth so far, and I'm going to get a free coffee soon.  Will I continue to have such luck on the way to Barcelona?  There's only one way to find out.  As the crate is being unloaded, I call the fuel truck on the radio...