women pilots in africa

[dianed]

Is there any woman pilots who have flown in africa or thinking about going?

[IXUXU]

Yep, there are women working there.

[cavortingcheetah]

One wonders how much latitude the moderators might be prepared to allow in a discussion about women trying to fly, either north of the southern line of the Sahara, where slave markets are common, or south of that line where polygamy is still quite usual; where women fetch and carry while the men generally have quite a good time of it, smoking funny stuff and discussing the relative uses of any new female in the settlement.

[steelbranch]

CC, I presume you're taking the pi$$.

Diane - There are a number of female pilots in Kenya and their standing is equal among their male colleagues. I can try to put you in touch if you want. I am not sure about the presence of expat female pilots, but if you had a starting point you could find out more.

[IXUXU]

I do know, at least, one expat female pilot in TZ.

[Vc10Tail]

By Africa do you mean south or North of the Sahara?

If inexperienced then try Maun in Botswana..there is a long thread about it. East Africa. You will find employment is pretty restrictive due to competition with locals in the job market.Too many pilot wannabes these days.Tz and Uganda you wil suffer a similar set back unless rated and experienced on types like C208 which could give you a chance if no local is vying for the same job.It used to be easier in the past.Now every country is minding its job market for its local unemployed youth.Where are you from lady?

[Arik]

There are many lady pilots, expats in Namibia, Congo, TNZ to name a few and Africans are numerous and growing in number; it might be worth looking up the organisation Pan African Women in Aviation.

[cavortingcheetah]

If one wishes to keep the perspective in the correct balance demanded by those of political correctness who plod through the Gobi in galoshes then one must not refer to females as lady pilots without describing male pilots as gentlemen pilots. As there are really no gentlemen pilots to speak of, and certainly fewer than when I was last flying in Africa, then there are in truth no lady pilots but only women who fly, who may be called pilots, but only in order to distinguish them from ladies, who cannot fly anyway because ladies don't wear trousers.

[TownshipDog]

There are many, some make it and some don't. There is the legendary Heather from Trackmark / Loki fame who, if memory serves, National Geographic made a documentary about her life and flying career.

I had the privilege of flying for her out of Loki in 2005/6, a true lady and exceptional aviator.

[Soap Box Cowboy]

I flew with several of them in Tanzania

[perceval]

There has been . is and will be . I've had female colleagues , students and/or friends (yet pilots) from Tanzania , Kenya , Algeria , Egypt , Congo , South Africa , Madagascar and Ethiopia at least . To that you can add a number or migratory (permanent or temporary ) girls from the UK , USA , Spain , France , Switzerland ( Hi Liz !) ... that I encountered flying around the continent . The only place where I never heard a feminine voice ( Besides an Egypt air 320 F/O once ...) on the airwaves was in Lybia , although I did hear someone mentioning that there might have been one or two at some point (??) . If you're thinking of emigrating to look for work , you'll be facing the usual hurdles ( finding work , taming a chief pilot/HR RP , Getting licences and other permits ...etc...) like everyone else . Sometimes being a woman will make it more difficult but sometimes it might help ... who knows how it works ? Good luck in any case and have fun !

[Exascot]

I had one try to kill me in Botswana. :eek:

[cavortingcheetah]

There seem to be none flying for Mission Aviation Fellowship but then with Deuteronomy 22:5 hanging around one's neck the bracingly spiritual side of things should not be neglected.

[Renaissance]

The chief pilot for MAF Kenya is a lady. And she does wear trousers:D

[Foxcotte]

With some first hand knowledge I can confirm that most lady pilots I have met wear trousers.... Spreading ones legs around a control column, leaping up and down from ladders, climbing on wings to refuel and general operations around Islamic areas are best done in demure trousers. Skirts just dont work. Any more than kilts for men!

And there are short ladies, tall ones, fat and slim, old and young, good pilots and ne'er do wells. Black, white and every colour in between. In short just like the men. There are those who fly as amateurs, commercial professionals, those who take it up until they get pregnant, those who never get pregnant, those who fill a Quota and those who are pretty damn good.

Big problems for ladies who take up flying are local culture which doesn't see them as in command... I've seen officials walk right past a female four bar to talk to the perceived male captain. They are sometimes seen as easy prey, soft touches for being cheated, fleeced. Hygiene facilities across the region don't cater for the fairer sex, and privacy is at a premium when nature calls and there isn't a bush in sight. Companies often have the opinion females aren't worth investing in because "they don't have It", or they will get broody as soon as they get useful.

I've seen women take up flying as a passion, a career, a way to impress the men or a scheming way to fleece a lover. And as a great thing to do.

So who's asking and what was the question again??

[choobee]

What difference does it make... male or female!
They both do the same job, and do it as good or as bad, all depending on the individual.
I know some women who have been flying in Africa for years. And some are doing incredible jobs, than even some man would not do. In condition so harsh that are not for faint heart.
Just check out those 2 in that article a few years back... I had met them out there, and as of today, they might have left that country but are still in Africa and doing what they love to do.
Refugees and Legionnaires | Flying Magazine (http://www.flyingmag.com/refugees-and-legionnaires)
So enjoy the reading and learn from it.

[perceval]

And that about sums it up ! Nice post 'foxcotte' . Hope all is well ...
Moving on ...

[Raffles S.A.]

