flying to and from Namibia cuz of medical :-(

[lusthansa]

Hello,

if I am lucky I shall start flying on a C210 for a Namibian air safari company next. The problem is: The wages I get there are sufficient to live there but not sufficient to afford frequent (all 180 days) flights to Germany where I come from. The reason for flying would be that I have to do - though I am only aged 26 years - all half years (normal: all 365 days) a JAA - medical Class 1.

My questions now:

a) Can you fully convert your German JAR licence into a Namibian one so you have to deal only with the DCA or do you have to get validated in Namibia basing on your German JAA licence?

That would mean - if the last applies - that I have to stay in contact with the damned German CAA (Luftfahrtbundesamt) for the purposes of e.g. annual ifr check flight and medicals. And if these civil servants think I should get some nice trouble with my licence I will have lotta fun to work it out from the southern part of Africa ... so I would like to have all my evtl. licence matters processed in my new home country... how do I manage to do so?

Can you post a link to a list of all Namibia based flight examiners doing annual SEP IFR proficiency checks?

Can you post a link to a list of all Namibia based JAR approved aero medical examiniers with a class 1 rating? That would help me a lot = help me save flights home.

The company mentioned above would - if I am the one to be recruited - employ me with (as they have urgent need) 6 weeks notice only. Where should I now get my steady work permit from? How high will be the chances that I get a w.p. denied by ne Namibian official? What could be the reasons? You know I go there and being kicked out again for ne reason is a huge risk as I naturally have to quit my well paid & boring ;-) job right here. Should I apply for a w.p. locally or in advance @ the embassy of Namibia that writes on its hp nething about a 4 month delay for wpermits to be worked out ...

africa is peculiar. All guys going there say it's great place 2 be. 99.9 % of people coming back say it was a great place to be and they'd like to return.

And everyone says getting a work permit is very easy because everything down there is not that problematic as in Germany (burocracy, etc.)

But go to http://www.namibia-botschaft.de/ and they'll tell u it is veeeeeeeeeery difficult to get a work permit and utmost difficult to find work there as nooooobody employs foreigners; they wanted to firstly see their own people (30 % unemployment rate) to be in so.'s pay ...

what^s right now? never been 2 this country so all I now are controversy statements ... plz help :rolleyes:

lusthansa

[Dogship]

Hi!

You have something counting in your favour.The fact that you are german speaking will (95%) get you your job and work permit.Simply because there are no local pilots looking for jobs!
Insist that the employer will organize the w/p for you.I'm pretty shure they could do that in advance.
Regarding your problem of renewals....I have been working in nam for a couple of years and I have not heard of any JAR DE's working here.Same goes for medical.I guess your best bet is to always fly home to renenew or let it lapse if you dont intend to fly at home soon.

If I were you I'd just take a chance and come...I know a couple of German(Germany!) guys that are flying here and they seem to enjoy it.

And yes,I am a local and the wages they pay over here are shocking to say the least.I find we are quite highly trained proffesionals that put a lot of work (money) into getting our licenses.
But we all do survive if we love flying!:O

[IRISHPILOT]

Hello there,
Hope you get the job, Namibia is beautiful, flying is safe and the 210 is fun.
may I suggest to get your medical elsewhere? maybe some other AMC will agree to the annual checks? Depending on where you do it in Europe, the JAA class 1 renewal is 50 to 60 Euros. Check to where the flights are the cheapest and where you can get the medical. There are JAA examiners all over the world, I would have thought somewhere in Africa too??
good luck! IP

[Stierado]

Hello there,

All the best for your new job..

As for the conversion...I had a UK JAR ATPL and the entire time I spent in Namibia, I had nothing but problems trying to convince the DCA to accept any part of it.

They are probably going to make you do all the namibian stuff over again.
But maybe your lucky and get them on a good day, and they'll take it.

As for your medical...there is a doctor in Pretoria who does JAR medicals.
If you look on the UK CAA website:

www.srg.caa.co.uk

you will find all registered doctors...he is the nearest and most reliable one.

Dont be suckered into doing the JAR medical in namibia...even if they have the correct forms, its not accepted !!!!!

Good luck, let us know what they said.:ok:

[foreigner]

http://www.aerospace-medicine-sa.co.za/ - This doc does all the medicals.

Bear in mind you will still have to travel home every year to get your LPC done if you are on a validation, and then apply for a re-validation each year. Is alot cheaper to get the local ATPL and not use your JAR at all.
Get your employer to apply for the work permit for you, they have to fill most of it in anyway.