Eclipse Flight from Punta Arenas, Chile, Dec. 4, 2021

[Tony Crocker]

Chile's COVID requirements were more rigorous than last year in Argentina. We had to submit vaccine records a month ahead, which were approved, e-mailed back with instructions to set up Chile’s Mobility Pass. Then two days before departure we got PCR tests, and upon receiving them that night submitted them to Chile and got a new form to show upon arrival in Santiago Friday morning Nov. 27. In addition at LAX they wanted to see our vaccine records and minimum $30,000 insurance policy. We landed 7:05AM Santiago, but were not done with PCR test there until about 8:30. We took a cab to our hotel, which we did not leave until the test results came back about 2:30PM.

During our last evening in San Pedro de Atacama Dec. 1 we got an e-mail from John Beattie stating that the Falklands are not available as an “Alternate Airport” in case of emergency for the upcoming eclipse flights. Therefore LATAM has to use widebody 787’s instead of the Airbus 321’s. This added costs shared by LATAM and TEI Travel, and John requested passengers cover the travel agent cost.

When we arrived back in Santiago Dec. 2 I spoke to Michael Gill and Xavier Jubier. Xavier said 20 German Antarctic scientists had to make an emergency landing in the Falklands in October and that there was a big brouhaha about it. The Falklands want unexpected arrivals quarantined and they refused to consider that option for a plane with 40 eclipse tourists.

A further complication was that the 787’s have flexible wings which rise in flight and would obstruct the planned sunrise eclipse from some rows. At breakfast John showed me we were assigned to Row 31, which is well to the rear and has no such issues. However, the flight plan needed to be altered so that the eclipse would be viewable from the number of rows that had been sold. The map below shows flight plans for viewing 3, 5 and 7 degrees high in the sky.

The higher the sun, the farther from Punta Arenas and greater the fuel cost. John and LATAM settled on 5 degrees to ensure clear views from enough rows. We did not see the actual height of the flexible wings until we were flying south from Santiago to Punta Arenas during early evening of Dec. 3. The flight had great views of the Chilean Lake district and Osorno volcano across from Puerto Varas.

We also had impressive views of the northern Patagonian icecap and numerous glaciers flowing from it.

We were in the gate area in Punta Arenas for about 2 hours before taking off for the eclipse after midnight. Xavier was still checking the flight plans.

After awhile the southern horizon took on a post sunset appearance due to there being permanent sun over the Antarctic.

From 37,000 feet there is a lot of atmosphere to spread out refraction to a prism of colors.

When the plane turned for its totality run we put on eye patches to dark adapt.

As we neared totality, we could see long but narrow breaks in the cloud deck over the ocean.

We wondered if any of the cruise ships could find one of those breaks.

There are 15 ships in the totality path. Only one saw the eclipse, no surprise if you have ever experienced the weather down there as Liz and I did in 2011.

Eclipse shadow on clouds below just after second contact, pics by Catalin Baldea of Romania on our plane.

Mid-totality, Mercury is the small dot to the right of the sun/moon.

Longer exposure shows the other eclipse plane at upper left.

Diamond ring at third contact:

Catalin Baldea gave us two-sided tape which we used to fix Liz' iPhone12 to the bottom of our window and video the eclipse.

View of the other plane on the way back to Punta Arenas:

Flight path:

Most of us took afternoon naps after being up for 24-30 hours. There was a celebration banquet in the evening. This summer I found Eclipsia Champagne, which is the bottle on the table.

British couple John and Vivian and former Cathay Pacific pilot Roland are at left. At right are Craig Small and Michael Gill. Michael is the moderator of the Solar Eclipse Mailing List AKA our matchmaker.

Here Craig is describing the history of the eclipse flag, first flown on the Canberra in 1973.

Neither Craig not the flag has been clouded out, and this was Craig's 35th eclipse.

Craig also brings the ingredients to make NYC egg creams.

Liz took part in this post eclipse tradition in Dusseldorf after a 2008 eclipse flight while I did so on the Costa Classica in 2009.

The two eclipse flights were labeled Blue and Gold, so we posed in front of the Gold banner.

