Safari Express Tanzania [Archive]

lone Falcon

9th Oct 2007, 19:54

Yeah,
Two muzungus are there who paid for their rating on the 1900

Terms
salary not paid on time, at times you dont see the pay check until the next month.
When the operator flies himself he does not log the hours, probably trying to skip paying the Aircraft owner.

BP would not give him fuel on credit due Bad reputation, has to buy fuel on cash which is paid mostly by the Captains from their own pocket.

Two Court cases against the operator for using a Chieftain and a Navajo and not logging hours thus claiming the planes had very low time and returning to the respectful owners in run down condition and not paying them a penny.

Most Maintenance organisations in Kenya dont want to deal with him any more. Large Pending bill with Phoenix aviation

No contracts signed even for ramp staff everything verbal so that he can boot out anyone at anytime pay or no pay.

Evades Taxes Pilots get paid under the table thus pay is crap as No social security.

NO work Permits for foreign Pilots, all working Illegally on tourist visas

No duty time limits or sector limits, can very well fly into the night from dawn

406pilot

10th Oct 2007, 13:02

i dont believe it, how can this be possible? i saw this company had a couple of b-1900d and a f-406 and b-200 and a dhc-8 on order..seemed like the best fleet in tanzania...

keep em up there fellows

no more 406pilot

Attitude17Degrees

10th Oct 2007, 17:09

Very much believeable,

I am not surprised at all. People should never work with such operators. They are the scum of aviation society.

This Guy Gafur has a reputation, I understand he was locked up by the local police for fraud and not paying the Owner of 5H-SKT Chieftain.

Just dont understand how he gets away with literally murder :ugh:

As for the expansion, well the planes belong to Somebody Brian Roos in namibia, I Hope Brian Picks up the mess before he gets deep into it.

406pilot

10th Oct 2007, 19:10

this is shocking news to me....could this be true is there anyone else who knows something more? this is the only operator tht brought the 1900 to tanzania, i was really hoping for him to do well, tired of seeing vans everywhere.

keep em up there fellows,

no more 406pilot

B737 lover

13th Oct 2007, 07:42

406pilot it looks like you are defending this Company, what's your interest, shareholder maybe???:confused: please let us know. And Littlemo(Mach...) where are you and what do you have to say about this? big up Buddy:D

helldog

13th Oct 2007, 09:38

Ok first off I am going to state that the owner of this company is a friend of mine from my Tanzanian days. That will stop all you super detective/psychics out there picking my life apart after reading a few lines I have typed. The only ones more infuriating are the spelling police who partrol these forums.

All I say is use some sense. Yes maybe a few bills are being paid late, its tough to start a business. Trust me I have worked for quite a few operators, one of which is a world wide well known operation (not as a pilot at the time) They would wait as long as possible before paying bills, often to te point of getting a notice of stop credit, see if you have a bill of one or two million to pay if you keep your money in the bank/investments you collect more money from interest.

Again if you use some sense and if you know anything about aviation you will realise my next point. No sane person would let you keep an aircraft of theirs unless you pay them on a regular basis. There is no way you can give someone a 1900 and not see any cash for months, unless you are very stupid or very rich and like to see your money burning.

So you see I have no secret agenda here. The point I am making is that we should have the attitude of 406, we should want this business to work out. Yeah maybe its tough times at the moment, maybe it will fall appart and all you knockers out there would be happy about that. But hey maybe the company will survive the tough times, become a top operation that has no debts and pays all its bills on time. Then maybe you guys who knock him now will be knocking on his door for a job.

G'day to all the TZ mob.

petesevenseven

13th Oct 2007, 15:48

Helldoggydog,

Just Maybe, you maybe, right!!!!!

If the Caravan is Rocking don't bother knocking!!!!:p

Happy Landings All in TZ!!!!

Pete:O

Attitude17Degrees

13th Oct 2007, 18:04

sensibly speaking, This guy is no common business man trying to launch a super airline.

He started off with a Chieftain that was sold to him on a lease purchase deal, with a reasonable amount of hours on the engines and airframe, He flew it for a couple of months, never logged the hours on Tech log eventually one engine quit, When Phoenix puled it apart they found out it was way beyond TBO, the tech log still had a couple hundred hours on that engine. Later he tried to slip out of the situation by leaving the plane with phoenix and telling the owner he wasnt buying it any more.

The owner who happens to be a well connected guy just asked him to pay for the plane's release from phoenix, which Mr Safari Express refused, next thing Mr Safari was taken by the local Arusha Cops and a few Inteligence guys from Dar, spent a night in Arusha's Central Cell and got bailed the next day, and first thing he did was pay the chieftain owner all monies due

Now that is just one of the incidents. There's a lot more.

One of the Senior Captain Has'nt been paid Salary for more than 3 months to date, rumour has it he is holding the money so as to make up for the payments of the planes. and it goes on and on and on .......

406 I suggest you pull your shares out if you have any into Safari Express;) before ...................:mad:

Flying Airplanes and not logging the time is criminal ! Thats one way of making sure you pay the aircraft owner and prove the plane is not flying.

