west Africa

[Sqwak_Ident]

First of all , do you think taking the risk of looking for a job in Africa is a good Idea?
Any info about west Africa(Mauritania) and the area?
400TT ,30 years, any advice on Africa is appreciated

[undashflyer]

Unfortunately I can't help you with job ops in Mauritania but having had visited it in the past, it's not exactly awesome! Dry, sand storms and sand for as far as the eye can see. Islamic country and customs, which doesn't make it a bad place unless you LOVE beer.

I'd recommend a more southerly location like Liberia, The Gambia, Sierra Leone or somewhere else where there is rain as it's greener, and they have beer.

[chipmunk]

If you choose to go ahead to job hunt over there, just beware of scams. There have been incidents of pilots getting "hired" for a job and they get talked into wiring money ahead of time for "processing fees" or "licensing fees" or some other crap, and there turns out to be no job.

You can skip Senegal in the job hunt; while Dakar is a great place to be based, Air Senegal hires local low timers as FOs, although there are several Canadian guys (high timers) over there sitting in the left seat, and there is only one very small charter outfit there right now (208B and King Air I think) that is staffed by locals.

Anyhow - a good start for you is to head over to the Pprune forums for some better info.

Good luck!

[wallypilot]

I'd recommend a more southerly location like Liberia, The Gambia, Sierra Leone or somewhere else where there is rain as it's greener, and they have beer.

Definitely places with beer and beachs are best....but you won't find any domestic operators in Sierra Leone. Any operations there are(well, were a couple years ago anyways) provided by foriegn companies....charter companies from South Africa were operating there a couple years ago with B1900's.

Hunting around on the net for Lanseria Airport-based operators in Johannesberg (South Africa) would probably good place to start. South African outfits operate all over Africa. Ross Air is one that springs to mind. (edit: ross air defunct now, according to poster below, but the point is still valid)

Finding work in west africa, I think, would require a little more digging than say places like Botswana, or Tanzania. There just isn't as much aviation up there.

Good luck!

[Clark Kent]

Personnally, I believe building hours withing the African continent for low timer isnt the best thing ever. It sure is a really good experience, nice sceneries, generally good weather depending on the season.

My fear for someone starting is the lack of ressources and tools available around. Can you trust your company maintenance? Do you really want to be stuck in the middle of no where with no gas cause you've been misinformed? Navigation equipement is not 100 % reliable all the time.

Where I am in Angola, things are so lame. Control is awful from Luanda and everything is a fight. You need ask permission everything you wanna fart. Not cool. That's the african way, at least where I am. I've gained a lots a patience since I'm here, but really I would enjoy it a little more if things were beeig ran more diligently. TCAS is mandotary here, and believe me I'm glad I have one in my bus.

Language barrier can be another headache too. If you go to Senegal, they surely speak english but french is probably a good card to have in your pocket.

There a lots a place still in Africa, that are corrupted big time. You don't want to find yourself surrended by local forces pointing guns at you cause you haven't bribe them enough for engine start or to file the flight plan.

By all means, if you do want to jump in, it will be a great experience but be sure to gather all the information available and ask for reasonable answers. In doubt, take the next call. The best thing to do is to always clarify weather in flight or on the ground.

I've been here 2 years now, with no regrets. Speaking portuguese when I work is probably the best addition to my resume on top of the african challenge. I'm glad I did it. But I don't want to wear the Expat tag forever. Time to move on.

My intention is not to disourage you from going but the more you'll the better your decision making will be !!

Good succes in your endeavors

[longjon]

Ross Air is long gone.

[definenormal]

Having flown resonably extensively in West Africa, you have to remember that when you head out to that part of the world you are in a totaly different enviroment in just about every way imaginable. All bets are off. No one, (except you presumably), cares anything about personal safety, both in the air and on the ground.

Corruption, bureauocracy, and operational standards that would make the worst bush operation you have come across, frankly look like NASA, are RIFE. And that's just the official and legitimate guys who ware a, (usually extreamly grubby), uniform.

I have flown with guy who went out to Africa, and came back with just under 1000 hrs, which frankly, did him no favours whatsoever. Unfortunately, the list of bad habbits and sloppy standards he came back with was so long, that we basicly had to start over with him from scratch.

[Clark Kent]

All bets are off. No one, (except you presumably), cares anything about personal safety, both in the air and on the ground.
Corruption, bureauocracy, and operational standards that would make the worst bush operation you have come across, frankly look like NASA, are RIFE. And that's just the official and legitimate guys who ware a, (usually extreamly grubby), uniform.

Sadly I totally concur, people just don't seem to know better.
Good comments definenormal.