Thought this was pretty cool. I'm not a rotor guy, but he looks like a pretty good stick to me.

X2

Very cool!

Anybody know the deal about this? Looks like SoCal. Does the city or county have a plan/program in place so they know what pools are safe to pull from?

I understand that turnaround time is critical, but it seems to me that the pilot is making the last part of his approach to the pool pretty damn fast. It only looks like 4 or 5 feet from the edge of his rotor disc down to that wall or fence. Considering wind and/or fire induced gusts, ground turbulence from the rotor wash acting against uneven terrain, and a swinging bucket under the helo... it seems to me that he is being a little too cavalier about it in the name of quick turnaround.

Five or eight extra seconds stabilizing the approach for the last ten feet down into the pool seems worthwhile, measured against the risk of destroying the Astar and hurting the pilot?

I'm not a rotor-head either. So this is just a 'shoot from the hip' observation.

58Skylane wrote:Very cool!

Anybody know the deal about this? Looks like SoCal. Does the city or county have a plan/program in place so they know what pools are safe to pull from?

It looks like this is a copy of the original video. Here's the link to the original video along with the location/description: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPIboTdIYyQ

EZFlap wrote:I understand that turnaround time is critical, but it seems to me that the pilot is making the last part of his approach to the pool pretty damn fast. It only looks like 4 or 5 feet from the edge of his rotor disc down to that wall or fence. Considering wind and/or fire induced gusts, ground turbulence from the rotor wash acting against uneven terrain, and a swinging bucket under the helo... it seems to me that he is being a little too cavalier about it in the name of quick turnaround.

Five or eight extra seconds stabilizing the approach for the last ten feet down into the pool seems worthwhile, measured against the risk of destroying the Astar and hurting the pilot?

I'm not a rotor-head either. So this is just a 'shoot from the hip' observation.

This guy might be a good pilot, but he is not being very smooth here. The Astar, when lightly loaded like this, has LOTS of power and control authority, and he is depending on those things during an approach like this. To be fair, im sure the first approach we saw on the video was not his first one to that particular pool. So, once he figured out that he would clear all the obstacles, his subsequent approaches can get a little quicker. Still a little "cavalier" for my taste too, but I think he's getting caught up in the moment, and letting his safety guard down a little.

And I doubt this is in LA. External loads in LA are a no-no, that's why they invented the "LA Tank". I'm sure you've seen them on the news, basically a big aluminum tank fixed to the helicopter that has a snorkel hanging down to fill the tank, and "bomb bay" type doors to drop the load.

Yeah the Blackhawks... sorry... Fire-Hawks... have the snorkel tanks, and I think the big twin Hueys (212? 412?) have them too. The LA County Fire main helo base is about 750 feet from my hangar at Whiteman airport.

I have never seen so much turbine fuel being burned on a daily basis NOT associated with a fire... just flying around between fire bases and helipads, two or three daily shift changes, etc. etc. I want the guys to be current and razor sharp in those aircraft of course, but there's a lot of taxpayer money that is being spent that might be done a little more efficiently.

In the USA all us fire pilots have to wear helmets and flight suits. My guess would be Southern Europe. I don't see any thing wrong with his approach to the pool. But his bucket hits the top of the trees after his drop. That's a good way to get yourself killed especially if the bucket is attached directly to the belly as it is in this video.

I was watching one of his other videos from onboard the helicopter at a different fire and it looks like he is dipping out of a well in it. It gives a good sense of the visibility challenges but I don't know that I would mount a gopro next to the tail rotor. I guess when you're flying like this, it's the least of your worries.

Hope that guy is nearby when my neiborhood catches on fire . He's not wasting any time taking care of biz for certain. Bucket hitting the trees in the first video got my attention. That is some kick ass flying!

Looks like German registration D-HCLA visible on the tail boom @ :44 in the video.

I fly single engine helos. Usually close to the ground and in confined areas with a much worse power margin than this guy's operating with.

I don't think his approach was too cavalier.

Same notion on the bucket in the trees though. Dynamic rollover potential!

These guys just do great work out there! I spend part of each month as a TFO on a Bell 407, and I'm always impressed by the capabilities of a helicopter in capable hands.

My girlfriend grew up in the mountains, and her home was just a couple hundred yards from a small mountain pond. During some of the more active fire seasons out here (particularly when the Hayman Fire was burning) the pond saw some aerial firefighting use. She apparently has some pictures of an S64 Skycrane filling up in that pond, which she described as quite dramatic. I've never seen the photos, but I keep telling her to dig them out for me!