Associated Aerial Firefighters (AAF)

I first became aware of the Associated Airtanker Pilots, now known as the Associated Aerial Firefighters a couple of years.  Some of you are already familiar with the AAF, and some are not.

According to the AAF FAQ page,

Created in the early 90s, the Associated Airtanker Pilots (AAP) is a fraternal non-profit organization whose members have a common interest in the aerial firefighting industry. Included in this definition are fixed and rotary wing aircraft that a) drop fire retardant, foam or water, b) fly in a lead plane or tactical air-control capacity and/or c) provide logistics support or personnel deployment missions at fire incidents. In 2010, the name was changed to the Association of Aerial Firefighters (AAF), to more accurately reflect our diverse membership.

If you scroll down on the AAF FAQ page, you will see that the AAF is a membership organization. I joined last year as an auxiliary member because I am a member of the general public interested in supporting the AAF community.

I have benefited greatly by the time I have spent on their website and reading their message board over the last couple of years. They have recently updated their website and have a new message board using the familiar model of multiple thread forums. Anyone can register for the forums, I believe that you must be registered in order to post to the forums. However, "guests" can read. New users might want to read the AAF forum FAQs

I like the newly redesigned AAF forums, and I am looking forward to following the forums as the wildfire season continues. I have already benefited from what I have read in the forums. For example, there have been posts about safety, news from the fire line, and a general topic thread where interesting news about the biz is posted.

The forums are still relatively new, only a couple of months old. Drop by and visit, and check back throughout the fire season and beyond. I know that I will.