Coulson Aviation has helicopters equipped for flying at night with the pilots wearing special night vision googles, see my May 21st article to watch a short video on Coulson's night operations. Coulson has four helicopters funded by Southern California Edison equipped for night flying that are currently on exclusive-use contracts in Southern California:
- One CH47 (3,000 gallons) on contract with Orange County
- One CH47 (3,000 gallons) and one Sikorsky S-76 "Firewatch helicopter used for command on contract with Los Angeles County
- One Sikorsky S-61N helicopters (1,000 gallon) on contract with Ventura County.
These four helicopters are called the Quick Reaction Fleet (QRF). To read more about the QRF, go to this June 2021 article from Vertical Magazine. Australia also contracts with helicopters equipped for night flying on contract, see this 2019 Vertical Magazine article.
I want to share a longer video (just under 12 minutes) from Coulson on their night operations earlier this year at a wildfire in Malibu. You will see the QRF working the fire in support of the wildland firefighters on the ground.
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