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Wednesday, June 8, 2016

The River of Death


The River of Death 1934

After the Captain and Aloha Wanderwell finished their round the world tour, they set out to find Colonel Percy Fawcett who had gone missing in the Amazon jungle. This film chronicles their journey.

General Rondon (left), Aloha and Captain Wanderwell
Just past the two and a half minute mark, General Rondon makes an appearance. This is the same Rondon who accompanied Teddy Roosevelt on his expedition to explore The River of Doubt.

Junkers W33
I suspect the airplane they used is a Junkers W33.  (From aproximately 5:00 to 7:00 in the video above.)

The Junkers W33, the Russian ANT-25, and Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis were all single engine airplanes, and they all flew long distances over inhospitable terrain where engine failure would almost certainly lead to the death of all aboard. Kind of like today's rockets that carry people into orbit.

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3 comments:

  1. Ole Phat StuJune 9, 2016 at 8:02:00 AM PDT

    Single engine planes have engine failures only half as
    often as twin engined planes ;-)

    And given the weakness of those engines, the second engine can safely fly you
    over high terrain from the site of the first engine's failure
    to the site of the accident :-(

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  2. Chuck PergielJune 9, 2016 at 9:04:00 AM PDT

    I know. It just struck me that these people must have been very brave, or else they were able to block out the whole risk scenario from their minds.

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  3. Ole Phat StuJune 9, 2016 at 11:56:00 AM PDT

    The latter. I've flown from here (Germany) to Oshkosh (1984) and back in a single.
    From the right seat of a Piper, 'cos that's where the door is and
    naturally wearing a neoprene scuba suit all the time and with the inflatable dinghy attached to my right arm ;-)

    ReplyDelete