I thought I was going to read about 'Elvis' - and wondered why we weren't going to have him this year!!
That's a pity herbie. We will probably really need him this year.
Thanks for posting the link to enlighten me on Elvis ..In other words Elvis has just left the building....
Funny statement I thought regarding that Elvis is no longer used for this type of work,wonder why it was ok last year to utilize it and did a fantastic job.
Understand ... but I think this from the article gives some idea -
"Mr Lapsley says the aircraft , (Elvis) is working in South America and was not available, but the state's firefighting capacity has not been reduced.
"The two big ones (super-cranes), one lived in Sydney, one normally operates out of Melbourne, are overseas and will remain overseas doing other work," he said.
"They have been replaced. There will be six of the orange helicopters coming back to Australia.
"We've still got the same coverage which is really important. We haven't reduced anything. Elvis is not part of the fleet."
At least "Elvis" proved we needed these aircraft and the fleet (Australia-wide) has been supplemented over the years.
Cheers - John
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2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 SE Auto - 2008 23ft Golden Eagle Hunter Some people feel the rain - the others just get wet - Bob Dylan
Queensland Fire service said last week they will have greater cover from aircraft to do Aerial Fire fighting this season , Elvis was used by Victoria fire service if I was a firefighter on the ground I think 6 smaller helicopters would be more use than one big one .
I recon Elvis did a mighty job,while in service to our country.
Was in the Grampians when the whole place was about to be lost and Elvis arrived and saved the shops and a lot of houses,before it arrived there was no hope of saving this iconic place.
Listening to teh news services here, the picture is confused. As always there are many views, the government is pushing the line six is better than two (strange as they only had one in Vic), the fire services union appears to be focusing on the reduced capacity of the birds that are coming (7ton vs 9ton), and the loading speed.
One good argument I heard yesterday was that there is usually only one source of water close by, and since they take longer to load than deliver they would spend time queuing for their turn at the pond (so to speak).
I suppose it will all become clear as we go through summer.
Looking on the news a few weeks back when the fires were over in USA the fire bombers where not these things they are going to use here they were very similar to Elvis.
