I have blogged about aerial wildland firefighting since 2009. I am not a firefighter and am not a pilot, just an interested bystander who wants to learn more and share what I learn here. Join me here as I blog on the aircraft and the pilots who fight wildland fires from the air in support of crews on the ground. I also blog on concerns affecting fire crews on the ground as well as other aviation and meteorology issues. Learn what it takes to do jobs that are staffed by the best of the best.
CAL FIRE (CDF) S2T Tanker 71 working Sawtooth Complex Fire (2006)
Sawtooth Complex Fire (Sept. 2006), San Bernardino County CA. Photo Credit: U.S. Forest Service
Showing posts with label Helicopters (type 1). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Helicopters (type 1). Show all posts
I have been fascinated by the KMAX helicopter because it is different from other helicopters. The KMAX is a type 1 helicopter that is know for its heavy lift capabilities. The KMAX does see service fighting wildfires. I last wrote about KMAX where I shared a couple of videos about the KMAX in June 2020. The KAMAN company which manufactures the KMAX has a specification page for the KMAX helicopter.
As I perusing some of my haunts on social media I came across a video shared on a Facebook page devoted to the Chilcoot and Ridge Fires 2023 that are currently burning in the Umpqua National Forest near Roseburg, Oregon, see InciWeb page on the 2023 Chilcoot Wildfire for additional information. As I write this the 2023 Chilcoot Wildfire has burned 1,904 acres and is at 60 percent containment.
In the video, which I am embedding below, you will hear Bruno Levi, a KMAX pilot with ROTAK Helicopter Services discuss the capabilities of the KMAX. The KMAX, flown by one pilot, is considered a flying truck by some, with the capability of lifting 6,000 pounds. The bucket capacity is 600 to 700 gallons.
I am a day or so late in posting that on Tuesday, February 23rd a Croman Sikorsky S-61N helicopter on contract with the US Navy crashed at the Pacific Missile Range Facility while doing training exercises. All four occupants were killed. See this article on the Navy Times for a short write up about the crash.
I would like to thank Bill Gabbert who wrote about this on his Fire Aviation site on February 23rd. I learned of the crash while reading Fire Aviation earlier this morning. Bill's write up is, as always excellent, and you will want to read his article for his in-depth coverage of the crash. According to Bill, Croman had contracts with the U.S. Forest Service in 2020 for five type 1 helicopters.
The deceased are:
Daniel Lyle, 64, Chief Pilot
Patrick Radar, 55, Pilot in Command
Erika Tevez-Valdez, 42, Mechanic
Matthew Haider, 44, Mechanic
I offer my heartfelt condolances and prayers to the family, colleagues at Croman, and all who loved Daniel, Patrick, Erika, and Matthew. May you rest in peace and fly and always fly in favorable winds.
This is a nice video, albeit it some what long (almost 13 minutes) shot from the cockpit of a S64 Skycrane working a wildfire from take off to dipping to dropping and landing. I enjoyed watching this video and I hope you do as well.
I have recently been writing about Coulson Aviation's operations in Chile (February 10th and February 12th), today I will wrap up this short series about Coulson's operations in Chile by sharing some of Coulson's Facebook posts. They are also posting about their operations in Australia. If you have difficulty with the embedded posts or you prefer not to disable any tracking extensions, I hope that the direct link below each of the embedded posts will work, depending on your browser it may not work, I am sorry if that is the case.
I wrote about Coulson's operations in Chile the other day including their use of night vision goggles for their night aerial fire suppression operations. Coulson has a very nice Facebook Page (here)where they make good use of social media to share about the Air Tankers, Helicopters, Helitankers and supporting aircraft deployed to help the crews on the ground fight wildfires. At this time of year they are working in Australia and Chile. I saw a nice post on their NVG (night vision goggle) fire operations in Australia and California, and now in Chile. I want to share their post with you. If you do not have a Facebook account and want to see the entire post, this link should take your directly to the post with the need to log into Facebook.
When I got interested in the current wildfire season in Chile, thanks to Mike Archer's reporting on wildfires around the world in his Wildfire News of the Day emails (go here to subscribe), I knew from Coulson's Facebook page and Bill Gabbert's Dec 13, 2020 article that Coulson Aviation had aircraft under contract in Chile. I wondered about other firefighting aircraft that might be working in Chile. From reading some news reports of wildfires in Chile, I think but am not certain that SEATs and smaller helicopters fly fires in Chile in support of firefighters on the ground. Unfortunately, the best link that I had is no longer active, so I am not in a position to say anything substantial about other aircraft that might be flying fires in Chile. But I do know that Coulson is in Chile so I will focus on Coulson's operations in Chile here.
