Every year, Working on Fire holds an open/demo day at the start of the fire season. It is normally held at Fisantekraal Airfield, but not anymore!
For the start of the 2013/14 season, the Stellenbosch Airfield was the host.
Which meant that for the first time in my memory (and possibly ever), there were 7 Huey's at the airfield. It doesn't get sexier than that.
Along with the Huey's there were also 3 Dromaders, 7 Spotters, and the FFA's brand new Air Tractor AT-802.
The 802 is a monster of a machine, and has a hopper with a capacity of some 3100 litres.
As is the norm, an hour or so is spent giving speeches and showing videos to the invited guests, and then a fire is "started" (this year they used a smoke machine) so that the guests can see the pilots and aircraft in action.
The display consisted of 3 Huey's (two with Bambi buckets, and the other the troop carrier), 2 Dromaders, the AT-802, and 1 Spotter.
The Dromader's are quite impressive when they drop water, and it's always amazing to see. But the AT-802 took it to a whole new level when it deposited its load of water and foam down most of the length of the 760m long runway.
Even though only 3 Huey's flew, having 7 there at once made it feel like something out of Vietnam. Okay, not really. But that didn't stop me from humming Paint It Black by the Rolling Stones for most of the day.
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