Jimmie Angel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

El Rio Caroní exhibited in front of Ciudad Bolívar airport as Jimmy Angel's aircraft.

James Crawford Angel Marshall (born Springfield, Missouri, USA, August 1, 1899 – December 8, 1956) was an American aviator after whom Angel Falls in Venezuela, the highest waterfall in the world, is named.

The falls, which cascade from the top of Auyantepui in the remote Gran Sabana region of Venezuela, were not known to the outside world until Jimmie Angel flew over them on 16 November 1933 while searching for a valuable ore bed.

On 9 October 1937, Jimmie Angel returned to the falls with the intention of landing. On board his Flamingo monoplane that day were his second wife Marie, Gustavo Heny, and Miguel Delgado, Heny's gardener.

Jimmie Angel attempted a landing but despite a successful touchdown, his El Rio Caroní aircraft nose-dived when it hit soft ground at the end of its landing run. The wheels sank in the mud making the take-off impossible.

The occupants were unharmed but had to trek across difficult terrain and with low food supplies for 11 days to make their way off the tepui and down to the nearest settlement at Kamarata.

When word got out of their exploits, Angel received near-legendary status in Venezuela.

His aircraft remained atop Auyantepui until 1970, when it was disassembled into parts and lifted down by Venezuelan military helicopters. Today a El Rio Caroní can be seen outside the airport terminal at Ciudad Bolívar, however there exists strong evidence that the original plane hasn't been re-assembled and instead a different Flamingo plane was put on exhibition as a replica. The disassembled parts of the original plane first traveled to the north of Venezuela for an aviation fair in the 70s and there it was decided that the re-assembly would be too difficult especially with several parts of the craft missing due to its over thirty years-long standing free at the mountaintop.

It is known that Jimmie Angel always used to have something to drink in the cockpit (mainly beer and other alcoholic beverages) while he was flying. The creation of the artificial horizon is to some extent related to him since through his glass or bottle of beer he was able to determine the pitch and roll of the aircraft as he was flying in harsh meteorological conditions.

Angel died in Panama in 1956 from injuries received from a flying accident. Respecting his last wishes, four years later his sons returned to the waterfall, scattering his ashes over it.