2026 Wildfire Season

[SeaKingTacco]

Coulson's original hercs were ex-New Zealand and possibly RAF and are attached to their American operations. I can't find where they have been certified for CDN ops. The information on the conversions stipulates that it was done under FAA supervision

Coulson could N certify the H models in the US and work them in Canada.

But yes, it would be nice if we could get TC over it’s allergy against former mil aircraft.

 

[Fabius]

I don’t know why but it seems very ironic if Canada and an Cdn company ultimately needs to rely on US certification of ex RCAF aircraft to operate in Canada.

 

[RedFive]

Why does TC have such a hate on for former military aircraft?

 

[childs56]

Why does TC have such a hate on for former military aircraft?

Maintenance records, manufacturing standards are different, tolerances are different and allowable defects are different for a simple explanation.
What Coulson has done in the past is tear down the airframes and update, fix and repair everything that can be done to update to the highest standards.

 

[brihard]

Why does TC have such a hate on for former military aircraft?

Because CAF gives 0.7 shits when the quota is 2?

 

[Cloud Cover]

This evening an awful wildfire started down by Summerland, it spread so quick that people were evacuated by helicopter. It is Rank 5 fire, extremely aggressive and spreading in 3 directions. Was 5000 hectares an hour ago. This fire is just 6 hours old. Reports saying it is human caused on the KVR trail.

 

[ArmyRick]

A worthwhile watch. Some experience talking in this podcast

 

[Rifleman62]

All of the 12,000 residents of Summerland were ordered to evacuate at 12:35 AM this morning. Now some Peachland residents have been so ordered.

The fire started in the Faulder area of Summerland around 17:30 Friday, and spread very quickly. It is listed at over 5,000 hectares in size at this time, based on an estimate from Friday.

 

[daftandbarmy]

All of the 12,000 residents of Summerland were ordered to evacuate at 12:35 AM this morning. Now some Peachland residents have been so ordered.

The fire started in the Faulder area of Summerland around 17:30 Friday, and spread very quickly. It is listed at over 5,000 hectares in size at this time, based on an estimate from Friday.

Scary stuff...

https://twitter.com/x/status/2085993533195096481

 

[Cloud Cover]

There’s dozens of farms and ranches who had to cut loose their livestock and horses and leave them in the middle of the night.

 

[brihard]

This evening an awful wildfire started down by Summerland, it spread so quick that people were evacuated by helicopter. It is Rank 5 fire, extremely aggressive and spreading in 3 directions. Was 5000 hectares an hour ago. This fire is just 6 hours old. Reports saying it is human caused on the KVR trail.

Jesus it really blew up overnight. If the fire mapping satellite data is accurate it may already be into the Summerland town site. I was reading of emergency helicopter Evans and pilots flying later than they’d normally be allowed to get everyone out.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

Because CAF gives 0.7 shits when the quota is 2?

No.

Military aircraft maintenance is really good. In many cases better than what civvies do.

But.

Military aircraft are not always designed the same way as civilian aircraft and militaries don’t keep maintenance records the same way civil operators do (we keep maintenance records- they just look different). For example, spare parts are tracked on some fleets completely differently than a civvy operator would be required to do.

So, to bring an ex-military fleet into the civil register means doing all the mods that the civvies care about but the military maybe does not; translating decades worth of maintenance records into a language Transport Canada (and future AMEs can understand); and then get TC inspectors (who on average have a knowledge base that is a mile wide and an inch deep). and probably some ADM to put their signatures on a document granting civil airworthiness. If anything goes wrong- those signatories are on the hook, potentially.

You can see why this gets so hard.

 

[Cloud Cover]

Jesus it really blew up overnight. If the fire mapping satellite data is accurate it may already be into the Summerland town site. I was reading of emergency helicopter Evans and pilots flying later than they’d normally be allowed to get everyone out.

It is now 9500 Hectares and still rank 5. There are reports of people missing or not heard from.

 

[Rifleman62]

Summerland fire now 9,500 hectares and out of control.

 

[childs56]

No.

Military aircraft maintenance is really good. In many cases better than what civvies do.

