New TV show "Bush Pilots" on TV tonight
 

Watched the new show filmed in Botswana ferrying tourists to upmarket digs in a wildlife reserve.

Not sure about calling themselves "Bush Pilots" the strips looked to be a pretty good standard and plenty length, the giraffe that needed chased off the strip was quite funny though.

In case anyone wants to watch this programme it's on the DAVE channel at 20:00hrs for the rest of the week here in the UK.

It kind of lost me when one of the pilots was making a "desperate" bid to reach a strip before nightfall, landing with "moments to spare" - we then saw him being driven to the game lodge and settling in there whilst still in broad daylight .....

It's edited in the same fashion as Ice Road Truckers/Ice Pilots - i.e. take a portion of the flight which is perfectly safe/uneventful, and continually repeat it with dramatic music until the incident passes off without "incident", then repeat it again at another point in the show for a recap.

Although it is nice to have another flying programme on TV. Not quite as good as Flying Wild Alaska though.

Overdoing the "Drama"
 

Yes, some of these programmes like to introduce drama/danger where it doesn't really exist.

Although not related to flying, the best one for exaggeration is the one about Eddie Stobbarts lorry fleet - In this they try to make a delivery of food to a supermarket into a sensational event!

Its really worth watching for the unintentional comedic aspect!

I agree, in one episode they were delivering cakes from a bakery to a supermarket, the journey was accompanied with Mission Impossible type music with camera work similar to that used in the Dambusters movie, switching back and forth from the “skippers” steely facial expressions to other traffic on the motorway. The nervous excitement was almost too much to bear wondering whether he was going to manage backing into the loading dock, to my great relief the flashing red lights signalled he was “over target” and the warehouse door was thrown open. The temptation to jump up and do a lap of the coffee table high fiving the family was hard to resist.

My joy at realising the lemon meringue pie delivery mission was a complete success was however somewhat tempered, when contemplating during the closing credits whether a reheated plate of sausage, beans, egg and chips at the Charnock Warner services off the M6 really was a sufficient reward from a grateful nation, or at least sweet toothed Tesco shoppers, for this brave chaps actions.

Never in the field of human endeavour have so few, delivered so much cholesterol, to so many !!!

It's not too bad so far. Exaggeration in places of course; the voice-over suggested that it was suicide to try a landing at a camp in the darkness. When I was working there, a pilot flew a C206 into a bush strip at night time to medevac a boy who'd been burned in a hut fire. He put it down by vehicle lighting in pretty grim weather conditions too.
The boy survived, thanks to Mark.
It's true that nightfall comes quickly in Africa and the wildlife, both inside and outside, can be a problem. A female pilot got airborne in a Caravan out of Maun and then noticed a snake curled up by the rudder pedals!
An interesting place if you've got the right attitude.

Did anyone else notice a shot of one of the aircraft taxiing (can't remember what it was) with what looked like the pitot cover on?

It was interesting, from an entertainment point of view, others have said.

However, the guy flying between the two storm cells made my toes curl! I wouldn't fly between two cells like that - would anyone else? (maybe inexperience on my part) - I try to give them as wide a berth as possible.

Anyone remember the producer posting here, looking for pilots headed out there?

Nice to see the project come to fruition!

Fly safe, Sam.

He was simply flying between two areas of heavy rain coming out the bases. He had a clear passage through. As the commentary said "if you can see through, you can fly through". Done much the same many times, though not in Africa.

If he had really been that close to real storm cells, it would have been a much rougher ride than that!

Maybe deliberate to keep the bugs out?

Caught the tail end of the repeat of last night's episode this afternoon. Especially liked the quote

Glad they cleared that up. It's also on the ground completely under the sky.

Or just moving it on the ground.

G

Best post ever.

I love how on these TV shows that make it sound super dangerous that the runway has some puddles and there's a high chance the pilot won't make take off speed and he will crash and burn into a giraffe.

If it was that dangerous he wouldn't go, end of. No gripping television really. If they just filmed him flying, off-loading and some comms I'd be happy.

Saw the program (a bit OTT) but didn't see the pitot tube cover.
However I seem to remember a pitot cover that stays on and the wind opens it up at taxi speed.

Quite. No Twetos.

Things is, all these programmes are a bit samey. I enjoyed Flying Wild Alaska, but after a few programmes of rather forced melodrama and lots of wannabes trying to get jobs, there's not a lot new except different climate and different wild animals on the runway. And no Twetos.

I saw the pitot cover on that taxing aircraft, i just assumed it was to keep the sand out, perhaps they remove it right at the last possible moment?

I am also a trucker, class 1 just the same as the stobarts, and i carry Fuel! Imagine how much more dangerous 40,000L of liquid propane is than a trailer load of supermarket cream cakes! Yet funny enough, i don't seem to experience ANY of the dramas that them stobart lot doo! loool

Indeed - I wonder if Ariel can fly yet? (EDIT: According to wikipedia, she got it in April 2012).

It would appear that Flying Wild Alasaka is now up to Season 3! I've only seen S1 so far, so I'm off to find the others.