I'm in the process of buying a really nice used SeaMax M22 amphibious airplane from a private seller in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I've been down there, flown the plane and met with both the seller and the aircraft designer. We're finalizing payment details right now and I face a choice about how to get the aircraft back to Panama.
First option is to have the aircraft disassembled, crated and shipped to Panama. This is a fairly low effort option from my point of view but it is expensive. There is the labor to prepare the aircraft for shipment, the jigs to mount it in the container, a special Brazilian tax to move an airplane inside the country, the shipment cost and insurance for the whole thing. Plus the customs inspectors in Panama look very closely at things coming in containers so there are taxes and duties there. Delivery in Panama is then required and of course I need to fly someone in to assemble it. But, as I say earlier, very easy to do.
The other option is a lot more daunting but possibly quite exciting: a ferry flight. This is a VFR-only aircraft with a service ceiling of 12,000 feet. It has 25 gallons of fuel capacity with a Rotax 912ULS which burns about 5 gallons per hour, cursing at about 110 mph. It can use 100LL or ethanol-free auto gas but 100LL is more common at airfields in South America. With two pilots (I would be hiring a ferry pilot to fly with me) and light luggage, there isn't room for ferry fuel tanks as far as I can tell.
The problems lie in the routing. This isn't an easy - I've been playing with my Aera 500 to see if I can get a rough idea. Here are some of the issues I've encountered:
1. The Andes exceed the service ceiling quite considerably, so unless there are some well known passes through them between Bolivia and Peru, the route needs to stay to the east of them. I'm not particularly interested in having the same experience as a well-known football team either!
2. Airports of entry make things difficult. Crossing into Colombia is fairly easy at Leticia (SKLT) but then there isn't any fuel available in my range.
3. There is a long distance in Amazonas where there are no fuel stops, necessitating a big detour.
4. It is very hard to find charts. All I can find are ancient Operational Navigation Charts.
Here is the best route that I could come up with:
- Rio -> SBBT 373mi
- SBBT -> SWRT 487mi (might be a bit too far)
- SWRD -> SBVH 449mi
- SBVH -> SWRO 370mi
- SWRO -> SBRB 285mi
- SBRB -> SBCZ 368mi
- SBCZ -> SKLT 304mi (airport of entry into Colombia so I'm forced to enter here)
- SKLT -> SKUL 716mi (this is my big problem, I can't find fuel between these two points)
- SKUL -> MPMG 406mi (airport of entry into Panama)
Total: 3758 mi
Thoughts and advice on the relative merits of the two choices, route planning ideas, sources for charts and experiences of anyone who has done this would be much appreciated.
Thanks!
Matt