Back on contract...didnt think i would be doing this again...but here i am.

Herewith some of my thoughts since being in Chad again. I do not have any reliable internet connection...so it might be long before i update the posts.

Here goes:

7 June 2007

Back in Abeche. It hot. Really hot. No, really. Not willy nilly hot… heatwave on Mercury kind of hot!

The trip here was standard. Everything late…SNAFU. As expected and true to tradition, Ethiopian Airlines made sure the rat invested, flea bag hotels in Addis Ababa could pay their overheads by having to put 100’s of passengers up for a night…or 3.

It is absolutely amazing how one parastatal can make sure a whole industry is sustained by doing something so simple as arranging that absolutely not a single flight can be effectively connected without spending a night in the capital. Its actually quite genius. Literally 100’s of people have dependable employment by one company doing something on purpose that most airlines globally try their best to avoid. What a wonderful way to turn a generally negative thing into a positive…for some.

Anyway, after having spent what felt like most of my adult life on either Bole airport or in a crowded minibus to and from a ‘hotel’…and after being deplaned twice, we finally got to N’Djamena very late on a Monday night. The one really great thing about arriving late at airports in Africa is that no immigration or airports police officers could care less about you. Sleep is the most precious commodity in Africa after all.

I got to the crew house in N’Djamena where I slept in the ironing room. The ironing room had outside doors that cannot close, but in the typical fashion of where I am finding myself…also has the only working spare air conditioner in the house. What that translated to was that although I could stay nice and crispy cool…so could the outside loo and the mozzies. Not even these things combined with the fact that the bed I slept on did not have a pillow on it could have made any difference. I slept …like …like someone that spent most of his adult life roaming around the Bole international airport in Addis…which means very, very well.

After spending an enlightening day in front of the DSTV in N’djamena watching Paris Hilton return to jail and a quick fix, use what you can find supper consisting mainly of onions, garlic and spaghetti (which I must confess did manage to keep mozzies far enough away ) I left for the joys of Abeche early this morning.

Which brings me to a point to ponder.

Why is it that internationally you can take 30kg of baggage with you…but when you arrive in Chad, the B1900 that takes you to Abeche…only allows you to have 15kg with you. How stupid is that?! Its not as if the people who make use of this service are business men and women who pop out for a day’s business in Abeche or visa versa either. Just about all the people being flown to and from are aid workers going into the field where they will be staying for months at a time and therefore pretty much needing those 30kg’s of luggage.

It’s the same problem I face in SA actually. I can only take 20kg on Kulula or 1time or whatever between Cape Town and JHB…which leaves me with 10 sometimes very important kg’s that I have to somehow hide in my shoes. When will one be able to get a carrier to understand that contract pilots need that extra 10kg quite badly. What happened to courtesy to fellow airmen, women…and those that are not sure.

8 June

First flight back in Chad. Everything petty much exactly as I left it 4 months ago. ATC still non-existant, but the huge big trench that has been dug next to the runway at Abeche is doing wonders keeping those funky military bakkies from driving over the runway when we are taking off or landing. Now it’s only our own ‘runway inspection’ vehicles doing it, which is…nice.

The last time I left Iriba the outside temperature was 8 deg C. Today it was 37. My pleas to the company to contact the president of Chad to request him to turn the country’s aircon back on has fallen on deaf ears. In this arid wasteland of extreme temperatures, one has to ask oneself whether it is worth it. Is it? I don’t know…I really don’t. I guess I would only know that for sure when I look back from where I end up going from here?

9 June

Oh joy…a day without flying! No, that was sarcasm. A day without flying translates into a day with more hours to fill with my own magnificent company. Not that I don’t enjoy my own company…just not really when a contract starts and I’m not all bright eyes about being on said contract.

Not being the best drinking buddy one could take along on a contract with you…I tend to find myself spending plenty of time away from the mindless and pointless past times such a coinage and other drinking games. I completely don’t see the point. If you really want to drink, why do you need to play a game where the object is to avoid drinking but get others drunk?

I spent most of the afternoon and evening in the WFP crew’s inflatable pool. It’s heavenly when I finally get out and actually feel cold. I embrace it like a long lost friend…like a Cape winter rain shower (loving the rain like the typical capetonian that I am).

10 June

Sunday and I overslept. Yes, I missed the morning service. I am sure there must be a church somewhere around Abeche, but even if I find one, I would suspect that I will keep oversleeping. Besides, I did not bring my Sunday best to Chad.
I stead I spend part of the morning starting off my 2nd book since leaving SA.
The first, “The motorcycle diaries” by Che Guevara was very enjoyable and please don’t ask me whether I saw the movie or not, because I didn’t even know there WAS a movie about it. I’m tackling something a bit more ‘intellectual’ this time around in Steven Hawkins’ “A brief history of time” and I will do my review for you when I am finished. Also look forward to reviews on “Bono on Bono” and “Screw it, let’s do it again” by Richard Branson. In between I will bring you reviews on FTC’s “Radio Aids” and “Navigation”. I think I should start a book club…I’ll be the flying Oprah! Who knows…maybe I can start a school here in Chad. You know, teach people a real life skill…like how to be a sushi chef.

Just spoke to my favorite Capetonian for about 2 mins before the network went offline. Great. No undrinkable water, no unreliable electricity and now no stupidly expensive communication. This is going to be a dream contract.

11 June

Up at 5 for our 6:15 pick up. Not really a problem, getting up at 5 that is as that is also the time we have to switch off our generator. This seemingly insignificant event has the further effect of stopping the air conditioners in our rooms, which in turn allows the temperature to rise sharply…and thus waking us up.

In sharp contrast to the last time I was in Chad, warm water is not even close to topping my list of “wants’. The water in the pipes, even at 05:30 in the morning, hold a temperature well into the 20’s. Its almost too warm. That is IF we have water. The last two days saw me down on my haunches taking a shower out of a large container in my bathroom (term used very loosely) that we fill when we do have water. The going temperature of the water in the aforementioned container can be up to 5 to 10 deg higher than that in the pipe…depending on the time of day.

Anyway, had a good rotation out to Goz-beida and Dogdore. Everything pretty much as it was when I left, expect that I do find that the summer season has left the landscape with a hint of feature. Dogdore ‘s runway which in winter is extremely difficult to find, showed up nicely by being surrounded by greenery (again term used loosely).

We flew an empty leg back home and decided to investigate more closely some rocky outcrops that lay en-route. If this country has any lions or leopards left, this surely would be where you’d find them.

Apart from the 2 French Mirages inbound to Abeche and landing just after us, nothing exciting transpired.

I know, I make it sound as if that is a bad thing…

Oh well…back to the house to go and see how many times we see Pieter Crause and his pimped out Ford bakkie with the wolves and the dream catchers on Discovery channel today. Now THAT’S exciting!


12 June

This was always going to be a long day, but just how long I wasn’t prepared for. I say that because I’ve been out of the contract game for just over 4 months and I was, and still is surprising how quickly one looses being contract flying fit.

We moved 30 passengers today over 5 sectors. Not a vast amount I know, but of those 30, 9 were the most fowl smelling pax I have had in an aerplane…and I’ve been to south Sudan twice!

What I do not understand for the life of me in this place, is why it normally is the women that smell worse. The 9 ladies I was specifically referring to spent about 5 of the just short of 8 hours we flew today in the aeroplane. Nasty has a name…actually, its got 9 names now.

Part of our day was flying to the capital N’Djamena and back, clear across the whole of Chad. At least we had the opportunity to climb to an altitude where the air conditioning was still working.

13 June

The day started with the very happy discovery that the fuel cocks were left on. Now, if you know the Caravan, this can be a cumbersome problem.

See…although the cross ventilation pipe between the tanks is about the diameter of my Bic pen’s shaft…Jet A1 has that very irritating habit of desperately wanting to co-habitate in the same tank. So, wonderful surprise, we had one full tank…and one very empty one.

The max fuel imbalance for flight in the Caravan is 200lbs. We had 800…nice.

So after parking the aeroplane with its right hand main wheel off the hardstand, and jacking up the left…the big wait began. The engineer took the time to replace the leaky seals on the right brake calipers, so this became the “official” reason for delay.

Eventually, over an hour late, we took off for our morning rotation of 3 sectors with a nightstop in N’djamena. Whoo-hoo…an air conditioned hotel room in the capital. What a prospect!

Its 3 hours later. NO hotel rooms in this sad excuse for a national capital available. Not one. Not even one to share. Bubble really burst…good and proper. Night spent on the floor in the company house where the aircon is…not working. Add to that a fallout with my favorite captonian and my mood can weld platinum!



14 June

0430 wake up to be picked up at 5. The 6 o’clock take off is late… by 2 mins. I hardly slept. My thoughts and the unbearable heat kept rolling me around so chances are that nothing is going to be good enough today.

The 4 deg at FL110 helps.

Back in Abeche we wait for fuel, and then are off to do out normal rotations. Unless you want me to expand on the heat…I have nothing significant to report.

I just want to get some rest before tomorrow’s early start. Also, we just heard that we are doing another N’djamena rotation on Saturday so rest is getting to be a commodity.

Hello!