Sadelca
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SADELCA (Sociedad Aérea Del Caquetá) is a cargo airline based at El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia.
Caquetá Department is a department of Colombia. Located in the Amazonas region, Caquetá borders with the departments of Cauca and Huila to the west, the department of Meta to the north, the department of Guaviare to the northeast, the department of Vaupés to the east, the departments f Amazonas and Putumayo to the south covering a total area of 88,965 km², the third largest in the country. Its capital is the city of Florencia. Douglas DC-3 HK-1149 Sadelca R4D-6 HK-1149 during maintenance at the company base at Villavicencio, April 2015. This DC-3 has been manufactured in 1944 at the Oklahoma City plant as a R4D-6 for the US Navy. This variant had two 1200 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830-90C’s engines with a MTOW of 13.600 kg. Basically a R4D-6 is a C-47B-DL which was transferred to the US Navy from USAAF orders. After her military career she was exported to Colombia in 1965. She made a forced landing in a rice field in after an engine failure during the departure from Pto. Concordia in 2007. Also in 2009 she was involved in an incident when she was become under fire by the FARC in 2009 during a landing at Miraflores Douglas DC-3 HK-2494 HK-2494 of Sadelca at La Vanguardia Airport Villavicencio 28th April 2015. Originally this DC-3 has been manufactured in 1945 at the Oklahoma City plant as a TC-47B-DK. This DC-3 variant had two 1200 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830-90C’s engines with a MTOW of 13.600 kg. and had been modified for training, with 3 astrodomes and aft DF loop antenna. In November 1945 she has been transferred from the USAAF to the US Navy and thus became a R4D-7. When her military career was over, her civilian life started as N87611 for the University of Texas and she was based in Austin, TX. She was exported to Colombia in 1980 and registered as HK2494X for SAEP Ltda. In April 2015 she did operate for Sadelca and some months after our visit she was sold again. Since October 2015 HK-2494 is owned by Laser Aero of Villavicencio. Antonov An-26B-100 HK-4356 The history of this Antonov An-26B reads as follows; - This airframe left the factory at Kiev in 1977 and was, like so many Antonovs, delivered to Aeroflot. After her service for Aeroflot she worked for company’s such as; NordAvia in 1993, Air Ukraine in 2001, Aerosegovia Nicaragua in 2003 and SELVA Colombia in 2004. Sadelca bought her in 2008 and is using her to service their ports-of-call in Colombia. Antonov An-32A HK-4296 HK-4296 Antonov 32A rolled of the Kiev production line in 1988 and is since 2008 owned and operated by Sadelca |
A very hot and wet ramp. Even with clouds, those 28°C fell like 35°C
The An-32 is basically a re-engined An-26. The An-32 is designed to withstand adverse weather conditions better than the standard An-26.
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Sadelca's DC-3 HK-2494, one of the many beauties at Villavicencio airport
Up to another place in the Colombian jungle
There aren’t many of these vintage models still in use, but Colombia has its share
The Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp is an American aircraft engine widely used in the 1930s and 1940s. Produced by Pratt & Whitney, it was a two-row, 14-cylinder, air-cooled radial design. It displaced 1,830 cu in (30.0 L) and its bore and stroke were both 5.5 in (140 mm)
A total of 173,618 R-1830 engines was built and from their use in two of the most-produced aircraft ever built, the B-24 bomber and DC-3 transport, more Twin Wasps may have been built than any other aviation piston engine in history
Mecanico Wilbur Gutierrez Bobema cleaning the brake pads of HK-2494
Sadelca DC-3 HK-2494 engine start up Villavicencio - Vanquardia airport Colombia April 2015
Since October 2015 HK-2494 is owned by Laser Aero of Villavicencio. Photo by : Peter Gralla / Skyliner
HK-1149 being overhauled to continue flying while another fully airworthy company DC-3 rests on the ramp
The Ivchenko AI-24 turboprop aircraft engine was designed and developed by Progress ZMKB which later became known as Ivchenko-Progress design bureau and manufactured thereafter by Motor Sich JSC. It was designed to power Antonov's successful An-24, An-26 and An-30 aircraft series
The classic cockpit of the An-26
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Antonov An-26
After successful operations of the An-24T tactical transport in austere locations, interest in a version with a retractable cargo ramp increased. Initial studies for the retractable ramp were carried out as part of the projected An-40 medium transport. When given the go-ahead for the An-26 in March 1968 the Antonov OKB adapted the ramp design of the An-40 to the An-24 fuselage, thus was born the An-26. Particular attention was given to the military mission. Using the majority of the An-24 airframe, with its high-set cantilevered wings, twin turboprops and stalky main undercarriage, the An-26 included military equipment, such as tip-up paratroop canvas seats, overhead traveling hoist, bulged observation windows and parachute static line attachment cables. 
