What's New In W. Africa (Nigeria)
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: St Pierre et Miquelon
Age: 68
Posts: 187
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
pupu,
Maybe you have not realised that my comments are for NArslow. This is a Rotorheads forum = helicopter pilots. If you want to find out about Virgin Nigeria go the African Aviation forum, where there have been numerous posts about VK.
Here's one Aero/vk/arik Nigeria
Maybe you have not realised that my comments are for NArslow. This is a Rotorheads forum = helicopter pilots. If you want to find out about Virgin Nigeria go the African Aviation forum, where there have been numerous posts about VK.
Here's one Aero/vk/arik Nigeria
Last edited by anjouan; 30th Aug 2006 at 16:05. Reason: additional information added
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Lagos
Posts: 245
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Just heard from friends that Caverton Helicopters have appointed their fourth Director of Operations in less than 2 years. Good luck to Sunny and let's hope he lasts longer than his predecessors did. His biggest problem will be the same as at Southern Air - his bosses not allowing him to do the job. Haven't heard what's happened to his predecessor though. Has he left, been fired, got paid yet 
.
.
Nigerian In Law
Southern Air Sunny ? Is that Sunny Adeg***i ? If it is, I wish him good luck and hope as Tokunbo says that he is allowed to run it as it should be run. He certainly has the background/experience to make a go of it if they let him.
NEO
NEO
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Victoria Garden City
Posts: 34
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Mr Sunny will run it as I let him. He is not one of our family so he must understand that daddy was very kind to give him very good, top position with the world's leader in helicopter aviation. His is just one of a number of far-reaching and important changes in our very toppest management structures. It is expected he will do his job very well so I can have much more time for drinking champagne, driving in my very nice boat looking at all the mostest pretty girls we have here in our wonderful Nigeria, and visiting overseas to get good executive suits. Soon he will be leading the way with our fleet of S92 which we expect to be arriving any day now, to cope with the fantastical expansion of shuttle service to our beautiful waterside heliport. In fact he will be so busy he will not likely be able to spend all day in the office even if his predecessor told him this is what Big Ogga job is all about. He will be a great success in leading us on to surprise all our competitors (not that we really have any in Nigeria) because he knows lots of important people. We wish his predecessor very good luck and will not be nasty to him at all even though he never did wear any pointy shoe or bring S92 into service. We know how to reward hard work and loyalty, so why not come and join our world-leading team of aviation management experts right now?
The last time Sunny and I flew together he lost his license and almost went to jail ....maybe I should send him my CV and remind him of my interest in Caverton.
Nigerian In Law
Phone,
I catch your drift, but Sunny is a very good guy. If he fails, IMO there is no hope for Caverton. He's done all this before.
Let's give him a chance
NEO
I catch your drift, but Sunny is a very good guy. If he fails, IMO there is no hope for Caverton. He's done all this before.
Let's give him a chance
NEO
I'll second that Sunny A is a good guy with lifetime of experience, all the best at Calverton Sunny.
It seems another one bites the dust on Bristow S76 fleet, pretty soon they will have to go single pilot again.
Greetings
Finalchecksplease
It seems another one bites the dust on Bristow S76 fleet, pretty soon they will have to go single pilot again.
Greetings
Finalchecksplease
Single pilot in IMC out of PHC....now that would be a lark!
Nigerian In Law
Wassup Sas ?? You could you handle it couldn't you ?
And who is HLSC ? Looking at the ex's Mark IX has listed I probably know him.
And who is HLSC ? Looking at the ex's Mark IX has listed I probably know him.
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Las Vegas
Age: 74
Posts: 50
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
IMC single pilot out of PH
Hi Sasless,
I thought you could remember we use to do that all the time. It wasn't until after 1995 that Shell went dual pilot.
Cheers,
musket33
I thought you could remember we use to do that all the time. It wasn't until after 1995 that Shell went dual pilot.
Cheers,
musket33
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Lost and Legless somewhere in LaLaLand
Age: 77
Posts: 481
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I've no doubt Sunny will give it his very best shot, but I'm surprised that his previous experience with SA didn't teach him that even for a Nigerian, if you work for a Nigerian boss he'll promise you everything but still run things exactly as he wants with no reference to you. At the end of the day it all comes down to money in the bank, and when it all turns to worms he can still walk into another job with any Nigerian company. This is one of the few benefits that national pilots have in Nigeria. I wish him all the best and look forward to seeing him back with a proper company again soon.
