Fighting Fire Down Under

    This winter I was down in Australia with Erickson for the fire season down there. It was a great opportunity to get out and see some of the rest of the world. Operationally it was the same as fighting fire in the states. Just a few differences in dispatch times and personnel.

 My machine was based at Essendon Feilds, just outside of Melbourne. It was a pretty quite summer for the most part. We only flew about 30 hours. The guys on the west coast flew a lot more on the fires near Perth. And that's normal. Its warmer and dryer that direction. Our contract for this winter has come to an end this last week. So soon here my helicopter will be put on a container ship bound for long beach to fight fire once again on our west coast. Last I heard I was going to be based in Salmon ID, but that could change. One of the major this Ive learned from this job is how to be flexible. Destinations and schedules are always changing.

  Sadly I really didn't get to get out and see much of Australia. Other than going into down town Melbourne a couple different evenings, I spent a few days in Mansfeild, just north of Melbourne for a fire and I was able to go over to Ballarat to help another crew with a free turbine change. I would have enjoyed seeing more, but I was was only there for work, and we don't have days off when we are on tour.

  

New Job, New Opportunities

     I know Its been forever since Ive posted on this blog. But allot has changed and to be honest I kinda forgot about it. So Long story short, I took a job as a S-64 field mechanic with Erickson Aviation. This basically means I get chase a giant helicopter all over the world. It has turned out to be a great opportunity and experience. This last summer my my machine (N194AC pic below) was contracted to the forest service for fire abatement. Most time was spent in either Oregon or California. This winter I may be heading to Australia for their fire season. I work a 12 days on, 12 day off schedule when I'm here in the states. When I head over seas it goes to 21 on 21 off. 

    

The S-64, or "Skycrane" is an awesome piece of equipment. Its one of the few helicopters that can lift more than its own weight. This enables us to lift up to 20,000 lbs... strait up. it has two PWJT12 engines delivering 9000 hp.

   So Far this job has been very good, and I plan to stay for the foreseeable future.