Gordy, been watching the tankers out of Redding,Red bluff,and further South...Well organised.....looked at OZ,but could only find a Conair RJ,,unless they don`t use tanker,spotter c/signs....
Keep up the good work.....are you in a UH-1..?

Red Bluff is not a tanker base, but they do fly over it. The Norcal ones are Redding, Chico and McClellan for the large tankers. The S-2's can go almost anywhere they can get topped off. They use all sorts from the 747, DC-10's ConAirs, P3's, I think the Neptunes are all done now, RJ 85's, C-130's, MD-87's and BAE 146's, and then of course all the Air Tractors. I might have missed some.

They use King Air's as lead planes and Cal Fire uses Bronco's--callsign "Air Attack". We use Astar's, 407's, L4's and even Jet Rangers as Helco--callsign "Helco".

Astar's, 407's, L4's and even Jet Rangers acan be used on exclusive use contracts doing initial attack, but slowly being taken over by 205's.

I have a fleet of Bell 212, 205, UH-1H, 2 X 407's, 4 X L4's, one Astar, one Jet Ranger. I fly all but the 212 and 205. I prefer doing Helco these days.

Day one on Camp Fire in Pradise:
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....ada623e5e4.jpg

Ah.. That's the downside of having the "wrong" passport...

While there are hardly any jobs for pilots here in Europe, you guys seem to have plenty of work...!

(as usual, take my bitchy comments with a pinch of salt... Then add lemon and Tequila to it... Et voila!)

Yep, if you showed up on the door with the right passport, license and more importantly skill set---I would hire on the spot.

There is never a bad time to drink tequila.....

Sky crane in action in australia this week
 

Quite a good video of a Sky Crane at work firefighting in Australia

https://www.liveleak.com/view?t=uvNkT_1573549204

And while it might not be a helicopter a rather decent video of one of 10 Tankers DC-10's doing it's thing not far from Sydney, only arrived last week.

SnowFella

Nice video - thanks for sharing

This is so correct nowadays.......only a passport away.......

I watched the film "Only the Brave" last night.

When you fly fires you become very close to those you fly support for....and develop a loyalty with when it comes to helping them when they are at risk and need help.

Part of your US Forest Service required training as a Pilot is how to deploy an Emergency Fire Shelter..

As you lay there on the ground with that bit of flimsy fabric between you and the Fire has got to be a terrible thing.

Hats off to the Hot Shots, Smoke Jumpers, and others who confront the Bear!

The film is about the Granite Mountain Hot Shots and the Yarnell Canyon Fire.

If you fly fires....you will know what this is all about.

Those guys needed help but it did not make it to them in time...though pilots tried.


https://azstateparks.com/hotshots/th...t-the-hotshots

A great film, see the trailer here:


The film did a pretty good job of showing how fires work, there were a couple things I disagreed with, namely the shot crew would not belittle another crew. There are some politics involved, and the biggest question of all: Why did they leave their safety zone? Some have surmised that because they were primarily a "city" crew, as in their first priority was in saving homes, their "leader" reverted to this mindset. In true "wild land fire" situations and also aviation, our mindset is "unless we are saving puppies and kittens, let it burn, it is just acreage and houses---homes will be rebuilt".

I will go on a limb here while fire, especially in Australia is on people's minds. In the US, most of the kids on the fire line are getting minimum wage, no medical, health or life insurance. When !!!! goes down, there is nothing to help them. In Australia, I know most are volunteers. We have a charity here in the US that has the "52 club"---basically, would you give a buck a week to help a fellow fire fighter in need......I have done for 14 years now.....maybe if you have a spare shekel or two? At the very least take a look, I know 4 people in this video alone:


Website Here

The Captain on Iron 44 was a friend.....and a darn good Helicopter Pilot.

Indeed....I did not know Roark but had flown on fires with him. I did know Jim Ramage the USFS inspector pilot on-board who also died. He used to work at the company I now run, and had given me my carding ride that year. I was just flying within 2 miles of the crash site a few weeks back.

Helicopter "monitoring" bushfire in Kyneton "clipped" a wire.
Damage to windscreen reported.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/...aign=editorial


Mjb

Just heard a rumor of a tanker going down in the Snowy Monaro....nothing further at this time.

C-130 missing; unable to upload screenshots from subscriber only newspaper but will keep trying.


N134CG

https://7news.com.au/news/bushfires/large-water-bombing-aircraft-has-crashed-at-peak-view-reports-c-661253?fbclid=IwAR0ZmJsAQ6MkwrTFccVQ1_mU8jby2scKWC75PfZmGT9S qOS_VH8AyC8UjlM

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-23/nsw-rfs-air-tanker-crashes-near-numeralla-bushfire/11893554?fbclid=IwAR1fNJObDxRnY-nZlqNcTob88USyw5r0Rkmodq80i-SHgO4zijsrXoGHZaw

Meanwhile !!!! happens!

It looks like the Orroral Valley fire was started by a defence chopper.

The Department of Defence has admitted the fire was likely caused by one of its own helicopters, after one its landing lights created enough heat to set the grass on fire.

"The fire started during routine aerial reconnaissance and ground clearance work being conducted in the area in support of our local firefighters and authorities," Emergency Services Minister Mick Gentleman said on behalf of Defence.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-...ening/11907438

It didn't just start the fire, it was completely enveloped by it. It also sustained some damage. Could have been a lot worse.

https://the-riotact.com/army-helicop...ey-fire/353462

Saw this earlier, just interested about how much benefit this could potentially bring to the fire fighting teams around the world, obviously different countries and even regions have to deal with various terrains, availability of support resources and all the other surprises thrown at you while doing a days work!


https://bc.ctvnews.ca/fighting-fores...ions-1.5022933

There is a new weapon in B.C.’s forest firefighting arsenal.

After two years of planning, the BC Wildfire Service has successfully tested a helitanker --a helicopter with a water tank-- equipped with night vision goggle technology.

“It is a game changer,” said Leanne Ingham, superintendent of aviation management for the BC Wildfire Service.

Nighttime aerial firefighting occurs in other jurisdictions, such as California, but if implemented here, it would be a Canadian first.

"It won’t be used everywhere….but this gives us more tools in our toolbox," Ingham added.

Nighttime aerial operations would be advantageous because conditions at night are often better for fighting fires.

"The temperatures are down, the humidity is up and often the wind is down. So it makes the water that much more effective coming from the aircraft," she said.

The aircraft being used is an Airbus AS365 N2 Dauphin, owned and operated by Talon Helicopters, based in Richmond.

The aircraft has been outfitted with a 900L tank on its belly, along with a custom night vision-friendly instrument panel in the cockpit.

"Every single bulb and instrument has had to be modified,” said Murray. "So it doesn’t interfere with the pilot's vision at night or with the use of the night vision goggles.

Normally, aerial operations have to cease at sunset, but Murray says the new technology, which has been approved for use by Transport Canada will "allow us to keep flying all night, if required."

The technology also has the potential to expand operations at night for search and rescue groups.

For wildfire operations, the next step is to conduct tests on live fires. So far, tests have been limited to controlled campfires.

"There are some things we can’t test in a controlled environment,” said Ingham, citing the unpredictability of conditions in a live fire situation. "But we’re pretty optimistic.”

Flying around forest fires with NVG is OK as long as you aren't looking directly at the fire itself as the goggles will close down and you won't see much else.

I would always want NVG when flying at night but it won't be a magic bullet in those conditions and pilots need to be very careful.