I was in the second group of Evergreen pilots to do that contract....the first Chief Pilot absconded with the petty cash....paid his way home with it. The second Chief Pilot nearly killed himself in a Pilatus Porter crash....the third Chief Pilot tried to drink himself to death.....the line pilots lasted anywhere from days to several years. We were based in Bobo-Diolasso in what was then the Republic of Upper Volta now Burkina Faso. We flew three Jetrangers and one Pilatus Porter. There was no flight following, no GPS, maps were sometimes hand drawn. There were no observers, pilots were alone for the whole week .....departed on Monday morning....returned late on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning. Survival kits were typical Evergreen....hand full of Charms candy....and some matchs....and a couple of condoms....I assume for use with the native ladies. The French UN official who started the program was an absolute gentleman as was his Belgian assistant. The local staff we met in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, and Mali were a delight to deal with. We did some wonderful flying....stayed lost....at times did not even know which country I was in! Lived very rough....Evergreen standard accomodation and pay.....really bad! Bobo had one pinball machine which you could not tilt....no ice....bad gin....one hotel....two restaurants.....we shared one Land Rover between five pilots and one mechanic who lived in two different locations.....five miles apart. There was no refrigeration in the market....dysentery was a normal situation. Loved the experience.....saw some very interesting sights....met some very coloful people.....and have never been slightly interested in working for Evergreen ever since.
They paid me every penny they had promised....but would not tell me the details of what had been paid during a collect telephone call from Bobo to the Chief Pilot....then Larry Vineyard. He merely reaffirmed Payrolls statement that "Evergreen doesn't release that information over the telephone!"