Appropriate accommodation for pilot

[Miklavz]

Gents, I need some assistance from you. Can you somehow define the term above for housing of helicopter pilot in long term. I am aware that sometimes one has to stay overnight in some ****ty place or tent; howeer, what is the minimum standard for accomodation in long term period. Location is next to eqator, in swampy and animal hostile terrain.
Thanks in advance for the suggestions/answers.
Mike

[GoodGrief]

You set your own standards.
Accept or don't.

[hueyracer]

There is no "document" or any form of "legal requirement" for an appropriate accommodation.

As the previous poster said:

it´s either sufficient for you-or not..

[Miklavz]

Thanks, sure I Will send my own standards; I have them but some suggestions can help complete the list; eg sleeping in non-AC tent for a long period of time while hotel is 30 km away.... no way.
Mike

[Helinaut]

Standards? Do you want the job or not? Unfortunately this is still the way in the rotary world:{

[Miklavz]

Depends on; I'm not so despert to accept everything. Not only due to discomfort but also for the safety reasons. Can you assure your capability to perform flight safetly if you are distracted, tired etc?
I guess everybody needs good sleep and relax from time to time?


RGDS, Mike

[Non-PC Plod]

I would check out what your ops manual, and the appropriate aaviation authority say about crew rest and fitness to fly. If they say something along the lines that you should have 8 hours of undisturbed rest in a 24 period, then you have a more than reasonable argument that your rest is being disturbed by the lions etc, and therefore you are not in accordance with the rules. If the buck stops with the captain, (as it always will) to say if he is fit to fly, then you should report yourself as unfit if you dont sleep. Then, they will either fix the problem or they sack you, depending on the company attitude!

[Aesir]

If you work for a big operator then the pilots union would set the standards for accommodation but normally all operators would want to ensure that their flight crews receive sufficient rest in interest of safety and productivity.

You could email Ifalpa.org or ECA https://www.eurocockpit.be/ and I´m sure they would assist you with minimum standards.

If hotel or house accomodation is not available nearby your base i.e. camp operations then normally crews negotiate a certain reimbursement for living in tent. In Europe that amount should be equal to price of hotel room or thereabout. At the very least it should not be a cheaper solution to let crews sleep in tents. The tent has to be of a certain standard also.

The APA (American pilots association) in a NPRM to FAA duty & flight time requirements set forth the following definition for hotel rooms:

"APA recommended the following revised definition: “suitable accommodation means a single-occupancy hotel room or equivalent with a bed, sound mitigation and light and temperature controls that is reasonably free from disturbances.”

http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/rulemaking/recently_published/media/2120-AJ58-FinalRule.pdf

[Helinaut]

AESIR/NPP, you need to read what location Mike is pointing too...

"Location is next to equator, in swampy and animal hostile terrain"

...I work in West Africa for a rather big company. You seriously think you will call a Union of any kind or possibly your employer? Regulations unfortunately work only one way and that is the company's way, especially for an expat. Regulations and Unions may work in other places but not in Africa. :=

Uninterrupted sleep? You are joking right!?! :* ...but I do have a room, kitchen, TV, pool, AC :8 and, if we have electricity :hmm: I can actually even use it.

It is quite simple down here. We are here for the money and that is it! There is a reason why we take home 10 to 12+K a month. If I could get it in Europe or the US, I would most definitely not be in a place like this.

Mike, tell us what country you are talking about and I am sure you will get a pretty clear answer here.
if you have to sleep in tents and or no AC, than the standard is $200+K a year. Hope you do not have to be that desperate.

All the best mate! :ok:

[Sir Korsky]

I'm never complaining about having to stay in the Hilton when the Marriot is full again.

[Helilog56]

I would highly anticipate a camping scenario.....as I spent some of my early years in South America, a lot of the small villages and towns had little, to no accommodations available.
Get you shots done......;)

[ersa]

It's has to be a seven star hotel with hotlines to hookers and a full size bar otherwise I will not get out of bed.

[fijdor]

It's has to be a seven star hotel with hotlines to hookers and a full size bar otherwise I will not get out of bed.

