I was not sure if I would be able to fly another leg of my trip today or not, but since I had plenty of daylight left, I felt I should take the advantage of it. So despite the crappy weather forecast (rain and high winds) for Valdivia, I got into my 182 and took off from Santiago International. Earlier, as I was flying into Santiago, the weather was mostly cloudy and I did not get to see much of the scenery. On my way out though, the weather cleared and I was able to check the area out. Of course, that did not last too long as I flew into a large low pressure area some 50 miles south of the city (the bad weather I was talking about earlier). It was only the tail end of the low pressure system, so it was not all that bad. I did find the break in the clouds just in time to enjoy a gorgeous sunset. This part of my trip was relatively simple; I flew directly from Santiago to Valdivia keeping the heading of 188, at the altitude of 9,000 ft. By the time I got to Valdivia, it was already dark (not to mention the rain), so there was nothing much to see, but I will make sure to leave during the daylight as there are many things in the area I want to check out. Here, I got my first try at landing in bad weather (see the image of the final approach below). The weather was not too bad, just some rain and wind and I managed to land quite OK, but as I continue this trip, I am sure there will be much greater challenges to come.

Leaving Santiago International Flying over Santiago, Chile Chile countryside Hidden lake Chilean Andes Sunset over southern Chile On final approach to Valdivia airport

List of countries: Chile

Flight log: