Fire Bomber into Hell by Linc Alexander (1 of 3)

Tyler: In your introduction, you begin by saying: "Fire Bomber into Hell was written for the reader who knows little more about the business of Fire Bombing than watching TV news clips of bombers in action next to the subdivisions of Los Angeles."

You invite us to sit besides you in the cockpit. Without giving anything away, can you share one or two things that you would like your readers to take away from your book?

Linc: The reader will learn that Fire Bombing is an occupation that takes pilots to the edge of safety every single time they go out to fight a fire. We don’t have the luxury of climbing high into still, calm air, fly comfortably from A to B and use a maze of navigation aids to help us safely land at our destination. Every time we go out, we face a multitude of hazards with mountain air currents, possibly restricted visibility at the target, and getting at targets in confined valleys. Leaving the target area is often more difficult than arriving there. I have often thought that it would be great if we could invite people to sit in the cockpit with us and experience a few bombing runs, particularly on a difficult target. Some individuals would find it exciting threading among mountain peaks on the way to a steep downhill drop just as I do, and others would doubt my sanity.

The reader will also discover my experiences with the political nature of Fire Bombing, and why I think that not all agencies use the bombers to their best advantage. I discuss the differences in bomber use in California (by CAL FIRE, the state fire control agency in California), and the United States Forest Service (USFS), a Federal fire control agency.

Tyler: You talk in your book about the boundary layer as being "the atmosphere from the ground up to five thousand feet", but you also emphasize that fire bombers spend a lot of time in the boundary layer in conditions that might ground general aviation pilots, such as strong winds, turbulence, and rotors and downdrafts in the mountains. What can lessons can private pilots in the general aviation community take from your experience as a fire bomber pilot flying in the boundary layer?

Linc: I have had good friends crash into the mountains because of restricted visibility, flying up a dead end canyon and not leaving themselves enough room to turn around, and getting smashed into the ground in downdrafts. If a pilot is going from A to B in mountainous terrain and the visibility goes bad in the valley route he is following, the safest thing to do is climb above the cloud in clear air (if the tops are not too high) get a weather report at his destination and if the condition at the destination is no worse than broken cloud with a decent ceiling, then fly to the destination above the mess below and let down in a hole at the destination. This procedure has made life simple and safe for me on many occasions. If the weather at the destination is bad, turn around and go back to your starting point.

Downdrafts, turbulence and rotor winds are a fact of life in mountainous terrain and they are generally found on the lee side of mountains. If the pilot has to maneuver close in to the mountains for any reason, then he must know where the wind is coming from and he should expect to find trouble on the lee side. He should always have the alternative of being able to turn out into a valley if he suddenly finds himself on a downhill ride. If you are in close to the mountain, it is always a good idea to have an extra ten knots (perhaps more) of airspeed for mom and the kids. We can’t read invisible air, for Fire Bomber pilots, smoke may be an indicator but the private pilot can only guess. Always suspect the worst and always have the alternative to quickly turn away from the mountain.