Page 22 - March 2018

The Catalina Preservation Society and their work on restoring
and promoting the WWII Canso.

Fighting Forest Fires in Remote
Wilderness
"We, the US Forest Service, operate two DHC-
6-300 Twin Otters, whose primary mission is
to support smokejumper operations for
wildland firefighting. These two ships “stand
ready” in McCall, Idaho at the McCall
Several local pilots own and operate CJ-6’s which are former Smokejumper Base on the Payette National
Forest. They take brave crews in to the
Chinese air force trainers. They are sometimes referred to as
otherwise inaccessible wilderness to fight
the “Chinese Air Force” and they are often seen flying around
Victoria, such as on Remembrance day etc. Our museum has fire. Orbiting at 1500ft AGL, streamers are
dropped to judge the winds, then the Captain
a huge roll to play in years to come. We bring awareness to
and Spotter formulate the best pattern for a
the public both of current events and history. Who knows
there may even be an opportunity for the museum to help jump considering meteorological conditions
and surrounding terrain. Once jumpers are on
educate our young. An article in the Times Colonist recently
said that there is going to be a huge demand for trained the ground, the aircraft transitions to
paracargo.
people in the near future. The airline industry worldwide will
need 60-70 new pilots per month for the next 20 years,
aircraft engineers and air traffic controllers are also in short
supply.

Perhaps we can help to inspire young people to take up a
career in aviation! So next time you have some time to spare
on a nice day, take a walk or bike ride on the path around the
airport or just sit at any of the great lookouts and appreciate
that we have an very interesting airport!

There are many other aircraft using our airport from all the
“Business Jets” and Air ambulance services to private aircraft ,
and let’s not forget Victoria Air Maintenance and their work
on Vintage aircraft.
The Twin Otter sets up for cargo drops just
above tree top level to deliver fire fighting
tools, food, and water as firefighters will be
on their own for a few days. Smokejumper
operations are performed with the forward
cargo door removed and a step attached to
the outside and the canvas flap is just used
overnight to keep rain and dust out of the
cabin. The two black rectangles on the side
are special fairings to cover the aft door
hinges in order to prevent damage to the
static lines."