Helicopters in Brazil

[Mojoman]

I am about to complete my PPL(H) and am looking into the various options for cheap hour building abroad. I have just read in this months Rotary & Wing that Brazil has a growing helicopter industry (+ a knackered economy) and am wondering if this is the answer to my prayers.

Does anyone have any experience of flying in Brazil/South America and if so how fesible it is to hour build out there and where would be the best place to go????

Cheers

[Go-Around]

Slightly off topic I know, but if you get hold of this month's (Jan 2003) copy of Rotor & Wing it has a good article on the expanding helicopter industry in Brazil.

[SFHeliguy]

I don't have any specific knowledge but I just came from the factory safety course at Robinson where Tim Tucker said that Sao Palo is totally setup for heli stuff and that it has two large heliports that are very impressive. He also commented that Brazil is perfect for heli's as there's no infrastructure and it makes sense for the rich to just fly around.

hope that helps....

good luck, I might be coming down right after you :)

[peterperfect]

SP is crammed with singles flying Execs from Cong and Campo de Marte to their downtown HQs and/or beach houses. Rooftop helipads abound, enough if the donk stops, either that or the river.

Logic of so many helos: No point going by road if you've got money/flash car/Rolex/nice looking bird in SP.........

I've worked in Brazil, heres a few names in Sao Paulo and Rio, find their websites.

Try:

Helisul
Helibras
Lider
MHS
Global
Airshop/Tucson
PlanaBrasil
Aeroleo

Enjoy it, its the bleeding nearest you'll get to the Wild West.
:cool:

[ClearBlueWater]

PeterPerfect, what are the Brazilian licensing requirements? Do they take JAA licences?

[SFHeliguy]

How about this for a question, do you need to speak other than english to be successful down there?

[Mojoman]

Thanks for the list of schools.

I'm currently in contact with their govening body - DAC - and will post any info about license requirements as soon as i get it.

[the wizard of auz]

SFHELIGUY,Ola!, Fala portugues?. De onde e?.ja esteve nos do Brazil?. Mate ya might have to learn a bit of Portugueseto operate over there sucessfully. I know, they are meant to work to ICAO and in english but it dont really work like that.

[Boy_From_Brazil]

The Wizard is right. You need a reasonable grounding in Portuguese. Very few people speak English. Not a problem with ATC, other pilots etc but can be a major issue with groundstaff, police, local authorities and of course chatting up girls!

Best of luck. It is a great country to live in, if only for a limited period.

[SFHeliguy]

Well,

I'm not that bright. I only speak english (and poorly at that) and profane if you kick me. I've got a long way to go as I'm only a private add on with 70 hours R22 time so it will be awhile before I'm ready. I'm hoping to complete the US commercial license before the middle of next year and by then I'll be closer to 300 hours.