Over The City

About a week ago I had a chance to take a flight in a Twin Otter Plane from the Air Force. It was a spontaneous opportunity that I only had about 10 minutes to get ready for. The story is...Coco had to go up in the Twin Otter plane for a special assignment involving the upcoming Air Festival. The air show is being hosted by the Air Force here in Iquitos tomorrow. Coco has been in charge of all the publicity for the event. He contacted all the radio stations, local channels, the mayor, put banners all over the city, and was responsible for distributing all the flier advertisements. So when the Air Force wants to distribute fliers to the entire city, what do they do? Throw them from a plane of course. Although this is technically littering, everybody seemed to think it was a great idea.



So off we went. We had thousands of leaflets to throw out of the plane and we threw them all out there.



Coco has been learning to fly this plane for the last few months and I´ve always wanted to take a flight in it since I saw it the first time. We went with three other pilots, one mechanic, and two men from a local tv station who were making a commercial the air festival.













We left from the river near the air base which is about 2 minutes from our house.



There are alot of ¨floating¨ houses near the base and I am amazed at how they are all built to withstand the rapid falling and rising of the river.









The take-off was so strange to me. I sat in the back with Coco near the open door. Don´t worry, I was in a seat with a tightly fastened seat belt.



They started the propellors while the plane was still tied to the dock. The plane began to push away from the dock. The heat that came in the door from the wind was incredibly hot. We circled around the river, still on the water, in order to test the engines. Once we were cleared for takeoff the pilots put the plane in full throttle and I felt like I was in a boat that was going way too fast. We were skipping a bit over the water, going faster and faster, untill eventually it felt like the ¨boat¨ magically turned into a plane and we were in the air.

















We flew close to the ground so it would be easier to drop the fliers. I was amazed to be seeing all of the scenery that is always around us in Iquitos at such an up close view. And it was so beautiful.



























We flew over the whole city and I was able to recognize most of the locations like the Main Plaza, the stadium, and all the residential areas.









The best part of the flight was flying over the Amazon River. Its so vast and really overwhelmeing, especially from an aerial view. I loved it so much.















The flight wasn´t too long but we made lots of tight circles around the city. In the end all that action made me a bit sick. Luckily I just ended the flight with a pale face, but I was definetely teased by the seasoned pilots who train their stomachs to handle all of that. I am so glad I had the chance to go. It was amazing.