Bicho Carrera planned a special flight on the day of a total eclipse of the Sun. The young Chilean would fly his paraglider in the darkened sky of the eclipse as the Moon passed exactly in front of the Sun. The result: an unforgettable experience – and fantastic pictures.
On July the second 2019 hundreds of thousands of South American citizens trembled with excitement in anticipation of this rare spectacle. At 16:49 exactly, in Chile, the moon flew between sun and earth. A total eclipse ensued. Victor “Bicho” Carrera brought back some spectacular pictures of this unique phenomenon of nature back with him. At the decisive moment no one was closer to the Sun than the 23 year old paraglider pilot.
Solar eclipse
“It was my first solar eclipse”, reported the enthusiastic young Chilean. At the moment the Moon completely hid the Sun life became completely still, dark and cold. “I already had a queasy feeling up there that there was something crazy about doing this – a lunatic experience if you want to be literal”. It was fortunate that Bicho did not know what to expect. “When the critical time came I felt somewhat flustered.” He had only two and a half minutes of complete shadow in which to get the glider in the right position for the camera.
In the centre
Redemption was granted - as the team leader reported from the ground: “Bicho, we’ve got it!” Straight away all the tension that had built for days and weeks fell away: the journey from Europe to Chile, five days searching for the right takeoff place - finally found in the ancient mountain mining town of Condoriaco - numerous test flights, two and a half minutes for the shooting, the full cooperation of the whole team. Uffffff. “But it worked”. This day was like no other. For a couple of minutes Bicho flew in the centre of the sun.
The Glider
About Bicho
Victor "Bicho" Carrera
The Chilean profi-pilot spends the southern summer at home operating a tandem business there. In the northern hemisphere summer he lives in Europe and competes in the Acro World Cup. He finished second overall in the 2019 season.
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