Musket,
Rattler 27 assures me the cockpit workload for the guys flying out of PHC these days far exceeds what we used to years ago. The volume of traffic has picked up and there is much more "conflicting traffic" than in those years. It seems the ATC folks (now thats a joke in itself) have not made things any easier....loads of radio calls all right on top of another to three different ATC units.
Even in the old days I hated flying into PHC as compared to Warri or Eket.
Some CHC pilots are saying it takes almost two years to get fully comfy with all of the locations that are mentioned on the radio.
When I left the first time in 94....we were trying to get the powers to be to create an airways setup so we could channelize traffic and avoid a lot of the conflicts but that has yet to happen.
Being a Southerner....I am not sure I can talk that fast to make all the required calls...plus my delight in telling ATC to standby after waiting on him for five minutes to respond after telling me to standby (and no other chatter going on)....I probably would not get along well in that system.
Rattler 27 assures me the cockpit workload for the guys flying out of PHC these days far exceeds what we used to years ago. The volume of traffic has picked up and there is much more "conflicting traffic" than in those years. It seems the ATC folks (now thats a joke in itself) have not made things any easier....loads of radio calls all right on top of another to three different ATC units.
Even in the old days I hated flying into PHC as compared to Warri or Eket.
Some CHC pilots are saying it takes almost two years to get fully comfy with all of the locations that are mentioned on the radio.
When I left the first time in 94....we were trying to get the powers to be to create an airways setup so we could channelize traffic and avoid a lot of the conflicts but that has yet to happen.
Being a Southerner....I am not sure I can talk that fast to make all the required calls...plus my delight in telling ATC to standby after waiting on him for five minutes to respond after telling me to standby (and no other chatter going on)....I probably would not get along well in that system.
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Here and there
Posts: 14
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Port Harcourt IFR
Sasless & Muskett,
Having flown single pilot IFR from PH ('98-'01).I can tell you that the traffic is much worse now than previously (Oh, by the way SASLESS, NO autopilot.)
I think that the worst thing which ever was done in PH was to have zone points. All it does is put us together at a point in space whence we did not have that problem in the past. All they do now is define WHERE the mid-air will be.
SPDC (Shell) in it's wisdom, has decided to be cheap and not equip their aircraft with TCAS (thank you Fredi).
You cannot talk rationally with the NCAA about this. It would be better if we only talked to each other. (Muskett 33: remember when the power would go out at NAF and we all just controlled ourselves). MUCH SAFER!!!
I worked in New York City for many years and we had exclusion zones. YOU CAN'T GET THAT HERE!
I'm not sure what the BEST way would be but there must be a BETTER way.
Having flown single pilot IFR from PH ('98-'01).I can tell you that the traffic is much worse now than previously (Oh, by the way SASLESS, NO autopilot.)
I think that the worst thing which ever was done in PH was to have zone points. All it does is put us together at a point in space whence we did not have that problem in the past. All they do now is define WHERE the mid-air will be.
SPDC (Shell) in it's wisdom, has decided to be cheap and not equip their aircraft with TCAS (thank you Fredi).
You cannot talk rationally with the NCAA about this. It would be better if we only talked to each other. (Muskett 33: remember when the power would go out at NAF and we all just controlled ourselves). MUCH SAFER!!!
I worked in New York City for many years and we had exclusion zones. YOU CAN'T GET THAT HERE!
I'm not sure what the BEST way would be but there must be a BETTER way.
Typical story of the oil company having different standards of safety in different places in the world. The standard is highest in the North Sea and heads south as one goes south.
