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Old 20th Mar 2006, 23:32
  #664 (permalink)  
212man
 
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Den Haag
Age: 57
Posts: 6,267
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It's spelled Eket. The operation is a split site: the accommodation is in a village (Eket itself) about a 25 minute drive from the base. The base is within a large MobilExxon oil storage (?) complex located right on the coast in the far SE corner of Nigeria. There is a large grass runway and a hangar complex with offices etc which is pretty reasonable. The work is all offshore, with occasional trips 'up the road' to Port Harcourt to pick up freight etc. Not sure what the current numbers are, but I think it's 4 a/c flying. The programme has been transformed since I was there; it used to be 5 a/c operating a totally shambolic programme which needed constant changes (my line training tip was "never write down where you are going to until you've landed, and never write down POB until you've taken off!") However, that has cahnegd and there is a rigid programme that is fixed week by week. I believe there will be 412s there by now, but could be wrong.

Similarly, I can't comment on current flying hours but we used to fly and log airborne time only. With 40 landings a day that caused quite a split from 'real' time! The limit is 100 hours a month and I guess they get close to that now.

Accommodation, well what can I say?! Like all things it depends on your expectations and imagination. It may seem reasonable to you or, on the other hand, it may seem cr*p. It comprises of a selection of bungalows and houses in a compound. There are 5 to a house and you may share your room with a work mate when your are out on leave. I think it would be polite to say the houses are 'a bit drab'. There is nothing in the compound to do. In the village there are some very basic bars but at the other end of 'town' is the main Exxon Mobil complex which has some nice facilities. At the main base there is one of the best golf courses in Nigeria, with one of the few real greens (normally browns elsewhere). It poses as a 'coastal erosion protection scheme' within the accounts (or so the story goes!).

I'm sure someone currently there could add more detail. Like all places, it's not so much the physical location, it's the people there and what you put into it that determines how you get on.
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