"… by the yellow sign in the sky everyone knew about the arrival of the One Inca"
From a Peruvian legend
Chimpa lay on the worn-out skin of a lama at the very exit of the cave and stroked the feathers of Mighty Ru. The breeze lazily stirred the tongues of the fire, blowing warmth on the person and the bird. Inside the cave, in the dry gray twilight, a llama was chewing grass and peeled cacti. Sometimes a bell tinkled around her neck like a silver ring. Roux, a large, gray-black eagle, sprung slightly on bent paws from the touch of the young man's strong fingers. Looking into the dark and deep, like mountain crevices, Chimpa's eyes with their dim pupils, covered with a bluish film, Ru opened his beak, begging for a handout.
From a leather bag Chimpa took out a piece of dried meat, held it in the palm of his hand to the blunt nose of Roux - a sharp, swift peck, and the meat disappeared into the eagle's throat. And yet Chimpa felt the uncertainty of the peck. The beak touched the hand. Ru's eyesight was dulled, the muscles did not work so instantly and accurately. "How old is the bird?" - thought the young man.
The High Priest of the Temple of Orlov, Manko Amaru, raised and trained Ru as a guide when he did not yet have a son. Now he is ninety. He almost never rises from the dais of soft skins and from there teaches young priests, prepares them for ordination to the rank of Orlov. Chimpa hears a cracked, thin voice of white Manko Amaru, and a smile stretches his thick lips: the priest was always kind to Chimpa and quickly distinguished him. Chimpa has been ordaining the Son of Eagle "Soaring High" for the third year already.
Now the Only Inca is on a long voyage, and Chimpa with a small detachment of warriors and slaves awaits his sailing ships here, on the rocky platform of the Andes spur, looking out to sea. On the slope of the spur, there is a bright white sign in the form of a trident. Waiting to be the first to see it, to notify all Incas of the safe return of the ruler.
Reflecting, Chimpa fed the eagle, stroked, cleaned its plumage. Here is one feather emerged from the tail. "Yes, Mighty Ru is getting old!" Chimpa, twisting the pen in his fingers, broke it. Then he cleaved it along with strong yellowish nails. Again the thin voice of the wise Manko Amaru sounded in his ears: "… young men, look carefully how the Great Nature made a light fluffy wing bone born for flight ?!" And now, already past science, Chimpa marveled at this miracle. The feather is the lightest, but you can't break it. A solid rod provides rigidity where support is required, but closer to the tip it becomes resilient as flight requires. Barbs extend from the rod, they bear many small barbs branching off in both directions, which are intertwined with very tiny ones, which provide strength. On a single feather there is a great many barbs, their branches and hooks.
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Throwing aside the feather, Chimpa took hold of the wing of Mighty Ru, spread it. The shape of the wing was similar to the wings of the "monkeys" and "crocodiles" made by the priests-builders: dense and blunt along the leading edge, it narrowed towards the end that did not meet the wind.
On small "monkeys", although they jumped in the updrafts so that it was nauseous in the stomach, Chimpa liked to fly more. They immediately gained strength for flight, and for them only one swift-footed llama was required. And the large wide wings of the cargo "crocodiles" are covered with a cloth, the same as on Chimpa's headband, and are saturated with animal bile. They hum like the skin of drums and smell bad for a long time. "Monkeys" go into the sky immediately, and the "crocodile" needs a long acceleration on the ground, sometimes he does not even have a platform, and the llamas pulling him fall down a steep slope and break their legs. But in the sky "crocodile" is stable and soars exactly like Mighty Ru.
… Outside, a strong guttural cry burst into the cave, rather a cry of triumph. A llama snorted behind Chimpa. He easily jumped to his feet. His stocky, short figure grew in the opening of the stone shelter. Swarthy, covered only with a loincloth, the young man stretched out a string and looked towards the sea. From the horizon to the slope of the Andes with the sign of the trident, wooden shells sailed under sails. They approached slowly, and the patient Chimpa saw the red mark of the One Inca on one of the sails. Chimpa gave several short orders, accompanying them with harsh gestures - silver jewelry rang on his hands.
