Los Angeles County Fire Department

FIREHAWK™ UPDATE
by
Gary Lineberry
Pilot, Los Angeles County Fire Department (Retired)

N190LA

DESIGNATED

COPTER 19

Photo by
Air Methods

After more than two years of evaluation and negotiation, the Los Angeles County Fire Department and Sikorsky Aircraft have reached an agreement that will make the Department the first in the world to operate the Firehawk™ variant of the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter in municipal service. After an evaluation of a prototype aircraft in the fall of 1998, that test aircraft was delivered to the Oregon National Guard where it will serve in many roles, including that of wildland fire suppression.

Earlier this year Sikorsky personnel and L.A. County Fire Department personnel transported two new S-70A variants of the famous UH-60 Blackhawk to Cheyenne Airmotive in Cheyenne, Wyoming for custom painting and to Air Methods in Englewood, Colorado for interior modifications and radio updates.

Ship #19 (pictured above) was flown from the Sikorsky factory in Connecticut to Cheyenne Airmotive for the custom paint job then flown to Air Methods for the interior and radio installations.

Ship #16 was flown from the Sikorsky factory directly to Air Methods for interior and radio installations, then it will be flown to Cheyenne Airmotive for its custom paint job.

When these tasks are complete, they will both go to Aero Union in Chico, California for the installation of the 1,000 gallon water drop tank and snorkel system. Improvements in the design of this system will produce a tank that is several hundred pounds lighter than the prototype used in the 1998 evaluation. It will also have a newly designed retractable snorkel.

The installation of all of this equipment will follow a careful plan devised by the Department's pilots, paramedics, maintenance personnel and others who participated in the initial evaluation. The placement of switches, radios, tank controls, and other special equipment were carefully designed to meet the specific needs of the missions that these crews will be asked to perform. By getting input from all of the participants, designers were able to create a truly unique mission ready configuration.

Department Maintenance Chief Mitch Gahie has advised me that if all goes as planned, both aircraft should be arriving in Los Angeles sometime around the end of June. Several of the Department's mechanics have already attended special engine and airframe training. When the aircraft arrive, Sikorsky will be providing personnel to handle pilot transition training, crew chief training and additional maintenance training as well.

All went pretty much as planned.....with the usual snags and delays.....and both aircraft are now in house and on the line. Most of the pilot and crew training is complete and the aircraft have been deployed on several wildland fires in the area during the last few weeks. The next few weeks have the potential to really show what these machines can do.....if the usual Santa Ana winds visit our area in November and December.

Both aircraft are in service, all pilots and crewmembers have completed their initial training and are now conducting continuing education training at all levels. As expected with any newly developed system, there have been some problems in getting the retractable snorkel to function properly for extended periods. However technical support from the manufacturer has been very good and they are making constant progress in bringing the system to full capability and reliability.

The prognosis for this fire season is that it will be one of record proportions and early signs seem to support this prediction. It should be a very good test of the overall ability of the aircraft to do the job they were designed for.