Fire Bomber into Hell by Linc Alexander (2 of 3)

Tyler: I loved reading your stories of your early days flying fire bombers. I think that history shapes and defines our present. You and the other pilots you flew with during those early days paved the way for the fire bombers of today. How did these early days impact you during your later years as a fire bomber pilot?

Linc: The early days taught me the never-must-do aspects of this business. There are inviolate rules to this game which must always be obeyed and I discovered them the hard way, I made all the mistakes and fortunately got away with it. I cover some of them in this book Fire Bomber Into Hell and one of them is the answer to the last question in part 1: always have an escape from where you are in the event the air goes bad. The early days saw so many fatalities from people doing some pretty hair-brained things that I felt compelled to write the book Air Attack on Forest Fires. That book gets into the real nitty-gritty about what a pilot must do to fly safely while he is performing his job. It may sound crazy but I re-read my own book each spring for many years to remind myself about the many do’s and don’ts.

Tyler: Of all the places where you flew as a fire bomber pilot, are there one or two that stand out to you and why?

Linc: I loved flying in California, firstly because of the wonderful people I worked with and the opportunity to fly the wonderful F7F. I flew almost every day with actions that took place in such varied terrain and with different forest and brush cover. In California, actions have to take place quickly or a fire could get away in a matter of minutes. CAL FIRE (CDF at the time) exercised the “One Strike” concept of fast initial attack. We were fast and effective; there was a great sense of achievement. Of course, California is the only place with the fabulous Redwoods and the superb wines. Flying in California also rounded out my research for the book Air Attack on Forest Fires.

Flying in British Columbia particularly from a place like Campbell River (the Salmon fishing capital of the world) took me over the world’s most fantastic scenery. There is nothing like the backdrop of an iridescent blue glacier as one does an action over emerald green forest. The action at Butte Inlet where I slid down just over top of a glacier to fly out over the azure waters of that magnificent inlet was an experience one never forgets.