I mean no offence guys, I came in on the back of the Retired Airline Pilot statement. presumably therefore over 60's, why would you want to work. no it's not that hard, in fact flying the machine is the easy part, so long as you're well organised and ahead of the game. It's everything else you have to do, all those things you have long since forgotten about.

Hahaaar! I probably was a bit generous with the notice, but we old folk can't be rushed :)

They dont need a skillet to do firebombing, its an aircraft and knowledge they need, you thinking skillet because you burnt the Risotto last night?

Well according to the Bushfire Royal Commission they recommend a fleet of aircraft based in Australia. If it happens they won't be short of applicants looking for what would amount to a government airline job.

Fleet just means more than one which is what, in multiple types, we’ve got now.

Airline hey.

Here we go again...... Another useless bureaucracy, Canberra based. Staffed by ex RAAF has beens. They will spend millions just on choosing the logo, then more millions on consultation with CASA, then tens of millions on writing the ops manual, diversity manual, gender equity rules, “liaison” committees involving all the states, environment groups, etc., etc. Then there is the task of selecting aircraft. It should only take two years after they have finished the ops manual to write the draft request for tender. Then eighteen months for a response, then twelve months for evaluation of responses and selection of successful bidder.

Folks, if I couldn’t spend half a billion and string it out to ten years before a drop of retardant fell from the sky from one of these aircraft, I would be a failed bureaucrat.

‘Successful businesses. like systems, start as very small and nimble operations that grow. Just look at the disaster of the NBN, etc. to see what happens when big government tries to do new things.

What are you talking about? NAFC recently signed the lions share of big contracts to Coulson who have met their obligations. Along with just about every other NAFC contract.

Havick, I believe NAFC is a relatively small and therefore efficient purchasing operation, a business unit, that flies “below the radar” as a simple procurer and allocator of aircraft.

What is proposed is many times bigger than NAFC and has a much wider role and therefore budget of its own. That will draw bureaucratic drones like flies to a honeypot.

Its your worst nightmare Sunfish:

Recommendation 8.1 A sovereign aerial firefighting capability
Australian, state and territory governments should develop an Australian-based and registered national aerial firefighting capability, to be tasked according to greatest national
need. This capability should include:
(1) a modest, very large air tanker/large air tanker, and Type-1 helicopter capability, including supporting infrastructure, aircrew and aviation support
personnel, and
(2) any other aerial firefighting capabilities (eg Light Detection and Ranging(LiDAR), line-scanning, transport, and logistics) that would benefit from a
nationally coordinated approach.

If the COVID response is anything to go by there is no Australian government, only State and Territory. Once the aircraft are sent to WA or QLD they will never be seen again.

Lookleft, all I see is another brand new ten story building in Canberra full of public servants and glossy brochures. I attended a fire two years ago started by two kids doing circle work in an old ute in the King Valley (myhree fire) . By the time we got there as backup an hour and a half later, Elvis and two Hercules were already working the ridge.

How fast is this new national body going to be able to react? How do we avoid a national fleet turning into a white elephant - too slow to react, too important to be used on small fires and, like the grand fleet at Scapa Floe, being kept in reserve for “the big one?”.

It’s quite simple, you would have NAFC build into the next round of tenders that companies must be australian owned and operated under a CASA AOC and not a discreet AOC with aircraft registered abroad.

Watch everything come to a grinding halt as CASA gets their fingers in the pie.

Nomination for ****** of the year ☝️ 😂

The middle one.