Globemaster delivers new helicopter to NSW Rural Fire Service
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A trans-Pacific mission by a [Royal Australian*] Air Force C-17A Globemaster has delivered a Bell 412 helicopter for the NSW Rural Fire Service.
CAPTION: A new NSW Rural Fire Service Bell 412 helicopter is towed to a hangar after being unloaded from a RAAF C-17A at RAAF Base Richmond. Photo by Corporal Dan Pinhorn. Story by Eamon Hamilton.
Loaded by a No. 36 Squadron C-17A crew at Vancouver International Airport, Canada, the Bell 412 was delivered to RAAF Base Richmond on September 15, where it was reconstructed and received additional servicing.
The Bell 412 will be ready to combat bushfires this summer.
Commander Air Mobility Group Air Commodore Carl Newman said the mission was well-suited to the C-17A’s capabilities.
“One of the reasons that Defence purchased the C-17A was the aircraft’s ability to transport large loads like this helicopter over great distances, where and when they were needed,” Air Commodore Newman said.
“Using a C-17A to carry a Bell 412 across the Pacific is an outstanding example of a Defence asset in support of another government agency and one that will yield positive results for the broader Australian community.
“Our air mobility fleet has a strong record of supporting state-based emergency services, including during Operation Bushfire Assist, and we will continue providing support.”
It was the first time an Australian crew had transported a three-tonne Bell 412.
A special cargo instruction on how to safely load, restrain, and unload the helicopter was provided by Air Mobility Training and Development Unit.
To prepare for the journey to Australia, its rotor blades were stored in wooden crates and its entire fuselage was covered in a protective plastic.
Wheels were attached to the Bell 412’s landing skids and the helicopter was winched into the C-17A along special wooden ramps that were laid down on the transport aircraft’s cargo ramp.
This process was repeated in reverse at RAAF Base Richmond with help from No. 22 Squadron Air Movements personnel.
NSW Rural Fire Service will use the Bell 412 for rapid aerial response and remote area programs, as well as search-and-rescue missions.
Operations support manager of the NSW Rural Fire Service Chief Superintendent Chris Ryder is responsible for the service’s fleet of aircraft.
“We can use it to look for fires that are small and try to put firefighters into the field on those fires to ensure they stay small over the season,” Chief Superintendent Ryder said.
“We also chase lightning storms and storm bands.
“We move the helicopter around the state, looking at weather patterns and storm cycles and high fire danger to put them in the best place for the day.”
The fire service intends to use two other Bell 412s in this role – one shipped from Japan via commercial means, with a third still being sourced.
Chief Superintendent Ryder said COVID-19 slowed the delivery.
“There’s long delays to get things onto ships, and flying it out commercially is also problematic at the moment with COVID-19,” he said.
“Our priority was to try and get the helicopter out for this fire season and thankfully we were able to go to Defence and they brought it out on a C-17A.”
The successful delivery of the Bell 412 continues a close working relationship between the NSW Rural Fire Service and Defence and, in particular, RAAF Base Richmond.
Since 2015, the base has served as a home for the fire-service fleet of large air tankers, providing them with parking space and hangar facilities.
“Having them on the RAAF base works really well for us,” Chief Superintendent Ryder said.
“It provides good security for the fleet.
“We don’t get tied into commercial airline routines as well as having to fit into general traffic.
“It allows us to get off the base quite quickly and get airborne quite quickly.
“It’s an absolutely fantastic relationship that we hope is ongoing.”
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EDITOR’S NOTE: It seems our accusation that RAAF is trying to drop Royal Australian from its name may not be false after all.
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Good to see some positive assistance from Defense for Emergency Services but you’d have to ask why it is unusual enough that there have to press releases about it. Surely as both organisations are publicly funded entities there should be ongoing automatic interaction. In this case RAAF had the necessary aircraft that, in one way or another, had to fly to keep flight and maintenance crews up to speed so why not ensure that wherever possible flying time is spent productively providing support other arms of government, Federal or State. Probably a bit harder with the Navy but Army have all sorts of equipment and skilled personnel that could be gainfully used and written off as training in areas that might otherwise not be encountered but may be valuable to military personnel. I appreciate the fact that there might be reasons that this could be problematic for Defense but surely there are enough smart people that could make such a scenario work.
Hi Terry. I don’t agree that interagency cooperation should be automatic. Defence is for defending the country. RFS is for fighting fires. And, while Defence’s ‘warm bodies’ and massive logistics capabilities come in very handy in an emergency, I do not agree that they should use manpower or airframe hours or maintenance time/cost or planning considerations on anything other than core business except in emergency or on special request.
In this case, the helicopter delivery was important and civilian delivery means disrupted by COVID, so it was a good idea to use available assets to plug an operational gap on this occasion – and thus, this unusual activity was newsworthy – especially on a military news platform such as CONTACT.