There was a very capable lady pilot at Air Gabon, thereafter Gabon Airlines, on the 767. I'm not sure where she is now since both airlines folded. A good friend of mine but we lost contact.

[Sam Rutherford]

Why do you ask?

[Exascot]

I read an article in a SA aviation magazine a few months ago about a lady pilot who crash landed in Rhodesia (?) around the 1920s. And, she was a 'lady'. Wife of some diplomat I think. Unfortunately the magazine is in the house in Bots so I can't give any more details. All I remember was that she had to walk out of the bush but once they had found her they kept dropping cigarettes and champagne to sustain her on her route march :ok:

I can't find it on the internet. Anyone any the wiser?

[rcsa]

Exascot, sounds like you're thinking of Mary, Lady Heath. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary,_Lady_Heath
She was the first person to fly an open cockpit light aircraft from Cape Town to London. Later became the first woman pilot to fly for a commercial airline, with KLM.

It's the 75th anniversary of her Cape Town - London flight this year. A wonderful Lady, in all senses and by all accounts.

[cavortingcheetah]

Perhaps more than a trifle rough around the edges was the thirty year old Sophie Catherine who married her second husband when she was thirty and he seventy five. Born in Limerick and graduating in agriculture, she had an unnatural childhood, her father having murdered her mother. She died in London at the age of forty one, having mired herself in alcohol, after falling from a tram. One suspects that there was more of the Irish and less of the lady about this sad enthusiast of women's athletics whether or not she wore trousers in the cockpit.

[Exascot]

rcsa & cc thank you. I know of Lady Heath but I don't think it was her. It will have to wait until I get back to Bots in a couple of months and I can dig out the magazine.

[cavortingcheetah]

Rhodesia!
Then here is something that might be of interest. The champagne and cigarettes fit the bill.
Readers will notice that the historical passage is liberally besprinkled with words such as white men and kaffircorn, descriptive words in common parlance at the time and which in those days were intended to describe a state of things rather than to cause offence. It is to be hoped that readers of the article today will understand that these phrases in the context of their time were no more insulting then than it would be to the true lady to call a woman in trousers a one today.
http://rhodesianheritage.********.co.uk/2012/07/lady-young-and-her-gypsy-moth.html

http://rhodesianheritage.********.co.uk/2012/07/lady-young-and-her-gypsy-moth.html

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/orafs-ourstory-updates/Giel8yz1Ts8/CcVwylP9wZMJ

[Exascot]

Well done CC :ok:

I was a decade out but this is the 'Lady'.

I searched high and low on the internet but couldn't find it. A very fine story.

[smallfry]

Two of the many accomplished lady pilots (and their books) in East Africa,
Beryl Markham (West with the night),
Dr Anne Spoerry, (They call me Mama Daktari).
Others that come to mind, June S, Iris M, Heather, Tissa D, Sam R.. and many more.

[unstable load]

Forsooth, there are even some in Nigeria.......
What is the world coming to?:hmm:

[BarnacleBill]

My better half is a woman... 7,000 hours and she's the boss too

[dianed]

Somebody asked where I originate, I am US but I hold a Canadian CPL with some multi time and a non current instrument rating.

[Keke Napep]

In Nigeria, Bristow Helicopters and Pan African presently have 10 ladies flying helicopters, including Bell 206, 407, 412, S76, AS332L and L2. 4 of them are Nigerian with at least 4 more scheduled for or finished ab-initio training in Nigeria and USA. They have had several other ladies flying for them before who have now left. In the past they have also had ladies flying fixed wing aircraft for them also.

[seper]

Aerocontractors based in Nigeria has operated a few all female crew cockpit and cabin on both B737 and DASH8 in recent times.

[FLYDHC8]

I think there are quite a number female Pilots in most Airlines in Nigeria. Aside from Aero and Bristow, there are female pilots in Arik as well. To the best of my knowledge the current Rector of the Aviation school in Kaduna is a female Pilot.

[batboy1970]

There are females flying for Solenta in Ghana for one of the UK oil companies operation

[WifeIsAPilot]

KQ and SA have large contingents of female pilots. Think SA is now up to 50 or so out of roughly 800. The numbers are a vague recollection, could be wrong.

[atpcliff]

There is a canadian outfit flying CRJs and turboprops on a UN contract. They flew out of Khartoum and some other places...sounded like a good place to work.

[JTrain]

There is a canadian outfit flying CRJs and turboprops on a UN contract. They flew out of Khartoum and some other places...sounded like a good place to work.

That is likely Voyageur Airways. I get mixed feedback on them. Some folks like it a lot and have been doing it for years but others can't wait to get on to something else.

Returning to the subject of female aviators in Africa - have come across many in East & Central Africa. Met several Ugandans and Kenyans working for local operators there. There is an older New Zealander (Helen) who captains a King Air out of an airport near Jinja, Uganda (don't remember the field name - but that sugar conglomorate owns the place). She is a local legend for all her flight hours and accomplishments. Air Serv has had several and all were quite good and capable.

[swedflyer]

perceval: "The only place where I never heard a feminine voice ( Besides an Egypt air 320 F/O once ...) on the airwaves was in Lybia , although I did hear someone mentioning that there might have been one or two at some point (??) ."

There were two female FO's on Afriqiyahs A330 in 2010. Today I don't know.

[nordplace]

Woman after me own heart. Got bigger cods than most men and if you don't like it, a right hook will set you straight.

Whatever happened to Iris and her Cessna 404?