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Las Vegas
Age: 74
Posts: 50
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Port Harcourt Traffic
Hi Owl 83 and SasLess
I will be the first one to admit that when we were single pilot at Shell, traffic was much light in Port Harcourt. Also, "Airwork" was the main ATC and the towers were an after thought. Prior to GPS the "zone in points" would have been a great idea. Some people would call a certain point in and not have a clue were they really were, until they popped out of a cloud ten miles or more from where they had just reported. With GPS there really is no excuse for inaccurate position reporting and the "zone in points" do concentrate the A/C in one little box. Still not a bad idea if the weather is not marginal? So you have a higher density of traffic, higher workloads on pilots, and a bigger ATC bureaucracy. That's more than enough to scare me into staying on the ground. GOOD LUCK and fly safe!!
Cheers,
musket33
PS. The coeds are looking great. I have a great Thai language course!
I will be the first one to admit that when we were single pilot at Shell, traffic was much light in Port Harcourt. Also, "Airwork" was the main ATC and the towers were an after thought. Prior to GPS the "zone in points" would have been a great idea. Some people would call a certain point in and not have a clue were they really were, until they popped out of a cloud ten miles or more from where they had just reported. With GPS there really is no excuse for inaccurate position reporting and the "zone in points" do concentrate the A/C in one little box. Still not a bad idea if the weather is not marginal? So you have a higher density of traffic, higher workloads on pilots, and a bigger ATC bureaucracy. That's more than enough to scare me into staying on the ground. GOOD LUCK and fly safe!!
Cheers,
musket33
PS. The coeds are looking great. I have a great Thai language course!
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Okrika
Posts: 83
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Port Harcourt - The Joys yet to Come
Eh, single pilot IFR - was that really legal? Shell constantly talk about safety, but in reality don't give a damn. They won't operate the AB139 because it has no simulator, but are quite happy to operate helicopters with no TCAD/TCAS in an environment where there are now up to 30 helicopters flying every day without radar cover - even Pan African have TCAS or TCAD in their 206/407 now as I understand and CHC are fitting TCAD to all their helicopters. Caverton, naturally, have nothing - they even seem to have difficulty finding Zone North on the way to Owerri. Still, the fun level will only increase enormously when fixed wing aircraft also start operating from NAF in a few days. Just imagine 10 helicopters preparing to depart from NAF, 3 from Shell RA, 2 from Agip, Skyhawk training in the circuit, Navy going outbound via Samki at 500 feet, a Dash 8 taking off from runway 22 and Chanchangi inbound in a 737, with heavy rain and the usual 500 foot cloudbase in the morning (real VMC ). What jolly fun awaits one and all 
The way things are going both Bristow and CHC will have to ask the oil companies they fly for if they can start operating single pilot soon as neither company seems to have enough pilots to crew the helicopters they have now. They also don't seem to have enough pilots to train any new crews which may arrive. maybe the situation is not helped by both companies having all their staff confined to camp at the moment because of the hijack threat in Port Harcourt (though it's noticeable that many people openly ignore the ban on leaving camps, especially by day). I think that pilots and engineers from both of the companies don't believe that the companies give a damn about their safety anyway when they move people into such dleightful areas of Port Harcourt as Woji Road and East West Road - both notorious areas for gangs of armed robbers for many years.
It's good to know that in the 21st century we all work for such caring, sharing professional employers who, just like their client oil companies always (talk about) safety first.
Shell constantly talk about safety, but in reality don't give a damn. They won't operate the AB139 because it has no simulator, but are quite happy to operate helicopters with no TCAD/TCAS in an environment where there are now up to 30 helicopters flying every day without radar cover - even Pan African have TCAS or TCAD in their 206/407 now as I understand and CHC are fitting TCAD to all their helicopters. Caverton, naturally, have nothing - they even seem to have difficulty finding Zone North on the way to Owerri. Still, the fun level will only increase enormously when fixed wing aircraft also start operating from NAF in a few days. Just imagine 10 helicopters preparing to depart from NAF, 3 from Shell RA, 2 from Agip, Skyhawk training in the circuit, Navy going outbound via Samki at 500 feet, a Dash 8 taking off from runway 22 and Chanchangi inbound in a 737, with heavy rain and the usual 500 foot cloudbase in the morning (real VMC ). What jolly fun awaits one and all The way things are going both Bristow and CHC will have to ask the oil companies they fly for if they can start operating single pilot soon as neither company seems to have enough pilots to crew the helicopters they have now. They also don't seem to have enough pilots to train any new crews which may arrive. maybe the situation is not helped by both companies having all their staff confined to camp at the moment because of the hijack threat in Port Harcourt (though it's noticeable that many people openly ignore the ban on leaving camps, especially by day). I think that pilots and engineers from both of the companies don't believe that the companies give a damn about their safety anyway when they move people into such dleightful areas of Port Harcourt as Woji Road and East West Road - both notorious areas for gangs of armed robbers for many years.
