Erickson Aircrane Walkaround Gallery

Erickson Aircrane S64F N179AC Elvis Essendon 2009

The bright orange Erickson Aircranes are now a familiar sight in the worlds fire danger hotspots. This fleet of helibombers travel the world following the sun and the fire danger, like seaonal fruit pickers following the crop. Kind of itinerant do-gooders. The most popular of these birds would have to be Elvis, N179AC. It always seems to be Elvis that gets the limelight, just because of his name, despite the fact that the whole fleet all works just as hard. They certainly earned their keep fighting the Black Saturday Victorian bushfires that claimed 173 lives in March. The day I got access to the tarmac to take these pics, all six Aircranes that had been in Australia for the 2009 fire season were on the ramp. It was an impressive sight. I even witnessed a lifting demonstration for some potential cients. The big orange helos were being prepared for disassembly and shipment. Two were going to Greece and four to the States.

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Graeme Molineux