I was recently in contact with someone from Coulson who confirmed to me that Coulson has four CH47D Chinook helitankers and one UH60 Blackhawk currently under contract in Chile (for more information on these helitankers see Coulson-Unical and Coulson's Facebook page. I wrote about Coulson's CH47 helitankers and Blackhawks in May 2020, sharing a nice 2019 video where Britt Coulson discusses these helitankers and a link to an article in Vertical Magazine about the Chinook. Shortly after my recent correspondence with Coulson, I saw this February 9th news release from Coulson with more information about their operations in Chile. I also understand both from my correspondent from Coulson and the aforementioned news release that night operations in Chile will be conducted this year. I am sure that these night operations, even if under a trial period, will be an important weapon in Coulson's aerial firefighting arsenal in Chile.
When I was perusing the Coulson Aviation in Australia webpage yesterday, I saw a video report shared on their Youtube Channel from an Australian news outlet on a trial conducted in Australia last year to test Coulson's night aerial fire suppression capabilities. The report is not talking about operations in Australia, they make no mention of Chile, I do not know the result of this trial, and I am not certain which of Coulson's helitankers and/or Blackhawks have the necessary night flying technology installed. However, with those caveats in mind. this report gave me an idea about how Coulson's night aerial fire suppression operations might work. Enjoy!
(updated and corrected on February 11, 2021) I want to thank my correspondent at Coulson Aviation for taking the time to provide me with some corrections regarding Coulson's night aerial fire suppression operations. Coulson has been doing night aerial fire suppression operations in California for awhile now, most recently in 2020 using Chinooks. About four or five years ago Coulson did a trial using night vision goggles in Victoria, Australia. That trial was successful and since then, Coulson has been using Sikorsky's for night aerial fire suppression operations in and around Victoria, Australia. This will be the first year that night vision goggles will be used by Coulson in Chile. When I was perusing the Coulson Aviation in Australia webpage yesterday, I saw a video report shared by Coulson on their Youtube Channel about the night vision goggle trial in Victoria Australia that was done four or five years ago . This video report gave me an idea of how Coulson's night aerial fire suppression operations work in Chile.
A couple of days ago I began to follow the Bobcat fire in the Angeles National Forest in Los Angeles County, California. The fire is threatening nearby foothill communities. As I write this, the fire has burned 44,393 acres. While some mandatory evacuation orders have been lifted, allowing residents to return, other mandatory evacuation orders and evacuation warnings remain in place. I began following the fire through the Bobcat Inciweb pages, the Angeles National Forest facebook page as well as some media outlets, see for example this KABC article (September 16th) or this KCBS report (September 14th) or this September 15th article from Pasadena Now. Yesterday I learned that the flames came within 500 feet of the observatory. Tankers and helicopters made strategic drops to help the firefighters on the ground fight the fire on Mt. Wilson and save the historic observatory as well as vital communications and electric infrastructure. I was very interested to see that a portable container was set up on Mt. Wilson to allow the LA Count Firehawk to dip and drop on Mt. Wilson.
See this September 15th twitter post from the LA County Fire Air Ops retweeted by the Mt. Wilson Observatory, you will have to click on the link to see the photo of the Firehawk dipping on Mt. Wilson
Today, @LACoFireAirOps set up a mobile water reload container in the Mount Wilson parking lot. With support from a @Cal_OES fire engine, one of our brand new S70i Firehawk helicopters helped protect @MtWilsonObs & other critical infrastructure from the advancing #BobcatFire. pic.twitter.com/sSufOOKqOI
Alternatively, the same photo is included in the following Facebook post from the LA County. The link to full post where you may read about the evacuation orders and see the 3-D photo (very cool) may be found here.
Firefighters continue to work to fight the fire on Mt. Wilson and to save the observatories, outbuildings, and transmission infrastructure. While progress has been made fires continue to burn, so they are not out of the woods yet. The firefighters have also worked hard to protect the foothill communities. Kudos to the firefighters.
Ever so often over the years that I have been writing this blog on aerial wildland firefighting I have come across reports and/or videos of KMAX helicopters working wildfires, mostly in the western United States. For no apparent reason I was curious about the KMAX so I did a search on Youtube and come across the two videos that I am embedding below. I learned a lot about the KMAX by watching these videos and I hope you do as well.
