Comment "Colonia Nueva Valencia, grass strip and production site" on Nueva Valencia Airport, Argentina

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Colonia Nueva Valencia, grass strip and production site

I've been looking for this place for so long, and much to my surprise it is now clearly identified by Our Airports...

I had spotted this grass strip with Google but wasn't sure about it being the place I had visited in 1967. I was 19, ad traveled all the way up there from Buenos Aires on a single Piper Comanche with my father and two other guys, who were pilots. One of them was Cesare Preve, as the whole place, land and production site, was owned by the Frugone & Preve Ltd. My Italian-born father was manager for that company.

What memories! It was SOP before landing to overfly the site to have someone driving to the strip to pick us up, and to sweep the strip to make sure no loose cattle was around; before take off, a careful sdrive along the strip made sure that no cows could be close enough to opt for grazing across it. Sorting out unexpected quadrupeds while taking off from a soft field on a single-engine plane with four on board could make your day.

A story was told, that when the bushes were cleared up to lay down the air strip, a peaceful family of local indios, isolated and unknown to all, were found and had to be relocated somewhere else...

Not much to add, except I hope the families now living there are healthy, happy and watch their children grow up in that marvelous natural environment ... adios amigos

rvigitello@yahoo.com

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