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-   -   Maun, Botswana. The essential guide. (https://www.pprune.org/african-aviation/433420-maun-botswana-essential-guide.html)

propcowboy 26th Jun 2012 07:16

Redwing_UH: drop me a PM, there are some other countries around that are a bit more family friendly and have better pays - just considering your hours.

Exascot 29th Jun 2012 17:09

Bush Pilot Documentary
 
Bush Pilots : Dave

There are two videos. The trailer on the main page and a clip from the first episode (Bush Pilots Ep 1 teaser : Dave - The Home of Witty Comedy Banter : Dave)

Interesting decision to fly right under the Cb. 'If you can see through it you can fly through it'. Says the commentator.

These clips can't officially be viewed outside the UK but I am sure that all you computer whizzes know how to get around this.

scarrymike 29th Jun 2012 20:28

Any advice on getting around the - you can't view this from your current location?

Exascot 30th Jun 2012 10:33


Any advice on getting around the - you can't view this from your current location?
I can't answer this on an open forum.

Use Google. There are a number of ways.

lilflyboy262...2 1st Jul 2012 07:01

Pm?
I can't figure it out haha.

HardCorePawn 2nd Jul 2012 09:37

*cough* free uk vpn *cough* :oh:

STN Ramp Rat 3rd Jul 2012 19:24

Maun on TV
 
Bush Pilots : Dave

EladElap 3rd Jul 2012 19:58

Highway to the dangerzone boys... :}:}:}:}


Tongue in cheek because I know that it's all journo speak here, but "docu on British aces"...

New documentary on British air aces Bush Pilots who have to deal with every eventuality in the wild | The Sun |Showbiz|TV

byronmc 4th Jul 2012 17:23

Hey Everybody

Has anyone camped at Kesmo Lodge? How far is it from the action?

Thanks

cavortingcheetah 4th Jul 2012 17:49

Eleven minutes on foot?
Which is a long time when it's high noon.

propcowboy 4th Jul 2012 18:49

British air aces, huh?
Hope it does not end like the NatGeo stuff on Congo bush flying... Haha...
Kuwa na furaha

cavortingcheetah 4th Jul 2012 19:08

When a South African goes up to Botswana to fly, he's just doing a job.
When a Brit goes down to Botswana to fly, he becomes an air ace?
I guess the entry levels in South Africa for ace dom are set a little higher than up north?

Rico 25 4th Jul 2012 20:52

Cavortingcheetah- South African's and Acedom- that'll be the day!!:}:}

FERetd 4th Jul 2012 21:37

Acedom
 
Rico 25 Quote :- "South African's and Acedom- that'll be the day!!http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...s/badteeth.gifhttp://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...s/badteeth.gif"

You didnt seem to mind them during 1939 - 1945.

Sailor Malan, "Pat" Prattle etc. ring any bells?

No, I didn't think so.

I suppose that the Americans did nothing for you during that time either - not to mention all the other Commonwealth countries.

Carry on in your magnificent ignorance.

lilflyboy262...2 5th Jul 2012 03:00

I guess that touched a sore point FERetd.
I think he wasn't really referring to the WW2 guys, but more towards the guys that he has worked with in this part of the world.

As for this tv show. I've only been able to watch the trailers. I really hope that it as bad as it seems. It can only be bad for the industry.

Capt Livingstone 5th Jul 2012 05:43

Bush Pilot Documentary
 
I see that ‘Dave TV’ is; ‘The home of witty comedy banter’. To fly between the two cells of a cumulonimbus is not exactly hilarious. Apart from the extreme danger of downdrafts, as we all (sorry, most of us) know, this is a classic scenario for a lightning strike. They say that this was only a ‘taster’ and the clip stopped short of the actual intention; we do not yet know if he actually did it. However, I see that it was Moremi Air. Was our friend SS on board on a suicide mission?

darkroomsource 5th Jul 2012 07:27

I'm in the UK now. Been watching the series.
The story being told is, I believe, rather misleading. They are definitely sensationalizing things, and the pilots that are 'hamming' for the camera for their 15 minutes of fame are not doing the story any favours either.

"if you can see through it you can fly through, that's the rule here in Africa"
He does fly between two cells. However, they are benign cells, and they are very far apart. How do I know that? well, the plane doesn't bounce around at all. It's perfectly smooth air the whole route. So I would guess that the cells are 60 to a hundred miles apart. But, when you see the video, it looks like they're about 2 miles apart.