I do not know the exact details of how National Guard aerial assets such as the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters are activated to help fight wildfires. But I know that many State firefighting agencies have arrangements with their local National Guard, many of whom fly Blackhawks, to help fight wildfires. The videos that I found for you that I am sharing below show Utah Army National Guard UH-60 Blackhawks fighting wildfires. But it is not just out west that you will see National Guard Blackhawks. The National Guard in many States such as New York and Florida on the eastern seaboard, for example) are on call to help fight wildfires as available, and when needed and activated.
The two videos below are over five minutes each but you will get an idea of two different types of bucket operations, one dipping out of a portable tank, and the other dipping from a lake or river and then dropping on a fire (with audio).
I was perusing Youtube yesterday looking for videos of any of the Sikorsky S-70i Firehawks from either the City of San Diego, LA County, or CAL FIRE to share with you (for more information read my June 17th article). It may still be a little early to see videos of these magnificent helicopters in action, but I did find a couple of videos from Vertical Magazine taken at the HAI 2020 Heli-Expo. Both videos feature CAL FIRE pilot Brent Starr taking you on a tour of their new Sikorsky S-70i Firehawk. One is a walk around the other features her avionics. These two videos are the next best thing to seeing her in person, perhaps one day?
In my internet wonderings last week when I was reading about the AgustaWestland 139 Helicopter I was reminded that at least one government agency in southern California had acquired some new multi-purpose helicopters to add to their fleet of helicopters available for firefighting. As I have family and friends in San Diego County and in the Los Angeles area, and always wanting to learn more about new aviation assets, I wanted to spend some time to see what I could find out. I started with San Diego, and more specifically the City of San Diego because of family living in San Diego County. A quick internet search led me to a couple of media reports, a press release, and an article from Bill Gabbert's Fire Aviation about San Diego's new helicopter, a Sikorsky S-70i Firehawk helicopter, more on that helicopter in a moment:
In their news release announcing their new Sikorsky s-70i Firehawk, City of San Diego speaks about the capabilities of the S-70i Firehawk:
The S-70i version of the Firehawk includes wide chord rotor blades for increased payload and maneuverability, enhanced engine power, a stronger airframe than previous models, a digital cockpit with flight management system for enhanced situation awareness, and an Integrated Vehicle Health Management System to monitor the aircraft’s operational health.
The Firehawk’s military design allows it to undergo enormous physical pressure stemming from its ability to drop 1,000 gallons of water multiple times a day on a fire line. Among the improved safety features, the aircraft includes a terrain and obstacle avoidance system that alerts the air crew to the proximity of potential hazards on the ground.
I knew that CAL FIRE is in the process of acquiring new helicopter as is Los Angeles County. Thanks to Bill Gabbert's fine reporting, I found out that both of these agencies had recently acquired the S-70i Firehawk. In a November 30, 2020 Fire Aviation article, Bill Gabbert reports on LA County's acquisition of a couple of S-70i Firehawks and the anticipation of acquiring some more in the near future. Bill reported in October 2019 about CAL FIRE's plans to acquire 12 S-70i Firehawks, reporting that one had already been delivered; on May 10 2020 he reported that one LA County S-70i and a CAL FIRE S-70i were being tested in Colorado with CAL FIRE taking delivery of the second S-70i on May 22nd
My understanding from Bill's reporting, as well as this February 2020 Aerial Fire article on the S-70i Firehawk is that United Rotor added an 1,000 gallon belly tank and extended landing gear to the Sikorsky. Sikorsky is a division of Lockheed Martin, and Lockheed Martin has a nice webpage featuring the S-70i Firehawk, with a walk around, a video, and other multimedia. I had a good idea that the Sikorsky Firehawks, the older S-70 and the new S-70i are very similar to the Military's Blackhawks helicopters, but knew no specifics, thanks to this fine article by Jon Bourke in a 2018 Vertical Magazine article, "Meet the New iHawk: We fly the the Sikorsky S70i", I learned more about the development of the Sikorsky Firehawks.
I look forward to seeing and learning more about the S-70i Firehawks over the coming months. As I do, and as I find videos, I will share them on this blog.
