Elvis (helicopter)
   HOME
*





Elvis (helicopter)
''Elvis'' is the nickname of Erickson S-64 Air-Crane, tail number ''OB-2081-P (N179AC)'', which has gained fame in Australia as a highly visible and valuable tool in bushfire suppression. The helicopter, which can hold of water or foam mix, has been brought out by the Victorian Government from the United States for each fire season since 2001-2002. The aircraft obtained its nickname due to the time that it spent working for the United States National Guard in Memphis, where singer Elvis Presley lived for most of his life. Erickson Air-Crane helitankers were first brought out to Victoria in December 1997. The first one, dubbed by locals as "Eric the Water Bomber" (N223AC), was used to fight a fire in Frankston and the Caledonia fire in the Alpine National Park, and was brought out again for subsequent fire seasons up to 2000-2001. On December 27, 2001 ''Elvis'', which had arrived in Melbourne, was immediately deployed to Bankstown, New South Wales to help with fire fighting ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Erickson S-64F Air-Crane
Erickson Incorporated is an American aerospace manufacturing and aviation service provider based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1971, it is known for producing and operating the S-64 Aircrane helicopter, which is used in aerial firefighting and other heavy-lift operations. Erickson Incorporated operates globally and has a fleet of 69 rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft including 20 S-64s. The company was known as Erickson Air-Crane Incorporated until 2014. Erickson's main facility is located in the Southern Oregon community of Central Point. History In 1969, Jack Erickson leased a Sikorsky S-61 helicopter from Wes Lematta of Columbia Helicopters to test the effectiveness of helicopters for logging. Following this test Erickson realized he would need a larger helicopter. He purchased three S-64 Skycranes from Sikorsky Aircraft and founded Erickson Air-Crane in December 1971. He quickly expanded the business to include power line construction and firefighting. In ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

S-64 Skycrane
The Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane is an American twin-engine heavy-lift helicopter. It is the civil version of the United States Army's CH-54 Tarhe. It is currently produced as the S-64 Aircrane by Erickson Inc. Development Under Sikorsky The Sikorsky S-64 was designed as an enlarged version of the prototype ''flying crane'' helicopter, the Sikorsky S-60. The S-64 had a six-blade main rotor and was powered by two Pratt & Whitney JFTD12A turboshaft engines. The prototype S-64 first flew on 9 May 1962 and was followed by two further examples for evaluation by the German armed forces. The Germans did not place an order, but the United States Army placed an initial order for six S-64A helicopters (with the designation YCH-54A Tarhe). Seven S-64E variants were built by Sikorsky for the civil market. Under Erickson Originally a Sikorsky Aircraft product, the type certificate and manufacturing rights were purchased from them by Erickson Air-Crane in 1992. Since that time, Erick ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

National Aerial Firefighting Centre
National Aerial Firefighting Centre (NAFC) is a not-for-profit company that manages and coordinates Australia's national aerial firefighting fleet. The company provides Australian States and Territories resource sharing capabilities. The NAFC Board of Directors is made up of senior fire chiefs from around the country. Role NAFC was developed in 2003 by representatives of the Australian Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments to provide a cooperative approach to manage aerial firefighting. The authorities recognised a need for a national approach to the determining and contracting of certain capabilities following extreme bushfires which affected Australia on a national level. NAFC facilitates the coordination and procurement of a fleet of firefighting aircraft funded by both the Australian Government and State and Territory Governments and are utilised by State and Territory fire agencies nationally. Firefighting agencies have benefited from the availability of extra aircra ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

2019–20 Australian Bushfire Season
The 201920 Australian bushfire season (Black Summer), was a period of bushfires in many parts of Australia, which, due to its unusual intensity, size, duration, and uncontrollable dimension, is considered a megafire. The Australian National University reported that the area burned in 2019/2020 was "well below average" due to low fuel levels and fire activity in unpopulated parts of Northern Australia, but that "Despite low fire activity overall, vast forest fires occurred in southeast Australia from southeast Queensland to Kangaroo Island." In June 2019 the Queensland Fire and Emergency Service acting director warned of the potential for an early start to the bushfire season which normally starts in August. The warning was based on the Northern Australia bushfire seasonal outlook noting exceptional dry conditions and a lack of soil moisture, combined with early fires in central Queensland. Throughout the summer, hundreds of fires burnt, mainly in the southeast of the country ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

