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Many of the new and retrofitted firefighting helicopters are Firehawks

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 2 Comments on Many of the new and retrofitted firefighting helicopters are Firehawks

(This article was first published at FireAviation)

helicopters firehawk
New Los Angeles County FD Firehawks. Photo by LA County FD. March, 2018. At that time it still needed to swap out the landing gear and have the belly tank installed.

Firehawk helicopters are becoming more popular across the wildland fire services, especially in California.

A rather loose definition of a Firehawk is a Blackhawk, a Sikorsky UH-60 or S-70i, usually with an aftermarket 1,000-gallon external water tank for fighting fires, and a suction hose for refilling while hovering.

The earliest Firehawk that we are aware of was used in 1998 when Los Angeles County leased one with a belly tank from Sikorsky for about four months. (I’m sure someone will correct me if there’s an earlier occurrence.) Since then many of the newly acquired firefighting helicopters have been, or will be, Firehawks. CAL FIRE has signed contracts and expects to have 12 brand new converted S-70i ships within three years. Their first fully modified aircraft should arrive in June. Other examples of Firehawks include — Los Angeles County’s five (not all are fully modified yet), San Diego Fire Rescue has a one (but it is not yet fully modified), Ventura County has started converting three HH-60L Blackhawks into Firehawks, and Coulson is partnering with Unical to convert about 10 UH-60 Blackhawks. There are also other companies that have various configurations of Blackhawks with tanks.

As far as I know most of the above ships will have external water tanks, which require installing a longer landing gear to raise the ship, making room for the belly tank. Coulson, on the other hand, is installing a version of their removable RADS tank internally, and at least one company, Simplex, for example, has built another version of a removable internal tank. The company had it on display last year in Sacramento and at HAI Heli-Expo in Atlanta today.

internal Blackhawk tank
Simplex internal Blackhawk tank.Seen at HAI Heli-Expo in Atlanta, March 5, 2019.
internal Blackhawk tank
Seen at HAI Heli-Expo in Atlanta, March 5, 2019.

For the record, Sikorsky, the company that manufactures Blackhawks, does not support the use of an internal water tank in the ships. They are not worried about the floor being able to hold it, but are concerned that in the event of a hard landing the tank, especially when full, could pose a danger to the crew. A belly tank, their theory contends, would not threaten the crew as a projectile, but could crush under the aircraft, absorbing some of the energy — not unlike the crumple zone in the front of a well designed automobile.

Bushfire east of Melbourne in Bunyip State Park doubles in size

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,

The fire has grown to over 30,600 acres (12,400 HA)

satellite photo map bushfire east of Melbourne, Victoria
The satellite photo shows smoke created by the bushfires east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, March 3, 2019. The red dots represent heat. The white areas south and west of Melbourne are clouds. To the east is smoke.

The large bushfire about 65km east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia has doubled in size during the last 24 hours. It is a result of four fires in Bunyip State Park merging and has now blackened about 12,400 HA (30,600 acres).

Emergency Management Victoria has downgraded the incident from an emergency alert to a Watch and Act that affects the following areas: Basan Corner, Beenak, Bunyip, Bunyip North, Cornucopia, Garfield, Garfield North, Gentle Annie, Labertouche, Longwarry North, Maryknoll, Nar Nar Goon, Tonimbuk, Tynong, Tynong North.

On Saturday and Sunday the wind direction changed several times pushing the fire in a variety of directions. This can be very dangerous for firefighters.

map bushfire east of Melbourne, Victoria
Map showing the location of the bushfire east of Melbourne, Victoria.

The video below at 1:30 captured Air Tanker 137, a Boeing 737, making a retardant drop.

A ball and chain is not always a bad thing

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , 6 Comments on A ball and chain is not always a bad thing

At least not when it is used to reduce a fire hazard

ball and chain vegetation management fire hazard

This image posted on Twitter by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, CAL FIRE, reminded me of when I was involved with a ball and chain operation one winter on the Sitton Peak project on the Cleveland National Forest in Southern California in the early 1970s.

