hinekadon (04-01-20),LeroyPatrol (04-01-20)
Wow, look at ScoMo go.....
Pulling out all his chess pieces, ADF to the rescue, Air, Land and Sea.
The PR Campaign that had to happen
Last edited by ol' boy; 04-01-20 at 10:35 PM.
If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!
hinekadon (04-01-20),LeroyPatrol (04-01-20)
Low to mid 90's if moving well but did see high 90's when not moving fast. I was on dirt for the morning as I went up to Mt Porepunka again, but could see nothing but smoke. Then went to Bright to catch up with mates. Riding home I dropped in to 2 friends in Myrtleford. On the way home I really noticed the KTM giving off a fair bit of heat but it was 47deg. Boots were roasting.
XCRUISER HDSR600HD twin sat and terrestrial receiver $OOS *
XCRUISER HDSR385 Avant - sold out$OOS UltraPlus DVB-T and DVB-S2 tuners $49 Remotes $OOS
To little to late
The $20M for leasing aircraft may have made a difference 3 months ago when the Fire brigade urgently requested them but after letting it get to this apocalypse before our bird brain government changes it's mind, they will be hardly a drop on the hot stone.
Yeah typical, making a PR show of this, looks like he learnt from the best : Trump.
Birdbrain voters will hail him as a hero now.
Update: A deletion of features that work well and ain't broke but are deemed outdated in order to add things that are up to date and broken.
Compatibility: A word soon to be deleted from our dictionaries as it is outdated.
Humans: Entities that are not only outdated but broken... AI-self-learning-update-error...terminate...terminate...
Update: A deletion of features that work well and ain't broke but are deemed outdated in order to add things that are up to date and broken.
Compatibility: A word soon to be deleted from our dictionaries as it is outdated.
Humans: Entities that are not only outdated but broken... AI-self-learning-update-error...terminate...terminate...
No. Apparently Scomo just decided that they needed help. It must be hard doing his job, if he doesn't act for fear of treading on toes (the states in this case) he is lambasted for not taking action, if he sent in the troops a couple of months ago, the disaster may well have been averted and no-one would know what they had prevented and he'd be in the sh*t again for interfering in state "sovereignty". Regardless of which party you support, all sides are using this for political point scoring.
Now BOT, I hope that the extra troops do make a difference. I am watching this with added interest now, as, my Eldest is in the Reserves, and they have mobilised the reserves too.
I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...
I don't think any PM CAN act without a direct request from the State Government, not any fire service. State politics and brinkmanship, which is basically what the NSW, Qld and Vic governments engage in (SA and WA and NT and ACT too, they're all f*cked), causes massive delays in ANY Federal response. The NT and ACT as territories may be different, I'm not sure.
Now nomeat, I may be wrong so if I am I don't mind being corrected. But that was my understanding.
The fact that there's a highway to hell and a stairway to heaven says a lot about the anticipated traffic flow.
The troops are now REQUIREMENT for the evacuations.
The topic back them was mostly about the planes but that one open letter I mentioned earlier did request help from the Defence Force.
I would think that the troops could also be a great help to clear vegetation and create fire breaks (Fester currently visualising big Tanks flattening the bush)
but it seems they are currently very needed for logistics, supplies and rescuing people trapped by the fires.
Update: A deletion of features that work well and ain't broke but are deemed outdated in order to add things that are up to date and broken.
Compatibility: A word soon to be deleted from our dictionaries as it is outdated.
Humans: Entities that are not only outdated but broken... AI-self-learning-update-error...terminate...terminate...
Update: A deletion of features that work well and ain't broke but are deemed outdated in order to add things that are up to date and broken.
Compatibility: A word soon to be deleted from our dictionaries as it is outdated.
Humans: Entities that are not only outdated but broken... AI-self-learning-update-error...terminate...terminate...
enf (04-01-20)
Yeah, well, I seem to recall that that was the case.
In any event, in the words of Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Highway, It's a CLUSTER F*CK!!
The fact that there's a highway to hell and a stairway to heaven says a lot about the anticipated traffic flow.
There is a protocol and some Act they all have to follow and it starts with the states putting in the request. Mate is an ex copper.
Had an unexpected and very happy win tonight.
Mrs went to visit a friend so I thought I'd do something I have been going to do for weeks and go for a drive to Picton about 20 KM from me to see If I could get some decent shots of all the Fire Choppers based there. GPS took me to where they weren't' so by the time I found them, they were all in for the Night bar one. Got some shots of that coming in and a couple where they were just moving round the field to go to the refuelling tanker. Was a little disappointed I missed them all Coming in especially how close they would have been but still worth while coming to see.
One of the Ericksons, Jerry , was at the front of the field and the Chinook, Colombia was on the other side at the front. There was a couple of Iroquois, a Kawasaki and some jet rangers down the back.
It was getting dark and people were starting to leave then this nice lady from the RFS walks over to the Fence and asks everyone if they would like to come see them close up.
HELL YEAH!
Grabbed all the hardware, Locked the car, and was moving faster than I had in the last 12 Months.
