Firewatch Cobra, N109Z. Still image from VICE video. September, 2021.After 19 years, the U.S. Forest Service has shut down the Firewatch Cobra helicopter program.
The two Cobras, N109z and N107Z, were retired after their last flight Saturday October 16. They were retrofitted Bell AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters, two of the 25 that the U.S. Forest Service acquired from the military. Most of the other 23 had been stored at the aircraft boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base near Tucson. A couple used for spare parts have in the past been parked outside the hangar at the Redding, California airport. Word on the ramp is that it had become difficult to find spare parts for the Vietnam War-era aircraft which were manufactured 38 and 52 years ago.
Cobras used for spare parts at Redding, Aug. 8, 2014. Bill Gabbert.Officially, the agency is transitioning to a new era of aerial supervision utilizing modern helicopters and is implementing current technologies in fixed-wing aircraft to serve broader areas. The Department of the Interior and the Forest Service have also been developing Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) programs to reduce risk and hazards to firefighters both in the air and on the ground. The drones can fly at night and in visibility conditions that can ground piloted aircraft.
Firewatch Cobra undergoing maintenance, Redding, Aug. 8, 2014.In announcing the sunset of the Firewatch Cobra program the Forest Service said, “There is no reduction in firefighting surveillance or operational capabilities with the transition. Local communities and wildland firefighters will be better served by the advancements in modern technology. [The two Cobras] served the Forest Service for nineteen years and reached their maximum lifespan after flying approximately 7,600 flight hours with the Cobra program.”
“The Forest Service thanks all the pilots, mechanics, aerial supervisors, and program managers that made the Cobra program a success,” said Robert Baird, Director of Fire and Aviation Management for the USFS California region. “The next generation of equipment will continue this critical mission of public safety and protection.”
Firewatch Cobra, N109Z. Still image from VICE video, September, 2021.Specifications of the Firewatch Cobras
-
- Number of Engines: 1 (a newer version used by the Marines has two engines)
- Engine: T53-L-703
- Horsepower: 1,800
- Range: 362 miles
- Cruise Speed: 166 mph
- Max Speed: 219 mph
- Climb Rate: 1,680 feet per minute
- Ceiling: 10,800 feet
N109Z was manufactured in 1969, and N107Z in 1983.
The VICE video below about the use of the Cobra Firewatch on the 2021 Caldor Fire was published September 22, 2021.
Firewatch Cobra undergoing maintenance, Redding, Aug. 8, 2014.
8 Comments
Is the USFS guaranteeing that there will be a seamless switch to the newer equipment ,by next Spring ??
Some of the newer equipment is already in play. There is a fully outfitted king air that lives at Fox Tanker Base and is 24 hour staffed. During the day it is Fire Watch 51, and is solely an intel and mapping platform. At night it is Air Attack 51 and is a dual role platforming both night air attack and intel/mapping platform.
Oh well. The thing had tiny legs with about 2hrs fuel duration.
Being a former AH1 Cobra Crew Chief and Phase Maintenance and packing those up in 2001 into C5As headed from Foreign Military Sales and quite possibly some wound up as parts birds at DynCorp or AMARG in the desert….
It was only a matter of time that parts and money were going to intersect a be quite a proposition to keep the ships airborne
Like the DC3T…..parts, money, and time catch up to an airframe….
Thank God for old Army technology
One of the Cobras used to be based out of Lucky Peak in Idaho. I wonder how much use the Firewatch got outside of California?
Welp….I’d venture to guess….. not too much
If anyone has practiced DART (Downed Aircraft Recovery Team) operations and I was DynCorp….I wouldn’t want to spend too many days out recovering broke down Cobras
Wanna be close to the hangar and parts with these older ships not under some cheap low rent , low bid camo netting doin aircraft repair….but outdoor aircraft maintenance had its advantages…like …well you know…
It was a stupid and arrogant idea inthe first place. There are many many airplanes that cost a tenth of what the cobra costs to fly and that fact that it went on for 19 years is ridiculous and the gluttonous fat cats that participated in wasting millions of tax payer dollars should be stripped of their US citizenship. I’m working more and more towards making money under the table because of BS like this.
Let me know how much this cost us over the years. I never supported the program same reason it died was the same reason the C-130’s went to Cal Fire. The FS can not run an aviation program.
Comments are closed for this article!