Monday, May 26, 2008

More good news

This morning I talked with the DGAC (Peru aviation authority's) about getting my mechanic certificate convalidated. They were a little confused at they told me my license was waiting for me in Lima but that, as I told them, was my pilot license. (It was nice to reconfirm that it is there and ready for me) But as fas as my mechanic certificate goes, I still have to receive a practical check from a government inspector.
Thankfully this past week we had a maintenance inspector out here to check out our float plane and he will be coming back next week to check out our new Turbo 206. So I managed to get my practical check scheduled with him while he is here next week. It was an advantage to meet him previously because when I talked with him on the phone, he was informed about my situation. So things are coming together slowly but surely.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Inspection

This past week we had an annual inspection on one of our airplanes. It was very interesting because the government actually has to send an inspector to look at the airplane but he only looks at a few things or check certain things, basically what ever he wants to see he checks out. But Todd and Hammer, our two mechanics did well and I even tagged along for the day and observed. I was hoping I could also do my practical check to get my mechanic certificate but that ended up falling through because nobody had communicated with the inspector...
In other news, we have one of our pilots getting home from furlough tomorrow. So now we will be up to 2 full pilots and me... so that is like 2.5 pilots as I still do not have a license and still have to be checked out to go solo as of yet.
This past week we received our, new to us, Cessna Turbo 206. It basically is the same as our other 2 airplanes but the difference is the engine in that it has a turbocharger that is able to keep the rated horsepower up to 16,000 feet. Non-turbocharged airplanes lose horsepower as they climb due to the fact that the air becomes less and less dense as you go higher. The turbo compresses the air and makes it so that the engine has just as much air as sea level. We still need permission to operate the airplane in Peru but at least we have it down here. Pictures to come!
One last thing, the pilot who brought the plane down stopped in 5 different countries on the way down. Unfortunately he said he had the most problems with clearances, flight plans, and customs in Peru and NOT in the other 4 countries!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The latest


Well I had been waiting for my pilot certifacte to come through and the latest word was that I would have a checkride on the 22nd of this month. Then today we heard from the government that I would need to got to Lima again because my pilot license was ready to be picked up! Without having to do a checkride... So I don´t really understand it, but I will take that! Not sure when I will be going but I would imagine in a week or so.

I am still flying with my Chief Pilot here. We had a 5 hour traing flight yesterday with the float plane. I will post some pictures as I came into town where there is fast inernet. Yes, we do land on there rivers. Some of the approaches require low turns over the river or on take off you have to follow the river while you climb out above the trees!

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Still waiting

Two weeks ago I called the Government inspector about scheduling a time to receive my final checkride. This is the last thing, that I know of at least, that I need to do before I receive a pilot license down here in Peru. So he said to call him back the next week on Monday. So I waited 5 days and then called him Monday morning. He told me that that week we was going to be in northern Peru but was going to be coming out to Pucallpa on Tuesday or Wednesday of the following week and I should call him again the following Monday.
So yesterday I called him again and he said he was still in Northern Peru and for the next 2 weeks he was going to be busy. He did suggest that I call the DGAC offices and see if someone else could come out to Pucallpa and to the check ride.
So we called the DGAC, they gave us two numbers for the person that is in charge of the Pucallpa area and of course when we dialed the number it was a wrong number. So we call back to the office and they give us another number which when dialed is also not correct. Then we call back to the DGAC office a 3rd time and they give a 3rd number for someone else and he is not picking up his phone. So at the moment we are not really sure what in the world we are going to do but something has to give right?
Maybe I can just start flying down here without a license because they would never find out because they are never out here and don´t want to work with us or help us in anyway at all. But of course the moment we did that you know they would show up with a surprise inspection. You can´t win for loosing.