|
Taken from the magazine LINEAS:
LÍNEAS considers it a privilege to offer to its
readers a graphic document about the landing of
the celebrated North American pilot, Jimmy Angel
on the plateau of Auyantepuy, and an account
from his expedition partner, Gustavo Heny,
regarding the feat that shook the world 33 years
ago.
We cannot fail to mention our appreciation to
Mr. Enrique Lucca Escobar, of Caracas
Electricity, who conserved throughout many
years, the photo negatives we publish today,
with the given authorization of its author,
Gustavo Heny, and which illustrates the story.
The events have been narrated to Enrique Lucca
by a friend of Jimmy Angel’s, and the written
version has been assigned to Próspero Navarro
Sotillo.
As we proudly celebrate the 50th year
anniversary of our National Air Force, we
believe that the documents we offer in this
edition can be integrated into the great history
of the conquerors of infinite spaces.
All of these photo date 1937. The "palmas
llaneras" of Kamarata –out of curiosity, see
LÍNEAS, March 70. You can not see the crown of
Auyantepuy, like in the left photograph, just
the flow of water and mist of Angel Falls.
A
TESTIMONY...
We go back to the year 1920, the original
landing of Jimmy Angel’s plane on the plateau of
Auyantepui, some 17 years earlier. The exact
occurrence was October 9th, 1937.
ANTECEDENTS
In 1920, while he carried out a demo flight
throughout South America, Jimmy Angel was forced
to undergo an emergency landing on top of an
Andean plateau (3,500 meters height) due to
electrical damage.
The skilled North American pilot manufactured a
spare part with the sole of one his shoes, and
as a result was able to take off and continue
the flight without any further interruption. He
arrived in Panama -Jimmy Angel-from his demo
flight and found himself at a hotel bar where at
the time he was commenting over the
aforementioned event regarding the forced
landing, when a North American gentleman
approached him with a map in hand.
What did he want?
He proposed that the aviator take him to an
important place south of the Orinoco River in
Venezuela, where a similar landing and take-off
was necessary-having already been there- but at
a height of 2.600 meters. Jimmy was not that
interested, seeing that he had just returned
from a long flight, and trying to rid himself of
this individual, he told him yes, but he
required for his services the sum of five
thousand dollars…in the form of a check from a
bank in Panama, before carrying out the flight.
With that Jimmy would not say no, but he
demanded a very high fee. And in truth, he
considered that it would be a difficult amount
to pay for the person who had made the
proposition. Imagine the surprise of Jimmy
Angel, when at 10 the following morning he
received a visit from this foreign character,
with the check for exactly $5,000.
A man of his word, Jimmy made the necessary
arrangements, and in accordance with what was
previously established, he transported his
passenger to Venezuela, heading into our
territory towards the south, past the Orinoco
River ...
Jimmy Ángel
JIMMY’S
ACCOUNT
Regarding the account by Jimmy years later, he
did not know the exact site and was guided by
the foreign adventurer, who indicated a river on
whose side he could land. That’s what Jimmy
did: he landed over a small savannah and, he
remembered, that the weather was not very good
and it was raining a lot.
He immediately became extremely worried that an
abundant amount of water was penetrating one of
the wings of the plane. He made use of a
pocketknife to cut some cloth and reduce it.
They remained there half the afternoon and all
night,
plenty of time for the passenger to undergo an
exploration of a nearby area, bringing back with
him about 60 pounds of gold nuggets, inside
sacks, which surely he kept at hand waiting for
this exact opportunity.
WHERE DID THE GOLD COME FROM?
It appears that this North American, in the
company of another, had undergone an expedition
from Peru to Ciudad Bolívar, where they planned
to conclude their adventure. But before they
could bring a happy ending to their trip, his
friend died as a consequence of a snake bite.
It seems that they had left this treasure in a
secure place with the purpose of collecting it
at the first opportunity. And that was what
this man did, brought by Jimmy to this unknown
region... The following morning, Angel and his
passenger took off bound for Panama, where they
arrived without any setbacks. For Jimmy this
strange flight was not that significant, it was
just like any other flight, paying no attention to the transported
cargo. Why?
A North American firm was producing a great
plane and he only dreamed in piloting and showing
it…
En el Campamento -también conocido por "1.100"- en
Guayaraca, base de operaciones de Jimmy Ángel. En aquel
entonces vemos a Gustavo Heny, al lado de una tienda de
campaña.
YEARS LATER
Coincidentally, Jimmy and the other North
American meet again on a train, and upon
recognizing each other began to reminisce about
the trip to the south of the Orinoco…14 years
ago. During the conversation the adventurer
asked Jimmy if he had become a millionaire,
because he presumed that he had returned to the
spot where, according to him, you could find
gold right on the surface of the ground.