Ersa with what your asking, it will be pretty hard to get out of bed anyway.:rolleyes:

JD

[Boudreaux Bob]

We used to dream of a Tent when all we had was a Poncho made of Newspaper.

[Gordy]

Newspaper
Newspaper I used to DREAM of newspaper....

[John Eacott]

Newspaper?

Eeeh lad, tha were lucky. 'Ole in the ground were all we 'ad, and then we thought we were lucky.

[Heli Fat]

ersa..


Nicely put :D:D

[ShyTorque]

Newspaper?

Eeeh lad, tha were lucky. 'Ole in the ground were all we 'ad, and then we thought we were lucky.

Now then, a historical question!

Where does that sketch originate from and who was in it? :8

[TRC]

At Last the 1948 Show. Brooke-Taylor, Chapman, Cleese, Feldman - Four Yorkshiremen

AT LAST THE 1948 SHOW - Brooke-Taylor, Chapman, Cleese, Feldman - Four Yorkshiremen - YouTube

[Bravo73]

Now then, a historical question!

Where does that sketch originate from and who was in it? :8


This one?

The Four Yorkshiremen Sketch - YouTube (http://youtu.be/VKHFZBUTA4k)

:ok:

[ShyTorque]

Correct! Monty Python only borrowed it later.

[grumpytroll]

Find out what is actually there for you. Are there others folks there and how many. I think in most cases you will be amazed at what others have already done for comfort. Supply and demand provides a means for all kinds of comforts that you might think would never be available. Talk to someone who is there and get the lay of the land, then, think hard about what you will need to be comfortable.

One of the first things I would ask is can I get shipments of stuff brought in to somewhere I can get to often or easily. This might sound odd but I could get practically anything I wanted shipped to my base in Afghanistan even though it was very remote, even a huge selection of groceries. Amazon was very accommodating. Can't get that or something similar, then figure out how to bring it with you. How can you seal up a tent? Screen is light and cheap. Research comfortable ways to sleep in the bush. Its been done for centuries. A small Honda generator is lightweight and can power a small air conditioner (don't need much for a tent) and a small refrigerator plus a couple of LED lights. Bug spray..definitely. Please don't forget to bring a comfortable chair with a foot rest. Worth its weight in gold. A camping hammock, oh yeah. A camping shower...you'll be very popular. Beer makng kit...

Find out what they have, supplement with what you need and enjoy.

I hope you aren't replacing the last pilot who was eaten by a lion or a puppy size spider! If so, I recommend a Colt AR-15 with night scope. (a bit harder to get on Amazon)

In any case, enjoy it. A fantastic life experience awaits.

[fijdor]

Having spent time in the jungle of Peru and Ecuador they will probably ask you to take some kind of Malaria pills or other stuff like that. Now here what I know about that stuff and then you will be able to decide what you will do with it.

When I went there I was told to take malaria pills it was a once a week pill, some others from a different province (Canada) than mine had a once a day pills to take and we had to take them starting 2 weeks before going down there, during our stay and 2 weeks after being back home for time off.

Since we were on a 4 weeks on and 4 weeks off schedule we would have to take those pills non stop for the duration of the contract (couple of years) I did not do the 2 years though That was the infos we had from the Canadian doctors.

Now what I decided to do was to wait till I got down there and ask the local doctors what they thought about the pills I was given. Did get a bit of a surprise when the doctor saw what I had, he asked me if I was suicidal because that stuff would kill me in a matter of a couple of years. It would start by destroying my liver, then my "balance system" would gravely be affected and some other very serious side effects. He said this, pills are good for one or two kind of malaria but there are 62 kind of it and even with those, I can still catch it and if ever I do, it will be a major problem to get ride of it because of the pills already taken.
Said not to take anything, first of all there are no malaria above 3000 ft and the best thing to do is roll up your sleeve before sundown ( around 6 oclock close to Equator) for an hour or so and same thing in the morning.

I never caught anything and also there are a lot more to worry about in the jungle than the malaria, it will be the least of your problem when you start seeing what other stuff (sickness) is running around there.

JD