The Coulson Group of Companies

By Jim Messer, Chief Operating OfficerOperations

Aircrane

ork continues on readying both the Australian fire-ships and C-FXEC for an Exxon offshore oil contract out of West Sale (near Melbourne) Australia. Exxon is a great breakthrough for Coulson Aircrane as it is one of the largest offshore oil companies anywhere. We have several audits to complete with them, both in Port Alberni and in Australia. It is expected we will be starting this contract about December 1st.

The Australian fire season continues to be predicted as a long dry one. C-FMAY is expected to start a month earlier than previous seasons and to be contracted out of Essendon as “call when needed” (CWN) by November 15th

Flying Tankers – Hawaii Mars & the S-76

The Southern California fire season continues with high potential, but so far fairly quiet. The Hawaii Mars is currently only averaging a call out a week. There has been one minor Santa Ana wind event so far, but during this four hour blow several small fires launched into tens and hundreds of acres. The Santa Ana’s usually start just about now, and bring serious fire threat to Southern California annually

What are Santa Ana winds?

During the fall and early winter, high pressure over the high desert of the Great Basin region causes winds on the southern side of the high to blow from the east, toward the Pacific Ocean and lower air pressure offshore. The winds push dry air from the inland deserts of California and the Southwest over the mountains between coastal California and the deserts.

As the air descends from mountains, it is compressed and the temperatures increase. These hot, and very dry winds (relative humidty of 10 to 20% or lower are common) dry out vegetation, increasing the fuel available to feed fires. The gusty winds and eddies of winds swirling through canyons and valleys also fan flames and spread tinders.

Oct, 2009 Volume 09-149

By Jim Messer, Chief Operating OfficerOperations

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