Does anyone know or have experience w/ backcountry flying in Latin or South America? There seems to be so much potential, and there certainly are "strips". This ... Ag-Cat (??) on floats in Liberia last week prompts the question. "rules", getting there, fuel, places, trip reports (yes i searched a bit, google fu fails...)

niente qui

Dogpilot -- thanks for the excellent and detailed reply. Great points about the different seasonal requirements there in contrast to the northwest US/AK bush flying.

To the next guy researching this. bushpilotsinternational.com seems to have some good data here, as does the AOPA website. What I have not found (yet?) is the BCP of those areas. There seems to be two ... pieces to this type of endeavor. There is the "flying" part (where to go, what to check out, etc) and there is the "you're not in Kansas anymore and you need to have pieces of paper that you might not normally realize you even needed" part.

The paperwork requirements do seem a bit onerous (for "fun flying" type of deal) but having done the Bahamas my guess is that it's not as bad if you just get it all in a folder and do it. Bahamas is dead easy once you've done it once and there are some hacks that make it even easier (ZMA can be very accommodating if you just ask nicely). I would really like to get over there on floats.

The "where to go and what to check out" part? Wow -- the options here. And that's what has my eye. Talked to a guy the other day who had some fishing poles headed to MDE. When I asked him about them he replied that there are some places in Columbia now that are actually opening up that were inaccessible before due to "political ... stuff" and that he and his buddies have been coming down and having a blast -- somehow he is transferring out of Medellin, then to a float outfitter to a remote camp. Wait, whaaat? What about Pablo? I just got done watching that on Netflix, that's not a thing anymore??

Seems that there are some (let me find a nice word for this) "catered" options for US based private flying -- where 4-5 private planes are "lead" by a guide who essentially paves the way for them (the word "handler" is mentioned a lot here ... and the 5 star hotels cited imply that you're not pumping your own gas on this kind of trip). AAANNNDD these trips seem to cost more than most of us are going to put into a plane to start with. BUT - it exists. The notion of just kind of flying your own machine south, and keep on going, is very possible like DP talked about. I'm thinking more the "take two months off and see exactly how much trouble can be found in those two months" than a trip with assorted cheese plates as the attraction.

Another point potentially worth mentioning is that while most of us wouldn't consider dropping into a legit international airport for fuel here in the states, I would think down south that would be no big deal ... the international airports at liberia, san pedro sula, san salvador, TGU, PEI, ROA all see at least SOME civil traffic and the airspace is FAR from busy. I don't think I'd do Bogota or Mexico City -- but short of that? No big deal.

Lastly -- DP's point about some long flights is potentially understated. I would think that there could easily be areas where you could be range limited between fuel stops (I'm looking at you northern brazil!) with a whole lot of jungle down there. So if the goal is to fly argentina or chile then it might almost make sense to ship your machine down (?). While this might seem silly on it's face, if you have a folding wing (or it comes off easy) this really might be a legit option?

https://backcountrypilot.org/forum/rezrider-s-going-to-fly-south-an-aerial-expedition-19809?hilit=emcinco

I followed this blog when their trip was in progress. The link I have for the blog is dead but may still be out there somewhere.

I learned to fly in Costa Rica, and flew there for 7 years, beaches and gravel bars not allowed, but some fun and beautiful jungle strips.
Flew in Panama, not much backcountry flying there, or Nicaragua.I know Guatemala has some.

niente qui

Here are a couple from 2001 when my Aunt and I flew down to my cousin's farm not far from Villa Montes Bolivia. This a South American Mission 206 and we flew from a grass strip on the southwest side of Santa Cruz to this gravel strip at a natural gas pumping station----the pipeline supplying gas to Argentina. When we went over to Brazil, a pilot who flew a Mooney all over SA said he wouldn't fly in Bolivia because they shoot first and ask questions later. We had no problem though. I am in the green shirt.
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Interesting opinions.

Drop me a note anytime any of you want to come to Chile. Lots of backcountry flying, off-runway allowed, floatplane, fjords, remote lakes, fishing, camping, national parks, you name it. Very secure, friendly and serious in spite of all late news, which is biased as always.

I'd gladly take you around myself or get you in touch with proper people.

Canalguna wrote:Interesting opinions.

Drop me a note anytime any of you want to come to Chile. Lots of backcountry flying, off-runway allowed, floatplane, fjords, remote lakes, fishing, camping, national parks, you name it. Very secure, friendly and serious in spite of all late news, which is biased as always.

I'd gladly take you around myself or get you in touch with proper people.

Ummm...yes please. You're now high on my list of BCP people to visit.

Some day, when I able to get more than 75 feet from my house.

Canalguna wrote:Interesting opinions.

Drop me a note anytime any of you want to come to Chile. Lots of backcountry flying, off-runway allowed, floatplane, fjords, remote lakes, fishing, camping, national parks, you name it. Very secure, friendly and serious in spite of all late news, which is biased as always.

