Iguazu Falls

Iguazu Falls and the Power of Moving Water
For Saturday, September 9, 2023
Michael MacKuen

Today we shall take a look at the Iguazu Falls, one of the world’s breathtaking wonders. We shall more-or-less trace the path of the Iguazu River as it works its way from the coastal mountains near Curitiba to its junction with the Paraná River. This junction is the Three Frontiers region where the borders of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay intersect. We shall fly fast twins or turboprops from Curitiba to the Three Frontiers region and then switch to Cessna 152s for the final sightseeing tour of Iguazu Falls.


Iguazu Falls with the Devil’s Throat on the left and the double-deckers to the right

We start from Curitiba Bacacheri [SBBI] which was an Air Force Base for fifty years until 1980 when it became primarily a general aviation field. Curitiba, at 3.7 million, is the largest city in Brazil’s south and is a modern high-quality-of-life metropolitan area. The Iguazu River forms a few miles to the east and runs just south of the airport and then to the southwest. We fly parallel to the meandering course to Tres Barras [SSTB] for a quick stop. Then west, joining up with the Iguazu and turning to the old city airport Uniao da Vitória [SSUV]. The small city was located at the Iguazu River shallows where in the 19^th century the cattlemen of the south could ford the river and drive their herds north to the markets of the center, notably Curitiba. (It was in 1915 from Uniao da Vitória that Lt. Ricardo Kirk conducted Brazil’s first air warfare operations in the Contestado War. He was killed in a bad weather flight and has since been honored as the father of the Brazilian Air Force.) We continue over the Iguazu as it broadens into a lake. We land at Foz Do Areia [SSFA] which is located high above the mouth of the Areia River.

On departure, we can see the Foz Do Areia [AERIA] dam and hydroelectric power plant, finished in 1980. This is the most upstream dam and it generates 1,676 MW of electric power. We continue along the river to the Salto Segredo [SGRED] dam and hydroelectric plant (1991) and then the Salto Santiago [SANTI] dam and plant [1979). We turn north to land at Salto Santiago Airport [SSLS] which has a long dirt runway perched on a plateau above the water. We continue and pass over the Salto Osório [OSORO] dam and plant (1979). These four hydroelectric plants generate about 5,500 MW.  

We pivot northwest over rolling hills of agricultural land to Cascavel [SBCA]. This is a relatively new city which began in the 1930s when the region started to attract Poles, Germans, Italians and Ukrainians for logging, farming and raising livestock. By the 1990s, the city became an industrial and service center. Thus, in fifty years, the small local town became the largest city in western Paraná and one of the most significant economic centers in southern Brazil.

Heading west, we turn over the wide Paraná River and land at Itaipu International Airport [SGIB] in Paraguay. Here we switch aircraft. Our sponsors have provided a fleet of Cessna 152 airplanes which we are free to use for sightseeing purposes.

First we hop quickly to the east to see the enormous Itaipu [ITAPU] dam and hydroelectric plant. The Paraná River is South America’s second longest, after the Amazon, and the world’s eighth longest overall. Draining water from Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina and southern Brazil, it runs 3,000 miles though this area and then downstream to form the River Plata and empty into the Atlantic Ocean. The Itaipu Dam was built in 1984 to harness the river’s power. This is the third largest hydroelectric dam in the world and produces the second-most electricity, surpassed only the by China’s Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River. The installed capacity is 14,000 MW. The power is shared between Paraguay and Brazil – but the Paraguay portion is beyond need and it is sold on to Brazil. (Paraguay is technically the world’s largest international seller of electric power.) The Itaipu Dam supplies about 15% of Brazil’s demand.

Traveling south from Itaipu we see on the left (east) Brazil’s Foz do Igauçu, a tourist city whose facilities are highly-rated by international visitors. On the right is Paraguay’s Ciudad del Este which is a commercial city and one of the largest free-trade zones in the world. In 1957 the new city was built in dense jungle to give Paraguay a viable connection to Brazil. After the completion of the Friendship Bridge [FREND] in 1965, the city grew quickly through immigration with sizeable Chinese, Arab, Indian and Korean populations. While the city has developed agribusiness and industrial sectors, the main engine for growth is trade with Brazil that takes advantage of legal tax-free transactions and a substantial black market for smuggling, cocaine trafficking, and money laundering. Both Foz do Igauçu and Ciudad del Este have large modern districts of high-rise hotels, office buildings, and commercial establishments. The population of the Triple Frontier (including some smaller cities) is about one million in total. 

