Australian Fires

[fatrat]

The Aussie fires are going off at the moment in 3 states on the eastern seaboard, can any of the guys involved post to let us know how it is going? Who is where and what aircraft are involved?

fatty

[topendtorque]

Only this totally unnecessary and almost calamatous situation.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200612/s1813183.htm

some have said a return to 2003 patterns, because of high country not being allowed to be grazed and such management not being replaced by any other.

Look forward to a repeat in another three years, and thank the greenies. They are easily recognised by their loose and generally unkempt attire and the hairs on their arms that y'could spear buck rats with.

[205jack]

G'day Guys and Girls
This is my first post so please don't shout at me just yet. Am wondering does anybody have a list or access to a list of where people(machines) are working in NSW.Can get a rough idea in Vic from Fireweb.Any help would be appreciated.I have worked in this industry for a long time and enjoy the cut and thrust of Rotorheads or at least most of it(sometimes unfair to attack with anonymity but then that's life)

[Semi Rigid]

"Only this totally unnecessary and almost calamatous situation"

Top End Torque what exactly do you mean? Please elaborate for us.

[gadgetguru]

Gippsland fires appear to have been deliberately lit, police still searching for 2 teenagers seen in the coopers creek area shortly before it started.

missed the family house by 300m, the wind was incredible, the loss of homes (3 closeby), sheds, wildlife, live-stock, fences & human life completely unneccessary.

most locals I have spoken with have all said the same thing; "just put them in a room for 5 minutes with the affected families..."

[PO dust devil]

News reports tonight....."Two men eliminated from enquiries following police investigations which verified that they had merely been fishing".

Always did sound like a beat up. Emotive reporting needs to be taken with a grain of salt at the best of times. How else can you get yokels to make stupid threats like tying people up to trees and setting them on fire........yeeesh!

AND that's only to their neighbours! Folks are dumb....blah blah blah....etc etc.

DD

[topendtorque]

Please elaborate for us.

Hi Semi Rigid Glad to.

Since my post there have been more news items in relation to it, included below. The first details the Victorian govt offer of travel assistance to family members of the injured firies. The second of course announces - (DRUMROLL) - the inevitable inquiry into the incident. Gee whiz.

Assistance
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200612/s1813470.htm

Review
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200612/s1813715.htm (http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200612/s1813715.htm)

In answer.
Almost calamitous;
Because it could easily have further injured or indeed killed these very noble volunteers, countrymen of yours, who have travelled here to help.
Unnecessary;
Because the natural resources of this country should never be mismanaged with such shocking ineptitude, without putting too fine a point on it, that necessitates these volunteers and others from USA who are on standby, to have come fix up our mess.

Mismanaged because of the absolute lack of Political will of these eastern state govt’s;
To get in and create fire mitigation by cool fire burn offs or;
To get on top of a noisy rabid minority who do not have on their agenda anything to do with good rangeland management, merely it is misguided disruption that puts at risk all of those now facing risk, or;
Despite begging pleas from farm organisations representing those in drought esp. those right adjacent these forest areas where there are a lot of grass reserves (fuel) the park managements will not give relief to the financially crippled farmers or help mitigate the fire risk by allowing grazing.

This country was created by fire, to replace it with some grazing mechanism is OK, but remove everything and you will get infernos, almost every three years, as is being demonstrated, not like the thirty or sixty year cycles from before.

Captain Cook found the Eastern seaboard as open woodland from thousands of years of cool fire burns that the aboriginal people used to hunt with (not to manage the land that is a load of bull) they did it merely to hunt and gather, a good practise.

Also, we in the north reckon that the techniques used to fight these fires is totally a*** up. A fire break is only good if it is used to burn back off, get out further back burn and fight fire with fire and abolish the risk for those involved.

There is no excuse for the fires management that these guys are in hospital. Why did they not have suitable protective gear? The press report talks about burns to the exposed areas. Jesus!!

Grizzled on a bit much there Heliport, my apologies, ten points to the NZ - and all vollies - and I wish them a speedy recovery.
TET

[VH-XXX]

Dropped in on Saturday. There were 14 in total. The only movements on the day were a couple of News choppers. Eddie's new Channel 9 beast looks impressive with glass cockpit and the night camera, pop out floats etc. Elvis is the right hand or far Eriksson and Malcolm is the closer one.

http://users.netconnect.com.au/~njah1/1.jpg


http://users.netconnect.com.au/~njah1/2.jpg

http://users.netconnect.com.au/~njah1/3.jpg

http://users.netconnect.com.au/~njah1/4.jpg



http://users.netconnect.com.au/~njah1/6.jpg

http://users.netconnect.com.au/~njah1/7.jpg



http://users.netconnect.com.au/~njah1/8.jpg

http://users.netconnect.com.au/~njah1/9.jpg

http://users.netconnect.com.au/~njah1/9-1.jpg

http://users.netconnect.com.au/~njah1/13.jpg


http://users.netconnect.com.au/~njah1/10.jpg


http://users.netconnect.com.au/~njah1/Fire1.jpg

http://users.netconnect.com.au/~njah1/fire2.jpg

[robsrich]

Great pics - what camera?

