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AVIATION Erickson readies for severe fire season Comment By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Posted May. 27, 2015 at 1:15 PM Updated May 28, 2015 at 11:22 AM By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Posted May. 27, 2015 at 1:15 PM Updated May 28, 2015 at 11:22 AM » RELATED CONTENT --> While firefighting income is critical to Erickson's well-being as energy exploration has declined, Commercial Aviation Vice President Andy Mills said revenue from installation of power transmiss... » Read more X While firefighting income is critical to Erickson's well-being as energy exploration has declined, Commercial Aviation Vice President Andy Mills said revenue from installation of power transmission lines and doing precision set construction lift work is growing. "You don't stray too far from what you earn your bread and butter with," Mills said. "But we've got the trained crews, we know how to do it, the production teams, and what we have to do is broaden where that gets grown." Opportunity exists in emerging countries where infrastructure investment is expanding. "If you look at places like India and China, they have a huge chunk of their population that still doesn't have electricity," Mills said. "They are under a huge crunch to modernize their electrical grid and infrastructure — and they have money. There are a lot of poor countries that want electricity, but don't have the money to do it. These countries do have the money, so we see more and more room for us to having cranes there permanently. "We have our fingers in a lot of different aviation markets. Trying to pinpoint one area where we are going to grow more is difficult, but there is definitely room for growth for us in the transmission and power line market." • Erickson Helicopters firefighting demo » Social News Erickson expects to deploy three-fourths of its S-64 heavy-lift helicopter fleet on fires this summer. Founded as a logging support firm four decades ago, the aviation company with three locations in Jackson County now finds that fire suppression provides its largest revenue stream. Given the prolonged drought, Erickson anticipates the coming fire season easily will surpass last year's demand for its helicopters and support crews. On Tuesday, Erickson strutted its stuff at its Kirtland Road site near the Rogue River, demonstrating the breadth and speed of its tanker capabilities. "The crane is an amazing aircraft," Commercial Aviation Vice President Andy Mills said. "It's very unique. Nothing else sounds like it when it's flying. Nothing else has the capabilities it has. It's never been replicated in the helicopter world, even though the original design is quite a bit older." While airline pilots have the ability to use simulators to learn about the terrain at unfamiliar airports, Erickson pilots often have to do their own reconnaissance, Chief Pilot Dave Barnett said. "Quite often we'll get sent to a set of coordinates and we use our navigation maps and a GPS," he said. "Once we get there, the pilot conducts a high-recon, at an altitude 300 to 400 feet above the terrain. We're looking for wires, wind direction, obstructions such as snags or treetops on the ground, whether or not the terrain slopes. We evaluate that before we commit to the final approach." Pilot Eric Van De Walker has observed a variety of terrain in his 23 years with Erickson, flying in Greece and Australia, among other locales. But until last summer, he had never flown a firefighting mission in Southern Oregon. "There are just all kinds of different places to see and we usually hit them all," Van De Walker said. "I actually got to go out on the 790 fire and the Onion Mountain fire and that was kind of a treat." A helicopter's snorkel can suck up 2,500 gallons from a river or reservoir in less than a minute. "The trickiest part is just to make sure you're lined up," Van De Walker said. "If we're using a dip tank, we have a much smaller area to shoot for, versus a river or a lake. It's just being steady on the controls and making sure you're clear of the trees and other obstacles. In dropping the water, the hardest part is making sure you're lined up correctly and taking into account cross winds or any other factors like that." Erickson is repositioning much of its fleet from Southern Hemisphere fire season deployment. "It's a massive undertaking when we do move an aircraft internationally," Mills said. During the peak season, 16 of 20 aircraft are deployed for firefighting duty, including three in Greece and one in Turkey. The city of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County and San Diego County all have their own S-64s, while each of the helicopters assigned to the U.S. Forest Service has a designated base, primarily in the West. "But in reality they get moved to wherever the Forest Service needs them for fires," Mills said. "If we start getting big fires in California we might wind up with six of the eight cranes in California. Potentially, if they have bad fires, we might have as many as 11 cranes in California late in the season. It's unusual for them all to be there, but it's not impossible." While firefighting plans are detailed and thought out well in advance, Erickson aircraft and crews can respond as quickly as necessary. Maintenance pods with a million dollars' worth of spare parts and equipment are sent to service the helicopters in the field. "We're close to any action we need to take on," said Field Maintenance Director Blake Ironside. "We could be spur of the moment, where we would gather all the appropriate personnel. We launch our maintenance pods two days before the helicopters. Sometimes the aircraft may have to have support from a local airport fixed base operation or we utilize equipment from another aircraft." Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 541-776-4463 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GregMTBusiness , on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/greg.stiles.31 , and read his blog at www.mailtribune.com/EconomicEdge . By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Posted May. 27, 2015 at 1:15 PM Updated May 28, 2015 at 11:22 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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