The DC-10 always struck me as a political knee-jerk reaction in order to give the impression of taking action following the Black Friday bushfires in 2009 , and no they never dropped in anger in Victoria , only some pattern testing around Fiskeville from memory in order to obtain some impressive
PR footage .... they've been bombing fires O/S for years so hardly needed more testing .
Aerial fire fighting is a very State based system , with each state running their own individual program and mix of fixed / rotary wing fleet on contract plus others on adhoc/standby , then operating said fleet in a most Government-like way , which is to say it's run by OH&S lawyers which usually destroys any hope of real productivity .
Plenty of good people flying the various machinery tho'.
Oh and very well said Harley D as usual.