The next morning someone made Jay Pasachoff an eclipse cappuccino.

Jay, an astrophysics professor at Williams, has been to 36 total eclipses. He brings students with him, along with equipment for solar experiments.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

I appreciate how passionate you people are about eclipses but my head is spinning -- 40 participants sharing the costs of a chartered 787 (!), a specialised travel agent, airport fees, and whatever else.

How long was the flight, four hours?

 

[Tony Crocker]

The flight was 6 hours. James is in general correct. I'm fairly resistant to spending big $$$ just for the flight, so it's somewhat surprising I've done three of them. The Bermuda flight in 2013 was in a small Falcon jet that was likely already in Bermuda, $2,200pp. The 8-day Betchart tour in Iceland was expensive, but the eclipse flights moving the group from Reykyavik to Akureyri were $1,500pp.

The dedicated eclipse flights that are longer or involve relocating planes have always been $5,000+pp. They can be more if you have a row with 2 windows as in business class. Liz' 2008 flight from Dusseldorf over the North Pole was $5,500, and the last Antarctic eclipse flight from Melbourne in 2003 was similar. Both of those were 12+ hour flights. The most expensive one I know about (minimum $9,500) was the 747 that was relocated from Sydney to Tahiti in 2010 and used to extend totality from ~5 minutes on the ground to 9 minutes 23 seconds in the air. This year's flight was going to be $4,000 in the smaller plane, but we paid $1,000 more to help prevent losses to the travel agent.

For 2001 Glenn Schneider was on his way to Paris in July 2000 to sign a contract for a Concorde when the fatal crash on takeoff from CDG occurred, grounding the planes. That Concorde would have been sent to Ascension Island and achieved 65 minutes of totality with 4 minute diamond rings. The plane would have been filled, with the 4 people in each row rotating through the window seat. Cost was estimated $12,000pp, plus you have to get to Ascension Island. A Concorde was used once before in 1973 to achieve 74 minutes of totality. However the sun was directly overhead that time so the only way to view the eclipse was via the scientific instruments installed in the roof of the plane.

I suspect this may have been my last eclipse flight. We will view 2023 from a cruise with scuba diving and the rest of this decade will be on land.

Liz encouraged this eclipse as it was on my birthday, and the travel agent thinks I may be the only person to have seen two birthday totalities. That's sort of like Patrick maybe being the only northeast-based skier with a decade plus monthly ski streak, possible but don't know for sure. Eclipses can recur on 19 year cycles but they are random as to being total, annular or partial. As Liz had a birthday totality in 2006, I will guess that we are the only married couple with three.

 

[Tony Crocker]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1352078948582780

 

[jamesdeluxe]

This year's flight was going to be $4,000 in the smaller plane, but we paid $1,000 more to help prevent losses to the travel agent.

That's way less than I would've guessed to charter a 787 for a six-hour flight.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I get the impression that LATAM absorbed some of the cost of the larger planes as they bore some responsibility for the late-in-the-game discovery of the Falklands situation. It also helped that the "Chief of Wide Body Operations" for LATAM was the pilot for the 2019 eclipse flight of a 787 from Easter Island. That one was analogous to the 2010 Tahiti flight in geometry and thus saw 8 minutes 27 seconds totality.

The 2003 and 2008 flights were wide body planes also, and some cost was shared by Arctic/Antarctic "flightseers" on the opposite windows. The 2010 Tahiti flight required that the 747 be relocated from Sydney, presumably empty, which obviously drives up the cost even more. The same considerations apply to chartering cruise ships. You want a ship that is based in the neighborhood of reaching the eclipse path, not one that has to be relocated. That's why there were so many cruises this time: it's the normal season for Antarctic cruises and the early part of the path was between South Georgia and the Antarctic peninsula.

 

[Tony Crocker]

If you wanted to splurge, you could spend a week on the Union Glacier.

Liz' friends Lloyd and Sue Franklin did this, and their group arrived at our Punta Arenas hotel late on Dec. 5. Once you are well inland from the coast the weather prospects improve significantly vs. cruise ships at sea. Union Glacier was near the edge of the eclipse path and saw 47 seconds of totality.

