Props are better than jets @ this type of thing ... they can go lower, slower, tighter than a WHALE or a Diesel-10 ... but I sometimes wonder what would happen when someone who knows how to 'max perform' a WHALE goes 'downtown' on a fire ...Except if you talk to the guys that do the aerial firefighting, the 747 and DC-10 have limited use....
(... S-2 firebomber extrodinare)
I wouldn't count on this. Hard gig to get into that normally takes a few seasons of loading retardant, doing grunt work, being a mechanic, etc. before you maybe get invited to try for a right seat.How many P-3 bubs go onto aero union/ other aerial firefighting gigs afterward? Firebombing seemed like a fun way to earn a retirement... Especially if I could live out in the Rockies or high plains and still do it.
I wouldn't count on this. Hard gig to get into that normally takes a few seasons of loading retardant, doing grunt work, being a mechanic, etc. before you maybe get invited to try for a right seat.
California has it's own fleet of firefighting aircraft. They are probably the only place to jump right in but I understand it's a "who you know job".
My understanding is that pay is proportional to how many fires there were....I hear those jobs are hard to get. I haven't seen any solid data on how much they pay, but I figure that they don't really work year round. Hal, do you have any idea how much it does pay? Plus it'd be very exciting I imagine. I think it'd be a fun gig.
Seems to me like a good way to get yourself killed, putting G's on OLD airplanes with questionable maintenance......