Worst Place To Be A Pilot
Yes and that TCAS TA they received flying near Medan in the C208.
What a lot of drama queens!!
Get a TA, look at the screen and funnlly enough you can see where the traffic is and his relative Altitude. They made it seem overly dramatic!!
If they couldn't see the traffic visually or their screen doesn't show it then surely they should have asked ATC or called the traffic on the VHF to separate themselves?
Looked good for the TV I guess..
What a lot of drama queens!!
Get a TA, look at the screen and funnlly enough you can see where the traffic is and his relative Altitude. They made it seem overly dramatic!!
If they couldn't see the traffic visually or their screen doesn't show it then surely they should have asked ATC or called the traffic on the VHF to separate themselves?
Looked good for the TV I guess..
Not sure that I'd be comfortable flying a single around in that environment. Great doco and hats of to the guys and girls doing it up there. Are there any Ozzies flying for Susi Air?
Mike Findlay flew for the old Airlines of Tasmania , late 80s
Another real gentleman
He jagged a job on a Twotter, West Irian.
He and his off-sider were murdered
Never heard back any details
Another real gentleman
He jagged a job on a Twotter, West Irian.
He and his off-sider were murdered
Never heard back any details
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Thought the same thing actually. It makes me wonder how he would have coped with the high-time BN2s that many blokes flew around the PNG landscape.
The ones I flew mostly had no navaids at all! And if there were any they never worked. Single pilot, and I have never heard of a Bongo Van with an autopilot!
The ones I flew mostly had no navaids at all! And if there were any they never worked. Single pilot, and I have never heard of a Bongo Van with an autopilot!
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Nah, if you can crash a van safely then it's all good for promotion!
You just have to stick around for long enough. A lot of the guys either don't want the porter, or leave before they get the seniority.
The porter life really is a lifestyle! Different contracts and much better money to the van drivers.
To all the old pilots who flew before us and pioneered the paths through those mountains... we thank you immensely!
We fly those exact paths that you once flew, we follow the safe altitudes that you once flew, and we read the aerodrome bible thats been passed down year after year with the escape routes and payload figures.
Except now its all programmed into a G1000 and we just have to follow the magenta line. Leave that at your own peril. Sometimes it stays on autopilot, following the vertical path in right until flaps go down.
Of course we learn the area that we are in so we know all the valleys etc etc, but when the weather craps out, we now have a safe way out... in Garmin we trust.
You just have to stick around for long enough. A lot of the guys either don't want the porter, or leave before they get the seniority.
The porter life really is a lifestyle! Different contracts and much better money to the van drivers.
To all the old pilots who flew before us and pioneered the paths through those mountains... we thank you immensely!
We fly those exact paths that you once flew, we follow the safe altitudes that you once flew, and we read the aerodrome bible thats been passed down year after year with the escape routes and payload figures.
Except now its all programmed into a G1000 and we just have to follow the magenta line. Leave that at your own peril. Sometimes it stays on autopilot, following the vertical path in right until flaps go down.
Of course we learn the area that we are in so we know all the valleys etc etc, but when the weather craps out, we now have a safe way out... in Garmin we trust.
As a relative "old timer", not quite. Crashing a van safely is a new one though!
As for the Porter being more money, while not that it is necessarily important to those who wish to fly it, it's not really the truth. More and more the contracts and even to an extent the lifestyle is the same. It is the cockpit, capability and gear configuration that differs.
I'm sure your tongue was firmly in cheek but following the pretty magenta line has over the last decade or so (well since the advent of the magenta line really) proven to be fatal. Old-fashioned navigation techniques still come pretty in handy even with all the fluff of the G1000.
As for the Porter being more money, while not that it is necessarily important to those who wish to fly it, it's not really the truth. More and more the contracts and even to an extent the lifestyle is the same. It is the cockpit, capability and gear configuration that differs.
