Coverting JAA licences and hours

[skyblue737]

Hello

I am near to finish my CPL course, and I am thinking in working in Africa in a few months. The problem is that some people told me that the minimum hours to be a pilot in most of the African countries are more than in Europe. Is that true? I finish the course with only 150 hours.

Another question... Is posible to have jobs only during the summer, carring people to safaris, etc? Several years ago I knew people who do that, but I am not sure if this is possible today.

Regards

[Journey Man]

Hola,

It depends a lot on the country, however 200 hours is the bare minimum for most countries I've been to and 250 is moe common. You'll pobably find the conversion process a lesson in patience with 150 hours. Got 5 hours night? They'll want 10. You got 10? It's 10 dual, right? You need 10 PIC... But the good news is this all builds character.

It also depends on the country and their native pilot population. If they have pilots, it will be hader as a foreigner. A few counties have very high hour requirements - 700 or 1000.

Best of luck.

[eagleflier]

There are hundreds of pilots in Africa from Africa who trained in Africa who still don't have jobs. There ain't even interviews.:ugh:
I personally do not think it's value for money or time to try convert your JAA license at the moment.:=
MAYBE get an instructor's rating with that money by which time you should have met the 200 hr requirement which will make converting your license to ICAO less expensive and time consuming.

[Journey Man]

Depends on the country. Some countries require specific hours for a validation - I know of a few who have a requirement of 700 hours for a CPL and 1000 for a CPL/IR. And you need a CPL/IR to use your validation to work...

Bottom line, every country is different, so you need to target some countries and ask on here for people to give you the specific hours. I'm afraid contacting the relevant CAA from abroad will get you no where...