Flag flying has been a (political) hot potato since a certain Labour pollie got terribly upset when a flag was towed past his BBQ at Kirribilli House, around Sydney Harbour. Upshot is that CASA decreed Sydney Harbour to be a 'populous area', thereby requiring special permission to fly a flag!
The rest of the country isn't quite so bad, except that the interpretation of flag flying became a further moot point, since any sensible operator approached it as an underslung load job (as you would....). For various reasons, a legal interpretation came out of Canberra to refute this, and it is now considered to be Banner Towing, thus requiring a specfic approval on an AOC, and an Ops Manual supplement.
As a sling load operation, it was (and is) approached along the lines that a load must not be flown over people or property such that the dropping of a load could cause injury or damage on the ground. Hence the flying of flags overwater, following a beach where maximum exposure can be gained.
A Sydney operator has spent a lot of time and effort into developing a system very similar to that first described, whereby the flag has been approved by CASA to be flown over land, and thus over built up areas. The why's and wherefore's of the operation are not something that I can comment upon as there are a number of differing views from Australian operators, none of which I wish to be aligned with. As an approved operation, it appears very successful.
A number of factors often appear to be ommitted when considering flags to be flown, the major one (IMHO) being the drag of the material. Whilst the rig may only weigh a few hundred kilos, the wind drag of a flag is well documented (reference library will help) and can reach 1,000's of kg, depending on wind strength, thus creating either a breaking strain upon the flagpole, or exceeding the hook weight of the helicopter towing the beast. Hence the 25-30kt limit for most flag flying, above which the drag exceeds the hook capability.
I have also flown multiple flags, with 3-4 flags stacked above each other. Very heavy weights required to keep the line straightish, and a rad alt would have been quite useful when GTV9 advised me that the bottom weight was actually skipping over the waves
Last AirShow DownUnder I flew three flags at night, equally interesting experience <img src="eek.gif" border="0">
As for time off, w're now into day 22 of the NSW fires, and current estimate is another couple of weeks before we wrap it up. 10+ hours a day almost every day, we're beginning to wish it was over. Current drops from the BK are >2500 since the start of fires, so we've put >2,000,000 litres from one little BK, some of which actually hit the flames <img src="wink.gif" border="0"> The Victorian loan aircraft are now wending their way back across the border, but all pilots and operators are undoubtedly going to be very short for a month or two when crews have to catch up on duty and flight hour dispensations. The RAN also returned to their homes today, further indication that we're in the mopping up stage.
(Edited to sort out grammar & spelling. Too long a day on the fires!!!)
[ 14 January 2002: Message edited by: John Eacott ]</p>