PNG Eastern Highlands. Airplane Coffee and Mt Wilhelm

PNG Eastern Highlands. Airplane Coffee and Mt Wilhelm
For Saturday, January 24, 2026
Michael MacKuen

This morning we shall visit parts of Papua New Guinea’s Central and Eastern Highlands. From Mount Hagen, the capital of the Highlands, we visit villages in the Simbai region, the home of Balus Kopi or “Airplane Coffee.” And then we travel southeast to circle and then surmount Mt Wilhelm before descending to the Bundi District and then Goroka.


Morning Airplane Coffee in Dusin

With the early morning light we depart the busy commercial airport Mount Hagen [AYMH] to cross over high ridges before landing at Simbai [AYSJ]. It was from the Simbai Valley that missionary pilots started flying locally grown highland coffee beans to Mount Hagen for shipment abroad. This commercial enterprise differs from the subsistence mentality of the highlands’ dominant “traditional” lifestyle. And the success of Simbai farmers has spread into other valleys in the region. Family farmers grow their coffee on hillside gardens, taking advantage of the fertile volcanic soil and a helpful climate. They then harvest and hand wash their beans and carry sacks on highland trails for perhaps a day’s journey to the local airstrip. The harvest is stored until enough farmers’ coffee has arrived to pay for an airplane. Having access to air transport has proved critical because it would be impractical for these small farmers to transport their product over land to access the international markets on which they rely. Smallholder coffee (from around the country) is the nation’s second export and is especially important because in the coffee regions the production, harvesting, and transportation touch as many as half of all rural people. [More on Simbai coffee here and more on cultural economics here.]

The remote Simbai area has a special attraction for visitors as this is the home of the Kalam tribe. The people live in traditional small villages with strong patriarchal families. From a photographers’ viewpoint, the Kalam are known for their elaborate headdresses, typically a meter in height with a crown made from the heads of thousands of emerald green beetles. (For an informative visitor report, see here)

After a moment, we begin to visit five small villages in the surrounding hillsides. Our first stop is Dusin [AYDS] which has developed close contact with the outside world. The village houses a missionary lodge and has just begun the operation of a missionary medical clinic. We then visit a number of mountain airstrips which may engage and entertain our pilots: Yomneri [AYJE], Kinainj [AYKJ], Bank [AYBJ], and Kombaku [AYOU].

Then southeast along the ridges of the Bismark Range to Ambaluwa [AYMI], a strip near the Amballua Catholic Mission. Mt Wilhelm, the highest mountain in Papua New Guinea, stands just to the southeast. Amballua is a possible starting point for climbing the mountain, but the very rough forest and terrain make for a difficult four day event. The more popular route lies on the other side of the mountain, as we shall see.

Climbing and then descending, we fly south to Chimbu Airport [AYCH] in the major town of Kundiawa (12,000). This is the only commercial center in the region – it is the locus of all activity outside of farming and traditional lifestyles. It has shops, restaurants, hotels, a technical vocational school, a nursing college, a hospital … and a computer repair shop. From here we fly up to Keglsugl Airstrip [AYLG] – halfway up the mountain at 8,389ft. This is the ideal  launching point for people seeking to climb up Mt Wilhelm. (Normally, people travel by the poorly maintained road often frequented by local bandits. In recent years, the road has been rebuilt by Chinese funded men and equipment.) Just above the airstrip is Betty’s Place, an informal lodge founded by an ex-airline stewardess. She and her family have made a great success with a stream of highly pleased clients stopping here on the way up and down the mountain – the family has opened a new building with 12 additional rooms. Betty Higgins has now become world famous.

We take off and circle to climb to the top of Mt Wilhelm (14,793ft), passing on the way up the beautiful twin glacial Lakes Piunde and Aunde. Typically, climbers will spend the night at the lakes and start again at 1:00am to reach the summit at dawn. (The chances of a clear view are greatest at sunrise.) After circling the peak, we descend to land at Bundi Station [AYDI].

Then over the ridgeline to Goroka [AYGA], an important large town (23,000) and a center for local aviation. Along the way we pass over the Asaro Valley, the “home” of the Asaro Mudmen. The legend is that the local tribesmen fled a nighttime invasion, jumped into the river, and coated themselves with white clay and mud masks. Their ghostly appearance terrified the invaders who ran away. The truth seems to be that a local village donned mud masks as part of a 1957 sing-sing contest in Goroka. After winning, they capitalized on their success by developing the “Asaro Mudmen” guise and accepting the newly devised backstory of their apparel. Goroka now hosts a wildly successful annual cultural festival which brings over 100 tribes together for sing-sings  of traditional music, costumes, and dancing. The Asaro Mudmen are the stars of the show.

We land on Goroka airport’s Runway 35R for quick access to the general aviation base halfway up the runway on the east side of the field. Here we can find missionary and transport pilots who practice their essential craft in this region – two years ago we might have seen Ryan Farran, of Missionary Bush Pilot fame. (The passenger terminal is further north.) We shall enjoy the company of our fellow pilots.

Documentation
The flightplan can be found here. We prefer real weather.

Aircraft
This route runs 180nm and includes many difficult mountain airports. The event asks for “cargo aircraft” with some STOL capability. Some popular choices include: the Brittan-Norman Islander, Cessna C185, Cessna Caravan, Daher Kodiak, DHC-6 Twin Otter, and Pilatus PC-6. (The DHC-4 Caribou should work but it may be too large for this mission.) I shall probably take the Blackbird-Milviz PC-6. As ever, fly what you like.

Additional Scenery
Most of the airports are in the default simulator. However, we want to use the excellent Orbx payware by Ken Hall: Highland Bush Strips Pack 5 to enhance the experience. In addition, I recommend the following freeware addon airport packages. Thanks to these fine authors for their talent and efforts.

Recommended:
Mount Hagen [AYMH]. HaveDoughnut
Keglsugl [AYLG, KEG].  darshonaut
Goroka [AYGA]. FPASC52

You can get the freeware package here. (Included here are some that are parts of larger packages or difficult to find.)

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Saturday, set the simulator at 7:00am  local for January 24, 2026. We typically prefer real weather.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Saturday, January 24, 2026. 1800 UTC
Where: 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). Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!