Yosemite Park closed.

https://www.businessinsider.com/ferg...-photos-2018-7

Air tanker working the fire:

https://www.popularmechanics.com/sci...l-park-photos/

Some nice shots there.

Anyone around that is up on fire boss flying? I talked with a few pilots at a tanker base recently and they said with my float time (1000hrs) I would be a good candidate for the fire boss. Is there any chance of getting into one with out any fire or ag experience?
I was surprised to hear a lead plane pilot say the high time ag pilots are actually struggling in seat/fire boss roles - "they dont talk on the radio, and they like to fly at 5ft, when they need to be at 100ft."

I haven't found that to be the case. The biggest challenge facing ag pilots who begin in SEATs is mountain work, but it's something they learn. The government places extremely heavy emphasis on radio work, such that fire schools are mostly about communication.

I find that leadplanes seem to have a hard time operating at the correct altitude, nearly always passing high on the target, forcing aircraft doing the drop to workin the lead's wake. Then the lead complains that the drop was too high, if the tanker stays above the lead's wake. I can't think of any lead/ASM pilots presently that have tanker experience. Or ag experience.

Your lack of ag or fire experience isn't necessarily an impediment. It depends on your background and experience. You'll usually need to have a turbine tailwheel background. Mountain experience is necessary.There aren't many 802's on floats and operators that were considering them have moved away from that direction, given problems with the fireboss. Airspray is about your only choice in the lower 48 for that. You might try Aeroflite is you have multi-sea experience, for the CL415.

I’ve been trying to get a SEAT job for the last few years. I thing that if I were currently working as an ag pilot flying a turbine Airtractor or Thrush, I would be flying a SEAT now. I’ve learned that airline guys with ag time have a good shot at landing a SEAT job. Operators seem to value the radio communication experience that airline guys bring but I think ag time is paramount. I have a tiny bit of AT802 time (15 hrs) and I can tell you, it’s a real beast!

I can't think of a single SEAT pilot that I know, who has airline experience, other than me. I'm sure there is someone somewhere in the system, but I can't think of any. An airline pilot looking for a position in a single engine tanker would need to have significant conventional gear and air tractor experience, and would best have several seasons of air attack experience; an airline background would generally be seen as a negative.

Put me on the list, no air Attack time but plenty of 802 ag time and airline time. I’m in my first season now.
I’ve met another SEAT pilot this year with airline time, but I don’t believe he has any ag time.
To Agcat25, I’ve been trying to get into this for several years too. I don’t believe my airline experience had as much to do with it as knowing vendors in the business and waiting on the opportunity to open up.

I recently saw an opening for an air attack position with Calfire and was wondering if anyone had any info what the schedule is like. I know you can be gone a lot during fire season but that’s about all I’ve heard. Any details? Do you get to go home for any set amount of time? Is it just on demand? Are the duty days and flight hours similar or more grueling than say a fixed wing medivac position? Any info is greatly appreciated.

^ Post from another forum with some details on CalFire. The above was posted back in November, so relatively current.