Tuesday 28 August 2012

Tanzanian way of flying

Welcome on board to all travelers of the world.
Tanzanian national parcs, Zanzibar and the Kilimandjaro offers one of the greatest flying in Africa
 I'll try to bring you along with some nice stories of a bush pilot way of life.
"Ladies and gentleman, please fasten your seatbelt & enjoy the ride"

Wildlife of Africa
Another day in paradise just rise up this morning, hello blue sky, today i am off duty so wont come disturb your peace. This is how it feels living the dream in Africa, bush flying is an addictive job, what else than reaching the clouds tops to take a glimpse at the birds eyes after breakfeast.

Flying around here is accessible for pilot with luck, experience on Cessna Caravan mainly and around 1000hrs TT. There are many companies offering charters and scheduld flights with C208, Let 410 and ATR 42, the main traffic being between Dar Es Salaam, Zanzibar and Arusha with the interesting bush airstrip in the Serengeti, Ruaha national parc and the Selous Reserve.

Pilatus PC12 on climb to FL280
The bush machine in Dar is the Swiss made, fast & comfortable, state of the art Pilatus PC12. With its 9 pax commuter configuration and its Pratt&Whitney PT6 turbine engine, providing incredible performances.

There are mainly Cessna Caravan here which is the perfect truck for linking small cities and lodges.

Operations managers like to hire people with extra skills (IT, design, logistics), as everything is to be improved, all skills and experiences are welcome.

To start in bush flying,  Botswana & Namibia offers Cessna 206, Cessna 210 and Caravan jobs. There are loads of europeans tourists and if you manage a bit in German, French, Spanish or Italian, the chance to get a job increase. well, it's all about being at the right place at the right time anyway...

From the flying school to the mystic Cessna 210 there is a leap to take...because sending email & CV is almost but not enough to get the job, pack up the usefull stuff before moving, you hope for the best but prepared for the worst.

Times fly and so do I now, last week I took off after sunrise, direction south along the coast to reach Pemba in Mocambique. 2h along the coast of Tanzania, over the archipelago of Songo Songo, a morning ride at 28000 feet as a bliss for the day. All come to a good end for those who wait...
The Indian Ocean in the morning sun




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