After passing the very busy Friendship Bridge [FREND] we come to the junction of the Paraná and the Iguazu rivers. This is the point where the Three Frontiers [3FRON] meet with Paraguay to the west and Brazil and Argentina to the east separated by the Iguazu River. We turn east and proceed upriver on the Iguazu to pass the Fraternity Bridge [FRAT] (formally Tancredo Neves bridge) which connects Brazil and Argentina. We land at the commercial tourist airport Foz do Igauçu [SBFI].

After a moment’s time, we proceed south along the high banks of the Iguazu River. This heavily forested land is a small part of Brazil’s massive Igauçu National Park – created in 1939 with the special support of famous aviator Santos Dumont. On the right is the smaller (but substantial) Iguazú National Park of Argentina.

We come to Iguazu Falls  (Portuguese: Cataratas do Iguaçu; Spanish: Cataratas del Iguazú). On the left you can see the Hotel Belmond Das Cataratas just before we reach the Devil’s Throat [DEVIL] , a horseshoe shaped canyon whose massive waterfalls and constant roar will stun visitors who venture close to the water. Then we roll back to see the extended row of double-decker falls to the north and west of the Devil’s Throat. It is worthwhile to circle the Falls a couple of times to take in the breadth of the entire complex ... perhaps one circuit at 1,000 ft to see the overall size and shape, and than another down “low-and-wet” to experience the raw power. The array of 27 waterfalls is often acclaimed a one of the world’s natural wonders. Once satisfied, we land at Argentina’s Cataratas del Iguazú [SARI].

Documentation
The flightplan can be found here. (Note that there are three subfolders: (1) Complete Flightplan SBBI-SARI; (2) Flightplan SBBI-SGIB; (3) Flightplan SGIB-SARI.)

Aircraft
In the first phase of the flight we need to cover about 360nm and so require something that will “fast cruise” at about 200kts. A fast twin or turboprop will do the job. Popular options might include the C414 Chancelor, TBM 930, Pilatus PC-12, and the Beech King Air 350. I shall take the Black Square KA350.

In the next phase we shall turn our focus to the Cessna 152, the most flown of the Asobo aircraft. Nowadays it is much improved with the WBSim/JPLogistics addon. As a flight group, we have not featured the C152 ... and this is a good time to do so. For the last 26nm in the Three Frontiers region, we will shift to C152s for a low-and-slow tour of the area and the Iguazu Falls themselves. (The default C152 will be fine but I would recommend the WBSim-JPLogistics modification version. Go to the WBSim/JPS Logistics Discord here: https://discord.com/invite/uhkUppvZ2U. Then look for official-download tab along the left. Or temporarily you can download it here. With a tablet, the WBSim C152 can activate an autopilot and the PMS GTN750. You can even add a TDS GTN750Xi with this Ryan Butterworth file.) The default paints offer minimal choice. A good option would be to download the “Default and JPL/WBSim 152 Well-Loved Vintage Livery Pack” by Waffler11. This provides 8 colorful old-style well-worn liveries for both the default Asobo C152 and also for the 3 versions of the JPL/WBSim C152. Plenty of fun choices here for everyone. I’ll take a green one.

In both phases, please fly what you like.

Additional Scenery

Essential for this flight. It contains the falls and dam which are not in default Asobo.
Itaipu Dam and Iguazu Falls. FSoares. 483MB

These are not necessary for the flight. They do add some color and detail.
Curitiba Bacacheri [SBBI]. Lucassg
Foz Do Iguacu SBFI. timot75
Cataratas del Iguazu SARI. RWY13AR

Temporarily, you can download a freeware scenery package here. 610 MB.

FSoares has a more polished payware release of Igauzu Falls available on the Marketplace. And there is a decent-looking payware SARI also at the Marketplace. (Apparently they are incompatible.)

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Saturday, set the simulator at 8:00 am local for September 9, 2023.
We prefer real weather.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Saturday, September 9, 2023. 1800 UTC
AVSIM Discord Server: https://discord.gg/K5Vy6UxWNm  - AVSIM GROUP EVENTS-SAT. COM3
Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server.

If you want to help others enjoy the multiplayer experience, don't forget to enter your aircraft details on the multiplayer spreadsheet (linked here). Please be kind enough to enter the title exactly as it stands in the title=”xxx” line of the aircraft.cfg file. Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!