On situation in Maun

Time is coming for me to plan my moving to Maun. But in the meantime I get a lot of controversary information. Some who I mail with are saying it is a nogoer. And that other than MackAir the companies in Maun are pretty bad. One pilot flying for Sefofane wrote me that it is a particularly bad company.

But then again an other pilot who I chatted with on Facebook told me that there will be movement, people are leaving, some are moving up so there'll be places for us newcomers. And he didn't see things so gloomy. Stating that Moremi would be a good move as they have lots of people leaving. Not to mention my buddy at Mack who also says that January will be a good time for arriving to Maun.

Well, to sum it up: for me it is a goer, I think I have no other choice at the moment. I was advised to do an instructor rating, but Hungary is not swarming with pilot wannabees and building around 200 hours a year isn't a big choice at my age.

And as my friend Felix would say getting a job is just a matter of the right attitude. Every pic in this post was taken by him.

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Big birds, small birds...

Finally I've finished the C210 training on the HA-SKW. And am a happy complex airplane driver. With her retractible gear she's a really new feeling. This 1960 ol' lady has some differences compared to the younger ones, but it gives a very good sensation of a big iron.

Last friday was really fun. At 0500Z was taking off from LHTL (Tököl airport) with a buddy in a DA20. An hour later we were landing at LHSM (Sármellék intl.). Than headed with a car to a small private airfield, Zalakaros, 5 NM away. Flew some traffic patterns just for practice on the 210. Landed her at LHSM, jumped in the DA20 and by one a clock we were landing the small bird at LHTL.

Photos of the ol' lady were taken by Peter Nadasi. Large sizes can be found here.

At LHSM the Belgian Air Force had some jet on the ground. I took a funny picture that I'm sharing with you too. Like the big bird just gave birth to our sweet little Katana...

Well and finally yesterday I've had the first IFR flight. One and a half hour under the hood. It was a sweating experience, but I can't wait for the next session.

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Finally some major steps

I've been strugling to continue my IFR training since 2 months now. Things slowed down here in Hungary as finally the CAA became JAA acredited. And with this the majority of flight schools have lost their licenses.

But yesterday finally I've arranged my IR training at Pannon Air Service (one of the few operators and flightschools that will remain after the JAA-stuff), with a promise that I'll be able to take the practical check late November, early December. This means that Africa is closing in. Fingers crossed.

IR training and exam will be in DA40 TDI (with FADEC). An extremely easy to handle plane. Also for my CPL check I'll have some hours in a Beech B24R Sierra, reg: HA-ACX (the CPL check needs to be performed in a plane with retractible undercarriage and constant speed prop).

Also made a deal for getting rated on G1000 glass cockpit (the pic above is a DA40 180, no FADEC). I love this TV flying since the first day I flew as a passenger.

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Back on the jobhunt

Photo of HA-SKW 1960 C210 was taken by Peter Nadasi. The large size can be found here.

My luck... Yesterday (Sunday) I jumped in the car and drove two hours to fly the C210 HA-SKW from Zalakaros (LHZK) a small private airfield 10 NM south from lake Balaton. As lucky as I am these days, the bird flew some tourists before it was my turn and something broke. After landing the nosewheel was wet by some fluid. Hydraulic fluid was flowing down on the firewall and out near the wheel strut. So, no flying. What am I expecting from this lady in her 40's?

But at least on Saturday I took some guys on a sigthseeing trip over Budapest with a DA40.

So back on the jobhunt.
While it is clear that if you want to grab a job in Africa you need to go there it is also important to emphasize that it is also very important to get some info on the operators before you actually get there. And as the majority of them will obviously not answer to your emails you have to rely on the internet. Where you may find info that may be out of date, like my post on Renair, Tanzania.

A good start may be the Air Carrier Directory for Africa of Pilot Career Centre. They have listed the majority of operators by region.

An other good source is this link collection I ran over when Cliff who's flying in Tanzania wrote me and I checked his posts on PPRuNe. How to find job info on the intenet...especially for newbies. It is two years old but still, you might never know. And I think he's focused on the North American job market.

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Everything you wanted to know...

...about operating a C206/210 but were afraid to ask. Click here!

Few years ago a fantastic thread emerged on PPRuNe about the Cessna 206 and quickly evolved into Cessna 200 series tips and tricks forum. For all of us who are eager to fly one of these babies in Africa it is a valuable source of information.

"A 206 crashed at Arakun a few years ago, after the mixture cable broke and the mixture went to idle/cutoff. The aeroplane went into trees (zero options) at fairly high speed and all were killed. The investigation found that the flaps were not extended to minimise impact speed, as one would expect from an experienced pilot sans power and faced with descent into trees; but also found that both leaves of the back door had been released prior to impact, thereby cutting the flap circuit."

From Jamair's post

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