Mijn site

  • Home
  • OldJets
    • Amsterdam OldJets
    • OldJets
    • Schiphol Jets 2.0
    • On the ramp at AMS
    • CARGO Jets at Amsterdam
    • San Juan 1980
    • LAX - area 1980
    • Houston 1980
    • Fort Lauderdale 1980
    • Russia-Ukraine-Belarus
    • Russian hardware
    • Kiev
    • Lviv - Ukraine
    • YAK-42D to Yaroslav
    • 134 to Kaluga
    • Tu-154M to Minsk
    • Moscow bound Tu-154
    • Zaporazhye - Ukraine
    • Odesa - Ukraine
    • Dnipropetrovsk - Ukraine
    • North-Korea >
      • IL-62 to Pyongyang
      • Pyongyang airport
      • IL-18 to Samjiyon
      • An-24 over Pyongyang
      • Tupolev 134 to Hamhung
    • MD-83 Farewell flight
    • My Last 707 flight
    • We lost the engine
    • My first flight, my first emergency
    • Sharjah, March 1997
    • Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago
    • Cochabamba, March 2005
    • Mexico City Airport in 1987
    • Flutter around the Dutch Antilles >
      • Curaco-Hato Airport
      • Bonaire by Divi Divi Air
      • ATR42 to and Beech 1900 from Aruba
      • Jetair, Curacao
      • Maho Beach, St. Maarten
      • Another day at SXM
      • Twin-Otter to Saba
      • A couple of hours at St. Eustatia
    • Guatemala, January 1987
    • Zarkani 707's
    • Albania, 2017
    • Iran, 2006
    • Medan Polonia Airport
    • MOTOWN Cargo Carriers
    • Jakarta - Kemayoran
    • South-African Oldjets
    • Sofia '79
    • Zaïre
    • Sahara Cocaine Plane
    • 727 X-files
    • By Cedar Jet to Cyprus
    • Maverick Boeing 707 Ops
    • Jet Power 707-Ops
    • Colombian AF Boeing 727's
    • Above the Andes in a 727
    • Bogota Boeing 727's
    • Classic Jets over Iran
    • Flying the Big Q
    • Singapore -80's
    • Athens Ellinikon
    • Convair 880 Freighter Ops
    • Fuerza Aerea Argentina F-28
    • SLM DC-8 crash
    • Working the Hadj
    • KLM DC-8 memories
    • Syrian OldJets
    • VFW-614
    • Biman DC-10-30 to Chittaqn
    • Pelgrimage to Mashad
    • Austral MD80 saved
    • Flying Tigers DC-8
    • Part-out & Scrap of a Queen
    • Saving a Trident
  • OldProps
    • OldProps
    • Saint Thomas 1980
    • Opa Locka 1980
    • Naples, FL. 1980
    • Legendary DC-3 book
    • La Paz - El Alto, February 1985
    • Belfast to Dublin
    • Herc to Helsinki
    • AerCaribe Antonovs
    • Aeroejecutivos Flight 501
    • Rutaca of Cd. Bolivar, Venezuela
    • Venezuela - Once a DC-3 Hot-Spot
    • 580 to Valdez
    • Reeve Aleutian, Alaska
    • Everst Air Cargo - Alaska
    • Brooks Fuel, Fairbanks, Alaska
    • Northern Air Cargo - Alaska
    • KLM goes Guppy for a night
    • Good Old Argosy
    • Belize, 1987
    • Oaxaca, Mexico
    • Zorg & Hoop, Paramaribo
    • Chaiky airfield, Ukraine
    • Villavicencio, Colombia >
      • Villavicencio Vanguardia
      • Aliansa
      • Sadelca
      • Selva
      • Bomberos
      • Allas
      • Air Colombia
      • Aerolineas Llaneros
      • Wrecks & relics
    • East-Midland mid-80's
    • MERCHANTMAN TO AMSTERDAM
    • Northern Air Cargo DC-6 Flight
    • An affaire with beautiful Delaney
    • DC-3 to Gabarone, Botswana
    • Inbound Jan Smuts
    • Antonov An-12 Flight
    • Cuban An-2's
    • Surinam Ag-Cats
    • Chernoye An-2 Works
  • Bush-planes
    • Ontario Bush-planes >
      • Kenora
      • DeHavailland DHC-2
      • Minaki
      • Nestor Falls
      • Fort Francis
      • Vermillion Bay
      • Ear Falls
      • Red Lake
      • Sioux Lookout
      • Ignace
      • Selkirk & Gimli
      • Winnipeg
    • Quebec Bush-planes >
      • The Montreal area
      • The Three Saints
      • Along Riviere St. Maurice
      • Saguenay
      • Laurentian Mountains
  • Mike Zoeller article's
    • Good guys went bad
    • Gemini Air Cargo
    • Perfect Air Tours
    • Aero America
    • Aeropa
    • Air Viking
  • Museums
    • Museo Aeronautico de Malaga
    • Malta Aviation Museum
    • Korea War Memorial Museum
    • Buenos Aires, Moron Air Force Museum, 2013
    • Montevideo, Uruguay - 2013
    • New Dehli - Plane s & Trains
    • Nieuw-Vennep Transport Museum
    • Colombia Air Force Museum, Bogota.
    • Datangshan, China >
      • Datangstan, China - part 01.
      • Datangstan, China - Part 02.
    • Monino, Moscow >
      • Monino, Moscow - part 01.
      • Monino, Moscow - part 02.
    • Shenyang Aviation Museum, Chin
    • Hatzerim, Israel >
      • Hatzerim AFM, Israel - Part 01.
      • Hatzerim AFM, Israel - Part 02.
    • Theran Aviation Museum
    • Wrecks & relics in the Lowlands
    • PS Aero revisted in 2019
    • Kiev Technical School
    • Kiev Museum 2008
    • Kiev Aviation Museum 2018
    • Kiev Memorial
    • Minsk, Belarus
    • DOSAAF - Borovaya, Belarus
    • Le Bourget Aviation Museum
    • Aeroscopia Toulouse
    • Old Wings Toulouse
    • Istanbul Aviation Museum
    • Canada Aviation Museum
    • Aviation monument in Cuba
    • Colombo Airport
    • Winnipeg
  • Contact