Last March I noted when Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation wrote about a partnership between Coulson and Unical Air, called Coulson-Unical. This partnership will add several UH-60 and CH-47 helicopters to Coulson's fleet of firefighting helicopters. Bill wrote about Coulson-Unical in a March 2019 post on Fire Aviation where he had this to say about the plans for the plans for the UH-60 and the CH-47 helicopters:
The capabilities of the helicopters will include night-vision, IFR navigation, and hover filling. At least some of the newly acquired CH-47s and UH-60s will be outfitted with RADS internal tanks. The basic design of the RADS was created by Aero Union decades ago and features steep slopes on the sides when space allows, to facilitate enough head pressure at the bottom to ensure quick and constant flow. The technology used will enable automated target drops for the night vision goggle firefighting program and will have the capability to adjust flow rates based on speed and altitude. A Coulson helicopter that has been certified in Australia for night drops has been used on a regular basis for the last several months during the country’s 2018-2019 bushfire season.
Bill interviewed Coulson Vice President Britt Coulson about the Coulson-Unical partnership in March 2019. You might want to take the three plus minutes to watch the video and learn about these helicopters.
By August 2019, Coulson-Unical had converted a UH-60 Blackhawk and it was spotted at McClellan in California, see Bill's August 2019 Fire Aviation post for more details.
Coulson has a nice Facebook page (go here) where they share photos and videos of their aircraft. On May 8th, Coulson posted some photos and a video (the first comment) of their converted CH-47, now known as a CU-47. Then on May 25th, they posted four photos of their new UH-60 Blackhawks.
I was especially interested in Bill's reporting on the Coulson-Unical partnership and the purchase and planned conversion of CH-47 helicopters because I learned about the capabilities of the CH-47 from a friend of mine. I have actually seen a military CH-47 in the air while one of my pilot friends was taking me flying. Even from a distance of about five plus miles, I was impressed by its size.
In early March, the first Coulson-Unical CU-47 was flown from the company’s Port Alberni, B.C., base to the Aerial Firefighting North American 2020 conference in Sacramento, Calif.
Featuring a 3,000 gallon roll-on/roll-off internal tank and an advanced Garmin avionics suite, up to 12 CH-47Ds will be converted into next-generation heli-tankers, in a partnership with Unical Aviation that was announced a year ago.
“Unical provides us with the aircraft and a vast supply of parts,” explained Britt Coulson, president and COO, in an interview with Skies.
“They bought the entire Canadian Forces CH-47 parts inventory and were the largest purchaser of CH-47Ds from the U.S. Army.”
The twin-rotor Chinook is well known for its speed, size and payload. While the helicopter is often deployed on fire attack missions carrying a water bucket as an external load, Coulson wanted to give the CU-47 more flexibility and capability.
Slutsken's article on Vertical Magazine/Skies Magazine is freely available as I write this. I don't always know how long such articles will be freely available.
I became more familiar with the CH-47 Chinook Helicopter about 10 years ago thanks to a good friend of mine who worked with the CH-47 while he was in the military. He was either a flight engineer or a mechanic, I am not sure which. Needless to say, he loved the CH-47 and suggested I learn more about the CH-47 as he knew that they were used for aerial firefighting while he was in the military. He told me to check out Columbia Helicopters and learn more about the CH-47 and the civilian version. I learned a short time later that Columbia holds the type certificate for the civilian version of the CH-47 known as the Columbia 234 Chinook, go here for more information.
I admit that I don't know as much about the CH-47 and her civilian cousin, however, because of my friend I have deep affinity for the CH-47. So when I am perusing videos of aerial wildfire operations, especially wildfires where military reserves have been called into service, I do look out for the CH-47 Chinooks or Columbia's 234 Chinook. In addition, there are two other helicopter operators that I know of that have CH-47's used for civilian heavy lift operations as well as wildland firefighting operations, Billings and Coulson. Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation has written several articles on the CH-47 used in firefighting operations that you may find tagged on his site. Bill wrote about Coulson's CH-47 on March 1, March 8, and September 5, 2019. He wrote an article on Billings in January 2019 . There may be other heavy helicopter operators that I do not know about.
In closing, I would be remiss if I did not mention another incident involving the CH-47 that further ignited my affinity for the CH-47. That is, about five years ago, a pilot friend was taking me on a scenic flight, I believe that we were somewhere in eastern Pennsylvania. He was getting flight following so he was getting advisories of aircraft near are flight path. The controller came over the radio telling him to look out for CH-47 flying north, I believe. I do not recall how far away the CH-47 was, at least five miles? Anyway, it took both of us a several seconds before it registered that what we were looking for, the CH-47 helicopter. So, we both looked and spotted her. She seemed small as aircraft are from that distance, but she was easy to spot. I was thrilled beyond words. I still remember that with a smile on my face. I took out my camera and tried to get a picture, a very bad picture. But I tried. But the better image is what I remember. It is the first, last, and only time I have seen a CH-47 in person, so to speak, with my own eyes.
