I ran across this photo that accompanied an article in The Examiner about a prescribed fire in Tasmania, Australia. The caption is as it appeared in the article. Can anyone explain what a “fire dragon” is? I’m thinking it must be an aerial ignition device, but I’m wondering why the helicopter is hovering instead of landing in order to apparently transfer a hand-held device between the two people in the photo.
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Likely this product: http://www.sei-ind.com/products/fire-ignition-products
Couldn’t hazard a guess on the second question, though.
Cameron sent us an email saying it might be this device, an aerial drip torch used in Victoria and Tasmainia. But I still wonder about the hovering maneuver.
And here is a link to a video shot in central Victoria that shows the aerial drip torch being attached to a very short lead line while the helicopter hovers. In this case the controller is hard-wired in the helicopter and does not have to be handed to a passenger while the ship hovers.
I think that the rigging shown below the helo is attached to an unseen suspended mechanism that prevents a safe landing under the existing conditions. Perhaps it has been just clipped on for lofting prior to use.
It is a handheld control unit for the drip torch suspended beneath the helicopter. In the US, helitorches connect to the “nine pin” cannon plug beneath the helicopter. The Cannon plug is a contractual requirement and allows the pilot to operate the torch via a switch on the cyclic or collective.
Without a nine pin plug, the unit still requires power, but a separate operator must control the on/off function of the torch. The torch has such a short suspension line that the helicopter cannot land safely in uneven terrain without a high potential for damage to the torch or helicopter. Therefore, the ship must hover nearby and have the controller handed from the helicopter torch operator to a ground attendant to keep the fragile controller from being “jettisoned” out the door by the torch operator while refueling the torch.
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