Professional Pilot, October 2016
ALEX REMEMBERS a personal memoir Renewed relations between US and Cuba likely will not spur bizav there Alex Kvassays 1st trip to Cuba was pre Castro in1952 His most recent trip there was in 2011 B efore the Castro revolution in 1959 private aviation in Cuba mostly consisted of light aircraft There were some Cessnas Pipers and a few Beech Bonanzas Beech had a distributor in Havana Gustavo de Bustamante whose only qualification was that he owned a Bonanza However he never sold anything Before showing his Bonanza to an interested customer Gustavo made him take off his shoes like he was entering a Muslim mosque The only aircraft we sold in Cuba truly used for business purposes was a Beechcraft Twin Bonanza bought by Alejandro Suero Falla the owner of a large sugar plantation where I spent a delightful weekend in 1955 There were no business aircraft sales after 1959 The large plantations were parceled out which killed the sugar business and all well to do Cubans including Gustavo and Alejandro left the country A recent Register of Civil Aircraft in Cuba lists not a single business or privately owned aircraft A Learjet sale which I consider as being to a Cuban was the Learjet 24 sold to Bacardi the famous rum producer 54 PROFESSIONAL PILOT October 2016 from Cuba The company is no longer in Cuba but its still in the hands of the Bacardi family Heres how that sale happened Without any introduction or appointment I went to the Bacardi USA offices in San Juan Puerto Rico and was immediately received by company President Jorge Bosch This was what they call a cold call At this time of frequent aircraft hijackings destined to Havana members of the Bacardi firm often commuted by airline to Miami and other US destinations I mentioned to Bosch that if a commercial aircraft landed in Havana with a member of the Bacardi family on board the ransom to get him released probably would be more than the price of a Learjet He quickly saw the wisdom of that statement and immediately agreed to buy a Learjet After delivery of the aircraft the Bacardi head office in By Alex Kvassay Former Beech and Learjet Sales Executive Things in Cuba changed in 1959 when Fidel Castro took over the country A Learjet 35 was in service for Castros Cuba before it was confiscated by the US Government for being considered an illegal acquisition One of Havanas landmarks is El Morro Fortress built in 1589 The Bacardi rum company was founded in 1862 by Don Facundo Bacardi A number of Beech Bonanzas like this 35 model were flown in Cuba prior to 1959 Since that year general aviation ceased to exist in the country Bacardi building in Havana once housed headquarters for the world famous rum product company
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