Rhumba Run Peru

Rhumba Run Peru
For Wednesday, September 17, 2025

We take a couple of days to ferry aircraft from Peru’s Pacific coast over the Andes to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia’s largest city and its 21^st century economic powerhouse. The ”storyline” is that our contacts have informed us of a Bolivian consortium of industrial agribusinessmen and ranchers. (Our contacts are certain that the group is not connected to the coca side of Bolivian agriculture.) They have ordered a handful of older well-maintained fast piston twins (Cessna, Piper, and Beechcraft) which have been delivered to Pisco on the coast and which now need to be flown across the mountains to their new home in Santa Cruz. On the way we shall make a few stops on the orders of our employers. Our first day will take us from the coastline to the shores of Lake Titicaca on the border between Peru and Bolivia.


Out of Ayacucho

We depart from Pisco [SPSO] and its newly refurbished airport. Historically, the port city was famous for the region’s Pisco brandy. First a diversion for one of our businessmen: we fly 5nm southwest of the airport to see the Paracas Candelabra (Trident), a well-known prehistoric geoglyph of the Paracas civilization on the north face of the Paracas Peninsula. Radio carbon-dated to 200 BCE, the design is cut 2 ft into the soil and is 560 ft tall and 200 ft wide. The design and construction are similar to the more famous Nazca lines 200nm to the southeast. This is now a protected national heritage site for Peru. We circle back over the modern Terminal Portuario San Martin built for bulk cargos and cruise ships and now a part of Peru’s coastal economic development. And we continue along the coastal desert and sand dunes to visit Ica [SPLH], on the northern fringes of the legendary Atacama Desert. The warm dry climate, the “land of Eternal Sun,” made Ica an important agricultural region and now a tourist destination. The desert city has historically drawn its water from an aquifer fed by glacial melt water – but nowadays the usage exceeds the replenishing flow and some changes will be necessary for continued growth.

Our first task is a long sustained climb over the Cordillera Occidental, the western range of the Andes Mountains. Then a high cruise (careful to avoid several 16,000-17,000 ft peaks) will take us to the old Andean city Ayacucho [SPHO]. Nearby is the site of the 1824 military victory that ultimately liberated most of South America from Spanish rule. The city remains the main center of a largely rural and poor region and, for a few years in the 1980s-1990s, headquartered the Shining Path bloody insurgency against the central government. Ayacucho has continued as a hotspot of unrest during the current 21^st century political-economic-social crisis, that pits the alienated poor rural indigenous people of the Andes against the more prosperous people of the towns and cities on the coast.

We continue to Andahuaylas [SPHY], a small capital of the large sparsely populated mountain province. The airport, the only commercial field in the region, sits on an elevated plateau that makes for interesting approaches and landings. During the explosive events of the current crisis in 2022-2023 (when the right wing legislature  impeached the elected populist president and he dissolved the legislature), rural protestors saw airports as the symbol of the central government. Riots closed a number of Andean airports, including those of Juliaca, Cuzco, Ayacucho, and Andahuaylas. The armed forces and especially the tough national police reacted with deadly firepower with resulting massacres in Ayacucho and Juliaca. The crisis continues … with no obvious path to reconciliation in sight.

Then on to Cuzco [SPZO] (or locally Cusco), the historic former capital of the Inca Empire and a former Spanish colonial capital is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For many years a sleepy regional city, Cuzco and nearby Machu Picchu are now serious tourist attractions. We land at the busy airport, Peru’s second only to Lima, which lies near the city center in a mountain-encircled valley. The high density altitude and steep terrain on three sides make this a one-runway airport: land on 28 and depart on 10. (A new larger airport is being built 12mi to the northwest, with an expected opening of 2026-2027.)

Next we climb to the east to visit the San Rafael mine, the world’s third largest tin mine currently producing 12 per cent of the global supply. After circling over the facility, we return to land on the long paved strip San Rafael [SPRF] owned and maintained by the mining operation. This is a remote location whose 14,422 altitude demands attention for safe operations.

After our visit, we depart to the southwest toward the city of Juliaca on the windy Collao Plateau at 12,549 ft. Historically a remote rural center, the city took on a more urban character with the late nineteenth century arrival of the railroads. Juliaca is now the main commercial center for the Puno region. Its famous handcrafted socks and sweaters have been supplanted by clothes, wool and fabrics produced by industrial processes. Given the density altitude, we will be happy to see one of the world’s longest runways at Juliaca-Inca Manco Cápac [SPJL]. We shall stop here for travel break and continue to Bolivia next time.

[Author’s note. This mission was inspired by the ferry flights over the Andes by volunteer American pilots in the early 1940s. The idea was to replace the German-built airline fleets in Bolivia and Brazil with modern American aircraft – then a matter of geo-political strategy. Stories of these early days aviation in South America are told by Bradley Young’s “Rumba Run” (1944) and by Ernst Gann’s Fate is the Hunter [Ch. 7] (1961).]

Documentation
The flightplan can be found here.

Aircraft
Our employers have purchased fast twin-engined piston aircraft. Popular types include the Cessna 404/414, Piper Aerostar and Beech Piston Duke. I'll take the Flysimware Cessna 414AW. As always, please fly whatever you like.

Additional Scenery
All airports are in the default FS2024. The following provide additional scenery details and are recommended. Our thanks go to the talented authors.
Ica Las Dunas [SPLH]. Cserz
Ayacucho [FPHO]. Febble_raven35. FS2024
Andahuaylas [SPHY]. Feeble_raven35
and looking ahead
Copacabana [SLCC]. BoliviaVFR
La Paz Alto [SLLP]. BoliviaVFR
Cochabamba Jorge Wilstermann [SLCB]. BoliviaVFR
Chimore SLHI. BoliviaVFR
Santa Cruz El Trompillo [SLET]. sebtaj. FS2024

A scenery package can be found here. (300MB)

And further, there are payware renditions of Cusco (FSDG), Juliaca Inca Manco Capac (Low-End PC Studios), La Paz El Alto (Sierrasim).

Time and Weather
For takeoff, set the simulator at 8:00 am local for September 17, 2025.
We typically prefer real weather.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Wednesday, September 17, 2025. 1800 UTC
Where: AVSIM RTWR Teamspeak - Casual Flights Channel
Teamspeak Server Address: ts.teamavsim.com
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). Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!