C 130 maff crashes

Hoser, when is the start of the season?

Hoser,

Job well done to you and all the guys! Prayers go out to your lost! Hopefully you see a shorter season next year!

Holy crap Hoser! You guys were busy... Job well done, you guys don't get enough recognition for the work you do... and believe me, coming from growing up with parents in the FD, you guys kick ass!

+1 Great job

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Originally Posted by Hoser

Well it was a very painful and a very long firefighting season. The 2nd longest Military mobilization of MAFFS. Only the 1994 fire season went longer.

2012 was the first time MAFFS experienced any type of serious accident. The Military (4 total Squadrons and 8 aircraft) has operated MAFFS since the early 70s.

The MAFFS 7 crash outside Edgemont South Dakota claimed 4 lives. Pilot, Co-Pilot, Navigator and Flight Engineer. The two Loadmasters survived. After seeing the wreckage, I have no clue how they lived. The final report was released last week.

Now that Thanksgiving (what we consider the end of the Firefighting season) has come and gone, here is a look at what we did.

915 Sorties 877.5 flying hours 1008 drops 2,720,194 gallons

Somewhere late July or early Aug I dropped my 1,000,000 millionth gallon of red goop.

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WOW, all I can say is THANK YOU to you and all the airmen who helped with the fires this year! [rockon]

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Originally Posted by TheBelly

Hoser, when is the start of the season?

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Normally around early May is when we consider it "on." At the end of our annual training with the Forest Service is when we officially go on standby.

Last year we were in Texas working fires in April. We already had our two planes working actual fires during training so a few of us flew with other squadrons to ensure everyone got trained.

Thanks to you and the other guys and gals for watching over those of us in the fire-prone areas. We are extremely grateful. Especially so for those willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.

A big thanks to you and all of your ilk. We couldn't live without you.

And knowing what we know about you Hoser, every gallon you dropped was right on target!

God Bless you all. Thank you.

Be safe.

As someone who's house was spared by the Waldo fire I can say I truly appreciate the hard work that Hoser and all the MAFFS crews put in. My prayers go out to the families of those who were lost and to those who survived the crash.