I have worked on both and would say Military Aircraft maintenance is good but allowable defects is much more forgiving on military aircraft then civilian.
My experience on military aircraft leaking hydraulic fluid can be allowed. On Civilian commercial aircraft not allowed. Both maintain a high level of Airworthiness but the Military has much more allowable tolerances.
It really was interesting working with both.

But.

Military aircraft are not always designed the same way as civilian aircraft and militaries don’t keep maintenance records the same way civil operators do (we keep maintenance records- they just look different). For example, spare parts are tracked on some fleets completely differently than a civvy operator would be required to do.

This is pretty basic explanation and a good one. Similar process different standards.
Parts are very interesting. Oil hoses maybe changed out based on flight hours, calendar days or when they actually fail (leak). Each industry has their own standard for such and each aircraft and each hose can be tracked differently.
Things as simple as a bolt may be serialized and tracked from manufacturing to destruction. One Standard does not do this while the other does.
The Military has been updating their system for years to falling closer inline with civilian standards. But many things do not cross over such as acceptable loss. IE battle damage and or risk factors.

So, to bring an ex-military fleet into the civil register means doing all the mods that the civvies care about but the military maybe does not; translating decades worth of maintenance records into a language Transport Canada (and future AMEs can understand); and then get TC inspectors (who on average have a knowledge base that is a mile wide and an inch deep). and probably some ADM to put their signatures on a document granting civil airworthiness. If anything goes wrong- those signatories are on the hook, potentially.

You can see why this gets so hard.

Coulson is one of the tops around to convert military aircraft into viable civilian certified.
It is funny that they have such a hard time with the Canadian Government considering what all they do for them, that is what happens when your compitition has close ties with those in power.
Hopefully we see change in polices to allow Coulson to do what they do best. That is to provide Aircraft for aerial firefighting, utilizing ex service aircraft so they don't go to the scrap yard.

 

[brihard]

Summerland fire now 9,500 hectares and out of control.

Any word on the town itself?

 

[Cloud Cover]

The absolute state of the central southern interior today. Almost all of the west side of the Okanagan lake is burning or has been burned. Taken with the past few years it’s a compelling case to maybe not live here. Certainly scrap plans to grow the region by half a million.

 

[RedFive]

No.

Military aircraft maintenance is really good. In many cases better than what civvies do.

But.

Military aircraft are not always designed the same way as civilian aircraft and militaries don’t keep maintenance records the same way civil operators do (we keep maintenance records- they just look different). For example, spare parts are tracked on some fleets completely differently than a civvy operator would be required to do.

So, to bring an ex-military fleet into the civil register means doing all the mods that the civvies care about but the military maybe does not; translating decades worth of maintenance records into a language Transport Canada (and future AMEs can understand); and then get TC inspectors (who on average have a knowledge base that is a mile wide and an inch deep). and probably some ADM to put their signatures on a document granting civil airworthiness. If anything goes wrong- those signatories are on the hook, potentially.

You can see why this gets so hard.

Thanks for that, I'd seen a couple times on the forum the topic was brought up and everybody agreed TC didn't like ex-military aircraft, but there was never really any rationale. It became an issue for the RCMP when the media tried to make hay over the fact one of the Blackhawks we were leasing wasnt allowed to fly in Canada according to TC.

Coulson is one of the tops around to convert military aircraft into viable civilian certified.
It is funny that they have such a hard time with the Canadian Government considering what all they do for them, that is what happens when your compitition has close ties with those in power.
Hopefully we see change in polices to allow Coulson to do what they do best. That is to provide Aircraft for aerial firefighting, utilizing ex service aircraft so they don't go to the scrap yard.

I suspect its a combination of Coulson being good at conversion, having a good safety record, and the fact these are Canadian former military aircraft they've purchased somebody in Ottawa may have told the responsible Minister to get his people out of the way to make civilian registry happen. I was at the Abbotsford Airshow yesterday and drove past the collection of recently retired Hercules on my way in and out.

 

[Rifleman62]

Town still safe so far. Air is dumping on the Eastern side of the fire.

 

[Cloud Cover]

There are some Ring doorbell images on Facebook. I’m not seeing any building damage, just covered like snow in ash and red embers.