Rutaca Airlines
Turismos y Servicios con Cariño
  by Jan Koppen 
            

​RUTACA Airlines, legally Rutas Aéreas C.A., is an airline headquartered in Ciudad Bolivar, Venezueala and a hub at Simón Bolivár International Airport in Caracas.
 
In February 2001, I visited their base at Ciudad Bolivar Airport. Unfortunately, their fleet was grounded since the crash of one of their DC-3's.
On January 25, 2001, 27 days before my visit, Rutaca's DC-3 YV-224C flew tourists back from Canaima to Porlamar and made a refueling stop at Ciudad Bolívar. Shortly after takeoff, engine problems forced the pilot to return to Ciudad Bolívar. While trying to return, they lost control, and the DC-3 crashed into the residential El Perú area, vía La piscina. The aircraft struck a large tree and burst into flames. Consequently the Rutaca
​DC-3 fleet was grounded.
 
Enjoy the pictures and captions!
​

Foto
Grounded taildraggers at Ciudad Bolivar.
​

Foto
Here, a Rutaca DC-3 simmer in the heat under the intense Venezuelan sunshine, in February 2001.
​

Foto
Below the pilot's windows, gray water streaks flowed towards the belly.


Foto
I found several very scruffy and weathered DC-3's at Cuidad Bolivar. 


Foto
Unwanted Douglas hardware on a sweltering Bolivar tarmac in February, 2001.
​

Foto
After several years in open storage at Opa-Locka, Florida, the former Cruzeiro 'PP-CED', started a new life with Rutaca in 1984 as YV-222C.


Foto
The wide-span hydraulic split flaps at their full 45- degree extention create tremendous drag.


