Member's Home Forums General Discussion South America South America Aeronautical & Regulatory Planning a trip to Argentina

Any GA pilots that have done the trip who may have suggestions, dos, don'ts, places to avoid, places to go, etc? Would like to start a thread to gather other GA pilots' opinions and experiences. I flew my old Bonanza to Cancun, Playa del Carmenr, Merida and Chichen Itza last summer and things were easy because I consulted with Rick and bought his publications. I'd like to have the same experience in a much longer journey. Thanks

Planning a trip to South America is a little more challenging than trips ot Mexico or Central America. There are a number of factors that you need to consider in developing a plan.

DESTINATION AND ROUTE: Defining your final destination up front is tantamount in determining the optimum route. Essentially, there are three ways of getting to South America. The first route is flying through the Bahamas, Caribbean over into Brazil. The pros are that there are few if any over-flight/landing permits required depending on the exact route. The cons are that Brazil has extremely high fuel prices and landing fees at its airports. Language (Portugese) is also a challenge, even for Spanish speakers. Other cons are the extended over-water flying required and the risk of over-flying the Amazon. If you are planning a trip in a single-engine airplane, this is definately something to think about from a survivability and rescue standpoint.

Another route used is to fly across Central America and the west side of South America and then crossing the Andes at an appropriate point where terrain and weather allow. The pros are much less inhospitable terrain (you can almost fly along the beach) and lower fuel prices. The cons are much more permits required, airspace useage fees and more countries to deal with. You still have to deal with the Andes if you are going to go into Brazil, Bolivia or Argentina but the distance where you are exposed to unfriendly terrain is reduced. We find that many pilots flying single-engine aircraft prefer this route from a safety standpoint and are willing to deal with the additional permit hassles.

The third option is to over-fly Cuba and enter through Colombia and then come down the east side of the Andes Mountains. This is popular for those traveling to Bolivia or Argentina as they do not have to cross the Andes. However, you still have to deal with over-flying western Brazil and a lot of very open terrain.

COST: Everything related to general aviation becomes more epxensive as you get further away from the USA. You should consider fuel prices, landing/parking fees, airspace useage fees and repair fees (should the need arise). Again, these are factors that could also influence the route that you choose. Aircraft owner-pilots are generally highly sensitive to this topic. You should also refer to the post regarding issues with Colombian Customs and the use of a local Ground Handler if a stop in Colombia is planned.

TIMETABLE: Over-flight and landing permits are time sensitive. We typically try to obtain a window of time for our customers as weather and maintenance are always factors that can affect a timetable. However, depending on the country, they do have limits. Some countries like Colombia only allow 48 hours before you have to obtain a separate permit for remaining in the country or you are required to leave the country altogether. Colombia and Brazil also require a special permit if you want to fly to a second airport in their country. The customs departments in some of these countries like also weigh in. After all, an aircraft is a sizeable asset that you have brought into the country and if you don't want to pay duty on them (trust me, YOU DON'T) then you need to avoid running afoul of that country's customs laws.

These are some of the main topics that you should have well defined before considering making a trip to South America. For those planning such a trip you may want to consider our Aeronautical Planning Service or our Handling Service to help you with the planning and execution of such a trip. If you have more specific questions let us know or give us a call at 1-786-206-6147 or send us an email to info@caribbeanskytours.com

Saludos

Ivan Perez and me flew a Cessna 172 Hawk XP from Raleigh, NC to Posada, Argentina. It took us 15 days to fly there and leave the aircraft and 15 hours to fly home by airline. We departed Raleigh, NC at 7 AM on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 and arrived in Posada, Argentina at 8 PM, Wednesday, December 21, 2011. Here is a link to our website/blog www.starexod.wordpress.com.

Hi Steele,

I have been looking at your blog. Thank you for sharing!! I am planning to go in mid-November and take the westerly route, going to west palm, then to Kingston (overflight of Cuba) and to Cartagena or Barranquilla, to continue on to Cali, then Trujillo (Peru), Pisco, Iquique, Santiago, Mendoza, and Buenos Aires. From what I saw in your blog, sounds like Brazil is kind of painful (one reason why I am trying to avoid it). I flew to Cancun last July but it was easy thank to Rick Gardner's book which gives you all the info you need. What worries me the most is all the paperwork in Colombia and Peru. I hear Chile and Argentina are GA friendly and not expensive. How did you find out about all the paperwork you needed to do in advance? Did you use a handler? One pilot suggested that I use a handler but I wonder whether it is so time consuming.
Anyway, any advice you may have is welcome.
Thanks
Fernando

If you are flying anywhere in Central/South America, I strongly recommend a navigational program for the iPad called Air Navigation Pro. This is a very inexpensive and surprisingly good app. It works with most portable GPSs that communicate via Blue Tooth. I used it with Bad Elf GPS Pro. (another great product, by the way). Why is this program so helpful? You have access to ALL ONC charts pretty much for free on their Map Store. It is an amazing resource, and Airport info is fairly accurate. I you use Facebook check them out under Air Navigation Pro News. Their Web site is:

http://www.dixdouze.com/xample/index.php/airnavigation

The advantage of this is that it can be used anywhere in the world! They provide you with access to ONC and many other types of charts from all over the world. For my trip to South America I bought the 3D charts for Colombia, Peru, Chile and Argentina so that I could see terrain in real time should I have to fly in the clouds. While flying visually I checked for accuracy and it was remarkable how accurate it turned out to be.

It was also a God send for making pilot reports because it is designed to show ETA for each of your route waypoints. It would have been a little more complicated using my Garmin 430, but with Air Nav Pro, making pilot reports was a breeze. The program is so versatile and so affordable that I highly recommend it to anybody that flies anywhere in the world.

While at home I use WingX Pro and Foreflight, which are very good products. Their limitation however, is that they are (pretty much) US only products. You can use ForeFlight with a Canadian map subscription. If you fly outside of the US, Air Nav Pro is probably the best and least expensive choice.