Was that the Amercan guitar playing member of the "tambourine brigade" ? He got the s**t pulled out of him by everyone, even GM John B used to relish winding him up !

There were quite a few "characters" on the Lagos FW operation; Gamley, Puddy etc.

NEO

Oh God ....
 

No, my last victim was his successor, the Brit who'd been a pub manager.

That other one, the American .... He used to walk around in his official CIA Undercover Agent uniform, medium-grey baseball cap, bush jacket and slacks. Shoes ... can't remember, but if I were making stuff up I would definitely have him wearing huaraches. He had this big, sort of old fashioned walkie-talkie clipped to his belt to complete the effect, but one of the locals, laughing, told me that there was no base station for him to talk to on it.

The first time I met him he told me that he was a "fast jet pilot." Then I told him that I was a "slow Twin Otter pilot," and it went downhill from there when I turned him into Fast Jet Phil. (Part of the problem was that I had been acting Deputy Chief Pilot just before him, when I had shown no interest in becoming CP, for very good reasons of my own, mainly fear of AIDS (Aviation Induced Divorce Syndrome). He seemed to think that I had to be mad with envy of his elevated position in life, towering over me. As if!)

He soon showed up at the BRC in the late afternoon to tell me of this new feature of the program, my evaluation flight with the Chief Pilot (him), just as I was about to get stuck into my usual at the time, a pint glass full of rum and Coca-Cola on ice. I discreetly tipped it down the sink in the bog, there in the lounge, just to keep the peace.

Out at the airport I ordered extra fuel, because we only had about an hour-and-half's worth. "What are you bothering with that for? We are only going to be up for a half-hour." I had to explain that Lagos ATC had this funny habit of closing the field for extended periods for VIP movements, when we then might have to head off to Ibadan, or perhaps just to Magbon if we were lucky, or else fly around in circles for an hour. This was news to him.

Fast Jet Phil mentioned that he'd been in Doha, flying for the Qatari defense force. He told me that the Mirage F1 was an "old friend."

Yeah, well, it's a small world. A few weeks later I bumped into a Schreiner manager I knew from when I was with Aero who told me he'd just returned from Doha. "What's up there?"

"We had a little operation going with the Qatari Air Force, a couple of Cherokee 140s for initial pilot candidate evaluation. The contract ended so I was there to shut it down."

"Did you know a guy named [Fast Jet Phil]?"

"Of course. He was our Chief Pilot."

"No Mirage F1s, then?"

"Huh? No, Cherokee 140s, that was all." It is so nice to have something to work with, instead of having to mostly make it up.

A common theme as I recall. Thankfully BHNL then paid the Dornier guys a premium 'jet pilot allowance' to keep them from leaving. Of course those of us flogging around in B212s for 8 hours a day in the Delta, and who had been in the company for some time, thought that it was entirely reasonable to pay a premium for flying 4 hours a day in an air conditioned cockpit from runway to runway!

This is the Chuks I so fondly remember....and the wonderful sources for his amusement and play.

At Warri, we had the "Chief Pilot for A Day" Game which was also called "How to Cause a General Strike" in the booklet form.

Then we had the rostering situation when some Brits decided Non-Brits did not need to PIC's and then managed to roster two of the lesser classes together and discovered their mistake when informed there should be a Ghost Captain discovered in the Cockpit.

Perhaps the real fun was delivering a Bell 412 from Ghana to Lagos after it had been re-registered from an "N" number to the Nigerian Registry. That was interesting as my Nigerian License did not have a 412 Type Rating on it.

My three day sojourn in Accra had morphed into a three week thing when 212Man passed thru with yet another 155 and was kind enough to donate all of his spare cash to fund my lavish life style.

The aircraft had gone through two...not one...but two 1200 hour inspections and needed repairs and upon the South African Engineers at Escravos looking it over....they suggested I not fly it any further.

Yes...the Centre of Excellence as I prefer to call it and not the White Man's Grave despite it claiming many a Life despite the bodies still breathing. Perhaps this was the inspiration for the "Walking Dead"!

How is the ADA/OAS joint venture doing ? Any decent work coming their way ?

NEO

Caverton Escravos
 

Any rumour on Caverton starting the ESC contract with Chevron April 2018? What will PAAN do, closing shop?

The End Of An Era ?
 

Heard Bristow filed for Chapter 11 but got knocked back. Only Total and Mobil left in Nigeria. Apparently they're also looking to swap UKSAR for Babcocks North Sea assets.

What a dramatic decline from the glory days; they've been in Nigeria since the '50s.

NEO

That is some 'hearsay' Neo.

That would be very difficult as the longevity of as well as the S-92 assets used in the performance of the UK SAR contract were used in one of the many refinances to keep the cash position to pay the bills.

http://www.helicopterinvestor.com/ar...istow-sar-789/

Ah well, this is a rumour network after all ! Still a difficult period for a once dominating company.

NEO

last time I checked, Caverton had the Total contract.

So what contracts do BHL have in Nigeria.?

All of it including S92 ?

NEO

It is obviously secret.

Last I heard Bristow were left with Mobil, Addax, Afren and the heavy component of Total on the rotary side and Chevron fixed wing.

But 212man is there hence more in the loop.

NEO

AGIP Base?
 

I'm obviously well below the drag curve on this one...who won the AGIP contract from BHNL then?

Bristow have never had a contract with Agip. The aircraft are on work orders due to NAPIMS refusal to sign when ACN were usurped. Last I heard they had 3 aircraft.

NEO

B412 Captains Bristow Nigeria
 

Bristow is looking for 412 Captains...anybody knows about their Terms and Conditions?...Cheers

Yes, must be a good zoo keeper!

Where ?

NEO