Channel 4 TV in England is broadcasting a series titled ‘Worst place to be a pilot‘. It’s about young British pilots flying Pilatus PC-6 Porter STOL aircraft in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Here’s the series trailer and another ‘teaser’ clip. I recommend watching both in full-screen mode.
I think African bush pilots (and their passengers) might argue whether those were the ‘worst place’ to be a pilot; but it looks tricky enough, certainly as bad as some of the bush airstrips I used in Africa. I hope the series is put on YouTube, or made available in the USA in some other way. It looks to be interesting.
Peter
Oh, now I want to try that! And I want a Porter!
My first instructor was a Seventh Day Adventist missionary six months a year in Central America. Glad I was able to learn to "fly" from him. Later, I had anther instructor to teach me the FAA approved way.
Worse than being #10 in line in the penalty box at O'Hare? 😉
LittleRed1
My brother was a bush pilot in Alaska for a while. Had way to many "good" stories for the number of flight hours he had, so gave it up because he could read the writing on the statistical wall. Lots of beach, braided river, and "field-expedient" (a hundred feet of brush cut down a little an hour before) landings. Yeah, it was exciting going up with him. Papua looks, er, fun, too.
So is there some reason triplanes haven't made a comeback? I would've thought they'd be ideal if fitted with all the modern slow-flying technologies.