Heli tack

[wombat]

Just had 2 of the 3 Erickson sky cranes arrive in Canberra Aust aboard an Antonov cargo plane.
Came across a post on another board which may be of interest.
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=195219&page=8
Debate continues on the benefits of particular helicopters etc.
From what I have seen the Erickson guys have it down pat and are able to deliver first rate service.

[NonSurfinCaFF]

The skycranes are a great resource, they are expensive but so are all air assets. Mediums and heavies do different jobs, mediums are more versitile, they can deliver supplies and firefighters, most heavies are dedicated water / retardant droppers although some of the smaller ones like the S61 and Bell 214 occasionally are carded for supply & transport.

While there are good pilots of mediums I find most heavies can fly circles around the mediums, the pilots are usually alot more experienced with precision work, most fly specialized missions like delivering hvac units on the roof of buildings or flying logging operatins where they place logs onto truck trailers, much more exacting than hitting a fires edge.

Lights, mediums and heavies all have their place, just like tankers and helicopters are not really adequate replacements for the other. A skycrane is a bad choice for a recon ship and a jet ranger is a pretty wimpy water dropper.

[ramseycl]

Each ship has its place. The lights and mediums work better in situations where water is limited, and the space is tighter. They can also fly different missions, including recon/crew shuttle/equipment shuttle and other non fireline missions. The heavys work great where there is sufficient water supply and room. But as a general rule they can not carry passengers, so you can't use them to move crews and do recons. (there are a few exceptions)

[RxFire]

pretty good way of describing it NonSurfin

[wombat]

A skycrane in NSW last week decided to do some gardening leading to a stuffed set of rotor blades....oops

NB Persons offended by sexists remarks should not use the following link

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?p=3003978#post3 003978

[BlueMtnsFirey]

Well is a bugger that it happened but at least the last drop from malcom was on the money....happened to be on the line protecting those houses at the time and they were right on target. Interestingly though that particular skycrane had been grounded 3 days before due to electrical problems......
When they are flying those guys do it right every time...we had 11 medium and 3 skycranes working the mountains fires for 2 1/2 weeks and those were the only 2 incidents so i reckon they more than paid for themselves.
THe pilots werer getting frustrated at having to put out the same areas days in arow as some of our bushies kept relighting burn lines the day after they had been bombed......I'll never forget the foot stamping tanty I saw from on of the pilots after a long session - classic

[TenderR6]

Just had 2 of the 3 Erickson sky cranes arrive in Canberra Aust aboard an Antonov cargo plane.
Came across a post on another board which may be of interest.
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=195219&page=8
Debate continues on the benefits of particular helicopters etc.
From what I have seen the Erickson guys have it down pat and are able to deliver first rate service.

Just after this Air Crane #742 left our 2006 Washington Tripod Fire it headed to another fire and crashed making a dip out of a tank like this one. The snorkle got hung up when it lifted. I have worked with this crew for 3 years now and was glad they were able to walk away from it! The other Heavy A9 Heavy Lift was not so lucky that left the Spur Peak Fire I was on and worked with a lot they died on the fire they went diped out of a river and went in. Mark
http://photos.imageevent.com/willy/tripodfire/websize/TRIPOD29.jpg

Here is s few more pictures taken of them and the fire. Mark
http://imageevent.com/willy/tripodfire

[TenderR6]

Just after this Air Crane #742 left our 2006 Washington Tripod Fire it headed to another fire and crashed making a dip out of a tank like this one. The snorkle got hung up when it lifted. I have worked with this crew for 3 years now and was glad they were able to walk away from it! The other Heavy A9 Heavy Lift was not so lucky that left the Spur Peak Fire I was on and worked with a lot they died on the fire they went diped out of a river and went in. Mark
http://photos.imageevent.com/willy/tripodfire/websize/TRIPOD29.jpg

Here is s few more pictures taken of them and the fire. Mark
http://imageevent.com/willy/tripodfire

This was the Heavy Lift that crashed
http://photos.imageevent.com/willy/spurpeakfire/websize/SPUR%20HEAVY8.jpg


More Pictures from Spur Peak Heli Base
http://imageevent.com/willy/spurpeakfire

[wombat]

Thanks TenderR6 great photos.

[TenderR6]

Thanks TenderR6 great photos.

You don't know those Aussies that were over here helping us out on the Tripod Fire this year in Washington do you? I know at least one was impressed when I put out a tree burning with my Water Cannon on a back burn we lit. He jumped out of a truck and said"Great Job Mate!" blew me away when I heard that. Mark

[BlueMtnsFirey]

Here are a few pics from the November fires in the Blue mountains in NSW

http://news.webshots.com/album/556503680UWzTie?start=0

Includes a few of Malcom its last couple of runs