It's good to know that in the 21st century we all work for such caring, sharing professional employers who, just like their client oil companies always (talk about) safety first.
Musket,
You remember when I was bragging about GPS...to be told that it was "Spam DOD thing" and that Bristow would never go for it?
Then the NCAA mandated all aircraft would have it....and Bristow said they would install it but when it went U/S they would not repair it!
Then.....when I brought up the concept of using an offset of a 1/4 or 1/2 mile to avoid the problem of navigation getting "too precise"....how that got turned down out of hand as well.
So there you was....running out to Forcardos with set alititudes of 400/700/1000/1500 IMC with the Twin Otters, and other airplanes heading for downtown Warri and not one of us able to see the ground or have any forward vis due to rain.
Folks...IMC is the rule....IFR does not matter because of the lack of any "real" ATC. Airwork (Bristow run flight following) was the next best thing plus pilots working together to maintain separation with "reported traffic". Single pilot....two pilot....all the same. Remember the days of no GPS installed...maybe one ADF receiver that might point to the station when within a mile (if you were lucky). Old QV that had no serviceable AI's.....and despite the whining of the Cookie Monster and myself....Harmatan showed up and the aircraft still carried that deferred defect plus about a dozen others. CE/CP could not understand why we refused to fly the thing unless we had good visibility.
How many Near Misses did we have near the Warri IA with lost Jetrangers or Airplanes that knew naught where they were despite making very professional postion calls?
There is far more to flying in Nigeria than some folks will tell you.
You remember when I was bragging about GPS...to be told that it was "Spam DOD thing" and that Bristow would never go for it?
Then the NCAA mandated all aircraft would have it....and Bristow said they would install it but when it went U/S they would not repair it!
Then.....when I brought up the concept of using an offset of a 1/4 or 1/2 mile to avoid the problem of navigation getting "too precise"....how that got turned down out of hand as well.
So there you was....running out to Forcardos with set alititudes of 400/700/1000/1500 IMC with the Twin Otters, and other airplanes heading for downtown Warri and not one of us able to see the ground or have any forward vis due to rain.
Folks...IMC is the rule....IFR does not matter because of the lack of any "real" ATC. Airwork (Bristow run flight following) was the next best thing plus pilots working together to maintain separation with "reported traffic". Single pilot....two pilot....all the same. Remember the days of no GPS installed...maybe one ADF receiver that might point to the station when within a mile (if you were lucky). Old QV that had no serviceable AI's.....and despite the whining of the Cookie Monster and myself....Harmatan showed up and the aircraft still carried that deferred defect plus about a dozen others. CE/CP could not understand why we refused to fly the thing unless we had good visibility.
How many Near Misses did we have near the Warri IA with lost Jetrangers or Airplanes that knew naught where they were despite making very professional postion calls?
There is far more to flying in Nigeria than some folks will tell you.
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Las Vegas
Age: 74
Posts: 50
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi SasLess
You bring back old memories of that hyper alert state that only adrenaline and fear can induce. Yes, local area knowledge has saved many an embarrassing moment. Unfortunately that particular skill set will get your licence pulled in the blink of an eye back States side. That kind of fun just doesn't help an old man keep his blood pressure below 120/80. I'm sure most people will shuffle through, and when someone doesn't the powers that be will add more procedures and another chapter to the operations manual.
Cheers,
musket33
You bring back old memories of that hyper alert state that only adrenaline and fear can induce. Yes, local area knowledge has saved many an embarrassing moment. Unfortunately that particular skill set will get your licence pulled in the blink of an eye back States side. That kind of fun just doesn't help an old man keep his blood pressure below 120/80. I'm sure most people will shuffle through, and when someone doesn't the powers that be will add more procedures and another chapter to the operations manual.
Cheers,
musket33