Cochabamba on a 707 freighter with a 24-hour layover

Website design By BotEap.comI had just returned from the Dominican Republic, where I had unsuccessfully applied for a pilot job on the 727, and was sitting in a Miami hotel weighing my options. I called a friend in the aviation business who told me that a Bolivian airline needed a 707 co-pilot immediately and he suggested that he call their Miami office without delay.

Website design By BotEap.comMaria answered the phone and asked if I was qualified on the 707 with an FAA license. I answered yes and that I had an FAA Airline Transport Pilot License but no 707 type rating. He didn’t ask any questions about recent experience on the plane, but told me to be at the airport by 5:30 p.m. , where I would meet the captain and flight engineer at the National Airlines gate for Houston. She added that a ticket would be waiting for me. She explained that we would spend the night at the airport’s Holiday Inn and fly early the next morning on freighter 707 to Bolivia via Panama.

Website design By BotEap.comThe captain, although not in uniform, was easily identifiable by his black handlebar mustache. An hour and a half later we arrived in Houston, checking into the Holiday Inn, then popping into the bar for a few rounds of beer. Not a good idea as we had a 4:00am wake up call with a planned pre-dawn checkout.

Website design By BotEap.comThe next morning, the flight engineer did a preliminary test of the aircraft in the dark, then returned to the cockpit to set up his panel for engine start. The aircraft had been refueled the night before. All 4 engines were started and the captain taxied the aircraft to the active runway. The Houston airport was shrouded in fog and we were barely able to meet the minimum visibility requirement for takeoff. Two minutes later we were climbing through the lower stratus into a clear night sky. After retracting the gear and flaps, we turned left over the Gulf of Mexico and headed for Cozumel, just off the Yucatan Peninsula, climbing to our initial flight level of 290 (29,000 feet).

Website design By BotEap.comAs we leveled off the sun came out and I experienced that sinking feeling one gets after an all-night flight or not getting enough sleep. The flight engineer returned to the galley to make much-needed coffee and heat the crew’s meals. In Cozumel we reported our position and were authorized directly to Panama. We flew over the extreme northeast of Honduras and Nicuragua, and crossing San José, we requested the descent. During the last stages of descent while maneuvering for an approach to runway 03R in Panama, we had a spectacular view of the Panama Canal which connects the Atlantic Ocean through the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Forty-eight miles long, it has been described as one of the seven wonders of the world.

Website design By BotEap.comIn Panama we refueled and shipped some additional containers. The aircraft was close to its maximum gross takeoff weight for the prevailing conditions. A flight plan was submitted to Santa Cruz, Bolivia with an estimated route time of 4 hours and 35 minutes. During that time we would fly over Colombia, eastern Peru and the northwestern corner of Brazil.

Website design By BotEap.comIt was a long takeoff run given the high gross takeoff weight and a temperature of 35 degrees Celsius. Runway 03R was 10,000 feet long and we used most of it for take off. With landing gear up and flaps retracted, we banked into a right climbing turn over the Pacific Ocean toward the Columbia Coast.

Website design By BotEap.comAt FL290 the aircraft was in level flight crossing the Colombian coast to the southwest of Medellín. We continue to fly through western Colombia to the Peruvian border at the point where it meets Ecuador. Over Iquitos, which is situated on the upper reaches of the Amazon River, we had burned enough fuel and were light enough to request a gear shift to 330.

Website design By BotEap.comFrom Iquitos we continue through the northwestern corner of Brazil to the Bolivian border at Rio Branco. Flying over Bolivia, we requested authorization to descend in Trinidad, some 120 nautical miles north of Santa Cruz. Twenty minutes later we turned around to land on runway 34, which was 11,480 feet long and could accommodate 747s.

Website design By BotEap.comThe terrain in Bolivia is a bit unusual. The Santa Cruz airport, which is located in the east of the country, near the border with Paraguay, is located at 1300 feet AMSL (above mean sea level). The Cochabamba airport in central Bolivia is 8,400 feet above sea level, while the La Paz airport in the west, near the border with Peru, is 13,200 feet above sea level. from the sea and is the highest international airport in the world.

Website design By BotEap.comIn Santa Cruz we boarded a 727 passenger flight to Cochabamba. Upon arrival, while crossing the ramp, I felt short of breath and had to consciously lower my breathing rate to avoid hyperventilation. I experienced similar symptoms when I first went to work in Yemen, which was at 7,200 feet AMSL.

Website design By BotEap.comWe walked to the airline’s operations office to find out. As they considered me to be hired occasionally, they took me to the accounting department where they gave me a handful of Bolivian pesos for the day’s work. The rate of inflation was very high but it had not reached the hyperinflation that would come a few years later, when hypothetically the price of a meal could change before ordering dessert.

Website design By BotEap.comThey took me to a guest house to get some rest. In the evening someone came and invited me to dinner. After dinner we went to a nightclub which was the last place I wanted to go. I could feel myself weakening with the fatigue, the beer, and the altitude. Sitting quietly in a dark corner of the nightclub, he hoped to avoid any physical activity. Suddenly an attractive and shapely young woman appeared. She said something in Spanish that I didn’t understand, then she pulled me to my feet and dragged me onto the dance floor. The rhythm was upbeat in the Latin American style. I must confess that 15 minutes of this almost finished me. I smiled at the girl and said “thank you” and then headed out the door breathless and on the verge of hyperventilating.

Website design By BotEap.comI didn’t go back in, but found my way to the guest house, collapsed on the bed and slept for 10 hours. The next day they took me to a barbecue in a garden with a view of the mountains that surround Cochabamba. There I ate the best steak I’ve ever had with salad and Bolivian potatoes. The dessert was a kind of exotic ice cream with fresh fruit salad and whipped cream. The trip to South America would have been worth it for that meal alone.

Website design By BotEap.comLate in the afternoon the airline put me on the general statement as a flight attendant on a 727 passenger flight from Santa Cruz to Miami via Panama. From there I would make my own way back to Chiang Mai, where I lived.

Website design By BotEap.comI was glad that the airline did not offer me a contract because it would have involved flying to La Paz regularly. I had a bit of difficulty adjusting to 8,400 feet in Cochabamba. I doubt that he would have been able to cope very well with the layovers in La Paz at 13,200 feet. One of the American pilots who flew there regularly said he kept a portable oxygen bottle next to his bed at night. Outside his window, children were playing soccer.

Website design By BotEap.comThe opportunity to work on my trip to South America, flying over the Amazon jungles and briefly experiencing Bolivian culture, came from being in the right place at the right time – a rare stroke of good luck!