Moving the Safety Needle
As I read the latest press release from the United States Helicopter Safety Team (USHST), I was saddened to see that if the accident rate for 2019 continues, this year will be on track to become one of t... Read More...
The Drop – Summer editorial
Here we are into the second issue of AerialFire after breaking out as a separate publication from its sister publication, AgAir Update, due to reader demand for more aerial fire content.
After more than 15... Read More...
Micrometeorology
In fire fighting flights, special consideration must be given to phenomena that occur due to the same special conditions of the igneous focus.
An Operational Safety Recommendation specifically talks about the ... Read More...
Funding for the future
Recently, two documents emerged from the federal government that make for an interesting comparison and provide a glimpse into the future of how wildland firefighting will be funded.
The first document is from... Read More...
“It’s Déjà vu All Over Again”
This year’s government shutdown, just like the one a year ago, has trickled down to wildland firefighters and may affect the upcoming 2019 wildfire suppression season. As far as the air side goes, both National... Read More...
Landing a seat
Single-engine air tanker (SEAT) pilots are carded, or licensed, by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Aviation Management Directorate (AMD). The department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) provides training for SEAT pilots.
Here we go again
A new fire season is already upon us. It seems like the last one just ended! Texas released most of its firefighting assets around Thanksgiving with the understanding things would probably get busy again in early spring.
Mentoring the environment
Before the turn of the century, the greatest part of the Southwest United States was made up of vast grasslands covering the rolling plains which were naturally managed by great herds of American bison, or buff... Read More...
Raindrops keep falling on my head
A friend recently sent me a quote that he found on the Internet … “Everyone wants to be happy. No one wants any pain. But, you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain.” I was planning to knock the smile off ... Read More...
Oops!
Be honest. We have all done some things we are either ashamed of or feel embarrassed about. Whether it is the time we poured our drink down the front of our shirt at a party when someone asked us the time and w... Read More...