UN, Red Cross or interesting flying?

[pilotbear]

Hi Guys,. .Does anybody work for or know how I would get a job flying for the Red Cross or UN or similar organisation?. .Or know of any company with interesting and challenging flying looking to recruit?. .I have over 700hrs on Canadian and JAR CPL/ME/IR including 200 on floats in BC Canada.. .Travelling and being away from home is OK.. .Thanks

[Genghis the Engineer]

Personally no, but I would recommend you look into two other organisations too.

One is "Aviation Sans Frontiers", which is a sister organisation of the better known MSF. French based I think.

The other (which I believe requires you to be a practicing Christian with a sponsoring church) is the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), which is UK based.

G

[AeroBatfink]

There's a post in the African Aviation forum called "Lokilokia?" (sic - it's actually Lokichoggio, in Kenya) which details some of the aid flying that goes on there. It's a pretty imfamous destination for adventure-seeking pilots, and quite a few people know someone who flies or has flown there (a friend of a friend was there for a while in my case - see what I mean?).

There are also a number of different posts in the same forum concerning exciting flying of various types - try adjusting the timescale to show topics from longer ago; plenty of good stuff there.

Also, there may be some good floats/skis stuff in New Zealand, but to be honest I haven't really had a good look. You're probably way ahead of me there...

:) . .AB

[ 08 February 2002: Message edited by: AeroBatfink ]</p>

[Chris2]

Hi. .Most of the aid/relief flying is done by private companies contracted to the UN, Red Cross, etc.. .A lot of South African companies involved in this type of work, specifically Ross Air, King Air Services and Balmoral. Also a Danish company called Aviation Assistance.. .Have a look under the African forum.. .Best of luck. .Dutchie

[pilotbear]

thank you :)

[Elite Skipper]

You may want to take a look at a company called Zimex Aviation. Zimex Aviation is a Swiss based company, I believe. They fly Twin Otters and Turbo Porters. Their primary business focuses on contracts with various oil companies, mining companies and other corporations in many countries. Mostly in the Middle East and Africa. The aircraft ferry workers to and from the oil fields and/or mining camps.

The guys I knew have flown in Yemen, Ethiopia, Algeria and other countries in Africa and the Middle East. They said it is very, very interesting flying. Unfortunately, the down side is, quite often, you are confined to a desert tent camp or isolated base for up to 30 days at a time. You are basically at the mercy of the company for 24 hours a day until you complete your rotation.

You may also want to contact Kenn Borek Air in Calgary, Canada. This company does similar flying with Twin Otters. They have had a very interesting contract for several years with Maldivian Air Taxi. They wet leased several Twin Otters on floats to ferry tourists to and from the resorts in the Maldives, just off the southwest coast of India.

Also, Kenn Borek sent a Twin Otter to a research station in the dead of an Antarctic winter to rescue a sick doctor, last year. The rescue was staged from Calgary and the crew flew the Twin Otter all the way from Calgary to the Antarctic over a period of several weeks. The rescue mission was a success and it provided some very interesting and challenging flying for the pilots.

From what I have heard about the Kenn Borek job, it is an excellent place to work.

Hope this helps.

Elite Skipper

[ 09 February 2002: Message edited by: Elite Skipper ]</p>