Hour building (Africa)

[Spéir]

Any advice or info about South Afica for hour building? I've had a look through the archives and the comments seem generally positive but not very specific - any ideas about typical wx/temperatures in June/July time? - any paperwork needed in advance to fly on a JAA PPL as with the US? - how do a/c hire costs compare to the US? - any advice good or bad on specific schools?

Thanks!! S.

[Peter Nielsen]

hello there

I did most of my training in SA and I can highly recommend it. Be carefull with your money.... ist AFRICA. Try Central Flying Academy at Gran Central Airport in midrand a bit north of joburg
PN

[birdlady]

Hi

Weather is generally good in June - July cause its the dry season. As mentioned above CFA is a great school but you may struggle to get bookings. I can suggest Superior Pilot Services, also in Grand Central and johannesburg has generally got better weather at that time of year. SPS is owned by an ex JAA instructor so he knows all the ins and outs. I did my PPl with them and they were excellent. You may want to check out the visa situation aswell.

I suggest you try this forum for more information. www.avcom.co.za

Hope this helps
BL

[Solid Rust Twotter]

Try Blue Chip at Wonderboom airport as well. The field is close to the general flying area and has accomodation on site or accomodation can be arranged within a short distance.

June/July is the Southern winter and the highveld remains virtually cloudless over this period.

Another option would be to buy into a motor glider and then sell it on to the next person along or form a syndicate with a few UK pilots and use it for holidays and hour building. Sell your share to the next person who needs to build hours. The hourly running costs are about US$20-00.

I recently saw a motor glider for around US$20000-00 and a small biplane microlight for around US$8000-00.

[Spéir]

Thanks for that guys - certainly sounds positive - I will look into those

S

[ppl.africa]

Hi Speir,

I've done my PPL with www.th-aviation-connexions.com.

I'm happy as you're not a number as anywhere.

Costs, perhaps not that cheap as in the US, but I prefer the individual instruction and more adventurous flying in Africa.

I'll definetely continue with my hour-building in South Africa!

good flying!

[ramshorn]

Hour building in Africa??

Hi

I'm approaching the end of my training,and have been thinking about the possibility of trying to get some hour building work in Africa?At first thought this seemed like a great thing to plan but am now looking at the possible downsides such as:
1)Lack of IMC possibly leading to rusty holes in my IR?
2)Not being in the UK for the next year over which the recruitment 'boom' is being forecast.
3)Not being in the uk scene making the contacts etc etc etc!
My other options are obviously either forking out for FI rating or going about using my contacts within the industry here to try and get air taxi or charter work which i don't know how likely it is with my lowly 300 hours TT?
Has anybody got experience of this,or is anyone planning to do the same?
I would much appreciate your views.

Thanks.

[Woof etc]

Lack of IMC???? Not in the Africa I fly in!

Sitting on the ground right now waiting for the visibility to go above 1000 m in sandstorms.

Flying in West Africa gave me plenty of practice flying in real IMC where u get used to the weather radar being red. Bear in mind that central Africa sits in the middle of the ITCZ - there's a reason those rainforests are there.

South Africa experiences some very challenging weather conditions at times, with Cbs in summer that provide many amusing moments.

North of the Limpopo don't expect sissy radar vectors onto the ILS. More likely it will be a procedural non-precision approach, (assuming the nav aid is working). Otherwise, Mr Garmin comes to the rescue once again.

I know a number of UK pilots that have gained their experience in Africa and been successfull in securing jobs with UK airlines. Bear in mind though, that you would need a work permit to work in South Africa.

[Solid Rust Twotter]

Just don't talk too loudly about that Garmin approach as it's *ahem* not entirely legal, but the paucity of navaids in Africa makes it a fairly common practice if one wishes to keep the contract, and thus one's job.

[teto]

hi,
i'm also interested in hours building in africa (im goin to be finished with the fATPL in 4-5 months)...please could anyone tell me the best way to find a job (also with 0 salary) over there?
thanx very much

[birdlady]

Im living in SA, and have just started my SA CPL for various reasons (I started with JAA and decided to go the SA route instead). Its great flying here, and the training is excellent. However, its virtually impossible to get a work permit here let alone a job with low hours. And if your lucky enough to get a job, its probably most likely going to be as an instructor and the pay is really pathetic. If you have any debts left over from training it will be very difficult to pay back with the way the rand is at the mo (two of my old JAA instructors were actually declared bankrupt back in the UK). You might also want to try chartering work but the only place thats really going to take on a low houred pilot is Maun in Botswana and am not sure what the work situation is there at the moment. I dont mean to sound harsh here, but if you happen to be of the paler constitution and are male, you have an even lower chance of getting a work permit
You may also want to try this forum for more info if I havent put you off. www.avcom.co.za
Hope this helps

[AC690]

Birdlady,

Good to see you on both forums!!

Everything birdlady says is about true,it's hard out here!!The flying though is some of the best you will ever do!

As for working for $0.00...well thats a whole other topic on it's own and i am NOT going there!!!

[birdlady]

AC690

Please dont tell chris otherwise Ill be accused of being a traitor again

[Jelly Doughnut]

woof who let the dogs out?

[dynamite dean]

N/A

No Imc in Central Africa ?- your right, we only do lots of VFR flights on instruments!

[Solid Rust Twotter]

Dean

IFR around the larger airports when one gets the chance to go there. If you're out in the kangene operating into the more remote fields, no chance. Without constant practice, your IF will get rusty over time.

[Woof etc]

Jelly Donut:

WOOF, WOOF

Solid Rust Twotter:

Who said anything about GPS approaches??? Mr Garmin is the name of my co-pilot, of course.

[krobar]

Maun

The bush-pilot's haven.
This is probably your best bet at getting good experience. Some of the best pilots I know cut their teeth on cessna 206's. Thats where they really learnt to fly. As far as africa goes, Bots is probably the most civilised place to go.
Good luck

[Woof etc]

......apart from the little country right at the South of the continent, that is.

Oh - see your point.

Maun civilised? Maybe it was before the pilots arrived!!!