WenkUSA
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MY FIRST CROSSING OF THE SWISS ALPS IN A SMALL AIRCRAFTFlying in the Swiss Alps is not for the inexperienced. Therefore it was foolish of me to venture into the alpine world on an extended solo flight. Several circumstances lured me into the thin air of mountaintop hopping and most of them were the kind of stuff disasters are made of. The weather had been miserable for weeks. Small aircraft flights were suspended in the alpine regions. Then the weather suddenly took a dramatic turn: The alpine region came under a strong Föhn influence. For three precious days there was not a cloud in the sky. The air was clear and crisp and the mountains were shining like diamonds on a gigantic necklace. The change happened on a Sunday and Monday morning I went early to the little airport at Magadino to check out a small plane. After waiting for weeks for the weather to break I was finally ready to take my cross country solo flight. It was the last required task for me to get my private pilot license. I was filling out my flight plan when my flight instructor, Mr. Rusca, approached me nervously. "Mr. Dougoud is dead" he said in a breathless whisper. "He crashed yesterday in a neighboring valley with two passengers. Nobody survived." It was as if lightening had struck me. Dougoud was my flight instructor on another airplane. He was a loving family man, father of to small children. He was also an excellent, experienced pilot. Fear struck me hard and it showed. My instructor put his hand on my shoulder:"I understand" he said and left. "I will be back tomorrow" I remarked after a slight hesitation and continued to work on my flight plan with deep sadness in my heart. The next morning I checked out my plane early, filed my flight plan and took off into one of the most brilliant days this planet ever had. I flew across Lago Maggiore heading toward Lugano and the Italian border. After a landing at the small airport in Muzzano I climbed slowly in a northwesterly direction toward the Maggi Valley and followed the Maggia to its origin. Soon I crossed the first mountain chain near the Nufenen Pass, turned west, crossed the Upper Rhone Valley heading toward the mountains of the Bernese Oberland. Lake Marjelen glistened straight below me and showed me the way to the Aletsch Glacier. I followed the glacier to its beginning in the Jungfrau region when I started to faint. I thought it might be lack of oxygen. Yesterday's fear reappeared while I was face to face with the beautiful mountain world, I knew, could kill without mercy. My composure returned when I came across the Jungfraujoch (3454m) and out over the region near Interlaken viewing the little towns nine thousand feet below me. It was pure magic. I felt I pushed my luck when I set out to view the famous mountains of this region from a bird's eye view, particularly when I tried to get as close as possible to the north face of the Eiger. Soon it was time to prepare for my descent to the airport in Sion where I was already overdue. I followed the Lauterbrunnen Valley south, flew over the summit of the Breithorn (3785m) with only a few meters to spare and looked straight down the Lötschen Valley. Nine thousand feet below me I saw clearly, in the distance, the airport of Sion. A smooth glide carried me to the airfield. My third and last leg of my journey began with a slow climb following the Rhone River toward Lake Geneva. As soon as I had enough altitude I turned toward the Matterhorn clearly visible in the distance. I was stunned by the clear vistas surrounding me. My flight plan, in order to avoid Italian air space, was now taking me back toward the point were I entered the alpine region at Nufenen Pass several hours earlier. That detour was necessary, because student pilots could not fly over Italian territory. Violating the law, by flying due east, would bring me over Italian air space to Lago Maggiore where I would reenter Swiss territory and find my airport at the north end of the lake. I tried not to think of the possible consequences when I turned my back to the Swiss Mountains crossing the extended snowfields and glaciers of the Weissgrat region south of the Monte Rosa massif starting down the eastern slope of the Italian Alps. I reached Lago Maggiore near the Borromeo Islands. Undetected I reentered Swiss air space a few minutes later on my way north to my airfield at Magadino. I knew then that this magic day on August 31, 1954 would for ever be one of the most memorable days of my life. STORYTELLER: Ernst Wenk (1923 -- ) BACKGROUND: The solo flight was carried out under the supervision of flight instructor Rusca on August 31, 1954 on Piper Super Cruiser AOP from the airport near Magadino (Locarno). I left Magadino at 09:12 arriving in Agno Lugano at 09:29. I continued my flight at 09:50 arriving in Sion at 11:24. I began my flight toward my home base at 14:00 arriving at Magadino airport at 15:35. The highest altitude I could reach was 4100m. The well known mountain pilot, Hermann Geiger, counseled me on my home stretch and certified my visit. PHOTOS: For the flight I did not carry a camera. I regretted this fact as the views were so exceptional because of the exciting flight path and the unsurpassed clarity. However we should also remember that the flight demanded consistently my total attention and several situations could have been critically dangerous with any distraction. Because of the lack of pictures I decided to include some pictures that I found on the web that almost exactly represent some of the vistas I encountered. One of the photos gives an excellent view of the approach to the Jungfraujoch following the Aletsch Glacier where I fought of some feelings of faintness. The photo of the Jungfraujoch with the "Grat" at the Sphinx is one of my own, taken during a visit to the Sphinx. It shows the breathtaking drop you face when you fly over the edge at the Jungfraujoch into the Lauterbrunnen Valley. The photo that follows shows the beauty and the fierceness of the North Slope of the Mönch and Jungfrau massif. I had to fly around the West Side of the Matterhorn because my plane had problems climbing higher. The Walliser Breithorn I passed led the way toward the huge Monte Rosa Group where you can see to the left the enormous snow fields and glaciers of the Weissgrat which I had to cross on my way to Italy.
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