If you are a pilot in the United States, your license authorizes you to fly entire catagories of aircraft as long as it is listed on your license with no special training beyond the training required to acquire and maintain your license. It is only when you start getting to aircraft that are in excess of 12,500lb gross weight or powered by turbojet engines that you need to get a "type rating" which consists of training and a checkride for the specific aircraft type.
This is not the way it works in Botswana. As a holder of a Botswana Airline Transport Pilot license, I need a type rating for every aircraft I want to fly from the lowly Cessna 150 to a Boeing 747. When I first arrived in Botswana I listed for the CAA every aircraft in which I had more than 5 hours of flight time while in the United States. I was granted type ratings in all of these aircraft without having to take a checkride. Unfortunately, I had no time in a Cessna 210 or a Cessna 207 which are the aircraft that we operate out of the Maun base. So, for that past two years when they have needed a backup pilot for these aircraft, I have always been out of the running since I didn't have those aircraft on my license.
So, when I heard that my boss was planning to ferry our C210 to Maun and return the C207 to Gaborone for maintenance I was quick to point out that this would be a great opportunity to give me a checkride in both of these aircraft while also allowing me to get some experience. It was a terribly busy week for me but I couldn't resist the opportunity.
While I have never flown a C210 before I have plenty of time in RG (retractable gear) Cessnas. However, having flown almost exclusively King Airs or King Air derivitives the last 5 years I have to admit there was a learning curve. The rudder pedals were so close together! I could not keep the stupid ball on the inclinometer in between the lines to save my soul! Only climbing at 800fpm? Is there something wrong with this thing?
As we climbed out over the Kalahari the last vestiges of habitation faded slowly behind us. A mere 60 or 70 miles from Gaborone, the only visual signs of human activity were the occasional arrow straight lines of the game fences stretching to the horizon. Having previously only seen this place as an earth tone carpet from 25,000ft, down at 3000ft I realized that I hadn't missed much. Mile after mile of endless acaica scrub brush slid by beneath the belly interupted only by small salt pans as we edged further north. Mark kept the most recent(a mere 20 years old) Botswana VFR chart on his lap but aside from crossing intersecting game fences at one point and one or two uniquely shaped pans there were virtually no landmarks for the entirety of the 300nm trip. Visual navigation became further complicated as heavy dark shafts of rain began to appear on the horizon and we were forced to deviate sometimes miles off our charted course to stay in the clear. Thankfully, the aging Trimble GPS in the panel unerringly pointed the way to Maun as we picked our way through the rain.
I still haven't done the paperwork to get the C210 in my license but the hard part is over and I had a great opportunity to add to my list of experiences here in Botswana. I had forgotten how much fun it can be to fly singles!
I still haven't done the paperwork to get the C210 in my license but the hard part is over and I had a great opportunity to add to my list of experiences here in Botswana. I had forgotten how much fun it can be to fly singles!