SADELCA stands for Sociedad Aérea Del Caquetá
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Oeps... a lot of safety fuses o/b the An-26
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HK-4356, named Fenix, is an Antonov An-26B-100 which is a convertible passenger/cargo aircraft modified from 'An-26B' aircraft. In the background Sadelca's An-32
The An-32 has excellent takeoff characteristics under tropical and mountainous conditions, including hot climates (up to + 55 °C) and from high-elevation airfields (up to 4,500 m height) where hot or thin air reduces a powerplant's performance. With this capability, the aircraft is suited to be a multipurpose aircraft with medium tactical military transport roles as well as being used in civil commercial flying
HK-4296 is an Antonov An-32A : The first civil variant of the type
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Sadelca was one of Colombia’s well known DC-3 operators. Misguideedly, they then decided that Russian built Antonov An-32’s were a better choice than the venerabele DC-3 for the future. History shows that the Dougs live on, whilst most An-32’s have now left Colombia.
The high placement of the engine nacelles above the wing allowed for larger diameter propellers, which are driven by 5,100 hp rated AI-20 turboprop engines, providing almost twice the power of the An-26's AI-24 powerplants
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An new Antonov 32 will cost approx. 15 million dollars
The Ivchenko AI-20 is a Soviet turboprop engine developed by the Ivchenko design bureau in the 1950s. It has been built in large numbers, serving as the powerplant for the Antonov An-12 and An-32 transport but also for the Ilyushin Il-18 airliner
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Operating as a cargo transport over the short and medium range air routes, the An-32 is able to air-drop cargo platforms on pallets The aircraft has also been used as a passenger-only aircraft, ambulance variant, firefighter and for skydiving or paratroop roles.
I hitched a ride on one of the ten commercial DC3's that fly across Colombia regularly. It proved to be a interesting trip over the Amazonian rainforest, the plane was Sadelca's HK-2494
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DC-3 flight to Cumaribo
To enjoy the DC-3 jungle-operation Colombian style, I had bought a ticket with Sadelca for a flight to Cumaribo and back. Cumaribo, which was founded by Jose Nicolino Mattar in 1959, is within the Orinoquia Region of Colombia part of the Llanos plains that cover part of Colombia and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Three quarters of the total are of the municipality of Cumaribo are savanna and the rest are covered by jungle with some small mounts. The area has been under the influence of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group due to the large production of coca leaves in the region and difficult access for the Military of Colombia. Tomás Medina Caracas, a prominent FARC commander in charge of the illegal drug trade for this organization was killed in September 2007 in a Colombian Army military operation in eastern Colombia within the municipality of Cumaribo near the border with Venezuela. |
Some locals and an aviation enthusiast are ready to board
For Colombians who live in isolated jungle villages, flying often involves climbing aboard an American aircraft that made its mark way back in World War II: the Douglas DC-3
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Wilbur, one of Saldeca's mecanics, stands between Capt. Cortez and the co-pilot, flipping switches and pulling the yellow lever that lowers the flaps and the red handle that puts down the landing gear.
“You have to make sure the landing gear is down, that the flaps, the lights and pumps are working"
In the Colombian jungle outback — a roadless land the size of France — the only fast, viable way to travel and move cargo is aboard World War II-era DC-3s. There are no roads to civilization, and travel out by water could take weeks. This region bordering Brazil and Venezuela, where the Andean foothills sweep into flat plains that turn into jungle, is the size of France. But only 5 percent of Colombia’s 47 million people live here, and the most isolated make their homes in villages carved out of the forest. Those people — farmers, Indians who have migrated to villages, miners, store owners, even troops running down rebels — face arduous days on a river boat to get to a town of any size. Out here, the only fast, viable way to travel and move cargo is aboard the DC-3s operated by airlines with names like Air Colombia, Aliansa, Arall, Allas or Sadelca.