I'm sure your tongue was firmly in cheek but following the pretty magenta line has over the last decade or so (well since the advent of the magenta line really) proven to be fatal. Old-fashioned navigation techniques still come pretty in handy even with all the fluff of the G1000.
Having flown a few trips during the 1960's era of RAAF Dakota and HS748 operations in PNG, I must say I enjoyed watching the scenery bits of the TV show. Pity, though about the commentary and concocted bulls**t drama being overdone.
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PNG Flying
Having spent several years as a F/E on C130 operations in the PNG/New Britian area I think anyone who flys there, whether in a Single or Multi, earns their keep. If ever the adage that "There are no Old Bold Pilots in PNG, the Bold ones are in the side of a mountain or in the trees" needed any explanation the TV show reinforces it. The weather can turn in an instant and the clouds can suddenly be full of earth and many of those airstrips would test any pilot. Hats Off to the people who operate there, whether they have modern aids or not.
I think you will find that was 'background music' that the producers insert to make the clip so much more interesting.
Akin to watching a film of a 206 starting up and having the sound of a turbine winding up.
Having spent a lot of time in PNG with GPWS available we became very aware of what we could and could not accept or ignore.
Akin to watching a film of a 206 starting up and having the sound of a turbine winding up.
Having spent a lot of time in PNG with GPWS available we became very aware of what we could and could not accept or ignore.
Man Bilong Balus long PNG
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Well; The final part was shown last night and my overall impression was that whilst it was put forward as a 'documentary,' (I guess) I would class the show as 'Infotainment.'
Just a few too many things overdone.
Scenery was great though. And a couple of the bush strips reminded me of such strips as Sopu, Ononge, Kaintiba and a few others. Cannot now remember the name of the place but there was at least one strip N/E of Moresby where the whole circuit was flown in the adjacent valley out of sight of the strip, and as soon as you turned base you were committed!
The strip only came into view on short final.
Good luck to the blokes!
Just a few too many things overdone.
Scenery was great though. And a couple of the bush strips reminded me of such strips as Sopu, Ononge, Kaintiba and a few others. Cannot now remember the name of the place but there was at least one strip N/E of Moresby where the whole circuit was flown in the adjacent valley out of sight of the strip, and as soon as you turned base you were committed!
The strip only came into view on short final.
Good luck to the blokes!
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I turned the volume down after episode 1.
The scenery, the strips and the weather is the same as it is east of the border.
Still it was good to watch in silent mode.
Oh what I would have given for a Porter rather than a clapped out 182/185/206.
As for the whizbang panel, what luxury.
Tipsy.
The scenery, the strips and the weather is the same as it is east of the border.
Still it was good to watch in silent mode.
Oh what I would have given for a Porter rather than a clapped out 182/185/206.
As for the whizbang panel, what luxury.
Tipsy.
dehg5776
dehg5776 -you make a very valid point that wasn't lost on me while I was there and I was concerned.
Hopefully, as one of the protagonists is on a 'jet' course it will be erased from his mind set
Hopefully, as one of the protagonists is on a 'jet' course it will be erased from his mind set
Of course the series wasn't meant for aviation gurus but for the general public so there was always the danger of it being overdramatised in some people’s opinion...
Hopefully it has encouraged some of the younger generation to fly, what with its mixture of adventure and aviation.
Flying there is different in many ways from the old days in PNG – Papua-Indonesia is definitely not PNG and hats off to the boys and gals flying there...
I'm probably in an ideal position to sling off about them regarding the 'old days' and huff and puff about their supposed 'luxuries' but unless you've been there and seen the operation I’d say cut them a bit of slack.
Hopefully it has encouraged some of the younger generation to fly, what with its mixture of adventure and aviation.
Flying there is different in many ways from the old days in PNG – Papua-Indonesia is definitely not PNG and hats off to the boys and gals flying there...
I'm probably in an ideal position to sling off about them regarding the 'old days' and huff and puff about their supposed 'luxuries' but unless you've been there and seen the operation I’d say cut them a bit of slack.