Chile Poses Interesting Challenges For Pilots

Sometimes, stories have a way of falling into your lap... especially at shows like AirVenture. While talking with Alan Klapmeier Monday morning in front of the Cirrus booth, his Chilean Service Center sales representative wandered over and introduced himself.

For Alexander Kaufmann, AirVenture is an awesome display of American general aviation interests and its worldwide influence. Kaufmann has been the lone sales representative for Chile and the nearby countries since early 2007.

His background is becoming more common these days, having worked with antique and classic cars. His family has been heavily involved with Mercedes restorations for many years. He started his flying training in gliders, and loves gliding in the Andes at flight levels. Now both Kaufmann and his father love flying the Cirrus models, especially the SR22 GTS Turbo.

Demographically, Chile has a population of 16 million people, with roughly 12,000-13,000 licensed pilots and 8,000 current pilots. Geographically, Chile borders Argentina, Bolivia and Peru, with the Pacific Ocean to the west. The country is 2880 miles long but only 265 miles wide at its widest point. The Andes Mountains run the length of the country and a minimum altitude of 12,500 feet is needed to top them. Most crossings occur in the 14,000 to 15,000-foot range. The layout of the country just begs for the use of aircraft for maximum utility.

General aviation aircraft number roughly 2000, most of which are quite old. Most flight schools are still using Piper Tomahawks as their primary trainers. In years past, there are generally only seven to 10 planes imported annually, 80% of which are older models.

Predictably, Kaufmann feels the SRS is the perfect new primary trainer for the region. The SR20 and SR22 can be the next step, as Kaufmann feels the market is there for a fresh, fast design with advanced electronics. He says there is no defined flight school that allows pilots to upgrade from a commercial pilot to an airline pilot rating, so the better prepared they are in their primary instruction, the better chance they have to advance.

So far, the Chilean Service Center has sold five Cirrus SR20 and SR22s, two SRS sport planes, and has two jet positions reserved.

Brazil, according to Kaufmann, has already sold 100 Cirrus aircraft from late 2006 to March of 2008, with several jet positions reserved. As popular as the Cirrus models are here in the US, they're becoming just as popular below the equator.

FMI: www.cirruschile.com