C-46 Araracuara, Colombia seen via C-130

[Ken]

From 1977 until the Canal Zone was handed back to the Panamanians in 1999, there was a Central/South American airlift mission first known as Volant Oak and later, Coronet Oak. C-130's, primarily Guard/Reserve, would deploy to Howard AB, Panama for two-week stints to provide theatre airlift. Some of us went a few times a year and became somewhat "regulars" flying in that part of the world. The mission has changed dramatically, continues, and has since moved, but I'll save that story for another time.

One of our regular counter-drug stops was to support the radar site at Araracuara, CO. We moved personnel, supplies, cash couriers, and also tankered fuel to be downloaded into bladders at the runway's edge. The compound there was heavily fortified and guarded; we called it "Vietnam with cable".

The runway was probably 4000'-ish and perched on a breathtaking plateau. It was mostly dirt/gravel with broken asphalt-like segments. The local radar site (Moonlit Control, IIRC) could provide advisories, but I recall that to land, self-contained approaches were done to find the field in IMC. There was an NDB there that never would point, so we "built" the approach with INS waypoints and mirrored the NDB procedure; we didn't have GPS at the time. The Nav's would also be able to paint the unique runway on the APN-59 radar.

I never would have believed at the time that there would be a thing called youtube and these "unique" experiences could be shared. The best way to describe the airport is to watch this video. On the left side of the runway, look for the shape of a wrecked C-46:

http://youtu.be/TqlGcoptmqc

Also see this pic online: http://www.alltravels.com/colombia/amaz ... o-63777107

Here's how the C-46 looked in September 1996:




The big treat for visiting crews was to pile in a deuce and a half and ride to the approach end of the runway. From there, it was a 5 minute walk to the gorge. The photo doesn't do the scale of this gorge justice, nor does it provide the soft roar of the Amazon tributary below.


Here's our Herk on an earlier visit in June 1993. We've landed and made a 180 to park at the defuel pit. We always landed and departed one-way. This was the textbook example for shortfield data where, between refusal speed and 3-engine Vmca, you really needed to try to fly her off, since running off the end into boulders (and then falling into the gorge) wasn't an option. The OV-10 is Colombian and reportedly had scored a number drug run kills on alert scrambles.


I was told that this place had once been a prison due to its remote location. I know it was a military site in the 90's and I was told that it was since closed and disabled with explosives, although I don't know if that is true. Flying the C-130 has been far more interesting and educational that I ever dreamed it would be - this type of flying was truly "off the grid" - the IFR charts were brown and some of the TPC charts sported white sections, devoid of info, that simply said "data not available, elevations approximate".

"Trash hauling" may sound boring, but most folks don't know the half of it.

Ken

Last edited by Ken on Sun Mar 18, 2012 8:55 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Tulio]

Thank you, Ken.

We rarely get to see much from Latin American countries, so I appreciate your posting your story.

Saludos,


Tulio

[Ken]

I believe there are some nice statics arranged in the Colombian AF compound at the Bogota Airport. Never did get over there, but I think a P-47 could be seen among many others ...

[b29flteng]

I've been there a few times myself with the Texas ANG. It's quite the drop-off on the one end of the runway.

[Ken]

I recently rehashed this story for a friend and was reminded of this thread, so here's a bump for anyone who may have missed the first iteration.

Ken

[TROJANII]

Um, it was Howard AFB vs AB (I was told the difference was having a runway, vs Albrook AB Panama which no longer had a usable runway).

Anyway, I was stationed at Howard for 4 years as an SP, at the time your offices we in Hangar 1. Always wondered where you guys went, neet to see!

[Ken]

I stand corrected on Howard, but I don't believe your reasoning is 100% correct. I thought it was more to do with US-owned property. Goodfellow AFB in TX has had no runway for years; Kunsan AB in Korea has had one continuously. You're obviously right about Howard's name and, oddly enough, no quick internet search reveals the difference in the naming convention. Albrook was an AFS (Air Force Station), which further muddies the waters ...

Ken

[TROJANII]

Guess if I had thought about it a little more ... I WAS stationed at Ramstein AB in Germany and it definitely had a runway!

I could have sworn it was Albrook AB, but maybe it was AFS and they have no runways?

[Old SAR pilot]

On the AFB vs AB, I believe the rule of thumb is, if it's in a foreign country it's an AB. In the U.S. (and it's territories) it's an AFB. But I could be mistaken...

[Scott Rose]

Thanks for sharing, and for bumping this story up. It's always neat to hear stories like these.

[Ken]

A different C-130 discussion brought this up, so bump.

Ken

[maxum96]

Since you bumped the thread, here's a video I found of a DC-3 landing at Araracuara.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By4gfZQoB0Q

[Michel Lemieux]

Errrr.....you got me searching on the airport and found this.........

No actual view of the airport........but still in the same area.....as the header suggest.

What do you all think?????

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYgsK6bw19k

And what is that figurine between the 2 front window panels!!!!! Must be for good luck

[maxum96]

Errrr.....you got me searching on the airport and found this.........

No actual view of the airport........but still in the same area.....as the header suggest.

What do you all think?????

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYgsK6bw19k

And what is that figurine between the 2 front window panels!!!!! Must be for good luck

Nice! Any lower and they would have turned that DC-3 into a boat.