"there's so much water on the runway that he might not get the plane up to speed, and if he doesn't lift off before the end of the runway it could mean every one on the plane will die"
Apart from the obvious slur on a pilots ability to make a sensible decision to stop the plane if not up to speed by a certain point.... the plane lifted off at about the mid way point on the strip, and there was NOTHING at the end of the strip except flat sand/dirt (not even any shrubs).

I have yet to see any mention of the actual job of unloading and loading passengers and bags within 10 minutes in 45 degree heat. Every time there is a turn-around, we see the pilot taking at least a half hour to take a trip in a bakkie to see the lions in the grass a kilometer away, or talk with the passengers about this or that.

The 3rd episode was interesting, very interesting. For a lot of reasons. One of those was a pilot upgrading to the C210. And on the check ride with the chief pilot, there was the obligatory simulated engine failure and gear failure. The pilot was 'shocked and suprised' that the chief pilot would give him a gear failure to handle. The narrator went on and on about this checkout process as though this guy had to do something that most pilots don't ever see... I can't remember a single checkout in any plane in the past 22 years where the instructor didn't do a simulated engine failure and if the plane had retractable gear, the ONLY time I didn't have a 'failed gear' exercise was in a comanche (and if you manually extend a comanche gear you have to put the plane on blocks and have a mechanic re-connect it, so that's not normally done in a PA24).

Also in the 3rd episode, 2 pilots were hired. I learned more about the hiring process in about 10 minutes than I did in 4 months on the ground there and 2 years of reading everything I could about it. Secrets revealed...

They also made the pilot that was hired look totally inept and incompetent. (window opened by 'check pilot' on take off, plane swerving down the runway, for example). But he was still hired. I doubt the flight was as bad as the narrator and camera work made it seem.

But I will tape and watch every episode, it's great to see the places and some faces again.

propcowboy 5th Jul 2012 08:00

Darkroom, if you tape it just do some torrent files, drop a link, so we can have a good nights laugh as well :zzz:

Rico 25 6th Jul 2012 10:57

FERetd- I think my comment may have obviously touched a nerve with you!
Thanks for the history lesson but like lilflyboy mentioned this is about Maun.

However, as an English 'oke' that came out to Botswana it was mentioned that:

(i) you will struggle with the scorching heat
(ii) you won't like the way that things work here in Africa
(ii) you won't fit in because of your age (36 at the time) and a few other factors.

Well, I stayed anyway and had a blast as well as making a few friends along the way. The job was definitely character building and will teach you the skills to learn captaincy.

With regards to Bush Pilots- yes it is a bit misleading sometimes. Problem is that these documentaries are obviously designed for viewing by non-flying knuckleheads and so the television company (based in Bristol, England) is going to 'sex it up' with a british theme to it. Ice Road Truckers was the same story with drivers going on about how dangerous it was and how brave and skilled they were and yet I still watched and enjoyed it.

If you want a totally accurate view of the flying scene in the Okovango then you may also want to decide if you should include the Maun Pilot Culture too- yes I did the Omelette as well and survived better than some others!

Anyway, we all enjoy a bit of banter sometimes so don't get too stressed dude!

darkroomsource 6th Jul 2012 11:46


do some torrent files, drop a link
I'll have to figure out how to get them off of the TiVo onto the computer... hmmm...

FlexibleResponse 6th Jul 2012 12:23

Perhaps you might be able to view the video from this link..?

uktv dot co dot uk/dave/series/tvseries/257711

bump 12th Jul 2012 04:49

Dave TV
 
What a Rod Polisher!!!!!

Get your hand off it mate. I used to work there many years ago, and you make me cringe.
I'm not sure how that pull through got hired!!
Get a marriage between yourself and a life! Not to mention a couple of safety issues caught on camera, that will serve you well in your next interview!! Might want to change your name on your CV!

flyingtool 12th Jul 2012 09:58

Haha whats happened now on that great tv series 'Maun Bush Pilots'?

Exascot 12th Jul 2012 10:13


Haha whats happened now on that great tv series 'Maun Bush Pilots'?
Come on, spill the beans for us ex-pats please. The suspense is killing us :sad:

Fifteen10 13th Jul 2012 00:31

Off topic, but I was just wondering can any past or present pilots based in Maun comment on the conditions out there in terms of spiders, snakes and other things I don't want crawling up my thigh or chewing on my ankle whilst asleep. Would it be a problem for someone who just cannot deal with spiders?

Cheers

lilflyboy262...2 13th Jul 2012 04:02

Everything there wants to eat you.
I once woke up with a caterpillar attached to my arm.