[mickjoebill]

Dropped in on Saturday. There were 14 in total. The only movements on the day were a couple of News choppers. Eddie's new Channel 9 beast looks impressive with glass cockpit and the night camera, pop out floats etc....

It is an Ultramedia camera installed in a er um puzzling position.

Or do they fly backwards downunder:)



Mickjoebill

[John Eacott]

It is an Ultramedia camera installed in a er um puzzling position.

Or do they fly backwards downunder:)

Yes ;)

But it's easier to lower the ball on its arm and thus clear the skids, etc: the installation gives better clearance for scrub landings, and a better field of view when lowered :ok:

[robsrich]

Was asking about the camera that took the picture of the camera?

[VH-XXX]

The camera is a Pentax Optio S6, 6 Megapixes with 3 x Optical, great for keeping on the belt when flying. It's a very small camera and has a huge 2+ inch screen which is really easy to view. Those pics were 5mega-pixel, but reduced in mspaint to 30% so they are not native. AUD$400. It does good 630x480 mpeg-4 movies too and has anti-shake installed. Only problem is it suffers in strong sunlight. Sometimes it has trouble adjusting to the light and just shows up white on the screen. It can be a little annoying.

[robsrich]

Thanks - good bit of gear according to my screen here!

[mickjoebill]

Yes ;)

But it's easier to lower the ball on its arm and thus clear the skids, etc: the installation gives better clearance for scrub landings, and a better field of view when lowered :ok:

I reckon this mount is fixed.

A bizzare configuration, designed by aviation department rather than camera department no doubt:)


Mickjoebill
(camera department)

[John Eacott]

I reckon this mount is fixed.

A bizzare configuration, designed by aviation department rather than camera department no doubt:)


Mickjoebill
(camera department)

Sprung :p ;)

[John Eacott]

We've had a fair time in NSW the past month, these were taken in the Mudgee area (when I wasn't too busy driving, of course ;) )


The inevitable AAS instruction..."Just cool it down a bit"

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Mudgee%202.jpg

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Mudgee%201.jpg

One of Johnnie Mac's very capable 214B's, with Hamish driving:

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Mudgee%203.jpg

A fixed wing bomber off to deliver a few tonnes, at an estimated $12/kilo on target

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Mudgee%205.jpg


Usually :p


http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Mudgee%206.jpg

Although they really are impressive, talk about cojons!

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Mudgee%2012.jpg

We spent a lot of time dropping RAFT into bush pads, fairly tight, and very dusty until they were wetted down for us:

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Mudgee%2009.jpg

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Mudgee%2010.jpg

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Mudgee%2011.jpg

[topendtorque]

Fast Eddie must be a fun bloke to work for - according to the smiling joe driver of his machine.

Here is the coroners report on the canberra fires of three years ago. Seems that he thinks there's a fair bit a*** up too.

The chief minister Stanhope copped a good rev as well.

http://news.google.com.au/news?q=ACT+fire+inquiry+coroner&hl=en&lr=&cr=countryAU&sa=X&oi=news&ct=title

[John Eacott]

Fast Eddie must be a fun bloke to work for - according to the smiling joe driver of his machine.

To quote 'Smiling Joe' Steve: "I was smiling! Bloody papparazzi :p "



Rain/showers/100kph winds forecast today, and snow in the Alps for Christmas Day, but I bet that it won't do much to stop this blaze :(



This photo was taken last week at the Mt Beauty pondage


http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Mt%20Beauty%20fire.jpg

[wheatbix]

John, that last photo is absolutely amazing! I like the way the orange/red of the fires reflects in the water. If its ok with you, I'd love to have a look at the hi-res version (if there is one?)?

[Ascend Charlie]

That Mil is similar to an A109, in that its weight never changes with fuel burn - it just gets deposited as soot further down the aircraft.

