Chile (2016)

Chile 2016

Chile 2016

Report of a group visit to the FIDAE at the military part of the Santiago International Airport in March 2016. We also visited several other locations in the area and witnessed the annual flypast at El Bosque.

On Saturday 19 March 2016 a group of 8 people gathered at Schiphol for our third tour to Chile. The bi-annual FIDAE plus the yearly Air Force parade at El Bosque were the main goals for this trip, totalling 11 people in the end. Via Paris, where we picked up 2 more participants of the tour, we arrived in Santiago after a long and bumpy flight (on Sunday 20 March). Santiago was baking in the sun and we had spectacular views on the Andes Mountains and a clear blue sky. After we picked up the rental cars we had a quick look at the base and saw the F-16s parked in preparation for the parade. As nothing was happening at the base, we headed out to the Air Force museum in the city. The Museo Nacional Aeronautico y Espacio is located at former air base Los Cerillos, also home to the headquarters of the Air Force. The museum has an impressive collection of aircraft that once were operational with the Chilean Air Force.  Most of the aircraft are positioned quite well for photography. The friendly people at the museum were willing to show us the storage area as well, making for a complete picture of the museum. After our visit to the museum we drove to our apartments in the city where we would be staying for the rest of the week.