Into the Mouth of the Congo
For May 3, 2025
Michael MacKuen

For something different, we fly into the mouth of the Congo to get a sense of an unfamiliar part of the world. Starting from the Atlantic coast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), we fly up the Congo River to the ports of Boma and Matadi and the hydropower Inga Dams. Then we venture briefly into the interior before rejoining the Congo to reach Kinshasa, Brazzaville, and the Pool Malebo.


Afternoon over the Lower Congo

We depart from Muanda [FZAG], a small city that serves the modest offshore oil industry. Passing the small old port Banana, we cross to Soyo [FNSO], Angola’s large oil town that handles that nation’s considerably larger offshore oil production. Then we turn east up the wide Congo River to the city airport of Boma [FZRJ], the DRC’s older colonial port. Following the river, we reach the larger city Matadi which for more than a century has been the country’s (and earlier, the colony’s) main port for international trade. The Matadi Airport [FZAM] is north of the river and on a high plateau. You may notice the Maréchal Bridge which is one of only two bridges spanning Congo River during its 2900 mile length. This is the world’s deepest river, has the third highest discharge volume, and ninth in overall length. The Congo Basin has an area of 1.5 million square miles, or 13 percent of the entire African landmass. Today’s flight over the “Lower Congo” covers only about 250nm of the river’s immense extent.

Heading 20nm upriver we reach the Inga Falls and their dams to land at Inga Aerodrome [FZAN]. The falls of the fast-running river have long been thought to be the ideal spot for hydroelectric power – perhaps the best spot in the world. The two dams and hydro plants Inga I and Inga II were designed by the Belgian colonial government and completed by the newly-independent country (with American financing and expertise) in 1972 and 1982. The two dams’ original 1.7GW capacity has deteriorated over time due to disrepair. And the ambitious plans to power the mines of Katanga Province have not worked out at all. The original scheme, still being promoted, was to build a “Grand Inga” project which would construct additional dams to create a massive reservoir whose waters would power multiple hydro plants capable of producing a total 44GW of power. When completed, the project would yield the most hydro power in the world, doubling China’s impressive Three Rivers project. This amount of readily available electric power might drive a measurable change in the lives of Africans from Nigeria to South Africa. However, while current engineering technology looks able to accomplish this task, the investor community has serious doubts about the political and social stability needed for success.

From this point north and east, the Congo River is dotted with a series of rapids dropping 900 ft in 200 miles. Named Livingstone Falls (after the British explorer), this constitutes a natural barrier to navigation between the Atlantic ports and the vast interior of the Congo. Accordingly, the colonial Belgians built the Matadi-Kinshasa Railway in 1890-1898. Departing from Inga we bypass the rapids and turn east to Lukala [FZAP], a small town on the Matadi-Kinshasa Railway. Then north to rejoin the Congo River and then land at Celo Zongo [FZAD]. This is the site of the Zongo Dam and hydro plant along the Inkisi River (one of a number of the Congo’s tributaries that have been dammed for local power production).  

Finally, we fly up the river to Kinshasa N’Dolo [FZAB], the capital city’s older unpretentious “working” airport. The town was established as a trading center at the base of the Pool Malebo (previously the “Stanley Pool” after the British-American journalist-adventurer who did so much to explore and map the heart of Africa). This is a lake-sized widening of the Congo just above the Livingstone Rapids. From here, for a thousand miles north and east, the Congo (and its many tributaries) are navigable and thus open to transport and commerce. The small town grew with the arrival of the railway and became the central connection between the Atlantic ports and the rest of the country. In 1923 it became the colonial capital and has expanded over the years. While suffering from the new nation’s half-century of political turbulence and civil wars, the city has been a haven for refugees fleeing the dangers of ethnic conflicts. Kinshasa is now one of the fastest growing cities in the world with an estimated population of somewhere between 10 and 17 million. It is a city of contrasts between the relatively affluent “modern” sectors near the river and the more distant crowded slums in the surrounding hillsides.

We take a quick hop to Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo. At 2 million, this is a large city but of course only one fifth the size of Kinshasa. Notable on the cityscape is the Nabemba Tower which stands tall as a symbol of modernity. We turn at Maya-Maya [FCBB] the international airport with non-stop flights to Paris (4 times a week) and Kinshasa (1 time a week). Brazzaville has been harmed by the ongoing civil wars in the DRC with deaths, displacement, and unexpected migrants crossing the river. While this is a large metro area of two capital cities, there is practically no cross-national coordination. The long-mooted cross-Congo bridge is still a matter for the “near future.”

We then circumnavigate the Malebo Pool to land at Kinshasa N’Djili [FZAA], the capital’s modern-ish international airport.

Documentation
The flightplans can be found here.

Aircraft
This is a flight of 290 miles. It is designed for the DHC-4 Caribou but it is suitable for anything capable of 150kts “fast cruise.” As ever, please fly what you like.

Additional Scenery
Most of the airports are in the default simulator. I recommend the following scenery to enhance our experience. (These are MSFS2020 sceneries that work well in MSFS2024.) Thanks to the authors for their talent and efforts.

Recommended:
Muanda [FZAG]. Vortex_SD 
Kinshasha N’Dolo [FZAB]. TheAfricanFlyer. Required – NOT in the default?
Kinshasa N’Djili [FZAA]. EchoMikeRDC 

Temporarily, you can find a scenery package here.

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Saturday, set the simulator at 2:00pm local for May 3, 2025.
We typically prefer real weather.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Saturday, May 3, 2025. 1900 UTC
RTWR Multiplayer Discord Channel
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!

Here is a good overview documentary about the Democratic Republic of the Congo by BBC (2018). [46:51] Posted on YouTube.
Congo: A journey to the heart of Africa – BBC Africa