The objective is to rip out or crush brush in order to reduce the wildfire hazard. It can be used to create a fuel break in lighter brush, or knock down heavier brush to make it easier and safer to conduct a prescribed fire.

When I was the contracting officer’s representative (COR) on the project a large dozer pulled about 100 to 200 feet of anchor chain that weighed 40 to 80 pounds per link. At the far end of the chain was a Navy surplus steel ball, a float, about five or six feet in diameter, that had been used with an anti-submarine net. The float was designed to support a net made of steel cable that was stretched across the mouth of a harbour or a strait for protection against submarines. A seven-mile long net was in place across the entrance to San Francisco Bay on December 7, 1941.

Anti-submarine net floats
Anti-submarine net and floats. US Navy photo
anti-submarine net
U.S. Navy

When the system was used on the Sitton Peak project we found that the ball needed to be heavier, so we filled it with water. That didn’t last long because the ball led a hard life, constantly being dragged across the ground and over rocks. The water leaked out through gouges in the steel. We later experimented with other materials inside the ball, including gravel, that were retained for a longer period of time.

Landscape architects liked the appearance of a chained fuel break better than those constructed by a dozer blade because it left some vegetation and a feathered edge — a more natural shape with fewer straight lines. As the dozer pulled the assembly, the chain encountered variable resistance and would temporarily get hung up on a rock or a heavy brush patch. If the dozer was driving along a ridge top, this would cause the ball to traverse up and down the slope, leaving a zig-zag or irregular edge.

When used on flat ground, the ball is positioned and then the dozer drives in circles around it.

With the brush crushed, close to the ground, and later dried out, it can then be treated with prescribed fire that burns less intensely than standing live brush in the summer.

A ball and chain is not exactly a light-hand-on-the-land system. There is serious soil and vegetation disturbance, so before considering the method, any sensitive plants, animals, and artifacts need to be carefully evaluated.

Back in 2009 I wrote about a misadventure that involved the dozer we used on the Sitton Peak project. It became seriously stuck in mud while “walking” back from the project on a dirt road. Four trucks that came to rescue the dozer also got stuck in the same area. It was one of those incidents where rescuers became victims. The article has photos I took of the FUBAR incident.

Hot, dry, windy conditions spread wildfires east of Melbourne, Australia

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,

A blaze in Bunyip State Park has burned over 15,000 acres

Wildfires in Victoria
Wildfires in Victoria east of Melbourne, March 3, 2019 local time. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite.

The weather in Victoria, Australia is causing multiple wildfires to spread rapidly endangering residents in some areas east of Melbourne. Presently there are 25 fires burning in the state. Fifteen of them are in eastern Victoria.

Four fires near Bunyip State Park, near Tonumbik, about 65km east of Melbourne, merged on Saturday into one blaze that has burned 6,280 hectares (15,500 acres) as of Sunday afternoon local time.

map wildfire Bunyip State Park in Victoria, Australia
Map showing the location of the wildfire in Bunyip State Park in Victoria, Australia. Vic Emergency map.

Officials warn that the fire in the state park is expected, after a wind shift, to move closer to Labertouche North and warned residents to be prepared to evacuate. Three homes have been destroyed in the fire so far.

Wildfire in Bunrip State Park
Wildfire in Bunyip State Park. Screengrab from 7 News Melbourne video.

At least one night-flying helicopter dropped water on the fire Saturday night until 3 a.m. local time. About 850 people, 120 fire trucks, and 20 aircraft will be working on the state park blaze Sunday.

Coulson to add up to 10 additional helicopters to their fleet

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags 1 Comment on Coulson to add up to 10 additional helicopters to their fleet

Will partner with Unical Air to acquire Boeing CH-47 and Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk aircraft for firefighting and other purposes

(This article was first published at Fire Aviation, March 1, 2019)

Coulson-Unical CU-47 helicopter CH-47
The engineering design for the water/retardant delivery system on the Coulson-Unical CU-47. Coulson image.