This realization caused Jimmy Angel to change
his activities; combining two different
emotions with his desire to return to Venezuela;
his love of flying and the adventure to
find the gold, en route to an
"El Dorado". . . Since then,
-years 1934 - 1935- Jimmy and his wife María,
invested their savings in the search of this
site, and a business buying and selling
airplanes also resulted favourably, resulting in
the Flamingo, which he used in future flights
and which he christened with the name “Rio
Caroni.”
EXPLORATION FLIGHTS AND THE DISCOVERY OF ANGEL
FALLS
Angel undertook numerous flights on his own. On
one of these, with the company of a technical
sergeant with the last name Garcia, while flying
over the top of Auyantepui, which was the region
that most attracted Jimmy, they observed for the
first time the waterfall that today bears his
name: Angel Falls, and were astounded by its
height. Jimmy revealed his discovery upon his
return, and the scale of the falls was
corroborated by other people, including Mr.
Shorty Martin, geologist and topographer that
was exploring and surveying the zone, and who
had become a great friend of Jimmy, whom he met
at Kamarata Camp in Bolivar state. Shorty and
Jimmy decided to draw a map of Auyantepui, and
with that in mind, they flew over the border of
the mountain recording the data of the course,
velocity, and height. According to the plane’s
altimeter the waterfall was almost 1,000 meters
high, making it the highest in the world. This
was confirmed years later by an expedition that
measured its exact height.
WHY WAS IT NAMED "ANGEL FALLS?”
The name it carries today –Angel Falls- emerged
during a meeting taking place in Caracas and
which concluded with Jimmy’s landing on the top
of Auyantepui. At this gathering, in addition
to Jimmy and Shorty, Gustavo Heny was present-to
whom we owe this present account-who had taken
an interest in the project. When they spoke of
the falls, he-Heny- asked what its name was.
Both remained -Jimmy and Shorty- unable to
respond. There existed no map of the region and
they had not named the one they had drawn
either. It was Heny who suggested the name
Angel, using Jimmy’s last name, its discoverer
and the one who made it public.
Exactly how the plane remained after
its landing on Auyantepuy. Jimmy Ángel is
wearing the hat and conversing with María. It was the morning
of October 9th, 1937...
LANDING
ON AUYANTEPUI
This new group, including Gustavo Heny and
Miguel Delgado, travelled in the company of Jimmy
and his wife Maria, to the south of Auyantepuy.
In a savannah, where Angel usually landed, they
set up camp that functioned as an operations
base. The whole time Jimmy insisted that in that
area, or very nearby, they would find the area
they seeked. Flights followed by more flights
of exploration, and land surveys led by Heny and
Delgado, continued without pause. Gustavo
scaled the plateau of Auyantepuy in two separate
occasions, each time getting closer to the
area Jimmy claimed to recognize, but it was not
possible to reach due to the difficulty of
climbing down a great interior
wall that was
1,200 feet high which divided the plateau of
Auyantepuy. Observing the savannah, although
the formations were the same as the other, he
came to the conclusion that it was not the same
place.
Why?
The terrain was extremely smooth, covered mostly
by vegetable beds, not yet cultivated, which amongst them
grew ferns and plants "in the form of small
mounds of grass",
over which one had to step, consequently sinking
up to their knees in mire.
When Heny came down from his second exploration,
in which he spent 15 days, he received a
surprise: Jimmy had returned from a flight to
Ciudad Bolivar, the plane filled with
provisions, had flown over the plateau and
touched ground, satisfied that he had found firm
ground. He only awaited the return of Gustavo
to inform him of this and immediately proceeded to
the projected landing site. Gustavo Heny,
hearing this, tried to dissuade Jimmy from
initiating this flight immediately, and asked
him to wait prudently for 12 days, giving him
the opportunity to climb on foot and mark the
landing site. But Jimmy Angel’s response was
that when it came to landing sites, he knew more
than Gustavo and besides, everything was fine.
They had been waiting for the moment
when they would find the unknown spot, which
they had already spent 3 years searching for and
in which all their savings was invested….
In spite of everything, Heny’s persistence
achieved its purpose, but only in terms of
hours, and they agreed to depart the following
morning. At that decisive moment the clock read
2 p.m. on October 8, 1937. Loading the plane
would take some time. Was all this logical?