Business class passengers o/b Sadelca DC-3 HK-2494 with destination Cumaribo
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Your author was a bit overheated! Temperature is in average hot and dry between 27 °C and 30°C throughout the year
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While the plane can carry 20 passengers, today, there are only 10. There are no frills here, such as seat-back trays or toilets. Seatbelts are optional. And with no barrier between the pilots and passengers, some wander up to the cockpit for a look
Still, an aircraft built in 1944 has its quirks, which means one or two mecanics, goes on every flight
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Isn't she cute?
Also day-old-chicks are travelling Air Colombia
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Captain Cortes is studing the latest NOTAM's for Cumaribo!
99826 is the US Navy serial number. The construction number of this R4D-7 is 33105
99826 is the US Navy serial number. I don't know to what Numero de serie 01533 refers to. Who knows this?
Yet the ancient model seems to miraculously land and take off in the harsh conditions of the Amazonian. For Capitan Luis F. Cortes and co-pilot Jaime Herrera, no control towers, minimal fuel reserves and a slippery landing strip instead of a runway are daily business
There is one Ampere meter for each generator that indicates electrical load
Manifold pressure at 36 inch, Props at 2350 RPM and a healthy rate of climb
Rate of climb indicator
The oil temperature gage
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The Direct Current voltmeter
Left the landing gear hydraulic pressure gage and right the hydraulic system pressure gage
114 kts IAS with a 93 degree heading
Props at 2250 RPM and throttles at 36 inch manifold pressure
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The trim tabs of the elevators are operated by means of a wheel on the left side of the pedestal
The control pedestal with the aileron trim tab control units, parking brake, tailwheel lock, throttle friction brake, fuel tank selectors, carburetor air temperature controls and carburetor air temperature control lock.
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Frequency : Villavicencio VOR at 116.70 MHz
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The lowest situated red handle is the hydraulic hand pump and the middle handle works the landing gear control valve
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The yellow handle is for extenting en retracting the wing flaps. The red crane is the hand pump shut-off valve.
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Taken at 6.000 feet over the rainforest, sitting next to an open cockpit window. What an experience to photograph from, with the wind blowing through your hair!
Capitan Luis F. Cortes and co-pilot Jaime Herrera in their element
"HOUSTON - WE HAVE A PROBLEM"
Mechanic Wilbur already know what the problem was; - a cracked cylinder head .... and he was right
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The left engine's cylinder had a problem. It spluttered and something had to be done
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The pro-active shut-down of a PW-R-1830 due to a cracked cylinder head
This is the time to return to the safety of the base at Vanguardia Airport
Time has arrived to read this card mor e carefully!
The ignition switch of the left engine if OFF
Pfff.... Villavicencio and in the far distance our save heaven Vanguardia Airport. It took Captain Cortes hardly any effort to steer his metal bird towards the safety of the runway.
A proud Captain and it shows
On April 17, 2015 I was onboard Sadelca R4D-7 HK-2494 from Villavicencio to Cumaribo. After 45 minutes number 1 was not working as it should be and power adjustments had to be made. After she lost oil Capitan Luis F. Cortes, Co-pilot Jaime Herrera and Mecanico Wilbur Gutierrez Bobema had to feathered no. 1 and we had to return to the base at Villavicencio, where the crew made a perfect landing on one engine. With more than 16.000 hrs on DC-3s, Capitan Cortes had absolutely no problem with such incident.
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Double cargo doors were fitted to C-47’s and retained by commercial users for cargo operation. The left hand door had a smaller door inset for passenger use or dropping paratroops. For easy access in the field, small portable steps are usually carried.
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Capt. Cortes said he also uses his own intuition to detect problems. So he said that he has to be aware of vibrations in the engines, or any noise that sounds out of the ordinary
Teh Cumaribo flight was delayed for 24 hours
Great crew and mechanics of Sadelca. A salute to the fine people that keeps the old vernable Douglas DC-3 in the air of Colombia, where no other aircraft can fulfill this requirement and all this on its 80th Anniversary
Glorious scene at Villavicencio-Vanquardia airport. Sadelca HK-2494 undergoing a cylinder change. A routine job for the local mechanics
Wilbur in his element. Such mecanicos you surely need in your piston operation airline!
The DC-3 Mecanicos!
Within a couple of hours Wilbur and his collegues had the cylinder replaced and the next day she was up and running as new
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After this adventure we had a splendid lunch, washed down with several bottles of Colombian beer at La Becerrada de Falla asadero & restaurant, which is at the entrance of the airport
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