Fire Fighting

[jarb]

Hi,
Was wondering if anyone could tell me the best way of getting into the fire fighting part of the industry, preferably in Canada. Australian passport, South African Comm. 1800 TT, C206 and C208's, bush flying in Africa.I really want to get the most out of flying while im young and fire fighting looks like a serious challenge, any info would be greatly appreciated.

[CaptW5]

I noticed that there is not much of a response here. Your best bet is to ask the question on the avCanada forum, where I found this old thread on this subject:

http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopic.php?t=23678

[North Shore]

First off, probably a Canadian Licence, and right to work here. Most operations are sorta career-oriented, so you might want to keep that in mind. It took me about 2 seasons to get up to the point where I felt comfortable dogging, in terms of having seen a few situations, and so on...thus a company might be a little more reluctant to hire you if they thought that you were going to take off after a year. Also, don't be expecting a huge time-building job - I've flown less than 1000hrs in 5 years. We do a lot of sitting around, waiting for the phone to ring to tell us to go. Make sure that you are comfortable doing that before you get involved.

In terms of the scoopers, most companies will want you to have some (more the merrier) float time under your belt before they hire you - there's enough for you to learn about fires and flying the ducks without having the additional burden of learning about water at the same time..

Also, multi pic time - again, the more the merrier. Conair likes mountain and gravel strip work. It tends to show that you are able to make good, safe decisions on your own without being spoon-fed wind/runway info.

If a guy was trying to kill two birds with one stone, he'd head to the Maldives, and fly a -6 on floats. A season of flying there, and presto...multi pic float time!

There, that should get you started.. If you have any more questions, I use the same handle over at AvCanada, pm me there..

[jarb]

Thanks North Shore,
Looks like i need some twin float time, think i might come over for a holiday and check out the practicallities of it all re license, visa etc.. But again advice appreciated.