Hugh,

Just called my friend in London (we fly together and when I go there he comes home, we rotate around each other on the same jet) and he is using a new provider over there.

Once you land there look around and find someone selling a SIM chip for Lebara. He just spent 30 minutes on the phone with me using their chip and the quality was excellent. Best part is the price, which is 4 pence a minute to CONUS! He puts 20 pounds on it and it lasts a month or more.

Joe A

Hey thanks Joe!

BTW, it now looks like I will be in London when you are there, so stay in touch!

Cool! Hope to have a chance to finally meet you. Missed you by a day last time.

Joe, am glad to see you weren't in Moscow last week.

I did just hear that the Captain had some 'inconsistancies' in his reported time in type, and some other training paperwork 'glitches'....

Does no one verify references anymore?

Will send you an email, there is a LOT more to the story. I was not in Moscow for a very good reason.

Thanks for that tip Joe. That is a great deal. However, you don't need to wait until you arrive in London. I went to their website and found that you can order a SIM online and they will deliver it for free, including to addresses in the US. That way you have a phone you can use when you land plus be able to give your UK mobile number to people before you leave.

Lebara Mobile high quality, low cost international and UK calls from your mobile

Details?

Since we are on an open forum, will not say any names. Believe the person involved is someone I have flown with and "inflated" their experience and hours in type. Sometimes junior pilots do this to get jobs where there are minimums, or to get in the left seat.

People do check backgrounds and training if its a good operation, but not every operation cares. Many times they are caught but some are not.

Am still trying to find out more to the story but believe its a group that I have flown before. Cannot say much more until more is confirmed.

Paul, good find! Had not thought about doing that but it would get Hugh up and running and ready to go before setting foot in the UK.

Same rumors here, Joe. Names were also on one of the rumor sites.

Hugh,

I know you won't have an iPhone until after you get back, but if you have and iPod Touch, you can use Skype and local Wifi connection. We were in Africa for two weeks and placed calls via an iPhone and Skype in any hotel that had Wifi. It worked great and sound quality was good too. PC and Skype also work well. Have a good trip.

Neil