We don't seem to hear a lot of news from all the Rotorheads who work in West Africa, and I'm sure their are a lot out there as there's a lot of oil support flying going on there right now. Is this because of lousy comms from that part of the world or has the existence of PPRuNe not really gotten to there yet?
Well as this is a rumor network, here's a few I heard around the bazaars in the last few months:
In Equatorial Guinea CHC is having to bid to keep its contract. It's rumored to be looking for some Dauphin N3s to replace its present aircraft. Any news as to who the other bidders are?
In Nigeria, OLOG now seems to be operating as 2 separate companies. Is that because they're paying pilots in Escravos less than the rates Bristow is paying when operating under that name? It's also rumored that new operator Caverton Helicopters will be starting a shuttle service between Victoria Island and MM Airport with a couple of Agusta 109 Powers soon. It'll be interestin to see how the Power performs in Nigeria - and how good they are with spares back up. I guess they're not competing against Bristow or Aero yet, but I bet CHC must be looking on with interest after their failure to make any headway there as CHC Court a few years ago. I hope they have more luck in keeping going than Court, or the ill-starred venture of Okada some years back. Any rumors as to who's behind them? Talking of Bristow, has the EC155 performance been improved yet? Nobody else seems interested in it in that part of the world, most of the companies seem more interested in S76C+.
There are also rumors that CHC is now taking a look at buying Schreiner. Any PPRuNers heard more about that?
Bristow are also rumored to be sending a couple of 212s back into Mauritania again soon for an offshore exploration support contract.
Well PPRuNers out here in the Mangroves, how about you guys send us some information as to what's happening in this corner of the continent - Guns seems to be the only one who posts regularly