Between Gustavo and Jimmy there existed an
unlimited trust that the other had taken on as
their responsibility, and on this occasion Jimmy
told him: I’m sure that I can make this landing
and if something does happen…you can get us back
to camp. Gustavo, as far as he was concerned,
trusted in the skills and expertise of the
seasoned pilot. That, apparently, reduced the
risks of the adventure… They unloaded everything
from the plane that was not essential, including
gasoline, which filled the tanks only enough for
the roundtrip flight-flights that wouldn’t take
more than a quarter of an hour each way. They
brought a tent, 80 meters of rope, and enough
food for 15 days, enough time, which Gustavo
estimated in a letter to his brother in Caracas,
to take care of any unforeseen events. For a
month he had been considering the possibility of
a landing on Auyantepuy.
In accordance with Jimmy’s instructions, he
placed the majority of the weight towards the
tail, even taking into account the weight of the
passengers.
As a result the distribution was as follows:
Gustavo, in the last seat, followed by Miguel,
María and Jimmy ...
"All ok" (todos bien) and the
arrow indicator of the course: on the wings of
the plane NC-9487, where the nose appears buried.
THE MORNING OF OCTOBER 9TH, 1937
The sky cleared on October 9th 1937
and everyone was ready and willing. The takeoff
occurred without an problems at 11:20 am,
arriving within 15 minutes to the plateau, which
they flew over for several minutes before
proceeding with the landing. The bold group
could not hide their uncertainty that overcame
them of landing on Auyantepui without an
difficulties when the moment approached. But
Jimmy was so determined to carry it out that at
once he lined up the plane with the so-called
runway and since the terrain looked favourable
he cut the motor, electricity,
and placed all the switches on off, their luck
was made. The "Flamingo" quietly began to graze
the surface with its three tires–in perfect
position for a three point landing- leaving
each time deeper, tread marks from its tires in the
small grass mounds, to the extent in which the
velocity decreased and the wings lost their
lift. Everyone remained in eloquent silence
until they heard a voice. It was Heny, yelling
from the back of the cabin:
Pull-out Jimmy ... pull-out...
The alert concurred with a small hop of the
plane before falling into softer ground, which
obstructed the front landing gear and with the
inertia lifted the tail, sinking the nose up to
the motor’s axle and coming to a position, as if
saying:
Auyantepui, before you I surrender ...
It was 11:45 a.m.
Inside the cabin resulted confusion, when
Gustavo Heny’s “seat belt” ripped which was made
of rope and string,
and whose large body-1,90 metros- passed between
Miguel and María, and fell straddled on top of
Jimmy, who, with the fly wheel and instrument
panels, were very uncomfortably stuck.
At the request of Jimmy, María and Miguel jumped
out of the plane, while he and Gustavo came out
–practically crawling – through the front door.
Although there was little gas, it leaked over
one of the wings which supported the plane while
in this uncomfortable position. Fortunately,
thanks to the precautions taken by Jimmy, the
plane did not light on fire. Besides the scare
the accident caused, the four passengers were
safe and unharmed. After confirming that, their
first endeavour was to straighten out the plane
with the rope they carried. They tied it to the
tail and pulled.
The first test…
A GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT
To the hour been suitable with the
camping, the calls through radio equipment of the
airplane began, but unfortunately they did not obtain
answer some, it soon repeated in each opportunity and
stated time for the contacts. And the same bad luck that
in other occasions… Was indeed between calls and calls
when Jimmy Angel underwent the greater disappointment;
it was transferred to the border of the river that,
according to him, was place of its landing in 1920. And
the difference of an appreciation done from the air and
the crude reality verified its error when noticing to do
it, in earth. Was not the site! This, naturally,
produced a great grief in the group, but the weather of
those expeditionary ones did not yield before the
adversity and, immediately, they were dedicated to plan
the reduction. In the wings of the airplane, they were
written with fabric and adhesive, the words “all ok” (all
good), and with an arrow indicated the course that would
follow. Jimmy also left a note in the airplane, with the
hour and result of the landing, as well as the list of
the members of the passage; in addition, the
nonessential apparatuses and bulks would be left attack,
in order to avoid hindrances in the reduction.
EPILOGUE OF AN ODYSSEY
After the odyssey, Jimmy passed some
sinsabores in Venezuela and, grieved, she retired to
live in Panama, where she died in 1956. The one was its
last desire that their scattered ashes were brought to
Venezuela and on the region, that so many adventures him
deparó and from which always kept a deep memory. Their
desires were fulfilled. Maria, their son and Gustavo, in
simple but touching ceremony, scattered from an airplane
and on Salto Angel, the content of that coffer that,
like diaphanous cloud, was embraced to Salto, and with
him it always watered for the Earth that Jimmy as much
loved…
Taken from: Lines, Nº156, April, 1970,
pp.10 to 16
. |