Foto

Foto
YV-222C, a Long Beach build C-47-DL, had been delivered in 1942 to the USAAF. When her military career was over, her civilian life started as NC51165 for Trans World Airlines (TWA). In the late 50's she was exported to Brazil and went to work for RICO. In the late '70 she was impounded in Florida, USA and parked at Opa-Locka as PP-CED. Finally she was sold to Rutaca in Venezuela as YV-222C in 1991, after a sale to Bolivia in 1982, fell through. She was withdrawn from use at Cd. Bolivar in 2001.


Foto
Rutaca DC-3C, YV-218C, at Cd. Bolivar, devoid of propellors, has been flying in Venezuela since 1946!


Foto
This DC-3 has been constructed in 1942 as a DC-3C and was taken on strength with the USAAF. After the war she was exported to Colombia and flew a short while for Avianca. In later years she found her way to Venezuela and her last operator was Rutaca, who registered her YV-218C. She was withdrawn from use in 1999.


Foto
Rutaca's freight DC-3, YV-227C, is seen here parked at their maintenance ramp at Ciudad Bolivar in central Venezuela. The aircraft was used to haul freight and fuel to remote jungle locations. 27 days before this picture was taken one of Rutaca's DC-3's crashed here in Ciudad Bolivar and Rutaca was forced to stop flying the DC-3.
​


Foto
 The multi bolted wing-to-center-section of YV-227C are flanged joint.
​​

Foto
A sad, well worn, Douglas DC-3 sits in the Venezuelan sunshine. Her carcass might being used to supply spares for the surviving sisterships.


Foto
Originally YV-226C has been manufactured in 1942 at the Long Beach plant as a C-47A-70-DL. After the war she was exported to Venezuela and finally ended-up with Rutaca. She was withdrawn from use at Ciudad Bolivar by 1993.


Foto
More modern equipment in the Rutaca fleet was this Cessna 208 Caravan. 

YV-791C was involved in a landing incident at Teresita on January 28, 2008 and written-off.
​

Foto
Typical ramp scene at Bolivar.

Foto
An-2, YV-1128C, undergoes engine checks on a broiling, hot Ciudad Bolivar tarmac in February, 2001.


Foto
The PZL Mielec An-2 utility bi-plane is powered by a 1014 hp. Kalisz Asz-621R engine.
​

Foto

Foto
The cockpit of the An-2 displaying well the distinctive window arrangement. ​​
​


Foto
The cockpit featured dual yoke-type controls, and the extensiveness of the canopy glazing really did give the impression of being a greenhouse, providing excellent visibility in the forward hemisphere. The glazing panels were flat to prevent visual distortion, and the canopy was bulged out to the sides to permit a downward view, a feature referred to as the "balcony" and a handy thing for trying to land on short fields, or during crop-dusting. Avionics included an automatic direction finder, a navigation beacon receiver, a radar altimeter, and radios.


Foto
YV-1128C was making several testruns during my visit.
​
After some time YV-1128C was sold to Transmundu C.A. Unfortunately she’d meet her untimely end on October 11, 2003, when she crashed shortly after takeoff from Uriman airport, in the Caroni River. 


Foto
Aereo Transporte la Montana is a Cd. Bolivar based An-2 bush-plane operator.


Foto
Here, Aero Transport La Montana An-2, YV-901C​, ​receives attention from the company's 'mechanicos' in February 2001.


Foto
'901C' showing-off her large cargo door. The An-2 is an ideal freigther to fly supplies into the various goldmine airstrips.
​


Foto
Foto
The An-2 is certainly not regarded as any beauty queen, but it is so useful, sturdy and docile that few had anything but affection for it. It could take off and land on a postage stamp and is very easy to fly, though not noted for a blazing rate of climb. It also tended to be tail-heavy; it isn't wise to place loads too far back in the cargo compartment.

