About Fly BVI
Moderators: Sulako, lilfssister, North Shore, sky's the limit, sepia, I WAS Birddog
About Fly BVI
...beware these guys
Last edited by DC6driver on Mon Jul 10, 2006 9:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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wallypilot
- Rank (9)

- Posts: 1646
- Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2004 9:59 pm
- Location: The Best Coast
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wallypilot
- Rank (9)

- Posts: 1646
- Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2004 9:59 pm
- Location: The Best Coast
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wallypilot
- Rank (9)

- Posts: 1646
- Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2004 9:59 pm
- Location: The Best Coast
- Jaques Strappe
- Rank (9)

- Posts: 1847
- Joined: Mon Feb 07, 2005 6:34 pm
- Location: YYZ
Spent 5 years living on Tortola!
Did you know that the first plane to land at Beef crashed? The farmer next to the airport dug an irrigation ditch across the runway one night and it sheared off the gear of the inbound DC-3.
An Islander crashed in Virgin Gorda as it clipped the "Welcome to Virgin Gorda" sign!
Maureen O hara owned Antilles Airboats, a fleet of Grumman Geese splashing down in Roadtown every 30 mins. A commercial licence and 500 hrs with a seaplane endorsement was all you needed.
Things have changed a lot since then. You forgot to mention Foxies! Now on the 10 best places to be for New Years Eve list.
Did you know that the first plane to land at Beef crashed? The farmer next to the airport dug an irrigation ditch across the runway one night and it sheared off the gear of the inbound DC-3.
An Islander crashed in Virgin Gorda as it clipped the "Welcome to Virgin Gorda" sign!
Maureen O hara owned Antilles Airboats, a fleet of Grumman Geese splashing down in Roadtown every 30 mins. A commercial licence and 500 hrs with a seaplane endorsement was all you needed.
Things have changed a lot since then. You forgot to mention Foxies! Now on the 10 best places to be for New Years Eve list.
Went to Beef Island last month for the first time. Jepp approach plate stated on the airport diagram..."Caution - Pilot knowledge of area required for landing at night" Needless to say by the time we got there it was dark so elected to do the full approach. Runway wasn't that long either (4500' or so). Never got to experience the place.
'Strappe' when you were there, were you flying for BVI? Now that I think about it, I think a Canadian pilot has posted his story while working there on the 'pilotcareercenter' website!
LJD
'Strappe' when you were there, were you flying for BVI? Now that I think about it, I think a Canadian pilot has posted his story while working there on the 'pilotcareercenter' website!
LJD
- Jaques Strappe
- Rank (9)

- Posts: 1847
- Joined: Mon Feb 07, 2005 6:34 pm
- Location: YYZ
LJ
When I lived in Tortola in the eighties, I was a boat Captain, not flying. It was my dream to spend the summers in Canada bombing forest fires and my winters in the BVI sailing.
Some really interesting characters down there. One retired Air Canada guy disappeared in the middle of the night. The RCMP came down and snatched him, then put him in the witness protection program. Turns out his son was flying dope for the Columbians and was gonna snitch.
When I lived in Tortola in the eighties, I was a boat Captain, not flying. It was my dream to spend the summers in Canada bombing forest fires and my winters in the BVI sailing.
Some really interesting characters down there. One retired Air Canada guy disappeared in the middle of the night. The RCMP came down and snatched him, then put him in the witness protection program. Turns out his son was flying dope for the Columbians and was gonna snitch.
- Jaques Strappe
- Rank (9)

- Posts: 1847
- Joined: Mon Feb 07, 2005 6:34 pm
- Location: YYZ
Hey Ridehard
Do you remember "Poor Richards", the bar in Sopers hole ( west end ) he would have been there when you were. Well his body washed up in the late eighties. The result of a drug deal gone wrong.
I used to love watching the ole Grumman Goose come screaming down the side of Sage Mtn to splash down in the harbour. One guy busted off the wing pontoon in a swell and I rember him shutting down the engine and putting passengers out on the wing with the remaining pontoon, just to keep them from capsizing!
What a place......you could write a book!
Do you remember "Poor Richards", the bar in Sopers hole ( west end ) he would have been there when you were. Well his body washed up in the late eighties. The result of a drug deal gone wrong.
I used to love watching the ole Grumman Goose come screaming down the side of Sage Mtn to splash down in the harbour. One guy busted off the wing pontoon in a swell and I rember him shutting down the engine and putting passengers out on the wing with the remaining pontoon, just to keep them from capsizing!
What a place......you could write a book!
- Rudder Bug
- Rank 10

- Posts: 2735
- Joined: Thu Jun 23, 2005 11:09 pm
- Location: Right seat but I own the seat
bwerk
No, not my cup of tea either. Flew the third world not much but just enough. However I would contemplate the offer for the big bucks but not for too long.
Flying an aircraft and building a guitar are two things that are easy to do bad and difficult to do right
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yd_QppdGks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yd_QppdGks
- cedar tree
- Rank 3

