Mumbai or Bust !!!
I worked for three years in India, in fact out of the same hangar that “Old” Nigel worked from 20 years previously.
My advice to any expiate pilot that has the opportunity to experience the country and people, is to take that opportunity and you will never look back.
There is poverty and widespread crowding together with pollution that I had never seen before, however after a short while the eye and brain becomes numb to those sites and smells.
Most of my time there was in the capacity of Chief Pilot and Examiner for a start up company based out of the Helibase at Juhu Airport, which is on the coast a few kilometers from Mumbai [Bombay] International Airport.
The sole reason for expiates being there was to introduce a new aircraft type [B412] into the Indian Helicopter Industry.
Hence once the Indian pilots were experienced on type, the expiates began to drift back home.
I personally found that the professional capacity of the Indian Flightcrews were as good or better than anywhere else that I have seen around the world, and were a delight to work with.
On the other hand the Indian bureaucracy in the form of the DGCA [CASA, CAA or FAA equivalent] was indeed a contrast. The British left their system with the Indians with their withdrawal in 1947 and the DGCA has enshrined that 50 year old legislation to the present day….a challenge indeed.
I would be very surprised that expiates were being employed in India at the moment, with the exception of any new type being introduced, however the rules may have changed in the last few years.
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It is nigh on impossible to obtain a Indian Flightcrew Licence unless you are an Indian national, however validations of foreign licences are quite available. I suggest that the FAA [USA] ATPL is the best Licence to have for the validation process, as the Instrument Rating is “self renewable” and does not rely on the annual government retest on your home country Licence.
Yes, ensure your immunisation program is up to date and don’t eat greens or fish in the monsoon time.
Medicines that are prescription only in the “west” are freely available from most street pharmacies, so relief is not far away from the enviable illness. [Yes even Viagra is available…Nigel are you listening….cheap I have been told]
Beware of the Bombay Belly [normally strikes on day 2 or 3 of your tour.
Due to the daily requirement of being declared “Fit and Healthy” by the company Medical Officer prior to flight, a doctor is always close by to treat the unexpected.
Did I also mention to beware of the local “Fosters” beer?……and in the old 26oz bottles….the beer is great but the formaldehyde in the beer will cause the old head to hurt a little.
The weather in the South West Monsoon time can be a little of a challenge, .oh were the days of coasting in over Bandra Point at 500 ft AGL with four storey buildings and the occasional flagpole appearing through the murk.
But would I go back………… only in a heartbeat.
It’s a great place and I miss the place and the people.