NZ CPL wanting to fly in the Solomons
 

Hi there,

I'm currently working in NZ doing marine surveying and my company is wanting us to have an operation out of the Solomon Islands. Now as this is just a foot in the water, test it out, see what's required, we will be trying to use aircraft from the Solomon. My question is what is required of me to be able to fly their countries registered aircraft?

I have searched the Internet spent hours doing so but can't find much info about CAA in the Solomon Islands

Your help is greatly appreciated

Call their regulatory body and ask them would be my advice :O

Good luck. Kiwi pilots are unemployable. They talk too much. :ugh:

You'd need validation of your licence by the Solomon's authority.

A bigger problem will be finding an aircraft to fly. When I was last there, aside from Solomon Airlines A320, Twin Otters, Islander and a Dash 8, there were only one or two private aircraft around - one was a Beech 18, the other a Baron. The B18 was on VH rego.

Beech 18 looooooong gone..........now back in Oz.

Havent seen a B18 there.. The Baron is privately owned I think and the rest is either Toll (Helicopters) or SA ..

I dont believe there are any other airframes there.

Kris

You're still a kiwi.

I believe he is actually from Zimbabwe...

Airmagnet

:rolleyes:

It would probably be difficult to dry-hire an aircraft from a commercial charter or airline operator, due to licencing and insurance requirements. I am unaware of any flying school or club there with aircraft available for hire.
However, I don't see why you could not fly privately within the Solomons using a ZK registered aircraft. It would have to be short term, because most countries only allow a foreign aircraft in on a temporary basis before import duties etc have to be paid, but if you were coming and going to somewhere else in the region that could be do-able. You could possibly get 6 months then fly it to PNG or Vanuatu for some maintenance, then get another 6 months before someone in Customs stuck their hand out.

Another issue could be availability of avgas, but for as long as there are Islanders there, some must be coming in to the country. I hate to imagine at what cost, because the quantities would be limited.

But like most things in aviation - if you chuck enough money at it, it CAN be done.

Converting your license to the happy islands is an easy process. Just organise it with the Civil Aviation Department- an open book air law exam based off the British Overseas Territories Air Navigation Orders (or something like that, it's been a few years since I was there, things may have changed though.)

As for finding an aircraft there to fly, that is where you are likely to hit a wall. There were no private aircraft based there in my time, only things that ferried through.
Solomon Airlines won't give up a plane for your private use, but you could of course charter them to do some runs for you.

Your best bet is probably taking a ZK machine over. If it works out and is long term maybe re-register it locally, but maintenance is going to be a massive hurdle.

Thanks for all your help. I have contacted the, and am able to fly a ZK over there for 30 days. And no I'm not Zimbabwean I was just in that part of the world when I signed up to pprune.