- Posts: 131
- Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2005 7:18 pm
naw, DC6driver flew for Island Birds
is that where you are going Jeremy? say hi to Bob, Steve, Peter, Hanna and Ferdi for me, its been a while. If you are lucky you could house sit for bob at his villa on Camanoe. Remember to feed the hermit crabs the coffee grounds, its like crackcocaine for them. Make friends with the staff at Last Resort, good times and many unmentionable stories to come home with. Oh ya had a drink with Sir Branson there too. Bring a surf board if you are going to live in east end, its a 30 minuite walk to Josiahs bay
$2500 including housing is a good deal for there, way better than I got!
you can get pretty much anything basic there you want, and if not, the USVI are 12 miles away. Bring stuff like your Timmie Ho's coffee, scuba gear, and a girlfriend. Booze and smokes are cheaper than food, everything imported is more expensive. Oh, a mode of transportation is a must. At minimum a bicycle, even better would be $1000 to buy a beater car to get around the island. East end gets painfull after the first day, you will want to have legs to party elsewhere. There were hardly any motorbikes when i was there. If I were to go back, would import a dirtbike from StMaarten or USVI. would be easy to sell upon leaving.
anymore questions, shoot
is that where you are going Jeremy? say hi to Bob, Steve, Peter, Hanna and Ferdi for me, its been a while. If you are lucky you could house sit for bob at his villa on Camanoe. Remember to feed the hermit crabs the coffee grounds, its like crackcocaine for them. Make friends with the staff at Last Resort, good times and many unmentionable stories to come home with. Oh ya had a drink with Sir Branson there too. Bring a surf board if you are going to live in east end, its a 30 minuite walk to Josiahs bay
$2500 including housing is a good deal for there, way better than I got!
you can get pretty much anything basic there you want, and if not, the USVI are 12 miles away. Bring stuff like your Timmie Ho's coffee, scuba gear, and a girlfriend. Booze and smokes are cheaper than food, everything imported is more expensive. Oh, a mode of transportation is a must. At minimum a bicycle, even better would be $1000 to buy a beater car to get around the island. East end gets painfull after the first day, you will want to have legs to party elsewhere. There were hardly any motorbikes when i was there. If I were to go back, would import a dirtbike from StMaarten or USVI. would be easy to sell upon leaving.
anymore questions, shoot
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wallypilot
- Rank (9)

- Posts: 1646
- Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2004 9:59 pm
- Location: The Best Coast
I have sailed in the BVI's....never worked there....it's a great sailing destination. I would expect that after living there for a couple years you would be sick of the island life. that is unless you were really meant to be an islander rather than a canadian. life is so slow there. for a vacation it's great. make sure to dive the RMS Rhone...awesome wreck dive not too far from Roadtown.
Tortola's nice, though. Cane garden bay was my favorite place to party....although the bar in trellis bay right near the airport is awesome too! there was this old british comedian/singer/piano player. terribly untalented, drunk, but very enthusiastic. i bet jeremy there will end like that if he stays there too long!
or wait...maybe that was DC6 Driver!!! 
Tortola's nice, though. Cane garden bay was my favorite place to party....although the bar in trellis bay right near the airport is awesome too! there was this old british comedian/singer/piano player. terribly untalented, drunk, but very enthusiastic. i bet jeremy there will end like that if he stays there too long!
My understanding is not Island Birds, or FlyBVI. Thought I've been out of those specifics. Aside from the offer and to find a 2nd pilot, the other details haven't been disclosed.
Would it make sense to take a bike down there, or just pick one up? On a 6mo contract, I really don't want to accumulate too much stuff to pack homebound. I think they have a vehicle of some sort for the pilots, but I haven't heard that for sure.
Bringing-down a couple cans of Timmies - that's good advice!! But I'm not sure why a person would want to bring a g/f
Or is being single in BVI not ideal?
How hard is surfing compared to snowboarding? Oh, and do hermit crabs like fresh, or used coffee grounds??
Would it make sense to take a bike down there, or just pick one up? On a 6mo contract, I really don't want to accumulate too much stuff to pack homebound. I think they have a vehicle of some sort for the pilots, but I haven't heard that for sure.
Bringing-down a couple cans of Timmies - that's good advice!! But I'm not sure why a person would want to bring a g/f
How hard is surfing compared to snowboarding? Oh, and do hermit crabs like fresh, or used coffee grounds??
hmm only other op i know of there is ClaireAero, and you most likely need to be a local to work there, family biz.
ya take a bike with you, something you want rather than settling with what you find there. Lots of steep roads...
take an mp3 player loaded with what you want to listen to, or your laptop, and gear the connect it. You can buy a decent stereo in StMaarten for ubercheap. Ditch the cheap company digs and find yourself a nice rental. Friend up with the other expats, start throwin parties. Cockpits are also still open down there, throw on your whites and jump seat it all around.
nah, all that party stuff, its been a while, I could be wrong
ya take a bike with you, something you want rather than settling with what you find there. Lots of steep roads...
take an mp3 player loaded with what you want to listen to, or your laptop, and gear the connect it. You can buy a decent stereo in StMaarten for ubercheap. Ditch the cheap company digs and find yourself a nice rental. Friend up with the other expats, start throwin parties. Cockpits are also still open down there, throw on your whites and jump seat it all around.
nah, all that party stuff, its been a while, I could be wrong
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1000tolevel
- Rank 1

- Posts: 49
- Joined: Sat Dec 31, 2005 6:06 pm
- Location: In Range
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1000tolevel
- Rank 1

- Posts: 49
- Joined: Sat Dec 31, 2005 6:06 pm
- Location: In Range
Hey Jeremy,
Got your PM but for some reason cannot PM back...
For a politically correct account of working there, check out this link on PCC:
http://www.pilotcareercentre.com/APilot ... ?APLID=135
For a more coloured version of it, you'll have to give me your e-mail since I cannot PM you thru this Forum.
Just PM it to me and I will reply and of course keep it confidential. If your email has your name in it and you don't feel comfortable with it, then just create a new one.
1000tolevel
Got your PM but for some reason cannot PM back...
For a politically correct account of working there, check out this link on PCC:
http://www.pilotcareercentre.com/APilot ... ?APLID=135
For a more coloured version of it, you'll have to give me your e-mail since I cannot PM you thru this Forum.
Just PM it to me and I will reply and of course keep it confidential. If your email has your name in it and you don't feel comfortable with it, then just create a new one.
1000tolevel



