Dialogue
without barriers with Jorge Chavez
Corriere
della Sera interviews Jorge Chávez in the hospital after his tragic accident
On
Friday, September 23, 1910, after the accident occurred while landing, after
having conquered the Alps, Jorge Chávez was rescued from the remains of his
Bleriot, which lay in the Domodossola field. Luigi Barzini, special envoy of
Milan's Corriere della Sera to cover the Crossing of the Alps.
Source:Newspaper La Cronica Viva Lima Peru
Corriere
della Sera interviews Jorge Chávez in the hospital after his tragic accident
There is
silence in the hospital room where Jorge Chávez is in.
Then he,
looking at his friends Arthur Duray and Joseph Christiaens, asked:
“And the
others?”
Barzini:
“The others? Who?”
Chávez:
“The other aviators. Weymann…
Barzini:
“Weymann and Farman left Briga this morning and headed to Milan.”
Chávez:
“Ah! I thought… it's such a nice day today…”
Barzini:
“Stay calm. “You have won, only you."
Chávez:
“It has been hard. I have not passed the Monscera.... Do you know that?”
23
September 1910. Jorge Antonio Chávez Dartnell, also known as Géo Chávez,
Franco-Peruvian aviator– left Ried-Brig, Switzerland and flew towards the
Simplon Pass, becoming the first pilot to fly over the Swiss Alps.
— Ron
Eisele (@ron_eisele) September 22, 2023
Barzini: “Stay calm.”You have won, only you."
The interview begins as follows:
Barzini: “I think you were going too low to overcome
Monscera.”
Chávez: “None of that. I could have perfectly risen much
higher... However, I have not dared, I haven't dared. Do you remember what
winds we had on Monday, when I had problems in the Saltina Valley? Well, that
same sudden and treacherous wind…”
Barzini: “Did he grab it from the side?”
Chávez: “No, it blew in all directions… it came in gusts, it
went up, down, and it formed whirlwinds…”
Barzini: “At what point in the route did you catch it?”
Chávez: “When I started to climb, there was perfect stillness…
I made it very well to the Simplón Pass… The day was so clear that I could see
the hotel perfectly.
I continued, therefore,
with complete confidence, heading towards the Krammbach valley… Do you remember?
That valley that we descended together in the morning with Paulhan…”
Barzini: “Perfectly.”
Chávez: “I have gone down a little to cover myself from the
east wind…”
Barzini: “We have seen it.”
Chavez: “Ah! Were they you? I saw a car that was running…”
“Up, always up!”
Commanding the small monoplane Bleriot @CancilleriaPeru
@PeruEnSuiza @JChavezCresta@swissinfo_es pic.twitter.com/X4dgDz8Mz7
— Markus Antonietti (@yetirhodanus) September 23, 2023
Barzini “Did you hear our screams?”
Chávez: “No… Well, I went down a little. I had just a few
gusts of wind. He feared something more serious after what he had seen in the
morning. The stillness continued to accompany me until the Furgenn pass, that
high valley that can be seen from the village of Simplón.”
Barzini: “It is the beginning of the Monscera passage.”
Chávez: “Precisely… I was determined to go through there. He
knew the route perfectly. He had climbed the top of Pioltone twice and I
remembered all the steps... When I arrived at Furgenn I believed that the most
difficult part of the journey had been done. But a first gust of wind hits me
as I pass along the road… where it makes the last turns over the valley before
heading towards Gondo… Are you following me?”
Barzini: “I see the place. Were you too high at that point?”
