Nick,
How many private sector companies are operating FireHawks?
I am not knocking the airframe...just the concept of Taxpayers taking it in the shorts for something that could be done far better and cheaper by the private sector.
Throw us an Excel spread sheet of the program costs would you? I want you to convince me that the total cost of the Two Firehawks is as stated in that document....and I do not mean the per hour flight charges alone....weight the per hour cost to include all costs...lease, insurance, manpower costs, overhead, real estate costs, right on down the line....lets see a line item by line item cost breakdown of the FireHawk Program and see what the taxpayer is paying for 1,200 flying hours per year. If those per hour costs are increased at the max rate of 11% as stated....that becomes a darn nice rate....especially when all the other costs are factored in.
Throw in the cost of the bases, fuel, personnel, retirements, workman's compensation....depreciation...all of the costs and one sees a much different set of numbers.
The private sector is the correct place for firefighting aircraft to come from....in that they can be used for other work when not needed for fires and can be used in jurisdictions other than just the one that owns them if publically owned.
Commerical operators employ people that pay taxes...and pay property taxes...fuel taxes...payroll taxes...out of proceeds earned from their services. Public Agencies only spend tax money....that comes from private business and private citizens....and that is bad business if the government is doing something that private business can do.
As these public agencies grow their own airforces...the assets within the private sector disappear....and in times of crisis are then not available to respond to disasters.
You take away fire work from commerical operators....and sooner or later...they will wither and die on the vine.
The Firehawks are an expenditure that only public agencies can afford in that they do not have to make a profit
The most cost effective method of fighting wildfires is prevention followed by aggressive suppression before the fires develop any size. That has been proven by the disastrous fires a few years ago when the CDF elected not to send aircraft as it was approaching dark and the fire took off overnight and nearly burned down Southern California.
Anytime a public agency starts telling me how cost effective they are....I know someone is lying.