And no, the aviators had nothing to do with the camera design or anything else on the Channel 9 birds. The ground engineers did it all with lashings of cast iron and steel, no light materials or aviation-type electronics. That's why the pilot is smiling.:* :{ :suspect:

[John Eacott]

A few photos from Heli1, taken in the Blue Mountains, NSW:

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Wildcat%2001.jpg

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Wildcat%2002.jpg

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/RFS%20BK.jpg

[BigMike]

Some pics from recent weeks...
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a3/Micksphotos/ovens-3.jpg
Helitak 335 landing at Ovens Airbase
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a3/Micksphotos/ovens-2.jpg
Heading home after a day dropping water in the Chesthunt area, N. Victoria
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a3/Micksphotos/ovens-1.jpg
B3 with new Aussie built Helitak 1000 litre belly tank
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a3/Micksphotos/delatite-1.jpg
Fire south of Mansfield, Victoria

[Bushfire]

Just wondering who manufacturers the Helitak 1000 litre belly tank (VH-IPW) in the above photos. Thanks

[Helibeginner]

Jason S. email [email protected]
Got one myself, brilliant piece of gear, great drop pattern and pump fills up Squirrel in about 20secs

Easy put on and off (15 mins) variable fill and drop:ok:

[helo1]

Great shots there Big Mike got anymore.
What about you John You would have got a few.
I will go through mine and send you some more tomorrow John

[BigMike]

A few more from recent times...
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a3/Micksphotos/S-61-with-BB.jpg
Now thats a bucket... Well known pilot and local idendity from Albury (and part-time Warbird flyer ;)) JM from Forest-Air, inspects Coulson's "Big" Bambi-bucket on there S-61
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a3/Micksphotos/S-61-with-BB2.jpg
Coulson's S-61 lifts off from Wangaratta airport heading south to the King Valley

[eman_resu]

Hi there,

Great photo's as usual and interesting closeups of the equipment on the ground.

Dumb question, but how are the aircraft shipped down from North America and Canada? are they flown or transported by other methods?

All the best and good luck to all those involved in the fire fighting efforts, I flew over the area in December and the scene from a commercial jet is vivid enough at night, I can't imagine 200 ft above it at any time of the day...

[BigMike]

For those interested in the Oz built Firetak belly tank on the Squirrel, a little video of a test flight done after maintenance on the tank. Tank was only half full on each drop.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGBWG5ET3V8

[helo1]

Will be leaving Sydney tomorrow heading to Victoria.
So hopefully i will get some awesome Helo shots while im down there

[Heliport]

Look forward to seeing them. :ok:

[John Eacott]

Some photos from the Bega fires:

The helipad, 11 helitacks and 3 firebirds: long walk for the last to arrive!

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Warragul%20pad.jpg

Tim Turner contemplating: beer, wash tailboom. No contest, really :=

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/TT%20105.jpg


Dave from Wildcat, trying to hit the earth with the Bambi

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Wildcat%2003.jpg

Another Wildcat 212, outbound for the fireground

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Wildcat%2004.jpg



Dave, again


http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Wildcat%2005.jpg


Fairly typical NSW water hole: no good not having at least a 100' line!

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Wildcat%2006.jpg

The helipad

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Wildcat%2007.jpg

[John Eacott]

A few more, transitting in company to Thredbo/Tom Groggin fireground:

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Becker%2001.jpg

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Becker%2002.jpg

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/photos/pprune/Becker%2003.jpg

[ayaarr]

some nice shots there John

heard you going back into Tom Groggin as I was departing

regards

[CYHeli]

Gents, in the latest Heli-News, Rose Mc (President of HAA) is quoted as saying that she would like to see co-pilots involved in the air at the fire ground as a way of giving lower hour pilots experience and/or hours.
Your thoughts, not of Rose, but the ideas associated with co-eys at/on the fire ground, good bad or otherwise...

[helo1]

Quite a rather large fire burning in the Mount Kuring-gai Hornsby area.
Following aircraft working on this fire is as follows
Helitak 227 BK117 BKE
Helitak 402 B214 N49732
Helitak 720 CH-54 N720HT
Helitak 274 B212 C-FCAN
Helitak 746 S-64 N194AC
Firebird 277 206L SHK
Firebird 767 206L WLI
Firebird 242 AS350 UTM
Fireair 1 BK117 PHZ

[BigMike]

A couple of pics from the weekend..
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a3/Micksphotos/CHC-212-2.jpg
One of CHC's 212's loads US fire-fighters to be dropped off in the hills near Mansfield
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a3/Micksphotos/CHC-212.jpg
Helitak 332 departs Walsh's airstrip. Coulsons S-61 on standby in the background

[Capt Hollywood]

Some nice pics there Mick and John.

CH :cool:

[B Sousa]

Very good shots of some serious long line work.
Someday they will all look back on days spent in Fire Camps and those will be some very fond memories.