Originally Posted by
cdouglas162
CAL FIRE is a division of CDF (California Dept of Forestry). We are currently flying 23 S2T's (a turbine retrofit of the Grumman S2) and 14 North American OV10s. The S2Ts are 1200 gal tankers and the OV10s are operated as the air attack platform. This is a state fleet and is owned and operated only in the state of CA. There are 13 state tanker bases spread across the state. When it comes to getting a job it is very competitive. Alot has to do with the limited number of tanker jobs out there. The mins here require 850 hrs multi PIC, turbine time, and low level time. The last couple of hires have had between 4000-6000 total and between 1000-2000hrs of low level time (<500agl). Keep after it....Its a great job .....
Cdouglas -
What are the state pay scales for the air attack pilots? Is there a website or some other source of info for the differences in the tanker pilots and the air attack pilots? Sounds like maybe the tanker pilots are the ones actually dropping the water/retartdent and the air attack pilots are the airborne controllers (sort of like FACs or FAC(A)s?) Do you see amy former military guys coming through the ranks or is it mainly from the fire fighter industry?
USMCFLYR