I have not seen composite pictures from our flights, though I have seen them from other eclipse flights. High end photography was difficult from our planes because:
1) The 787's window glass has embedded gel to permit electronic dimming, and there is some effect even on the most clear setting.
3) The eclipse was not straight out the window (see Liz' video) because the plane needed to be angled a bit to prevent the flexible wing from obstructing too many rows.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

The 787's window glass has embedded gel to permit electronic dimming, and there is some effect even on the most clear setting.

I've flown a 787 a couple times on overnight flights to Europe and the electronic dimming is a big plus. Interesting to learn about the gel's effect while viewing an eclipse. Was that considered when selecting a plane to charter?

 

[Tony Crocker]

The original plan would not have had either photography or flexible wing issues. But thanks to the Falklands situation, this was a last minute crisis and the 787 was what was available on short notice to LATAM. The 787 had been used before in 2019, though in that case it was planned from the beginning and presumably they knew how many rows could be sold without wing obstruction. The 787 windows are larger, and that was no doubt helpful in 2019 when the Sun was 45 degrees up in the sky.

In 2021 rows had been sold based upon the A321, and in order to give all those people a clear view from the 787 the flight path had to be adjusted to be both higher above the horizon and angled so the sun was not shining exactly perpendicular to the windows. The latter issue definitely aggravated reflections in the photography.

The bottom line is that $#!% happens with travel in the era of COVID. For both our Atacama pre-trip and the eclipse flights, there were major changes to original plans. But in both cases the bottom line results were viewed by all as a success. I may not have mentioned before that one of the Quark Antarctic cruises was cancelled less than a week in advance when 4 crew members contracted COVID, and the passengers were already in Buenos Aires when they found out. Michael Zeiler, with whom we skied at Santa Fe in 2019, was booked on that cruise, spent a few days down in El Calafate, then returned home. Due to Chile's vaccine registration protocol, it was in general not possible for travelers in Argentina to get into Chile within that final week.

 

[ChrisC]

Wow! What complex logistics - including sun angles impacting flights routes and adjustable wings. Had no idea eclipse seeking has evolved from land/sea to planes. Skiing is so luck of the draw - eclipse takes that up a notch. That's so sad to see the cruise ships missing out.

I like the scuba angle. The ocean can be more predictable

I considered myself lucky on an April 2015 redeye flight from Anchorage - and looking out and seeing the Northern Lights illuminating the Chugach Mountains shortly after takeoff. Made me never want to pursue a northern lights trip. Friends have gone to Norway or Iceland for a week in winter and barely get 1 clear night out of 6 nights.

Your Chile trip is epic. It's a huge country length-wise. Atacama to Santiago to Punta Arenas to Puerto Montt. Did you visit any of the Patagonia founder's donated national parks?

I have done two trips: Santiago/Punta Arenas/Torres del Paine (beautiful epic uncrowded national park). And skiing at Portillo and the Santiago resorts.

 

[Tony Crocker]

That's so sad to see the cruise ships missing out.

Sad but not surprising when you consider Antarctic ocean climatology.

Antarctic cruises and total solar eclipses are bucket list trips, but combining the two did not make sense to me, unless you spent the $40K to be on land at Union Glacier for a week.

Torres del Paine is another bucket list destination and there is plenty of elbow room hiking in there. But if you want lodging in the refugios, camping permits or even to stay at the close-in hotels, you need reservations far in advance, particularly during the peak Christmas through February period. Liz and I hiked the 4-day W route in Torres del Paine in late November 2011. There are 5 Torres del Paine TR's on page 4 of this forum section. Shoulder season was probably quieter and temps in the 40-50F range were cooler than midsummer.

The real weather issues anywhere in Patagonia are wind and rain. We were very lucky in that regard in 2011 as we were this year. 2017 in the Futaleufu region was when we were not so lucky. We did the Cochamo trip this year because weather prevented that in 2017. I do not know which parks Yvon Chouinard founded. Logistics in Chile on the Carretera Austral south of Puerto Montt are very tedious, with limited air service, almost no paved roads and several ferry crossings. My high school classmate Kirk Reynolds spent a month in Coyhaique a few years ago. Liz and I settled on Cochamo as a place that was still somewhat under the radar but could be done in 3-4 days.

