Chincul SACAIFI was an

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

manufacturing company in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. The company built

Piper Aircraft Piper Aircraft, Inc. is a manufacturer of general aviation aircraft, located at the Vero Beach Regional Airport in Vero Beach, Florida, United States and owned since 2009 by the Government of Brunei. Throughout much of the mid-to-late 20th cent ...

under license. It was a

wholly owned subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidiary company. Unl ...

of "La Macarena S.A.",

Piper A piper is a musician, a player of the bagpipe. As a noun proper, Piper may also refer to: People * Piper (given name) * Piper (surname) Arts and entertainment Fictional characters Comics * Piper (Morlock), in the Marvel Universe * P ...

's Argentine distributor.

History

In response to the considerable aging and reduction of the inventory of the country's air fleet, the FAA encouraged a plan for the progressive replacement of the fleet through manufacturers of national origin. For this the landowner of Buenos Aires, José María Beraza, inspired by

Alejandro Agustín Lanusse Alejandro Agustín Lanusse Gelly (28 August 1918 – 26 August 1996) was the ''de facto'' president of the Argentine Republic between 26 March 1971 and 25 May 1973, during the military dictatorship of the country called the " Argentine Revoluti ...

The inauguration of the plant occurred on December 12, 1972. It was decided to manufacture aircraft under license from

Piper Aircraft Corporation Piper Aircraft, Inc. is a manufacturer of general aviation aircraft, located at the Vero Beach Regional Airport in Vero Beach, Florida, United States and owned since 2009 by the Government of Brunei. Throughout much of the mid-to-late 20th centur ...

, the largest light aircraft factory in the world, with bases in Lock Haven,

Vero Beach Vero Beach is a city in and the county seat of Indian River County, Florida, United States. According to the 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,354. Nicknamed "The Hibiscus City", Vero is situated about southeast of Orlando along the ...

, Renovo and Quehanna, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, thanks to Piper's licensed production plan to produce aircraft. abroad, it envisaged assembly in emerging third world countries, with the main benefit of commercial penetration and the reduction of labor costs that this implied. Industrial promotion policies at the time allowed manufacturers who settled in certain areas of the country to have tax reductions and deferrals. Therefore, the owners of Chincul settled in the town of Pocito in the province of

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

. There they built two 70 m by 110 m hangars, one for production and another for finishing. These plus other sectors and annexed workshops made for a total covered area of 14,000 m^2.

Chincul's golden age

The plant maintained a simultaneous process with 10 assembly lines, with about 450 employees (between technicians and aeronautical mechanics), working 24 hours a day, 365 days a year "24x7". In total they produced some 960 aircraft, which constituted an absolute record and a demonstration of the country's industrial capacity.

Final years and bankruptcy

By the middle of the 1980s, the Sanjuanina plant started a slow downward slope due to the inflationary process that was experienced at that time, in addition to the bankruptcy of its Piper Aircraft mother house. The Cuyano settlement of the Beraza tried to keep the head for a while longer, but 10 years of setbacks prevented it. Finally, between 1991 and 1994, a final series of the PA-18 Super Club model was produced, definitively ceasing the activity on January 31, 1995, the date on which its huge gates were closed at the Pocito plant. Today the facilities offer the image of a sad abandonment, which contrasts crudely with those industrial buildings covered with airplanes.

Production

Chincul built by license Piper aircraft:Авиационная промышленность стран Латинской Америки
*

Piper PA-28 Cherokee The Piper PA-28 Cherokee is a family of two-seat or four-seat light aircraft built by Piper Aircraft and designed for flight training, air taxi and personal use.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', pages 62–64. Werner & Werner Corp, ...

— 960Pereira de Andrade, Roberto: ''Enciclopédia de Aviões Brasileiros'', Editora Globo, 1997. *

Piper PA-31 Navajo The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of twin-engined low-wing tricycle gear utility aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for small cargo and feeder airlines, and as a corporate aircraft. Production ran from 1967 to 1984. It was licen ...

«Argentine Piper factory» Flight International magazine, 10 May 1973, p.700 (online archive version)
/ref> *

Piper PA-32R The Piper PA-32R is a six-seat (or seven-seat), high-performance, single engine, all-metal, fixed-wing aircraft produced by Piper Aircraft of Vero Beach, Florida. The design began life as the Piper Lance, a retractable-gear version of the Piper C ...

— 26Peperell 1987, pp.219-224

Other models

Chincul had a manufacturing project under license for the Bell 212 and Bell 412SP in the San Juan province.

References

Notes

Sources

Remembering Chincul S.A.

External links

Chincul S.A.
Defense companies of Argentina Piper Aircraft, Inc. Aircraft manufacturers of Argentina Defunct manufacturing companies of Argentina Privately held companies of Argentina {{aero-company-stub