Picture is worth a 1000 words

[tor lives]

Look and be in awe of these guys and what they do

http://wildfiretoday.com/wp-content/upl ... -Media.jpg

Didn't one of the self-appointed experts on another site dismiss the DC-10 VLAT as being slow, lumbering, cumbersome, and useless.....so much for the self-appointed experts
TOR
PS: thanks to Knotty for link

[Knotty]

was that the same guy who didn't even know the sky cranes were in town ??? and he was the air coordinator for the western region ......... God help us !!!!
There is an awesome video on that site also .......The mighty DC-10 VLAT dropping down hill and then pulling out , the sound is amazing .!!!

[Knotty]

I see that is Tanker 912 , this is the third DC-10 VLAT in the fleet . This particular airframe was only put into service a few weeks ago . Clearly there is no need for these very capable aircraft .

[tor lives]

And this in the Herald Sun today



Trying telling the good people of California how pointless these things are at the moment
These LATs/VLATS are so "useless" that more and more MD-87s, DC-10s, BAe-146s, C-130s etc are being converted to the role all the time.
http://fireaviation.com/wp-content/uplo ... ler-1.jpeg
They are useless I tell ya......just absolutely bloody useless, and an utter waste of money that could be better spent on radios
TOR

[Cap'n Wannabe]

Oh, come on fellas...we don't have wildfires like they do in the States...we have bushfires...there's a world of difference!

[tor lives]

we have bushfires...there's a world of difference!

Yeah....far less destructive and kill far fewer people .
Less VLATs more radios is say
And yes.....I am on my VLAT soap-box again but the advantage of spending several grand on setting up and owning my own website is that I can go on about VLATS all I want without fear of thread lock or deletion. That fact alone makes the cost and effort of setting up this website most worthwhile
TOR

[hrtpaul]

I'm on a fire bomber page on FB and the pics and videos that are posted are phenomenal. As we all know I'm not a fan of said douchebag that knows all about nothing but having seen these beasts in action I still can't understand why we don't have some form of bigger fire bombers here in OZ. Oh that's right. Australia's conditions are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO different to everywhere else on the planet. What a load of horse shit. We here in Australia are nothing special and I think it's about time these flogs got off their bullshit high horse, take a reality check and stop blowing wind (among other things) up their own arses. Absolutely ludicrous

P.S. How many radios are required for a Skycrane to make one drop I wonder

[tor lives]

I'm on a fire bomber page on FB and the pics and videos that are posted are phenomenal. As we all know I'm not a fan of said douchebag that knows all about nothing but having seen these beasts in action I still can't understand why we don't have some form of bigger fire bombers here in OZ. Oh that's right. Australia's conditions are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO different to everywhere else on the planet. What a load of horse shit. We here in Australia are nothing special and I think it's about time these flogs got off their bullshit high horse, take a reality check and stop blowing wind (among other things) up their own arses. Absolutely ludicrous

P.S. How many radios are required for a Skycrane to make one drop I wonder

Man.....I GOTTA have a "like" button installed on this site
Here, here Paul.....bloody well said!!!
TOR

[Adam the Akrodude]

What I find intriguing is such is the need for fire bombers in USA that they even use BAE-146's!

So smart is our nation that we get rid of assets like Herc's, S-2's, P-3's for nothin'!

We all know that events like Black Saturday will happen again. Have we learnt anything? Are we better prepared? Sadly no I think.

[tor lives]

We all know that events like Black Saturday will happen again. Have we learnt anything? Are we better prepared? Sadly no I think.

Before the horrific events of Black Saturday it could be argued that Australian State and Federal fire fighting authorities could still claim some level of institutional/organisational ignorance as far as the benefits of LATs/VLATs for Australia are concerned, (although personally I don't see how given previous devastating Ash Wednesday, Canberra, and Sydney fire events, combined with extensive overseas experiences), but after Black Saturday there are no excuses....it is now just a case of shear and blatent incompetence and culpability on the part of all agencies concerned. With every additional bushfire-related death since Black Saturday all those who still try to argue in vain against the common sense and logic of LATs/VLATs for Australia should hang their collective heads further and further in shame.
As you have quiet correctly pointed out Adam....we have had many opportunities to equip ourselves with these most capable, useful, and proven fire-fighting aircraft, using pre-existing tax-payer owned assets....but apparently it is more beneficial to give those assets away to the bloody Indos who I am sure will only ever use them for "humanitarian" purposes, (like the next time they invade East Timor ).
TOR