Dip and drop,dip and drop, dip and drop.
Regular readers will know that I often think about helicopters, in part because of a friend who loved helicopters who died too soon. I think about the helicopters, not only Hueys but other similarly sized helicopters, that carry 500 gallon buckets. Many states have type 2 helicopters, perhaps under the Federal Excess Personal Property Program and Firefighter Property Program. Some of these helicopters might be smaller helicopters that are mainly used for observation, others might carry a 500 gallon bucket. Some firefighting helicopters use a tube that hangs from their belly to fill their tanks. However, my thoughts turn to these state helicopters with 300 to 500 gallon buckets, and the important work they can do helping wildland firefighters on the ground. Dip and drop, dip and drop, dip and drop. And on it goes. Dip and drop, dip and drop.
A water source close to the wildfire is very helpful, sometimes the water sources may be a small pond in a golf course or even a swimming pool. A helo dipping at a water body provides photo opportunities, but their work is so much more. These water sources for dipping, especially if they are close can mean that the helos and buckets can do a lot of drops. These drops can be an important part of initial attack. The helo crews communicate with the crews on the ground so they know where the drop is needed, and of course there is the skill of the pilots to know how to drop so the water/foam ends up at just the right spot. Perhaps the supervisor of a crew will ask for a drop where they are working, you will fly there and make the drop. Dip and drop, dip and drop.
I am not quite sure of the size of the bucket, 500 gallon or smaller, in the video below, but that doesn't really matter as she and her pilot did good work to help the crews on the ground in Hawaii put out a grass fire.
I don’t want to forget the National Guard or Air Force Reserve helicopters, often Blackhawks that have a larger bucket. Dip and drop, dip and drop, dip and drop. Your larger bucket means more water/foam on the fire. Whether you are called up to help out with a larger wildfire or perhaps work a smaller wildfire where there are not enough existing resources, your service is appreciated. Like your smaller cousins, your crew communicates with the wildland firefighters on the ground so you know where your drop is needed. Dip and drop, dip and drop.
To the helos with buckets and their crew, I want you to know that I know you are there, no matter where you are flying. I know that you are there all the times that there may be no cameras recording your operations. The crews on the ground and those living near the wildfire appreciate you and so do I. Thank-you for your service. Your work can be dangerous and I know your pilots take precautions to stay safe.
Here is some interesting footage, about nine minutes, of a Sikorsky S064 Skycrane working a fire in Greece. The audio is interesting. From what I can tell at least one of the voices is the pilot.
For your viewing pleasure, three videos of three different Boeing Veritol Helicopters: start-up and take-off (Shawn Adams), bucket work over a wildfire (HD Aviation), and landing (from HD Aviation). Note the helicopter you see in the start-up and takeoff video is not the same helicopter shown in the bucket work and landing videos. The bucket work video is about nine minutes long, the other two videos are between two and three and a half minutes.
In memory of my friend Matt who loved all things helicopters.
Regular followers of my blog probably know that I love aviation, but sadly circumstances prevent me from becoming a licensed pilot. I am fortunate to have pilot friends who take me on scenic rides when their schedules permit and the weather cooperates. I keep a journal of my scenic rides. On November 10, 2014 one of my pilot friends took me a scenic ride to the Pilot's Shop at the Lancaster PA Airport, KLNS. I wanted to pick up some aviation charts and gifts and was happy that my pilot friend accommodated me. We had a nice 45 minute flight to Lancaster. It did not take long to pick up my charts and the gift. We had a cup of coffee at one of the flight services and he flew back to our home airport. My pilot friend had flight following. On the way back the controller came on the radio to warn the pilot about a CH-47 that would cross our flight path, but at a different altitude. I don't recall how far out the CH-47 was, I'd say somewhere between 5 and 10 miles. Anyway, it took a minute or so for my brain to kick into gear to realized that what I was seeing was a CH-47 Chinook Helicopter. Even from a few miles out, I was impressed at her size. As I recall, she seemed to be in military olive drab. The pilot acknowledged that he had the CH-47 in site, and we both safely flew on. I thought about taking a picture, but by the time I got the camera out she was on her way and too small for a shot. Yeah, I know, I know, this may sound like a tall tale. It is not, but I'll leave you to your thoughts. Perhaps one day, I'll get to see a CH-47 up close and be able to take a photograph.