I'd gladly take you around myself or get you in touch with proper people.

I visited your country in 2012 for 6 weeks. I thought it was one of the most beautiful and friendly places I have traveled. Made me think it would be a great place to retire one day. Knowing it has backcountry flying available just puts a big smile on my face.

Cool thread idea. I flew in Central America (Honduras, Elsal, Belieze, Guatamala, Costa Rica, Nic, etc.) doing humanitarian and counter drug stuff for the Army. Following the correct procedures for entering/exiting the numerous countries airspace took a little effort, but wasn't that hard. The variations in terrain and topography were fascinating. The field elevations in CA were never all that high so DA was manageable. Would be awesome to go exploring again.

Something I like about flying in Latin America is the feel of being in a remote area.
I landed at an airstrip in an indian community where the last plane to have landed there was 15 years ago, I ended up going there a lot, and fly toys for the indian kids during Christmas

Landed at a national park where only access was by boat, or 6 hr hike and only my plane and a 206 were landing there.

In Panama the islands in the Atlantic side , San Blas, were governed by the indian communities, you need to get a permit from them before going, took 24hrs and $75 (I think) no Spanish, no English and one of the most incredible scenery I have flown over, all the strips were paved, but small and many times the length of the island.

We spent 2015 driving through South America with a 4 Runner. (We shipped it from Houston to Chile, then back from Ecuador to Houston when done. Drove all the way to the tip of SA, then back through Argentina, Chile, Peru, etc. Being a pilot I was always interested in plane things - found myself at a local fly-in in Villarica Chile (near Pucon). For the most part didn’t really see anyone with back-country style planes or gear. I think in Chile and Argentina they do want you to land at airports. The other thing in/around these areas are the general conditions - from Puerto Montt to the tip in Chile is extreme - in difficulty of the terrain and conditions. The weather can go from bad to worse quickly. For me Chile is very similar to the Pacific Northwest, but the further south you go, you end up with Alaska like conditions.

The winds in Patagonia are also extreme - at the tip of South America they install radio towers at an angle (70 degrees) due to constant wind. Personally, I think I’d love to fly down - but would stick to airport landings then excursion in out in a 4x4 for fishing, hiking, etc.

The other thing to think about is maintenance if something breaks - I’d have spare parts with me and know how to do almost everything myself.

Peru - the mountains there are extreme - i didn’t see a single place to land when inland - the only place is the coast which is a giant sand trap.
Chile - great places to go, good airports up/down the country.
Argentina - good airports (Baroloche is amazing) - Didn’t see back-country style places to land, although they probably exist.

The other thing - check for LL fuel - when I considered flying down not all spots have LL fuel so you have to manage accordingly...

Good luck...

You're right and very assertive on your observations. In Chile fliers are not encouraged to go off-runway as there are plenty of runways, but to be fair, it was only this year that local aviation authority (Dgac) lifted restrictions on that, so it is quite flourishing and there's a large community of Huskys growing. Floatplane wise my plane and a friend's are the only two high wing floatplanes in the entire country, plus a couple of Lakers and that's it, though there are some ultralights... backcountry pilots here are low profile and almost hard to find, but we all know who they are and how to reach them, I don't think you will find them even at that large gathering in Villarica's flying club. You are right about weather south of Puerto Montt and LL availability. That makes flying there sometimes barely legal regarding weather and weight margins (ferry fuel), thus not exposing themselves unnecessarily with pictures at all. When you know people, you always have where to leave some gas barrels though.
Anyway we have lots of beatiful lakes and remote areas in or nearby the Andes (low Andes there) north of Puerto Montt to start, and a bit to the south there's still good reach, google Parque Pumalin for instance, it was founded by Douglas Tompkins (rest in peace) and was now donned to the Chilean Government along Patagonia National Park (PNP) by Douglas wife Christine.
Lots of runways, lots of pristine scenery, lots of tourists all year round, lots of back country flying opportunities. Yeah we could use some more infrastructure, but other than that it looks a lot like Pacific Northwest and New Zealand, and yes, near Punta Arenas it is tundra country, like Alaska, wind wise too.

Again feel free to contact anytime if you want to come around or just know a bit more. Personally I'm looking forward to visiting PNW next year and have some flying around those islands.

Rezrider is on BCP sometimes, and he flew his Maule from Colorado to Chile and back a couple of years ago. He and his wife maintained a blog about that trip that is fun to peruse. They visited some pretty amazing places and had the kind of adventures you'd expect for an extended journey on a small plane. They both write really well too. Unfortunately, their blog is no longer on the server I have the URL for. He did post a lot about his trip on this website. Here's a snippet of his adventure:

https://backcountrypilot.org/forum/rezrider-s-going-to-fly-south-an-aerial-expedition-19809?p=282421&hilit=emcinco#p282421