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David Jones is a senior officer with the RFS and is based in Albury . His talk today explained how the RFS acquired the "Marie Bashir", a Boeing 737 aerial tanker. Firstly the question to be answered was why buy, rather than lease or borrow.As the Northern Hemisphere fire season overlaps ours, the availability of the bombers could be compromised. It is much better to have the aircraft based here in Australia.. That explained David went on to outline the sort of aircraft we needed. It had to be in top condition, being regularly maintained and updated. This aircraft came from South West Airlines in the US and was about 20 yrs old when it came up for sale. In the US the firefighters often deploy converted 747s which can carry enormous amounts of liquid, but they are limited to very few air facilities because of the weight. The 737 can operate out of several airports in NSW including Dubbo and Wagga which makes it a nimble response machine, even though it carries a smaller payload. It can deliver its whole 15,000 litres of water in just 2.5 seconds, and can travel at around 800 km in an hour, making it available at any fire in NSW in just an hour. It can be flown at very low altitude too, around 300ft, and has a slow stall speed. It has the ability to spread the liquid retardants up to 2 kilometres, or as little as 400 metres. It usually operates in conjunction with a Cessna Citation birddog, which directs the path, at the same time scanning for new hotspots. You can learn a bit more here. A fascinating talk that was recognised by President Richard with the customary bottle of wine. | |