UN or MSF flying.
 

My apoloiges if the question has been asked before. I have done a search but came up empty handed.

Were can I find anything about flying for the United Nations (food programme) or Medecins sans Frontieres? I have also looked at the Dutch site of MSF but they don't have any info for pilots.

Via distant family I have heard of somebody who flies for MSF one month each year. If possible I would like to do the same, so I can do it while I am on leave of my current airline job.

Any info is appreciated.

FT

UN has no flights but charters from the more exciting countries :)

The UN flights tend to be operated by the Air Forces of the donor countries, there is little civilian input.
What about trying the Mission Aviation Fellowship, a charity aviation organisation operating in the more deprived parts of the World, its at www.maf.org

Hope you can find the time to help them out :ok:

Ah yes, MAF.

A registered charity in Australia and thereby able to undercut commercial operators trying to make an honest living. Very christian.:(

MAF,

They are a commercial charter company disguised as a charity, undercutting commercial operators in Africa, Indonesia and even Australia:

http://www.maf.org.au/index.php?opti...=67&Itemid=159

http://www.maf.or.tz/index.aspx?page=chartersPage

Flinty, you beat me to it.:zzz::zzz::zzz:

"Giving the gospel wings"

Flying bibles to the poorest regions:yuk:
...At least they aren't flying cooking books, that would just be plain cruel.


hmm... There is an idea for a new Jamie Oliver show

Un Has
 

Try getting in touch with the UN Humanitarian Air Service; essentially their command and control organisation for fixed wing and rotary ops. They don't directly employ crews but do control which civilian companies get the contracts.

They should be able to steer you in the right direction or possibly offer you an ops job somewhere hot and unpleasant!

Regards

Yes they do but you have to make sure you have a pocket bible in your shirt, over your heart.

Don't forget to sit on a big one too.

Flying TW...
forget most of what you've read here... utter BS.
Forget MAF.. its 'raison d'etre' is to bring the faith to the outposts of civilisation.. it does a good job in that respect if you happen to be of the faith but that's about it. It doesn't compete with commercial concerns... pilots don't have salaries in the accepted sense, they go looking for sponsorship within their local church. In fact they do little in the way of humanitarian work... the bible is their driving force... 20 odd yrs ago a few of the more enlightened of MAF devotees broke away so as to be able to provide more Aid to those desperate for it, (which at the time was against MAF policy)... those people started AirServ... a US NGO that is supposedly non-profit ... the current status of AirServ has been the debate of many on the Pprune web-site... suggest you do a 'search' and form your own opinion.. THEY certainly DO compete with commercially run operations and pay pilots very poorly on the grounds that they're a non-profit organization... It doesn't stop them paying decent salaries to the office wallahs back in the US though which is a major bone of contention for those who sit sweating mosquitoes in the Congo... but anyway... that's another story.

If you want some time in the more remote places (why ? ) ... suggest you contact AirServ or one of the South African companies... but be prepared to have to spend a lot more than a month with them if you want to be taken seriously.

If you really want to establish yourself in the more remote areas you'll need to put in more time than just a month here or there.. don't forget that whoever employs you will have to get you there and back and the less developed the place the more expensive the costs so they're not going to spend $4000 plus your salary just so that you can look down on the rain forest for a month.

After a one year contract with AirServ you would probably be offered the chance to do 3 month contracts... The South African companies will probably wany you to commit to a 6 week on, 6 week off schedule or similar...

Personally I've had some wonderful experiences flying in Africa / Afghanistan flying for AirServ ... and worked with some great people... with aerial survey work I've flown in too many countries to list on 4 continents.. but you need to make a choice of what flying you want to do... and decide on what sacrifices you're prepared to make.

Thanks guy's for all the replies.

I have managed to get through to one of the managers of MSF. Who is very helpfull at this moment.

MungoP, not looking for a long time commitment. Just found out via several other people that MSF has people within their ranks who only operate for one month.

Why? Just want to do something for the less fortunate people on this world. Don't think anything is wrong with that? If they allow me to fly for only one month than it will fit comfortably within my leave period.

Thanks again for everybody's help.

FT

Au contraire. When I was working in the Northern Territory in Australia the buggers were everywhere. They flew the same routes as commercial operators but because they paid their pilots peanuts were able to undercut them.

They weren't above business dirty tricks either. One strip at an aboriginal community (Ramingining I think) was known to be prone to flooding during the wet season. For some reason MAF had been allowed to run it while supposedly keeping it available to everyone else. The trick was to get in there before their morning flight because once it had landed and departed they would declare the strip unusable thereby preventing the competition from delivering or collecting passengers and freight.

Like I said, very Christian.

flying for the UN
 

Dear flyingtorquewrench:

try www.rent-a-jet.de which is the website of a German operator named FAI in Nürnberg who does a lot of contract work for the UN in Africa, currently with 2 LearJet 55, if I'm not mistaken.

Out of personal experience, I would not recommend anybody to work there fully employed (don't ask!), but for a free-lancer the conditions are good and they're always looking for people. Last time I heard, they are paying 12,000€ / month for a LJ-driver in the left seat. Good luck!

Thanks Jetopa, will have a lok at the website.

I've harped on about this before, and got the usual barrage of contempt from the bible squad, but I don't think it's very Christian like of MAF to discriminate against non Christians when hiring for a pilot job which doesn't require the skills of a Christian, merely the skills of a qualified pilot. Especially bearing in mind they don't exactly pay well. I am therefore most interested in Flinstone's comments, no doubt we are all missing their point again.

Good job they're not UK based or they'd end up having to recruit from all religions and races. Quite bloomin right too!;)

Conjures up an interesting pre-flight checklist.

Aircraft docs. "Check"
Jepps. "Check"
Bible. "Check"
Koran. "Check"
Torah. "Check"
I Ching. "Check"
Vedas. "Check"

"In the event of an emergency after V1 I will continue the take-off selecting only 'gear up' with a positive climb. Upon reaching 400 feet I will conduct the phase one items for the emergency in question before praying to Jehwah/God/Allah/my ancestors/Vishnu/Satan............."

I think you're on to something here mike.

Yep Flinstone but as with all religions, only a matter of time before this happens:http://www.barryboys.co.uk/phpBB2/im...s/headhack.gif




;)

Aaaaah, CRM :ok:

say your prayers...
 

Been on a MAF flight out of Nairobi/Wilson as pax years ago. Found it somewhat disconcerting that the pilot, after having performed the run-up checks, suggested we should all pray for the safe outcome of the flight :eek:

Torquewrench, regarding MAF, I think you have to more than just show your strong Christian beliefs. Also I believe you have to find sponsorship from your local church etc regarding pay. Not having a go, just saying it's not just willingness that gets you in their front left seat.

Regarding the other flying eg MSF, Oxfam, MERLIN etc etc don't have their own pilots and tend to charter aircraft. So if you have an ICAO licence and type rated on a C208, Twin Otter and similar, then try Air Serv's website.

I believe in Africa they also Nature Link pilots (on Air Serv aircraft!!) but having not been up to speed in that department it could be all changed by now.
I did 6 months as a contract pilot in the DRC and can say it was some of the best flying I've done so if you're looking for a sabbatical then enjoy. I was fortunate to be with a super group.