Bush fire fighters

I have a front row seat. Can't even see the mountain because of all the smoke this morning. The DC-10 is pretty impressive.
 
Timbeck2 said:
I have a front row seat. Can't even see the mountain because of all the smoke this morning. The DC-10 is pretty impressive.
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I forgot you were south of me.

Have not seen what they are using on the Tonto fire yet - wonder if the DC-10 is doing double duty
 
There's more than one that I saw. One came from the South out of KFHU and the other came from the North out of Williams Gateway.
 
+10 to the pilots
+10 to the firemen (except the cameraman)
-1 to the cameraman who shot that in portrait.
 
I wonder how much the CG shifts during one of their full dump runs

Those pilots must have nerves of steal.
 
...-1 to the cameraman who shot that in portrait.

LOL and 100% agree - I hate that
 
A few days ago I saw one of the DC-10s flying over at approximately 6000 agl heading towards the Phoenix area. I pointed it out to my wife and she asked me how they put out fires while flying so high. I'll show her this video.

I'll sure be glad when the fires are out, you guys are smoking us out here in New Mexico.
 
I pity the poor folks on the ground - 100+ degrees air temp, plus the heat of the fires, plus some times the heavy protective gear.... these guys and girls are unsung heroes in my book

Seems to be a partially bad start to the fire season even before the monsoon arrives. The Tonto Basin and Tucson and now one near Black canyon city... :(
 
Scrabo said:
I wonder how much the CG shifts during one of their full dump runs

Those pilots must have nerves of steal.
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Don't know about CG, but I've seen video from in the cockpit during the drop. They have to shove the yoke forward to keep from ballooning up from the loss of weight. Incredible.
 
Low and slow, with huge and fast changes in weight and CG. Yup, my hats off to them. Those pilots have bigger stones than I. More skill, too.
 
Scrabo said:
I pity the poor folks on the ground - 100+ degrees air temp, plus the heat of the fires, plus some times the heavy protective gear.... these guys and girls are unsung heroes in my book
Click to expand...

Wildland firefighting PPE is intentionally light. Logger boots with somewhat fire-resistsnt soles, Nomex* shirt Nomex pants and a fancy construction hardhat. It is not designed to protect from the fire, it's just designed not to catch fire.


Still hot :-0

* Or other flame resistant fabrics like PBI
 
One of my friends is out flying the GST in California now.
 
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