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DC3s in Venezuela - RUTACA Airlines
By: Michael Millar - 106741.431@compuserve.com
I just returned from Margarita Island (just off the coast of Venezuela).
While there we took a trip into mainland Venezuela
with
RUTACA airlines on a C47.
We flew about an hour south to Tucupita where the plane (I think) waited 24
hours for us as we explored the Orinoco delta area by boat. Next day we
journeyed on another hour to Angel falls where we went along the canyon
containing the highest waterfall in the world (979 metres), turned in the
canyon and saw the falls again on the other side. We then stopped at
Cainama to see some waterfalls (and walk behind one) before heading back to
Margarita.
On the return (2 1/2 hour) journey we stopped at Bolivar city for fuel
where I saw at least another three RUTACA DC3s on the ground. We got off
for the refueling and I saw one of the aircrew hop onto the wing with a
dipstick to check the level - a surprise to me, is this normal?
The plaque behind the aircrew gave our
plane's serial number as 42100592,
and the only entry under that was:
"1976 [or was it 1978] - Iran - 18000 hours [approx.]".
It looked like most of the parts were original -
the only recent addition being a GPS.
I think that RUTACA is not a luxury tourist airline
(though there was a lot more leg room than on the 757
in which we returned to Europe!).
I expect that they have quite a few more DC3s around the country.
We had a great trip.
I was intrigued by the serial number/history and
decided to find out more about the plane on my return home.
Can you help me? How should I go about tracing this old friend's history?
Please e-mail me on 106741.431@compuserve.com
Thanks in advance, Michael Millar
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