Two Inca warriors in light cloth cloaks, with bronze short swords on their hips, jumped out from behind the rock and ran towards the light-winged "monkey", painted in the bright yellow of a young sun. The belts were disconnected from the boulders, and the "monkey" lay down on the wing. The Mighty Roux glanced at the upturned end of the wing. In excitement, he slapped the one and a half meter fans twice.
One of the slaves led out of the cave a shaggy llama in uncomplicated harness. Behind her stretched a rawhide end skillfully woven into numerous rings, twenty paces long. The end was attached to the monkey's nose by the canine underneath, and the lama pulled on the belt. The warriors grabbed the "monkey" by the ends of the wings. Having performed the ritual of worshiping the Sun, Chimpa climbed into the round opening of the basket, woven in the form of a drop and rigidly attached to the wings. He sat down on a reed bench, put his hands on a part of a transverse pole that pierced the wing from end to end. I looked around carefully. On the right and left, not long semi-oval wings gleamed yellow with dyed bird feathers. He moved the pole to the right - the flexible back at the end moved. He pushed the pole forward - an elastic tail, similar to Roo's, bent down. Chimpa's whistle frightened Mighty Ru away.
Spurred on by the whip, the lama rushed forward.
The warriors did not hold the "monkey" for long - the rings of the rawhide belt stretched out in a straight line.
The released "monkey" rushed from its place, slipped over the stones and took under its wings a wave of a head-on elastic wind.
The end of the towing strap fell off the canine.
Chimpa immediately felt how an unknown force lifted, grabbed him and pulled him up over the steep slope. A jet of air ruffled the red tassel of the headband, but the wind did not hit the eyes, it was cut off by a smooth plank on the nose of the "monkey".
The land floated away, the shells in the sea "lost" their sails.
But then Chimpu was pulled down, so sharply that he pulled away a little from the seat. He looked in the sky with his eyes and saw Mighty Ru. He hovered to the side. Carefully turning the "monkey", Chimpa began to approach him.
The eagle did not disappoint this time either - the stream he found lifted the "monkey".
Chimpa walked away from the slope with the sign of the trident, holding the nose of the "monkey" in the direction of the white earth line leading to the Nazca plateau, where the wise priest Manko Amaru was waiting to lead. The young man, although he had the title of "Soaring high", felt a slight suffocation. This means that he has reached the limit of paradise for the flying Inca height. And he pushed the control pole slightly away from him. The wind around the head whistled more cheerfully.
The mighty guide Ru, spread out in the sky, hovered in front, sometimes deviating slightly to the sides. If Roo flapped his wings, Chimpa didn't go there. Most often in these places on the ground were seen drawings of dancing creatures.
Admiring the flight of old Roux, Chimpa knew: the bright yellow "monkey" is now seen by all living things in the Andes. The tribes of Kvichua, Aimara and others remember the heavenly sign of the arrival of the Only Inca Tupac Yunaki from a large sea voyage and rush to meet the ruler …
Suddenly, Mighty Roo's hover became uncertain. He flapped his wings heavily in a good updraft, trying not to sink below Chimpa. The son of the Eagle felt in his heart how hard it was for old Ru. Here the bird has caught up with the right wing of the "monkey". The eagle rushed alongside Chimpa, its legs tucked in, its swift, crooked head stretched out, its tail spread, and squinted at the man. The melancholy look of a tired, driven bird.
- Sit down, Ru! - Shouted to the whole sky Chimpa. - I know everything here, Ru, I will finish, sit on the rocks. Have a rest! But Roux was an old, but faithful guide. Flapping his wings, he again led the heavenly race … Ahead the Nazca plateau was already visible, there were different landing strips, signs of stops and starts, places of assemblage of "monkeys" and "crocodiles", a small Eagle temple made of white slabs.
The mighty Ru not far overtook Chimpa. With the last effort he pushed off with his wings, soared and folded the weakened fans.
First, Roux fell like a heavy stone, then he spun in a spiral - his wings were disheveled, and the evil wind tore out several feathers from them. The body of old Roux quietly took over a sharp rocky ledge.
