What’s it like to fly a Fire Boss?

A new series from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Air Safety Institute (ASI) called Peak Performance has launched with a video about Flying the Fire Boss.

AOPA’s Air Safety Institute Senior Vice President Richard McSpadden talks with Jesse Weaver, chief pilot at Dauntless Air during the company’s annual training exercise in Cleburne, Texas.

“In Peak Performance: Flying the Fire Boss, we ride along to see how firefighting pilots safely scoop 800 gallons of water out of a lake in 15 seconds, and then release the roughly 6,600-pound load to douse fires,” said McSpadden.

According to Weaver, the 6,600 pounds of water are released in less than two seconds on a fire.

That means incredible shifts in weight while scooping up the water and then releasing it.

“It’s like a ballet going on during the scoop,” he told McSpadden in the 18-minute video, noting pilots need to watch out for hazards on the lake, including birds, boats, other aircraft, and even logs.

McSpadden continued, “I was impressed by these exceptional and humble pilots, and their disciplined flying in a dynamic environment.”

“A tenet of elite performance is setting high standards and holding yourself and the team accountable to those standards. Dauntless Air works hard at this,” McSpadden said.

Peak Performance videos explore high-risk, high-performing flight operations where pilots and crews push themselves and their aircraft to the edge of performance safely. The video series aims to improve general aviation flying, AOPA officials note.

Take the time to watch the video. It’s pretty impressive and pretty cool.