Snakes common.
Spiders everywhere. But they are for the most part harmless. And look like they have been squashed on the wall. But there are also some nasty buggers there too.
Scorpions. Be careful around the trees. Take a black light at night and you can see their trails.

Exascot 13th Jul 2012 04:35

Fifteen10 - 'you big girl's blouse'. I hope that you are not Irish my family would be turning in their graves.

Snakes all over the place, a nibble from some of those and you are dead before you can drink a Guinness. Masses of spiders, scorpions and all sort of other arachnids. About the only thing I will kill on sight though is the big aggressive centipede with a very nasty bite (scolopendra?).

Leaving aside the big stuff you could meet in the bush the most dangerous things are the snakes. But, they will try to avoid you if you are out and about. If you sleep out they do like to cuddle up next to you though (see my comment below). The majority of snakes are not deadly and most deaths are with people handling them.

Lilflyboy:

Everything there wants to eat you.
Yes, so also be careful of the nightfighters :eek:

propcowboy 13th Jul 2012 07:00

Essential stuff against all these monsters is hairspray! Take a dozen cans!

Exascot 13th Jul 2012 07:46


Essential stuff against all these monsters is hairspray!

cavortingcheetah 13th Jul 2012 08:08

Desmodus Rotundus abound and one supposes that they become more rotund after they've feasted on you while you sleep. It doesn't hurt until the morning though because they inject a certain anaesthetic into your vein while sucking away. Rabies is epizootic with the cute little fellows so, what with blood loss and hydrophobia you'll probably faint, fall into the long drop, and scream at the sound of it sploshing all at the same time. It's very Roman Polanski!


http://www.tigerhomes.org/animal/images/vampire-bat.jpg

Solid Rust Twotter 13th Jul 2012 08:38

Not to mention...

http://www.outdoorphoto.co.za/galler...7/RedRoman.png

Exascot 13th Jul 2012 10:13

A good reason not to wander around in bare feet. The Baboon spider lurks under the sand. And, doesn't like being stepped on :eek:


Do we have a thread drift here? ;)

To get back to the point of this thread; could I respectfully suggest that chief pilots have a huge pet spider on their desk when interviewing these potential ‘roughie toughie air aces’ as portrayed in the latest Maun 'block buster'.

cavortingcheetah 13th Jul 2012 10:46

Possibly some slightly educational thread drift but at least we are not discussing our least favourite airline's cabin attendants.

Exascot 16th Jul 2012 10:38

Ngami Times 13/07/12


Thieves cut the perimeter fence at Maun airport last Friday night and stole a back passenger seat from a Safari Air Cessna 206G plane.
At least one taxi in Maun will have rear seat belts now :)

Good job it wasn't a Bang Seat :eek:

propcowboy 16th Jul 2012 11:36

The inside job...

Exascot 17th Jul 2012 06:35

What has happened to Fifteen10? All that advice and no thanks :{

Perhaps he is now looking at Alaska.

Golf Romeo Mike 17th Jul 2012 21:12

For those of you who want to watch the Bush Pilots series, here is a link. Unfortunately, not sure why, but they only seem to start from episode 5. Interestingly, anytime a pilot is doing something idiotic or dangerous, it seems to be our favorite charter company and our favorite CEO SS has publicly stated that she has vetted all these episodes and apparently, she was STILL happy for them to be released - speaks volumes to her understanding of aviation.

The Pirate Bay - The galaxy's most resilient bittorrent site

byronmc 18th Jul 2012 06:58

Thank you Golf Romeo Mike!

CPLPilot87 21st Jul 2012 14:56

Maun, Botswana. The essential guide.
 
Hi there, is the situation now really so bd that it's useless to come in Maun with 250's? And how on earth do you increase your hrs? I mean how the hell do you afford that?
Paying 17k's for FI or 169€/ cessna hr just seema impossible when you got 100 000€ school loan on your a**.
Anyhow was planning the January, but at the moment it seems to be just foolish.

byronmc 23rd Jul 2012 10:59

CPLPilot87 is chasing your dream ever going to be considered useless? Regardless of your chances. We've all had to make sacrifices to get to a point where taking that risk is even a possibility. I'll be taking a trip to Maun at the end of the year with less money than I need not a great deal more TT than yourself and with the knowledge that I will loose 1 part time job and quite likely need to be replaced at another. In other words the odds are against me but the financial odds were against most of us when we started... "If you don't risk it; You can't get the biscuit!"


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