Chávez: “More than a thousand meters. I saw it as a tangled
white ribbon... Until that moment, I had flown in a southerly direction. From
there I headed southeast... But as soon as I found myself at the Furgenn Pass,
between the Seehorn on the left and the Tschaggmatorn on the right, I suddenly
felt myself caught by the wind... They were real hammer blows, unexpected, for
here, there, up, down... Hell. I seemed to bounce like a ball. He made jumps of
fifty and sixty meters. Ah! If the barometer had been able to record all that,
you would see what kind of zigzags it would mark. The wind suddenly threw me
towards the earth and a moment later grabbed me again to throw me against the
sky... That's where I tired the device. I felt like the wind was carrying me and
it seemed as if the airplane had to suddenly escape from me. I moved the
balancers, I tried to spin, get out of those whirlwinds... It was a tremendous
and stubborn fight..."
1/2 #Antique 1910 #Italian #RPPC shows crash site at
#Domodossola of #Peruvian #Pioneer #Aviator #GeoChavez who_ 113 years ago on
this date_ Sept 23, 1910 was officially declared #First #Pilot to cross the
#Alps in the #Milano Air Race Circuit #deltiology #AviationHistory #Italy
pic.twitter.com/Jz9pOfoaZT
23, 2023
Barzini: “Were you scared?”
Chavez: “No.”
Barzini:
“And you were not impressed by the vision of the mountain and its abysses?”
Chavez:
“No. I did not think about that... I did not look down... I only looked at what
was in front of me, I only thought that about five kilometres away was the Mons
era pass, high, abrupt and I had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to fly
there... winds swept it, penetrated it... To my left opened the Zwischberger
valley that connects with the Gondo. It is a narrow gorge between steep
mountains, enclosed between the Seehorn and the Pioltone, uglier and narrower
than the Gondo. He is seen passing by on the road. And I got into it... I could
not choose. I had to decide whether to continue… or land among the rocks…”
Barzini:
“At what height were you flying?”
Chávez:
“Above two thousand meters, maybe two thousand one hundred... I circled around
the Seehorn and then entered the gorge.
Three
minutes later, three long and endless minutes, I assure you; I was behind
Pioltone and was following the valley, a little below the peaks... The wind was
blowing quite strong, I had it behind me. It was flying fast, perhaps more than
a hundred kilometres per hour. I felt some shakes, the gusts of wind carried me
like a board in a stormy sea, but the jumps were smaller than the previous
ones... I have travelled in this way about seven or eight kilometers to where
the valley widens. I then made out, below and to my left, on the other side of
the valley, the village of Varzo. I estimate it was about fifteen hundred
meters above it. The heights on the other bank have seemed easier to fly over
and I have headed over the Varzo, reducing my altitude to approximately five
hundred meters, alternating the planned flight with some "reprises"
(strokes) of the engine... And I have done well, because I have found a quieter
area. After Varzo, I have always flown over the left bank... I have seen the
Ossola valley in the distance. It was the end. I got there in a flash… I passed
over Domodossola, going lower and lower. I could see the landing field, many
people, a large white cross on the grass, the landing signal. Then… later, you
know the rest.”
2/2
#Antique 1910 #Italian #postcard commemorating #Peruvian #pioneer #aviator
#GeoChavez who was declared #First #Pilot to cross #Alps 113 years ago when he
crashed at #Domodossola _on this date Sept. 23, 1910 during “#Milano Air Race
Circuit” He died on the 27th #philately pic.twitter.com/eAgDZWeA2p
— Marje
Molder (@MarjeMolder) September 23, 2023
Barzini:
“No. Tell me until the end.”
Chávez:
“I don't know. It went down very well; it went down regularly, a little in
gliding flight and a little with the help of the engine so as not to be dragged
by the blowing wind... It made a normal landing... It was almost touching the
ground, happy... Then I don't know more. I don't remember what happened. I
think about it, but I can't remember it... I see myself a few meters from the
ground, in my device... and nothing more."
Barzini:
“Have you not seen when the wings broke?”
Chávez
“No, they say they have folded like the wings of a pigeon… Is that true,
Duray?”
Duray:
“Let's not talk about this anymore… Enough.”
Chávez
remains silent… The hospital room remains silent.
With
affection,
Ruben
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