2013–14 Australian Bushfire Season
The summer of 2013–14 was at the time, the most destructive bushfire season in terms of property loss since the 2008–09 Australian bushfire season, with the loss of 371 houses and several hundred non-residential buildings as a result of wild fires between 1 June 2015 and 31 May 2016. The season also suffered 4 fatalities; 2 died in New South Wales, 1 in Western Australia and 1 in Victoria. One death was as a direct result of fire, 2 died due to unrelated health complications while fighting fires on their property, and a pilot contracted by the NSW Rural Fire Service died during an accident. Climate summary and predictions The season was predicted to have above average fire potential for most states including portions of the north west of Western Australia, the north west of the Northern Territory and large areas of central Queensland following below average rainfall and above average temperatures in these areas in the months leading up to the fire season. The year 2013 w ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

2012-2013 Australian Bushfire Season
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. In conventions of sign where zero is considered neither positive nor negative, 1 is the first and smallest positive integer. It is also sometimes considered the first of the infinite sequence of natural numbers, followed by  2, although by other definitions 1 is the second natural number, following  0. The fundamental mathematical property of 1 is to be a multiplicative identity, meaning that any number multiplied by 1 equals the same number. Most if not all properties of 1 can be deduced from this. In advanced mathematics, a multiplicative identity is often denoted 1, even if it is not a number. 1 is by convention not considered a prime number; this was not universally accepted until the mid-20th century. Additionally, 1 is ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

2009–10 Australian Bushfire Season
A bushfire season occurred predominantly from June 2009 to May 2010. Increased attention has been given to this season as authorities and government attempt to preempt any future loss of life after the Black Saturday bushfires during the previous season, 2008–09. Long range weather observations predict very hot, dry and windy weather conditions during the summer months, leading to a high risk of bushfire occurrence. In late September, several bushfires affected southeastern and northern Queensland. In October, bushfires affected much of the central latitudes of Australia, across Western Australia, Queensland and New South Wales. In early November, a heat wave across southeastern Australia and high bushfire risk weather, precipitated a series of bushfires in those states, particularly South Australia, where 6 people were injured in separate incidents. In December, a further 5 people were injured and a helicopter pilot killed, whilst fighting bushfires in NSW. Later that month, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

2008–09 Australian Bushfire Season
The Australian bushfire season ran from late December 2008 to April/May 2009. Above average rainfalls in December, particularly in Victoria, delayed the start of the season, but by January 2009, conditions throughout South eastern Australia worsened with the onset of one of the region's worst heat waves. On 7 February, extreme bushfire conditions precipitated major bushfires throughout Victoria, involving several large fire complexes, which continued to burn across the state for around one month. 173 people lost their lives in these fires and 414 were injured. 3,500+ buildings were destroyed, including 2,029 houses, and 7,562 people displaced. Late 2008 had relatively few bushfires. Victoria in particular experienced higher than average rainfall in December, decreasing the fire danger in many regions of the state. Initial observations in October 2008 predicted an above average fire potential across Australia's coastal regions and a below average potential in Central Australia ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


2007–08 Australian Bushfire Season
The Australian bushfire season over the summer of 2007–2008, experienced fire occurrence below average for the season as some regions experienced increased rainfall and reduced fuel as a result of extensive fires during the previous 2006–07 season, particularly in Victoria where the fires in the 2006–07 season burnt over 1.1 million hectares of land. Fires in Victoria during the 2007–08 season burnt less than a fifth of the land area usually burnt during an average bushfire season. An analysis of bushfires in Victoria on public land by the Department of Sustainability and Environment revealed that the 2007–08 fires burnt 32,368 hectares, or 18.7% of the long-term average of 173,152 hectares. It was also estimated that 26% of these fires were caused by lightning strikes and 25% by arson. Predictions In the 3 months leading up to the summer 2007–08, many states and regions experienced far below average rainfalls and when several fires spread through October 2007, whi ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

2006–07 Australian Bushfire Season
One of the most extensive bushfire seasons in Australia's history. Victoria experienced the longest continuously burning bushfire complex in Australia's history, with fires in the Victorian Alps and Gippsland burning over 1 million hectares of land over the course of 69 days. See Bushfires in Australia for an explanation of regional seasons. The 2006–07 season included the ''Victorian Alpine Fire Complex'' which was the longest running collection of bushfires in Victoria's history. On 1 December 2006, more than 70 fires were caused by lightning strikes in the Victorian Alps, many of which eventually merged to become the Great Divide Complex, which burned for 69 days across about a million hectares. Despite the length of the season and amount of land burnt, the fires were contained to mostly unoccupied regions such as the Victorian Alps, national parks and remnant bushland. Evacuation plans were implemented in many small towns in these areas, a combination of these factors res ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Elvis (Erickson Air-Crane) At Wagga Wagga Airport
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines during a civil rights movement, transformative era in race relations, led him to both great success and Cultural impact of Elvis Presley#Danger to American culture, initial controversy. Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, with his family when he was 13 years old. His music career began there in 1954, recording at Sun Records with producer Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring the sound of African-American music to a wider audience. Presley, on rhythm acoustic guitar, and accompanied by lead ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]