We all want a business to work out it creates opportunities, but fact is fact

I.R.PIRATE

15th Oct 2007, 10:30

Problem here is that when someone stiffs crews and does shady dealings he must be stopped. However, when its someone that is known to members of this forum then its ok??

Nyet Camrade, a crook is a crook, whether he is known or not.:=

helldog

15th Oct 2007, 11:49

I.R Pirate, How you doing? The point of my post was not to defend anyone or take sides. I dont really care what is actually going on over there in TZ. It is just so anoying when people just shoot their mouths off for no reason.

People always seem to question why some people deffend the operators that are getting all this sh!t on these forums, but no one seems to question why some guys here insist on knocking these operators. What possible motives do they have? Surely they are highly personal and petty reasons. Lets look at one serial offender Riccardovolante, that guy just trashed every operator southern and east Africa, absolute knobba. His motive, he did not like the pay being offered by one operator so he trashed every operator in the whole country, its just imature.

Trust me I have heard plenty of things about the operation in the thread, not all of it positive. But trust me on this, none of these guys providing me with this feedback would post the iformation on pprune. Why? Because they are mature enough and professional enough to know better.

I hope this makes my stance clear.

tumbles28

15th Oct 2007, 13:33

Hi there. I work for them and i can say that alot of the rumer is just that!
With every company, all you need is one disgruntiled pilot to be let go and and all of a sudden he has alot of time and cookes this stuff up. Yes the pay is not the best and not always on time but we are away alot and the owner is away. It is simply a fact of aviation life when you work for an up and growing company. I have worked for another operator before and this is the same. As for the company owing money, well what company does not. Maintance is a 30 day account and any maintanance facility in Nirobi will work with us. As for work visas, what a joke. Please man. At the end of the day i like this company. I was paid late once but got a US$100 bones becouse of this.
The pilots are all great guys and we all have a great friendship with Ghafoor. What other company has that sort of relationship with there bosses. Not many i believe. Anyways i have alot of faith that this company will do well. We bought in pressurized aircraft into tz for charter and have taken alot of buisness from other operators becouse of it. Becouse of this alot of people dislike Safari express. My point is that there is enough work for everyone to be happy and busy. Why cant we all just get along.
Guys you are doing a great job at safari express as well as other operators. Pilots for all, Reginal, Coastal, Air excel, Zan air etc you go boys and lets keep this up. Well done.:D

tumbles28

15th Oct 2007, 13:36

What a joke, do you honestly still get your milk from your mommy. You mommys boy. Dont comment on things you dont know about please. All you do is stir.:=

tumbles28

15th Oct 2007, 13:43

I got all the turms and conditions. I work for them. Best idea to you is to come in and ask. It is pretty standard to most companys in TZ but good leave and time off. The pay is on the same standards as other companys but the medium wait and twin turbine time is worth alot to ones self.
The progress to bigger machimes is fast as well. 1000 hours gets you comand on 406 provided you got turbine time, and 2000 gets you comand on the 1900. way to go.

B737 lover

15th Oct 2007, 18:28

Tumbles28, where have you been all this time? busy flying? Well I'm glad that you have expressed your feelings about this Company. I think its a high time for you and your fellow Crew to take Safari E. to a higher level. Come on guys we somehow have to support this Airline positively, afterall Ghafoor is our fellow pilot. Please don't take me wrong, I'm not a Shareholder like my friend 406pilot:)....., but just trying to be fair:ok:.

406pilot

16th Oct 2007, 17:21

hi there taliban,

i got no shares in this company guys,my former employer told me tht in aviation to make a million u gotta start off with 2million, im taking that advice very seriously and steering away frm investing in aviation..howzit helldog buddy i totally share your point of view tht people should be left to their own devices,rather thn becoming just a number in the database this guy has shown character and style to the other operators..speed will always win, no offence to anyone but id rather fly a 406 any day as opposed to being squeezed into those pressurised tubes of the 1900...this will heat up the forum..

keep em up there fellows,

no more 406 pilots.

ps:i used to say props are for boats,i take it back cause...reason u will see in the near future...hope not though

lone Falcon

22nd Oct 2007, 17:03

Tumbles28 !

I hear you tumbling out of Safari Express ! Damn didnt get paid?

Attitude17Degrees

22nd Oct 2007, 20:10

It looks like tumbles decided to jump overboard before bush comes to shove !

So who's flying as F/O on ZS-PHM ? The ausie dude ? but he doesnt have a ZS license or validation !

The plot deepens by the minute

GUSTO

23rd Oct 2007, 05:14

Hey 406 pilot ,

Buddy are u gonna jump as a commander on these Turboprop Regional Aircraft ? Hey man I like you cousins here :) ...