I tell this story because Columbia Helicopters has CH-47 Chinooks that they fly in firefighting configuration. The CH-47 is included in the group of firefighting helicopters known as type 1 helicopters, at least I am fairly confident that the CH-47 is still flown in firefighting configuration as a type 1 helicopter.
As I write this, according to Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation, there are 28 type 1 helicopters (700 to 2,500 gallon capacity) on exclusive use contract with the US Forest Service with up to 30 more being available on Call When Needed Contracts in 2017.
One of the reasons for this post on type 1 helicopters is to share with you two videos, you will have to go the supplied links to watch the videos (they are short) of what I believe are Sikorsky S61 helicopters (type 1). I was on the inciweb page for the High Cascades Complex of Wildfires (Spruce Lake, Broken Lookout, and Sherwood) which have burned a combined total of 13,655 acres (60% containment) in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in the Medford OR area in southern Oregon. I found both of these videos on the High Cascades Complex Photo page on Inciweb.
In video number 1 you will learn about type 1 helicopters while watching one of the type 1 helos filling her belly tank from her snorkel tube. In video number 2 you will see a couple of Helos filling their tanks from a portable tank aka heliwell. You might want to watch the videos in full screen.
I suspect that many of you already follow Bill Gabbert's wonderful blogs, Wildfire Today and Fire Aviation, so you may already know that among the issues Bill writes about is Air Tankers and Helicopters on fire contracts in the United States along with Tanker Operators plans to convert aircraft to tanker configuration. In today's article I am going to summarize some of his recent articles (with links) and urge you to go read his Fire Aviation blog for more information. Thank-you Bill for your hard work in researching and then writing these articles. You will want to follow Bill Gabbert's Fire Aviation to keep abreast of any future developments
Those of you who followed the March wildfire outbreaks in Colorado and the Plains probably know that the USFS activated three of Neptune Aviations BAe-146 air tankers (tankers 02, 03, and 12), Bill wrote about this in a March 11th article on Fire Aviation.
Bill Gabbert talks about Tanker Operators plans to convert more aircraft to tanker configuration. His article on March 30th is a good read about Neptune’s BAe-146 and its sister Avro RJ85 (Conair/Aeroflite). He discusses Neptune's and Conair/Aeroflite’s plans to convert aircraft to firefighting configuration and contracts. Note that he says that Neptune will have one BAe-146 on contract with CAL FIRE this year.
Gabbert continues his good reporting in an April 10th Fire Aviation article where he reports on Coulson’s third tanker, T-133 that was nearing completion as he wrote the article. The is Coulson's second L-382G, the 3822G is the civilian version of the military C-130. He also provides on update on Airspray’s conversion of their first BAe-146 and their plans for more conversions.
Bill writes about large tankers on exclusive use contract:
10 Tanker: two DC-10s
Aero Air LLC: two MD-87s (see Bills article for an update on the MD-7s and the plans of Aero Air to have more MD-87s available later this year hopefully for a CWN contract.
Aero Flite Inc: four RJ 85s
Coulson Aircrane one C-130Q
Neptune Aviation: four P2-Vs and seven BAe-146’s
And tankers on call when needed contracts:
10 Tanker: 1 DC-10
Aero Flite: (3 Avro RJ 85’s)
Coulson (1 L-382g)
See Gabbert's March 10th article for a complete list by contractor, tanker number and tail number. Bill also has a discussion about the transfer of seven HC-130H aircraft from the US Coast Guard to the USFS and the conversion. One of the HC-130H (T-116) with a MAFFS unit will be available in 2017.
I am always interested in female pilots. So when I ran across a video about Natalie Jones, the first female helicopter Captain at Erickson Air-Crane, I wanted to share this with you. I don't think that I have shared this here before, I have looked. Although you never know, perhaps I shared this as a video of the week last year? In any event it is worth sharing again.
I found a short interview by Just Helicopters with Natalie Jones, published in the fall of 2015.
I always enjoy videos and articles where the pilot is the subject of the video. In this case, the pilot just happens to be a woman.
In the event that the above embed code doesn't work (I've had trouble with Vimeo code on other occasions), here is a direct link to the same video on Youtube, uploaded by Erickson Air-Crane.
