Africa Advice

[G100driver]

Jet:

Might want to take a look at the Flight Safety Foundation for crew rest and or crew swap. Going from the midwest to Africa crosses I am sure exceeds 12 hours with more than 2 legs.

If anything show his the Flight Safety Foundation report. After he reads it you can always say ... "How does it look at the hearing if we are going against convential wisdom."

http://www.flightsafety.org/members/serveme.cfm/?path=/fsd/fsd_feb97.pdf

You will need a password, but it is free.

Once I used this to back up my arguement, I never had a problem with extra crews or overnights.

Throw all this out if you are planning to stay the night in the Azores. I hear they are a nice place to overnight in.

 

[mrvmo]

Man, you guys sound like a bunch of women!! It's not that bad. I would second the Grand Canaria stop......awesome locaal!

 

[empenage]

The Boss is planning on going to Zambia next month.
Does anyone have advice. ? Thinking of going with just two pilots; just fuel stops from midwest area. Heck, I don't even know if my phone will work over there, any advice??

Thanks in advance,
JD

I've been through Egypt, Morocco, Kenya and Tanzania. I might be taking a Challenger to Zambia at the end of the month (FLLI and FLLS). The only problem I had was in HTKJ (Kilimanjaro) they would not take a credit card. We had cash in a safe on the GIV for just this occasion. Also, over the Sudan there is only HF, and everyone is on the radio so it's like a unicom freq. on a summer afternoon. It's easier to cross over Iran than Africa. Communications are "in and out".

Bring cash. We had 10,000$
Bring a trip kit. Pepto, imodium etc.
Bring bottled water and use it for just about everything.
Bring food. I had to live on beef jerky and canned tuna for 12 days once.
Get your shots and your malaria pills.
Get a good handler like Universal or Air Routing Etc.
Get an English speaking driver to take you to and from your hotel.

I got mugged in Nairobi one time...not fun. I did everything the handler told me not to and my luck ran out. Don't just go driving around, if the car breaks down you could be in trouble. Be careful and pay attention to whats going on around you.

Then when you get there, sit back and have a Tusker or a Safari beer for me.
Watch out for the Safari beer...two Safari's and believe me YOU will be on Safari.

Have fun.

 

[Otter]

Empenage is dead on in my experience. HF continues to be the weak link as either you cant get a word in, or some countries have the volume turned down, are watching TV or taking a nap.

Cash is king, but dont let them know you have it until all other options are expended. Internationally recognized handlers that can do things on account for you help greatly, but have self handled (as much as you can) and did ok.

 

[dhc8drvr]

also make sure the USDs are 1993 or better, huge counterfeit ring years ago means anything b4 93 is useless in most african countries.

I fly cargo into Africa frequently, and I agree with most of the posts, if you try to renegade into Africa you open yourself to many precarious situations. $38 usd for a 6 pack of coke, and a $21,000usd turn in ABJ (DC-10). Corruption and exploitation is rampant and standard.

I would think a reputable ground handling agency is key.

Tmobile or Cingular and you will have access (need to activate international option), but it costs around $5/min in most countries.