So, this is how an airplane is marketed

I was invited for a rare event (for me at least) in which a client of mine launched his company's right to sell a small airplane, Cirrus SR20 within Malaysia and still negotiating for other rights across South East Asia. The airplanes are sold and manufactured by a company out of United States from Duluth, Minnesota, and one of their Vice President, Ian Bentley, was even with us to oversee the launch. My client is an integrated training and services company for pilot training and flight simulator which even have a flight school and club. They actually more towards helicopter when they started but then they venture into small planes and they are now a Malaysian success story.

I have always attended the launch of property for sale or event other events. And I am not that well versed in anything to do with an airplane except for commercial airplanes in which I board it to go from one point of the earth to another. Basically, I don't really have an ambition to fly a plane, either something small like what my client is selling or even those big aircraft you see flying in the sky. So, this was the nearest I have ever been to an aircraft. Ever.

Once, a client did asked me to accompany him to fly on a helicopter as that was the only time he had to discuss with me a certain matter. Luckily (or unluckily) it had to be postpone as the pilot had landed somewhere else and he did not have time to wait for the helicopter to arrive at the place we were supposed to board. He was scaring me with tales on how some of the people who flew in the heli vomitted and just couldn't stand the feeling of being in a small enclosure.

Anyway, the event was considered a success as there were a few VVIPs who managed to turn up, attended the briefings and then was told on how they can owned the plane. Some just stayed for the morning briefings and took whatever brochures my client provided for them to decide whether they have the spare money or not to buy the airplane. What interest me was the flying club which seems to be affordable for even me to join. There was the one time joining fee of either RM2,000-00 (USD540) or RM4,000-00 (USD1,081) and then there is the annual fee of just a few hundreds. Then they charge you an hour rate which differs if you pay the first amount of joining fee or the second. It depends on the plane that you use. And if you can afford to buy one, you can lease it back to the company in which the money generated will be enough for them to maintain and refuel your aircraft.

As usual, being the blogger that I am, I just can't resist taking some pictures :

BMWs on hand to drive us to the hangar

The hangar called SkyPark
(supposedly a place for VIPs to park their private plane)

Me in the cockpit

The Cirrus SR22

One of the private jet ready to go off somewhere