Coulson Aviation is expanding their aircraft fleet. Until a few weeks ago the company had four C-130 type fixed wing air tankers, one converted Boeing 737 air tanker (with another that is 60 percent complete), and a mixture of five S-61 and S-76 helicopters.

Today Coulson announced a new partnership with Unical Air, a new unit of the Unical Group of Companies. The organizations have joined forces to create a heavy lift helicopter joint venture company that will build and operate Boeing CH-47 and Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk aircraft for aerial firefighting and other markets. Coulson’s expertise in the operation of heavy lift and firefighting helicopters will mesh with Unical Air’s abilities in supply chain, and parts, plus aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and component repair and overhaul (CRO).

“When we met Unical, our companies meshed very well,” Britt Coulson, Coulson Aviation’s vice president, said. “Since both are family owned and extremely passionate about what we do, it was a natural fit to work together. Others that have bought either of these types has struggled with serviceability and parts support and with our partnership we are confident that will not be an issue.”

The capabilities of the helicopters will include night-vision, IFR navigation, and hover filling.

Coulson-Unical CU-47 helicopter
The first Coulson-Unical CU-47 lands in a remote area east of Albuquerque February 24, 2019. Coulson photo.

At least some of the newly acquired CH-47s and UH-60s will be outfitted with RADS internal tanks. The basic design of the RADS was created by Aero Union decades ago and features steep slopes on the sides when space allows, to facilitate enough head pressure at the bottom to ensure quick and constant flow. The technology used will enable automated target drops for the night vision goggle firefighting program and will have the capability to adjust flow rates based on speed and altitude. A Coulson helicopter that has been certified in Australia for night drops has been used on a regular basis for the last several months during the country’s 2018-2019 bushfire season.

Coulson has engineered several different sizes of the tanks to enable them to be used in a variety of aircraft, including the C-130 and 737. The CU-60 will carry up to 1,000 USG, and the CU-47 will carry up to 3,000 USG.

The snorkels used for hover refilling will be a brand new Coulson design, using an electrically-powered pump which will retract into the belly allowing flight to and from the fire with no speed restrictions, along with the ability to taxi around airports or tanker bases.

Instead of the water or retardant flowing through a relatively small opening at the cargo hook, Coulson will modify the bellies of both the CH-47 and UH-60.

Coulson-Unical CU-60 helicopter UH-60
The engineering design for the water/retardant delivery system on the Coulson-Unical CU-60. Coulson image.

“We are cutting the lower skin and adding in structure between the frames, the same way we have done on the C-130 and B-737 to create the optimal, linear door opening”, Mr. Coulson said. “We are also engineering the tank to incorporate the hook which will allow us to longline with the tank installed.”

The helicopters will be type certified and FAA approved, and the models will be renamed.

“This partnership with Unical Aviation is the future of aerial firefighting, combining the best of both companies as we introduce the CU-60© and CU-47© Next Gen Helitankers,” stated CEO, Wayne Coulson, Coulson Aviation.

The helicopters will receive upgraded cockpits, featuring the Garmin G500H TXi synthetic vision displays and Coulson’s touch screen SMART Delivery System Controller for regulating the delivery of the water or retardant.

Coulson UH-60 cockpit
The concept for the cockpit of the CU-60. Coulson image.

Coulson-Unical will have a CU-60 and a CU-47 at the HAI Heli-Expo in Atlanta, Georgia, March 5 to 7. Both have been painted but have not yet received the internal tank modification. The two ships will be available this year with conventional water buckets. By 2020 the company expects to have 10 additional helicopters between the two types.

Video of rotating convection column

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , ,
rotating convection column
Screenshot from @StormCatMedia video below.

Most large convection columns of smoke rising over large or intense wildfires rotate to some degree. In the video below filmed near Melbourne, Australia, the speed of the playback has been increased, making it easier to notice the rotation. To confirm this, check out the car driving by at what appears to be over 250 miles per hour.

Thanks Mike. Very interesting!

As a bonus, here is another recent convection column in Australia — a very large one with condensation on top, referred to as a pyrocumulus cloud.