Bunch of families follow her along and she gives a a very interesting and impromptu talk on the way over and is a very well informed and well spoken person to listen to. She was a radio operator for the field by the name of Jan.
We were able to go right up to and walk around both the big Choppers and take pics and admire the the things close up. The Erickson didn't look that big from the road where I was parked but up close... WOW! The pickup hoses on the thing must be 12-14" in diameter and the thing is certainly built for purpose not looks. Not even any cowls on the engine and gearbox, just out there in the breeze. Amazing amount of room in the cabin even though it's just the bit at the front. The Chinook had the water bucket in front of it lying on it's side partially collapsed.
It was taller than me, 6'4, and looked like it would hold about 3-4000L. Quite a bit of mechanisms and control cables in the thing, more than one would imagine.
The light was fading and I turned my cameras up to " See in the dark" ISO and thought I'd got what I could so was just walking round admiring the things. I then noticed the lights on the field came up and were giving awesome Lighting. Turned the camera's down and still got decent shutter speeds and the things looked awesome especially with the smoke and cloud filled sky in the background. Don't think I could have got any more dramatic and vibrant shots of the things on the ground had I set up lighting myself. Bit of on camera flash to fill in the shadows and the images just pop. Very happy little Plane spotter!
Everyone was very considerate trying to stay out of each others way and still get their pics which was nice and pretty unusual. I took some pics for a family with the Chopper on their phone so they could all be in the pic then next thing there was a line up. One Mother had a Little camera that wasn't doing well so I popped the card out, stuck it in my camera and took some pics that had the Kids jumping for Joy and the parents a bit gobsmacked when I showed them. Think I just sold Canon another SLR. :0)
Maybe I should go down there in the evenings and do Photos and instant prints as a fund raiser for the RFS?
Anyway, it was certainly an unexpected and very appreciated Bonus for all the people who got the little Impromptu inspection of these impressive machines. Certainly put a smile on my face and made me feel lucky to get to see these Big Birds close up after watching them for weeks on my flight app.
I might even be motivated to get my lazy arse back down there in the morning to see If I can get some shots of them taking off. If not I'll see if the Mrs wants to come back with me tomorrow night and watch them come in and see if there is another tour on offer. Apparently there is no set plan of where they will be at any time. They go where they are needed as they are needed and where weather and conditions allow. Where they leave from may not be where they return so could be the same choppers there tomorrow night or a different lot. There were too many in the area yesterday so some went to Camden for the night but were in Picton tonight. tonight.
Well done to the RFS lady, Jan. Excellent PR person (even though not her job) who gave a bunch of people a memory they won't forget especially the little Kiddies ( like me!) and won some real support for the RFS if anyone didn't have a shipload of admiration for them already. Another gentleman came along later and he too was extremely friendly, great with the kids and obviously a real nice down to earth bloke.
If they are representative of the culture and attitude of the RFS, at least the people on the front lines, then it must be an awesome organisation is all I can say.
kclar (05-01-20),VroomVroom (06-01-20)
New Zealand copping it......
The fact that there's a highway to hell and a stairway to heaven says a lot about the anticipated traffic flow.
ol' boy (05-01-20)
yeh someone reckons they are now going to loose 30% of their glacier.
Its not the first time ash has covered the glacier and it will recover #30 % is bullshit from ash , doctored figures to shift blame. over 50 years yes not ash
Not the first time Australia has had fires and smoke went to NZ, we have a history of fires and regeneration from day one.
Just posting this for Greta who is having fits over the co2 emissions......
Thala Dan (05-01-20)
sky was clear in nz this morning but now the sun is almost burnt orange with no shine to it . I wonder if nz is able to claim compensation from aussie for spoiling the summer skies after all it scomos fault isnt it and they have had to get nz firefighters over ther to sort it out ???hmmmm
Yes, Leroy....thanks for asking,
Our area went Emergency Warning at 1400 today.....we're still planning to stay and defend.......Buffalo River Road now road-blocked at the Nimmo Bridge.
Had a visit from a couple of pleasant young cops around 1630........they reckoned the worst case scenario from CFA was fire within 10k of Myrtleford by midnight......hard to see really, considering dead calm conditions, temperature (15 deg), and almost constant drizzling rain since mid-morning.......grass and foliage is now good and wet.
Cops seemed happy with our preparations, but pushed the message to get out if, quote: The shit hit the fan
They reckoned that many locals had already left....but were not adamant that we should join them.....took our details, and left a piece of cops tape tied to the gate, which we have to remove if we leave.
Will check around midnight, but I've got a feeling we won't have to consider our position until early tomorrow.
If needed, we're packed and ready to leave.....but I can't help but think of the house going up because of one ember that I could have put out if I'd been here.
BOM reckon the rain tomorrow will be better than today.........where there's rain, there's hope
Haven't been on the thread 'cause it quickly degenerated from a discussion of the fires into the usual Left-Right slagging match.........pretty irrelevant really when the demon is just over the hill.
Will let you know how it pans out.
Last edited by Thala Dan; 05-01-20 at 06:51 PM.
LeroyPatrol (05-01-20),lsemmens (05-01-20),ol' boy (05-01-20)
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