Bushflying in Bolivia

[maximus610]

Hi folks,
any info about bushflying jobs in Bolivia?
What are the conditions/risks?
Also, feel free to send me PM's.
Thanks!
Mxms

[wingflyer]

any info about bushflying jobs in Bolivia?

There is a fair amount of activity out of airports such as Trinidad and Trompillo going to agricultural and cattle ranching "estancias" in Beni and Santa Cruz, mainly because roads are not good and don't reach much of the countryside. Aging high-wing airplanes predominate, like Skylanes and Caravans. There are lots of charter flights and a significant number of planes owned and operated by the owners of the estancias. I am not familiar with their maintenance practices but would be skeptical about them.

What are the conditions/risks?

VFR flying might be fine once you become comfortable operating out of small grass fields with very limited weather information, using pilotage and dead reckoning for navigation, and probably maxed out and with a high density altitude on a frequent basis, which would require to be very serious about performance calculations. However, if the weather turns IMC in the middle of the flight it may be very challenging, since radio aids for navigation and approach are scarce and of limited coverage. Also, you may not find glass cockpit airplanes, most are round dials. Instrument approaches at the regional airports are usually VOR. They are starting to implement GNSS procedures at some regional airports, but that assumes you will have a current GPS database, which is not likely.

[stolman]

Bolivia bush flying

Expect many flights at max weight and over. In Beni many strips just long enough to get in an out, you will have to get good at judging conditions especially wet strips that could get you bogged down if your lucky and worse if your not. I have done a fair bit of this type of flying in neighbouring Paraguay and it is good flying to develop a broad range of skills. Of course if you fly up in the mountains things could get more interesting. Beni and Santa Cruz area gets very smoky at certain times of the year, so much so that El Trompillo closes down. If you can somehow manage the current immigration mess (understatement) then I think you would find the flying rewarding. You will of course need to be alright in IMC to do the work well. I would be flying around Bolivian a lot more if they did not have thier archaic regulations against foreign aircraft being able to fly into uncontrolled airports/strips.