Unlimited Aviation Photography

A United States Forest Service 'Firewatch' Helicopter dusts off from the Grass Valley Air Attack Base in California's Sierra Nevada mountains to fight a forest fire. The USFS "Firewatch" helicopter is based on a demilitirized Army Cobra gunship with the chin gun removed and replaced with a forward looking infrared thermal imaging system that allows the crew to send images to the command center to show where a forest fire's hot spots are. In addition the thermal imaging system the...
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A United States Forest Service 'Firewatch' Helicopter dusts off from the Grass Valley Air Attack Base in California's Sierra Nevada mountains to fight a forest fire. The USFS "Firewatch" helicopter is based on a demilitirized Army Cobra gunship with the chin gun removed and replaced with a forward looking infrared thermal imaging system that allows the crew to send images to the command center to show where a forest fire's hot spots are. In addition the thermal imaging system the aircraft is also equipped with a Traffic Collision and Avoidance System for identifying other aircraft in the vicinity, an onboard computer, geo-locating capabilities to aid in low visibility and microwave for sending live infrared videos back to fire camp at a distance of up to 30 miles. Photographed 07/05
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