bernd1151 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 A few weeks ago I happened to read a book by German aviator and researcher Günther Plüschow. It’s not a modern book, it was written by him in 1930 and it talks in detail about his flights above the Andes in South America. His plane was a 1926 Heinkel HD 24W on floats. Argentina and Chile had in those years very few landable places, but many small lakes. He had his plane shipped to Punta Arenas in Chile in several crates and had to assemble it first before he could take off and photograph parts of the Andes Plüschow is the one standing on the float. The name Tsingtau was used, because he had flown a mail plane in China prior to the South American adventure Let the adventure begin On January 28th 1931 he took off from Lago Argentino in order to continue to film him flying and exploring one of his most favourite sites in the Andes: the Cerro Torre and south of it theTorres del Paine. At the end of that day's flight he encountered apparently heavy downdrafts, which smashed his small plane into one of the lakes in that area, where it overturned, throwing him and his co-pilot out of their seats and killing both of them on the spot. The plane had its wings broken, but remained otherwise relatively intact. Frank Dainese, who has given us ORBX fans the fantastic Monument Valley, has also done part of the Cerro Torre, some 450 kms north of Punta Arenas. And this is, where I am heading today, hoping the weather will be friendlier to me. I don’t have a Heinkel HD24, but a Bücker Jungmann of similar vintage. Let the adventure begin again I depart from a small airport close to Lago Argentino, the lake, Plüschow had used for his take-offs. It’s called El Calafate So far so good and the weather plays along Absolutely breathtaking scenery. Thank you, Frank!! Holy sh…, where did that come from??? That took less than a minute Let’s not get too close to the mountain, turbulences will be the worst there Let’s head back, before this goes out of hand, but it’s fantastic to look at Approaching El Calafate again Back on terra firma Btw, people in Ushuaia claim (2012) that this is the original Plüschow plane. I am not so sure…after all those years. The lettering seems to be bigger on the original plane. But who knows…. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breeze Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 What a great post! Very nice indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VH-KDK Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 One of the most interesting posts I have read for a long time. Some amazing history about Gunther Pluschow and narration by yourself. The shots you took are also surreal with the peaks and sky colouring making. Very well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voyager Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Fantastic journey mate! The documentation and the story below this adventure and sequence of shots are also very interesting! Thanks mate! Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradB Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Magical shots along with a great background story . Cheers Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dolf8857 Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Really AMAZING these! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Emms Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Great post this one. cheers Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallard Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Quite a set! Not often that we get to see pics from that part of the world... Cheers Mallard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernd1151 Posted April 6, 2015 Author Share Posted April 6, 2015 Thanks a lot for your kind comments, gents. It's always amazing to read what sort of risks people from all nationalities were willing to take in those days to achieve their dreams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasi31 Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Great post Bernd! Interesting story and great shots! Cerro Torre is such a fantastic mountain! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stillwater Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Fantastic story, flight and shots. And where did you find the people flow for the first pictures? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy H Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 An awesome post and an amazing journey back in time. I see what you mean by the lettering but honestly it is cool either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruudmeij Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Great shots and story. Cheers, Ruud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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