 

[ChrisC]

Torres del Paine is another bucket list destination and there is plenty of elbow room hiking in there. But if you want lodging in the refugios, camping permits or even to stay at the close-in hotels, you need reservations far in advance, particularly during the peak Christmas through February period. Liz and I hiked the 4-day W route in Torres del Paine in late November 2011. There are 5 Torres del Paine TR's on page 4 of this forum section. Shoulder season was probably quieter and temps in the 40-50F range were cooler than midsummer.

The real weather issues anywhere in Patagonia are wind and rain. We were very lucky in that regard in 2011 as we were this year. 2017 in the Futaleufu region was when we were not so lucky. We did the Cochamo trip this year because weather prevented that in 2017. I do not know which parks Yvon Chouinard founded. Logistics in Chile on the Carretera Austral south of Puerto Montt are very tedious, with limited air service, almost no paved roads and several ferry crossings. My high school classmate Kirk Reynolds spent a month in Coyhaique a few years ago. Liz and I settled on Cochamo as a place that was still somewhat under the radar but could be done in 3-4 days.

I did the Torres del Paine park with my partner in 2014 - so much room. Dirt roads. No traffic. The complete antithesis to our US National parks.

I did not do any of the loops - more like 2 nights Rio Serrano Hotel and 2 nights Tierra Patagonia Hotel. We completed the big hikes/destinations. Tried overwater villas in Panama - that was a bit of a disaster.

I am just looking at prices now - especially for the Tierra Patagonia....it must be 2x $$$ in 8 years. Anyways I liked touring in December with the long daylight hours. However, Latin American cities are the only cheaper areas (Lima, Rio, Mexico, Buenos Aires) - all tourist destinations are priced in US $ dollars (Machu Pichu, Torres del Paine, Ski Areas, Cancun, etc.)

 

[Tony Crocker]

I did the Torres del Paine park with my partner in 2014 - so much room. Dirt roads. No traffic. The complete antithesis to our US National parks.

Yes it was so rustic that we could not find any public transport to/from trailheads. We were based in El Calafate, signed up for a daytrip tour that dropped us near ferry to Refugio Paine Grande, then picked us up in Amarga 4 days later.

We completed the big hikes/destinations

Which ones? The hike to the towers from Hosteria Las Torres is the obvious one. The French Valley was a marathon starting from Refugio Paine Grande and ending Refugio Los Cuernos, so it would really be grueling as a day hike. There's a daily boat going out to Refugio Lago Grey, but with just a brief midday stop. So you would need an overnight there to explore much. We did an out-and-back from Refugio Paine Grande to Refugio Lago Grey, and just a bit farther for a view to the glacier. At any rate ChrisC is in better shape than we are, so I suspect he took on even more than the 48 miles we did in 4 days. You need those long daylight hours as our Fitzroy and French Valley days were 10+ hours.

I am just looking at prices now

Restaurants/shopping are a little cheaper now: Chilean exchange rate to USD is 800 now vs. 500 on prior trips since 2007. The Cochamo excursion I thought was quite reasonable at $720 for the two of us. It included a full time guide, the horse rides in and out, two nights and all meals at the refugio. The Atacama and Punta Arenas days were package arrangements via the eclipse flight travel agent.

Liz and and I were unguided hiking in Torres del Paine, as I suspect ChrisC was too. It's rustic but well enough traveled that Liz and I only got off a trail once, and that turned out to our benefit in the French Valley where we got a brief panoramic view during a sunny break.

The Cochamo trails are a different story: much rougher, easier to lose in dense rainforest, not a good idea without a guide IMHO. In normal times you could probably do San Pedro de Atacama in a rental car, but not now as so many sites are closed to tourists now by the resident indigenous people due to isolation from COVID. Our guide had to switch out about 3/4 of our itinerary to seek out equally interesting spots that were open.