Guide eagles do not die in nests and caves. They only leave their friends dead …
The tribes of mountainous Peru learned about the death of the Only Inca. They saw a signal yellow "monkey" in the gray sky. But only the Son of the Eagle "Soaring High" saw the death of the faithful Mighty Ru. And no one saw the tears in Chimpa's eyes. The sky has dried them …
White birds of Nazca
Author's commentary on the hypothesis story "The Arrival of the Only Inca"
It is hardly worth writing about space aliens, which the Basque valley in Peru allegedly served as a cosmodrome. The hypothesis cannot withstand a critical attack. Space ships - a miracle of technology! - simply not needed for a visual approach to landing areas "painted" with signs. The arguments in favor of the "giant astronomical calendar" and in favor of the cult site are shaky. Most likely this is still an ancient gliderport. The question immediately arises: could there have been gliders at the beginning of our era? Why not? A well-known American scientist who recently worked in our country, Alexander Marshak, devoted many years to deciphering drawings and inscriptions on ancient products in order to establish from these "records" the way of thinking of a person who lived 20-30 thousand years ago, claims that the intellectual world of those distant times was as difficult as ours, the present, and the man of that era,as a thinking creature, he was not inferior to you and me. The general conclusion of Marshak is not rejected by Soviet scientists either.
And if so, why shouldn't the ancients, who lived only two thousand years ago, master the technique of glider flight, if the birds that gave this idea to us soared in the sky and before their eyes. Doubts about technical capabilities? But we have built and are building gliders and hang-gliders by amateurs, amateurs in aircraft construction, using natural materials: wood, bamboo, reeds, the simplest covering for the fuselage and wings, up to the film of animal intestines - "bodyworm".
The ancients are far from stupid. They knew how to smelt aluminum 2000 years before the Europeans. There were water vending machines in Alexandria 2,300 years ago. Our distant ancestors made stainless steel of such quality, which is difficult to achieve today. They knew the secrets of cold light, gold soldering. The Baghdad Museum contains unique vessels with copper bars capable of producing electricity when reacted with acetic acid. The vessels are about 3 thousand years old.
There are many examples …
With such achievements in various branches of science and technology, the ancients could well comprehend the basics of aerodynamics, build the simplest glider.
Everyone knows the golden winged trinket kept at the Columbia National Bank. It is about a thousand years old or more. They thought it was a fisherman or an insect sculptured in gold. But the geologist Andersen guessed to give the ancient little thing for examination to aircraft manufacturers, and they, having blown the golden model in a wind tunnel, recorded: “The flying qualities of the model are excellent, a real apparatus built according to the blowdown data could fly at high speed, be maneuverable and easy to control.
At the end of the 19th century, while excavating a rich Egyptian burial, archaeologists found a small sculpture made of sycamore (sycamore is a hard hornbeam-type tree). She looks like a bird. She was mistaken for a sculptural image of a bird. Many zoologists have tried to figure out what kind of feathered tribe does she belong to? But she didn't even come close to any genus or species. They threw the sculpture, forgot. For almost 60 years, she spent in the museum under glass, along with ancient shards.
Recently, Cypriot professor Halil Messih has become interested in it. The scientist's keen eye saw that the “bird” was too streamlined, it had originally curved lowered wings, and most importantly, there is something that other birds do not have - a vertical detail on the tail unit, reminiscent of the rudder of modern airplanes.
For a long time and carefully Messich studied the find of archaeologists and finally declared to the whole world: - This is not a bird, but a miniature model of a glider!
"If Dr. Messih's hypothesis is confirmed," wrote the UNESCO News bulletin, "it would mean that the ancient Egyptians already knew the laws of flight."
The professor didn't stop at guessing. He built a large model of a glider from light materials, repeating exactly and completely the design features of the ancient sculpture of a "bird", and on a clear, windy day, he launched the model into the air. Khalil Messih's glider made a successful flight.
There are enough examples to suggest: the ancients built light non-motorized aircraft. Where could they be applied?
Where at any time of the day or year there are ascending currents (thermals, "waves", suction of clouds) capable of holding and lifting the glider on their mighty "shoulders".
