250 hours in Africa? botswana..maun?

Pilot86

Pilot86

Well-Known Member
I had a ebook on africa bush flying but are there air charters in africa that you only need the minimum commercial and 250 hours or is it manatory 1000 hours for foriegn pilots? I would love to fly for a charter in maun or botswana somewhere just to get a taste..to experience it instead of thinking of it all the time.
What is the real deal flying in africa on a 206 or caravan?
 
pprune.org (another pilot forum) has a lot of info on Africa and international flying than you will find here... if you go into the Africa forum you'll find a wealth of info. Though I will say (from what I understand) Africa is the type of place where if you really want to break into there you pretty much need to just show up ready to go... Good Luck.
 
There are several humanitarian outfits that fly bush stuff all over the world. If it has a Christian background the application process is extensive and many of them you dont fly until your second or third year with the company. This also has a gentlemens agreement of staying with the outfit for almost 5 years. These groups would include MAF, Jaars, AIM, SIM, New Tribes, Flying Mission, etc. They do go into some pretty cool airstrips though. These are not places to just get in, build time, and get out quick.

Groups that are less religiously inclined are places like AirServe. I have no idea what the requirements there are. A group called Susi Air here in INDO takes low time guys for FO's on their Caravans. Pay is pretty low, but you fly a lot. The question is how to log the SIC in a Cessna Caravan, and later figure out how that moves your career in the direction you are pursuing.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk
 
I would agree that it is mostly showing up to the operator to get the job. Most operators are fairly simple, and I would say old wild west type of operation. They do everything themselves and anything local works. Going with that, no need to get pilots from elsewhere.

Watching it over the years, the low time jobs are given to those who go out and knock on the doors. You really want to have to live there and make that permanent. It's hard to come back to the US afterwards. I do know there was an airline out of Nigeria hiring last year at 250tt that was a decent outfit.
 
z987k said:
It helps to speak dutch if you're going to Namibia.
Click to expand...
Actually, English is the official language of Namibia, though not that many people speak it as their native tongue. Afrikaans - not Dutch, and German would be helpful. English is basically the Lingua Franca of Namibia though, with Oshiwambo languages being the largest linguistic group. /anthromajor
 
ppragman said:
Actually, English is the official language of Namibia, though not that many people speak it as their native tongue. Afrikaans - not Dutch, and German would be helpful. English is basically the Lingua Franca of Namibia though, with Oshiwambo languages being the largest linguistic group. /anthromajor
Click to expand...
Yeah, I meant German. If you know german it's a lot easier to get around.
 
Yeah mate Im flying out here for one of those companies in Maun just now. If you have 250hrs thats fine but if you have for instance a CFI rating thats even better for when you go to immigration and need to prove there is a reason they should give you a permit. Other than that the pprune forum has most of the information you need on coming out here.
Cheers munna.
 
Heard a KLM crew talking smack the other day and my SA buddy lit into them in Afrikaans. It was priceless.
Other than that I have nothing to add. AirServ is no longer a humanitarian company as it is for profit now (but trying desperately to get back in to the NGO world!).
 
Ok, so the 250 hours inst/comm/ and cfi in africa is the real deal to getting flying and not just talk of having that low of time. If you leave for africa, you can actually plan on getting a flying job with just those credidentials...
 
Pilot86 said:
Ok, so the 250 hours inst/comm/ and cfi in africa is the real deal to getting flying and not just talk of having that low of time. If you leave for africa, you can actually plan on getting a flying job with just those credidentials...
Click to expand...

...are you implying that you have gotten a job in AFRICA
 
no, im asking...is that actually possible with those low of times? as one jobs i saw, operators wanted 1000 hours from international pilots
 
You can get a job in Tanzania flying a 206 getting paid about $900/month. Upside is that it's all tourist crap and you get to stay in some super nice, expensive lodges. The downside is that you're getting paid $900/month.
Most operators want significant flight time unless you have an in. Lots of South Afrikaans and Kenyans looking for work. Aviation in Africa is as screwed up as Africa is. That being said theres a lot of money to be made here if you can get your foot in the door. Thats the hard part though. Operators are picky right now because they have the pick of the crop. But the good news is that the American military has decided to build some long term bases in Africa which will open up plenty of high paying contract gigs and lots of ISR flying (as we are fighting several proxy wars in central and east Africa at the moment-wonder why thats not making headlines?).
Bush flying is not the wild west cowboy show. 90% of the airplanes I come across are TCAS equipped and everybody pretty much has a 430 or a 530. Look for UN contractors and safari/tourism operators. The humanitarian gigs are pretty much in the hands of places like MAF, ASF and the like.
I've been here 4 months, have a local ATPL and work at the lowest paying commercial operator in the country. Yes. It sucks. But its what I had to do to get my foot in the door and start making contacts. The future looks slightly less dim than it did when I came here so at least thats something.
Watch Climbto350.com. As much as people like to rag on the sight its how I found my current gig (and the previous 4 jobs I've had over the last 7 years).
 
Pilot86 said:
no, im asking...is that actually possible with those low of times? as one jobs i saw, operators wanted 1000 hours from international pilots
Click to expand...


good information from the above post. I have heard that Tanzania is not giving out work permits to foriegners. The low time hours may work if you know someone inside. It was also possible few years back to get job with low hours. Unfortunately things have changed and the requirements are slightly higher.
 
The key is to go there and knock at doors, TZ is not the easiest place since many of the pilots there moved from other bush pilot jobs in other parts of Afrcia, especially becasue they can move up into the Caravan.

There was a job posted for a position on C206/PA32 in Malawi with Bush and Lake Aviation, not sure if it has been filled or not..

Have a friend that operates a company in Kenya, he actually wants to hire expats but he can`t, or it`s really hard for him as he is trying now since he needs a pilot...this is an other problem.
 
What is his requirements? is an instrument rating required or just the commercial? how many hours does he require? Im game.
 
Pilot86 said:
What is his requirements? is an instrument rating required or just the commercial? how many hours does he require? Im game.
Click to expand...
I don't know any serious operator on this planet that will take a cpl without an instrument.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

NewsBot
  • Locked
Dispatcher
Replies
0
Views
555
NewsBot
NewsBot
NewsBot
  • Locked
Dispatcher
Replies
0
Views
726
NewsBot
NewsBot
NewsBot
  • Locked
Dispatcher
Replies
0
Views
1K
NewsBot
NewsBot
F
The Pleasure of Their Company (long)
Replies
12
Views
4K
ppragman
ppragman
NewsBot
  • Locked
Dispatcher
Replies
0
Views
919
NewsBot
NewsBot
Back
Top