The mountains near Torreón in early morning light (foto: )
8th July : Torreón (Mexico) Tucson, Arizona 1085 kms
Total time airborne: 7 hours. Exhilarating gliding over the desert. Average altitude 12,500 feet over terrain mostly at 9,000 feet. Mainly clear weather.
Although I had not meant to land at Torreón, it turned out to be the best airport to go through. The staff were all charming, located close to each other and punctually on duty at 6 am. In 10 minutes flat, I managed to do the works: immigration, customs, flight plan, pay airport taxes this in itself is a world record. The landing fees came to a grand total of US$7,00 and exact change was returned in dollars. This might seem reasonable to those unaccustomed to the ways of the world: in umpteen airports around the globe, sorry, no change is synonymous with an obligatory tip. Torreón is my candidate for the gold medal on this trip. I doubt anywhere will be able to beat it!
The sun rose at 0710, and I was in the air by 0730 making a slow climb over the desert for a long flight over desolate and mostly uninhabited back country, primarily in a straight line towards Copper Canyon and a series of other stunning canyons in the Sierra Madre Ocidental. I have 5 liters of water on board, 3 more than I normally carry. It could mean the difference between life and death if I have to come down somewhere. As I drew close to Copper Canyon, clouds were closing in on the valleys. I tried following one of them, but had to give up low cloud filled the canyons and so on towards Tucson.
Had some great tail winds again. My GPS was reading speeds of 125-130 knots, so I decided to celebrate with some gliding, aiming for a perfect cloud slightly left of track. Bliss. Sudden silence at 11,000 feet over the desert. Time to notice every detail on the ground. The place looked totally uninhabited, with no visible trace of human beings, but I suddenly picked out one single shack with a metal roof. What could that family be doing there? How did they get there, since there were no visible tracks? I took several pictures, and glided lower and lower. Detail: have to remember to look up from the viewer every now and then, especially when in gliding mode!
Later I came across an area with mines and ex-lakes. What a crime to let these natural water reserves fall to almost nothing. Man really has no scruples. He uses and abuses to the last drop and then moves on to do the same somewhere else, leaving the earth pillaged and polluted.
I flew in total isolation for about six hours. Finally, short of the US border, I had to be cleared by Prescott Center on 124.40 and on I chugged towards Tucson. There was a large thunderstorm to the east, but all clear for runway 11 Right. By the time I had cleared customs (I arrived just after a commercial flight, so there was a long delay), parked the plane and tidied up, I was exhausted and starving it was a long time since my early morning soup! The first food outlet I saw was a Denny’s. Hunger does not allow for fussiness! Later, I tracked down good old Capt Yakov who had flown down to Tucson to meet me and was already well known all over the city!
Todays seven-hour flight was one of the highlights of this trip. Perhaps I keep saying this? If so, it just shows what a lot of wonderful things there are to see out there It would be marvelous to be able to say this after each flight, but I wonder what weather awaits me in chilly Siberia and how the monsoons will treat me in India.
Este texto foi escrito por: Margi Moss
Last modified: julho 8, 2001