One of these ideal locations is the steep slopes of the Andes, located in Peru, from the ocean coast to the rocky plateau of the Nazca desert. In order to be convinced of this, it is enough to look at the meteorological maps and plots of vertical sections of the weather in a given area.
On one of the slopes of the Andes, overlooking the ocean, a huge sign is inscribed - a trident. It is visible both from the water and from the air, that is, from low and high altitudes. I see not three teeth inscribed, but three bird feathers - a symbol of lightness, flight. And feathers strive upward. Look, they are like three thrust forces, clinging to the nose and consoles of a two-keel aircraft inscribed in the sign. It is quite possible that this is a sign for a glider pilot who has lost altitude: "Come here, there is always a powerful updraft here."
Drawings of strange bouncing creatures come across - perhaps they warn the glider about the uneven flow.
A straight white line extends from the trident into the interior of the country, clearly visible only from the air. It goes through mountains and valleys and ends on the way to the Nazca plateau.
In my opinion, this is the line of the greatest "benefit of action" of vertical air currents, straightened within the framework of common sense.
If a modern glider, for example, having evaporated at the slope marked with a trident, flies along this line, it will not lose altitude, but will be able to gain it up to 3-4 thousand meters, and under favorable weather conditions climb even higher. This means that with an average aerodynamic quality of 15-20 (modern gliders have a quality of up to 50, but suppose that the ancients did not manage to achieve this), the glider can fly within a radius of 60-80 kilometers only by descent, while hovering - up to several hundred kilometers. Imagine: the glider did not turn anywhere, flew to the Nazca plateau. What awaits him here? Here are the "landing strips" offering landing services for almost any course. Their directions correspond to the wind rose of the region. There are small and large stones around, and the stripes are soft, even. As the archaeologist from Germany Maria Reich, who has been studying the "Nazca problem" for many years, has establishedthe stony soil of the desert on the strips was removed to a light clay layer. Breakage of even a fragile glider when landing on such soil is excluded. "Triangles" inform the glider pilot about a possible crosswind in this strip. "Squares" are the best landing spot.
Stylized bird figures can indicate campsites. It is near them that large boulders come across, but in shape and weight, they are suitable for mooring gliders. Moreover, the drawings are dissected with thin straight lines - it is possible that these are linear signs of parking lots.
It is worth paying attention to the drawing of the bird "without head and beak." Instead of them, as it were, a long, bent in seven knees "neck". Doesn't it look like a shock absorber deployed in front of the glider, a cable, a rope? And the thickening at the end does not indicate the platform on which a kind of catapult could stand?
Or tamed animals capable of giving the glider the necessary acceleration to take off. I imagine the "long-necked bird" as an informational sign of the take-off site (maybe for initial flight training).
According to archaeologists, who never considered the "stripes" in the desert "roads of the Incas", giant drawings are found far from all over Peru, but only in the south of the coast, that is, where the best conditions for gliders soar …
It is possible that ancient aeronauts used the same "gliderdrome". On the plateau, channels were found with remnants of combustible materials in the bottom layer. In the mountains there is a rock drawing of an angular shape similar to a balloon.
Supporters of the assumption that signs in the desert were used in ancient times as landmarks for aeronautics, launched a hot air balloon in the Nazca Valley. The balloon was sewn in the shape of a rock painting. The shell of the ball was made from a fabric similar to that found in a local burial at about the same time when the drawings were created. The ball was filled with flammable smoke from a fire burning in a 10 meter long ditch. At first, the smoke came out through the pores of the fabric, then the fabric “smoked” a little and began to retain warm air. The fire, however, turned out to be too small, and in order to speed up the filling of the cylinder, a gas burner had to be brought under the ball. Two enthusiasts rode the balloon first 100 meters, then 500 meters. The vice-president of the British Aeronautics Club, Julian Knott, who was present at the tests of the "ancient balloon"that he is satisfied with the results of the experiment and believes that, in principle, the ancient Peruvians could fly using such balloons, but whether they did this is a completely different question.
It would be nice to experiment with gliders. Maybe the ancient Incas still flew, and not only for their own pleasure, but also carried cargo by air …
V. Kazakov, writer of "Secrets of the Ages"