Gusto

B737 lover

23rd Oct 2007, 20:09

Guys is it true about this Dude (FO) is flying ZS without validation here in TZ according to ATTITUDE17?? If this is true then we should really take this issue seriously before it gets worse, we don't want to become like some countries that i don't want to mention, i hope that TCAA is browsing pprune.

lowbypass

24th Oct 2007, 05:19

has any of you had a chance of flying say a seneca 1, 2 or a 402B,C or a P68B on a "C of A" flight?

there is this single engine climb timed every 500 feet on a climb to i do not remember well, something like 8000 feet?

full fuel, normally two on board one "to take readings"...the aircraft is heavy with full fuel

the engine is never cut for reasons known to all of us, just on idle

at 2000 feet if you are lucky to get there, the thing stops to climb

but records are entered all the way to 8000 feet...:oh:

the boss keeps the MASTER copy, when you get to base, give him the FAILED true copy and the juggling begins...filling up the figures from the master

next few days the "C of A" is ready, and the plane is "airworthy"

what i want to say here is, to be an operator in these parts of the world, you have to join the sly and cunning club to operate

our friend is trying, almost ALL do the same, it is the degrees of crookedness which differ

i have been around for sometime and this is what i have noticed

idle thrust a seneca 2 or if you have guts, feather it...with full fuel, two on board (it is supposed to be done with all seats occupied), take it to 8000 feet at supposedly blue line and see if it is airworthy...then do the same for a 402, P68B, aztec

i do not know a scenario for a DHC6 and L410...full pax, at MTOW...would these climb to say 8000 feet at blue line with an engine feathered?

if they would not, how did they get "C of A"s...the game continues...:suspect:

lone Falcon

24th Oct 2007, 09:44

I agree with you 100% LBP

The only difference is, if you do such uglies on a low performance machine the bang is also not significant if not negligible. but when you talk about High performance Turboprops then even the bang is considerable.

406pilot

24th Oct 2007, 11:18

hi gusto,
nice to see uncle oli still browsing these pages, even though he should be in the sub-continent pages, i hope he can share a thing or two about his experiences on a twin panther,him and his girlfriend of tht time on a chieftain with panther conversion (winglets,q-tip 4blade props) inbound to dar and had to shut down one of those nice 350hp engines, will leave the rest for him to explain..
bottom line is if u cant handle the heat get out of the kitchen,this is africa boys, moreover tanzania, where every atr pilot thinks he can race with a 450kt jet and win..

B737 lover

26th Oct 2007, 05:49

Lowbypass, you know a lot about General Aviation my friend but i'm not really surprised because you have been there for too long. I agree with you 100% as well:ok:. Maybe its about time you should acquire your own Seneca and enjoy the left seat once again or what do you say? In the meantime please seatback, relax and enjoy the right seat with a good performance:ugh:

lowbypass

27th Oct 2007, 06:07

my own seneca and become another operator? NO...
after seating on right coming to 2500 hrs on type yes i can sit back, MONITOR squint eyed captains and enjoy ground speed 500kts but i would rather P1 a dash
approaching 9000 total time! i would wholeheatedly relinquish the right seat to 1000hr buddies, reason? fed up of :8 skippers

406pilot

28th Oct 2007, 09:01

hi guys,

i totally agree with lowbypass from the jet nozzle...indeed "capt" anything looks better thn the current right seat, heard more "retards"-sorry retired ones coming our way, me tired of flying with guys less competent then me,

737lover u know this in house training will backfire on us someday thts why i wanna get out before the house of cards comes tumbling down..

keep it up there fellows,

no more 406pilot,

ps:thought this post was for safari express???? where are we going guys...

lowbypass

28th Oct 2007, 10:50

drifting is allowed...:uhoh:

B737 lover

29th Oct 2007, 16:59

The way things are going inhouse i rather go and work for Safari Express.
Big up Ghafoor:ok:

GUSTO

30th Oct 2007, 12:12

Hey 406 ,

Yeap had fun flying in TZ and been lucky that day when one engine quited on me on my way to DAR able to maintain only 3000 feet with an almost empty plane ...

Seems like things are not looking good your side , why do they want to re-employ retired guys while there is plenty of guys like u full of energy and with more than enough experience.

keep well

406pilot

30th Oct 2007, 14:50

hello uncle oli

its do gud to hear from u bud, i dont care anymore wanna turn into a mercenary and work for money only this career thing is not for me, wht r u upto? enjoying the indian sub-continent?

keep it up there fellows,

no more 406pilot

\

lowbypass

30th Oct 2007, 16:08

which old crate scared the hell out of you buddy

mug25

2nd Nov 2007, 07:59

hi guys,

what is the situations at safari. are they looking for pilot.
Im rated on both be1900 and F406 with 2100tt.

Attitude17Degrees

2nd Nov 2007, 10:47

Mug25,

Here's the deal.

You need to accumulate a minimum of US$15000 in order to sustain yourself as a captain at Safari Express, Since you will have to Pay for your Living expenses plus transport plus License renewals plus aircraft fuel plus landing and navigation fees.

The company.. sorry Gafur will reimburse your socalled Impresst after 3 months .......... or more.

If ready for this there are no other requirements, even 1000 hours total time is more than enough.

Contact Gafur the MD at md at safariexpress.co.tz (website wont accept the @ sign)
www.safariexpress.co.tz (http://www.safariexpress.co.tz)

Good luck