Bush Pilot Jobs

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Re: Bush Pilot Jobs

Postby obruni » Sun Aug 08, 2010 7:18 am

Come to Africa....all of the pilots flying gold, minerals, NGO workers, etc. are 21 year old alcoholics trying to get more hours. The crappier the country the easier it is to get a job. I do have friends who quit because they were afraid of the safety of the planes....not very reassuring if the pilot won't fly the plane...There are tons of small companies that are contracted out to the UN, NGOs, private companies...
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Re: Bush Pilot Jobs

Postby cochiseintheeast » Fri Aug 13, 2010 2:47 pm

Come to Africa....all of the pilots flying gold, minerals, NGO workers, etc. are 21 year old alcoholics trying to get more hours.


Actually they are nt all 21 year old alcoholics. Some are like 50 year old alcoholics, the Russians are always my favorite cause they dont give a fuck...
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Re: Bush Pilot Jobs

Postby obruni » Fri Aug 13, 2010 3:13 pm

He he...yeah...very disconcerting to be at the bar shitfaced with them until the early hours only to discover they are the pilot on your flight first thing the next morning.
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Re: Bush Pilot Jobs

Postby idoru » Wed Sep 07, 2016 12:25 am

obruni wrote:Come to Africa....all of the pilots flying gold, minerals, NGO workers, etc. are 21 year old alcoholics trying to get more hours. The crappier the country the easier it is to get a job. I do have friends who quit because they were afraid of the safety of the planes....not very reassuring if the pilot won't fly the plane...There are tons of small companies that are contracted out to the UN, NGOs, private companies...

Old post I know, but do you know what companies do that type of flying? Is it generally contracted out, or do the mining/exploration companies have their own flight departments? I'm and american pilot looking to break into africa.
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Re: Bush Pilot Jobs

Postby Darcy » Fri Sep 09, 2016 10:46 am

Not so easy now I'm afraid. Unless you've got the hours you won't get hired directly. Right now in the helicopter world the EU companies have most of the African exploration work tied up, with mostly Spanish or French based operations taking all the juicy work (Heliconia, Inaer, Heli-Union) but PHI just landed a big contract in Ghana. They are based out of Florida somewhere I believe, though I'm not sure if they have any fixed wing ops. Ghana is lovely! Depending on your hours, you may have better luck finding American operators in Africa to get in, as for some reason many pilots carry an unhealthy fear of everything Africa, so sometimes you get lucky. I know I got tagged with being an "Africa" pilot and that was all she wrote for me. I love Africa but wanted to see some of the far East. Hasn't happened yet. With the present slow down in oil, I can't get back there to save my life. Found a gig in Kazakhstan instead. Bristow is now American owned and have operations in Nigeria, and some in Angola I believe, but there are few ex-pats pilots left. Almost everywhere is pushing heavily for solely National pilots. Malaysia just let go of 15 of our ex-pat pilots and those seats are all being filled with Nationals. Good for the Nationals and I wholly support their Nationalization programs, but it does seriously reduce job prospects for someone like myself. Or yourself.
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Bush Pilot Jobs

Postby russlits » Thu Dec 06, 2018 8:13 pm

I have seen heaps of DVDs etc on the area and read books too but is there much bush free camping around the Coffs area?

When is the best time to travel the area?

Swags or maybe for camper trailers.

Cheers
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