Thanks GeeWhizz.
The name is a play on the fact that I was born in Africa (ph=f).
I came to this flying game very late so I am old, grey and inexperienced but have become totally addicted.
I live in the UK for much of the year and in Southern California for the rest of it. Given my very low level of experience, I find the UK's airspace to be too crowded for comfort, the weather not that great and the rental fleets to be relatively antiquated so I really only want to fly while I am in California. My initial certificate is an FAA SEL PPL.
I can't work in the US as I only travel there on a visitor's visa so I am looking for the path to fly at relatively low cost once I have sufficient ratings under my belt. The "volunteer" SIC route in equipment requiring type ratings seems to make sense. I am looking for opinions as to whether I could actually get any hours during the "snowbird season" (generally October to April).