AVIATORS SPEAK OUT ON FIRE FLEET.Byline: Steve Geissinger Sacramento Bureau SACRAMENTO - From the father of aerial firefighting Aerial firefighting is a method to combat wildfires using aircraft. The types of aircraft used may be either fixed-wing or helicopters. Agents used to fight fires may be either water or specially-formulated fire retardants. to pilots who recently flew through fiery debris in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, wildfires, aviators Well-known aviators People largely known for their contributions to the history of aviation While all of these people were pilots (and some still are), many are also noted for contributions in areas such as aircraft design and manufacturing, navigation or are saying the U.S. firefighting 1. firefighting - What sysadmins have to do to correct sudden operational problems. An opposite of hacking. "Been hacking your new newsreader?" "No, a power glitch hosed the network and I spent the whole afternoon fighting fires." 2. fleet is undergoing fundamental changes that may cost extra lives and homes. Federal agencies' shift from aging, big air tankers toward more helicopters and small, single-engine planes - rather than finding new, large air tankers - is based on faulty fiscal conclusions and flawed flaw 1 n. 1. An imperfection, often concealed, that impairs soundness: a flaw in the crystal that caused it to shatter. See Synonyms at blemish. 2. accident statistics, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. several pilots who have broken a 50-year-old code of silence. The Aerial Firefighting Industry Association - representing 15 firms that supply planes, maintenance and pilots to government agencies - also is touting touting the making of personal representations by a veterinarian to persons who are not clients in an attempt to solicit their business. a decade-old National Air Tanker Study that showed an overwhelming benefit-to-cost ratio for big air tankers and envisioned a fleet of 41 modern aircraft by now. The conflict has developed in the wake of crashes blamed on worn-out, retired military planes and safety groundings that have left the once- mighty, 33-plane federal ``big tanker'' force at less than a third of strength. Pilots say they have remained silent until now, due to a military-like code of silence and the implied threat of harsh retributions. Aviators who fly under contract for the U.S. government say helicopters and small tankers can't replace the role of big air tankers, aren't less expensive by some yardsticks and also suffer high crash rates. Pilots say the data are contained in the government's own reports. ``We have an industry in transition but without a known destination yet,'' said Robert Fish of Associated Airtanker Pilots, a group that represents the tight-knit, small community of aviators. ``The more air tankers we could support, the more fires we could help control,'' said Joe Ely Joe Ely (born February 9 1947) is an Austin, Texas honky-tonk/country musician. Ely, born in Amarillo, spent his formative years from age 12 in Lubbock, Texas. Shortly after high school, in 1970, with fellow Lubbock musicians Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, he formed , a former U.S. Forest Service fire control officer who first used air attack on fires in 1955 in Mendocino. Ely said fires require many tools - big planes for large, stubborn blazes, smaller planes to handle initial-attack requirements and helicopters for spot fires. Spokesmen for U.S. agencies reiterated assurances from top U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management officials that the fleet will remain as effective, if not more so. U.S. Forest Service spokesman Matt Mathes said he does not believe the reduction in big tankers will affect the agency's firefighting efforts this summer. |
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