Foto
The tail surfaces were fabric covered, as were all the flight control surfaces. All flight control surfaces were manually actuated.​


Foto
The An-2 is a short take-off and landing aircraft with a 9 cylinder radial, which is a 1000 h.p. version of the Wright 1820 Cyclone.
​

Foto
Fate hit a blow for '901C' when on October 13, 2003, she was damaged beyond repair after a forced landing following engine problems during a ferry flight from La Paragua to Uriman.


Foto
Son of the pilot.


Foto
"It was a bloody hot day at Bolivar". 
​

Foto
Aereo Transporte la Montana An-2T  YV-721CP ​receives undivided attention during her heavy maintenance.
  ​
Note; - The red oil tank with a total capacity of 120 litres.


Foto
Unforetunely '721CP' career was short-lived. On March 09, 2007, the Antonov, operated by Mayor Y Detal de Viveres, was overloaded with food destined for a mining area near La Paragua. During take-off from La Paragua, she could not gain enough height, stalled and consequently crashed. 


Foto
Aereo Transporte la Montana PZL Mielec An-2T YV-1100C look like resting forever.
​

Foto
TRANACA (Transportes Nacionales C.A.) is another Bolivar based An-2 bush-plane operator.

Foto
TRANACA, An-2T, YV-546C, undergoing maintenance in the company corrugated iron hangar on the south-west side of Ciudad Bolivar Airport.


Foto
Powerplant; a PZL Kalisz Asz-621R.


Foto
The colorful tail marking of Transportes Nacionales C.A. An-2 YV-546C at their Bolivar base.
​


- The End -


5 Sep 2017 an AN-2 of an unknown operator crashed at Playa Linda in Bolivar State, Venezuela, killing a passenger.

4 Sep 2017 an AN-2 aircraft operated by Aéreo Transporte La Montaña flipped over when landing at La Paragua Airport. Damage was substantial, but there were no fatalities.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

Klik hier om te bewerken.

© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • OldJets
    • Amsterdam OldJets
    • OldJets
    • Schiphol Jets 2.0
    • On the ramp at AMS
    • CARGO Jets at Amsterdam
    • San Juan 1980
    • LAX - area 1980
    • Houston 1980
    • Fort Lauderdale 1980
    • Russia-Ukraine-Belarus
    • Russian hardware
    • Kiev
    • Lviv - Ukraine
    • YAK-42D to Yaroslav
    • 134 to Kaluga
    • Tu-154M to Minsk
    • Moscow bound Tu-154
    • Zaporazhye - Ukraine
    • Odesa - Ukraine
    • Dnipropetrovsk - Ukraine
    • North-Korea >
      • IL-62 to Pyongyang
      • Pyongyang airport
      • IL-18 to Samjiyon
      • An-24 over Pyongyang
      • Tupolev 134 to Hamhung
    • MD-83 Farewell flight
    • My Last 707 flight
    • We lost the engine
    • My first flight, my first emergency
    • Sharjah, March 1997
    • Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago
    • Cochabamba, March 2005
    • Mexico City Airport in 1987
    • Flutter around the Dutch Antilles >
      • Curaco-Hato Airport
      • Bonaire by Divi Divi Air
      • ATR42 to and Beech 1900 from Aruba
      • Jetair, Curacao
      • Maho Beach, St. Maarten
      • Another day at SXM
      • Twin-Otter to Saba
      • A couple of hours at St. Eustatia
    • Guatemala, January 1987
    • Zarkani 707's
    • Albania, 2017
    • Iran, 2006
    • Medan Polonia Airport
    • MOTOWN Cargo Carriers
    • Jakarta - Kemayoran
    • South-African Oldjets
    • Sofia '79
    • Zaïre
    • Sahara Cocaine Plane
    • 727 X-files
    • By Cedar Jet to Cyprus
    • Maverick Boeing 707 Ops
    • Jet Power 707-Ops
    • Colombian AF Boeing 727's
    • Above the Andes in a 727
    • Bogota Boeing 727's
    • Classic Jets over Iran
    • Flying the Big Q
    • Singapore -80's
    • Athens Ellinikon
    • Convair 880 Freighter Ops
    • Fuerza Aerea Argentina F-28
    • SLM DC-8 crash
    • Working the Hadj
    • KLM DC-8 memories
    • Syrian OldJets
    • VFW-614
    • Biman DC-10-30 to Chittaqn
    • Pelgrimage to Mashad
    • Austral MD80 saved
    • Flying Tigers DC-8
    • Part-out & Scrap of a Queen
    • Saving a Trident
  • OldProps
    • OldProps
    • Saint Thomas 1980
    • Opa Locka 1980
    • Naples, FL. 1980
    • Legendary DC-3 book
    • La Paz - El Alto, February 1985
    • Belfast to Dublin
    • Herc to Helsinki
    • AerCaribe Antonovs
    • Aeroejecutivos Flight 501
    • Rutaca of Cd. Bolivar, Venezuela
    • Venezuela - Once a DC-3 Hot-Spot
    • 580 to Valdez
    • Reeve Aleutian, Alaska
    • Everst Air Cargo - Alaska
    • Brooks Fuel, Fairbanks, Alaska
    • Northern Air Cargo - Alaska
    • KLM goes Guppy for a night
    • Good Old Argosy
    • Belize, 1987
    • Oaxaca, Mexico
    • Zorg & Hoop, Paramaribo
    • Chaiky airfield, Ukraine
    • Villavicencio, Colombia >
      • Villavicencio Vanguardia
      • Aliansa
      • Sadelca
      • Selva
      • Bomberos
      • Allas
      • Air Colombia
      • Aerolineas Llaneros
      • Wrecks & relics
    • East-Midland mid-80's
    • MERCHANTMAN TO AMSTERDAM
    • Northern Air Cargo DC-6 Flight
    • An affaire with beautiful Delaney
    • DC-3 to Gabarone, Botswana
    • Inbound Jan Smuts
    • Antonov An-12 Flight
    • Cuban An-2's
    • Surinam Ag-Cats
    • Chernoye An-2 Works
  • Bush-planes
    • Ontario Bush-planes >
      • Kenora
      • DeHavailland DHC-2
      • Minaki
      • Nestor Falls
      • Fort Francis
      • Vermillion Bay
      • Ear Falls
      • Red Lake
      • Sioux Lookout
      • Ignace
      • Selkirk & Gimli
      • Winnipeg
    • Quebec Bush-planes >
      • The Montreal area
      • The Three Saints
      • Along Riviere St. Maurice
      • Saguenay
      • Laurentian Mountains
  • Mike Zoeller article's
    • Good guys went bad
    • Gemini Air Cargo
    • Perfect Air Tours
    • Aero America
    • Aeropa
    • Air Viking
  • Museums
    • Museo Aeronautico de Malaga
    • Malta Aviation Museum
    • Korea War Memorial Museum
    • Buenos Aires, Moron Air Force Museum, 2013
    • Montevideo, Uruguay - 2013
    • New Dehli - Plane s & Trains
    • Nieuw-Vennep Transport Museum
    • Colombia Air Force Museum, Bogota.
    • Datangshan, China >
      • Datangstan, China - part 01.
      • Datangstan, China - Part 02.
    • Monino, Moscow >
      • Monino, Moscow - part 01.
      • Monino, Moscow - part 02.
    • Shenyang Aviation Museum, Chin
    • Hatzerim, Israel >
      • Hatzerim AFM, Israel - Part 01.
      • Hatzerim AFM, Israel - Part 02.
    • Theran Aviation Museum
    • Wrecks & relics in the Lowlands
    • PS Aero revisted in 2019
    • Kiev Technical School
    • Kiev Museum 2008
    • Kiev Aviation Museum 2018
    • Kiev Memorial
    • Minsk, Belarus
    • DOSAAF - Borovaya, Belarus
    • Le Bourget Aviation Museum
    • Aeroscopia Toulouse
    • Old Wings Toulouse
    • Istanbul Aviation Museum
    • Canada Aviation Museum
    • Aviation monument in Cuba
    • Colombo Airport
    • Winnipeg
  • Contact