Vref at 150 Feet Above the Flames

Aerial firefighting requires skill, flexibility, and commitment. Paul Seidenman describes the pilot recruitment and training process at Neptune Aviation Services.

When most young people consider a career as a professional pilot, flying a commercial jet likely comes to mind first – not dropping retardant from an air tanker to curb a fast-moving wildland fire. Yet, that is exactly the kind of mission which appeals to a certain kind of pilot – specifically one with the flexibility to adapt quickly to change on a moment’s notice and who thrives on a lifestyle that’s anything but that of an airline pilot.

In fact, when recruiting pilot candidates, Neptune Aviation Services, one of the largest air tanker operators in the US, makes that clear.

“We are very upfront that the tanker pilot lifestyle is different,” says Ryan Baer, Chief Pilot of the Missoula, Montana-based company, which currently operates a fleet of nine BAe 146 airliners, originally built for regional jet service, but modified by Neptune, in house, as air tankers for fire retardant dropping. “We sit ready at a tanker base during the day waiting for a fire. When a dispatch comes in, we have up to 15 minutes to load the aircraft, flight plan, do all the checklists, and get airborne. At Neptune, we usually do this in under 12 minutes.”

Another unique challenge in the air tanker world, stresses Baer, is that, unlike an air transport pilot, a tanker pilot starts each day not knowing where he will be going, or ending up that night. “I have started a day in southern Arizona and wound up in Fairbanks, Alaska, that evening,” he says. “This adds hotel and rental car logistics to our everyday challenge.”

Still, Baer notes, the appeal of aerial firefighting is that it presents opportunities for professional growth not found flying for a commercial carrier or a corporate flight department.

“There are so many unknowns in our line of work, and no flight is the same,” he stresses. “We takeoff with a rough plan of how to get to the fire and which tanker base we will be reloading retardant; however, we often get diverted along the way. Thinking on your feet and flight planning enroute are skills that most aerial firefighting pilots cultivate.”

The ability to multi-task once in the fire traffic area (FTA), is also essential, as Baer explains. “Flight crews will often be talking on three radios while maintaining separation with other aircraft and determining how to fight a wildfire safely and effectively,” he says. “Poor visibility and bad turbulence are normal in the FTA, which is a very dynamic and challenging part of our jobs. Every pilot flying in the FTA has been trained on how to operate in the FTA and at what altitudes and directions to orbit.”

He adds that for fires on which more than four aircraft are operating, the pilot workload includes communicating with an air attack platform orbiting above the fire. “The aircraft acts like an ATC (air traffic controller), providing separation and traffic flows, as well as working with the ground crews to clear the line and decide tactics on how to combat the fire,” says Baer.

Baer also points out that when a retardant drop takes place, the tanker will be Vref at 150 feet above the terrain. “Getting low and slow in mountainous terrain is something that other pilots normally avoid at all costs,” he says.

Think You’ve Got the Stuff?

There is no question that the high-risk aerial firefighting environment requires a multi-faceted pilot screening and training process. According to Suzie Kendall, Neptune’s Flight Administrator, the company depends mainly on referrals from its current pilot cadre when recruiting pilots. “The Chief Pilot will initiate the hiring process by notifying our current air tanker pilots. In turn, they will pass the word around the airtanker bases, and to trusted pilot friends,” she says.

At Neptune, the minimum prerequisites for a pilot candidate are 2,000 hours of total time, and 1,000 hours of pilot in command, multi-engine time, but as Kendall explains, “firefighting experience, a desire for the mission, with stick-and-rudder skills, and an excellent knowledge of mountain flying” are especially valued. “We also favor pilots who have operated without schedules, are able to perform every aspect of flight preparation – including flight planning, fueling, and logistics – and pilots who can think on their feet and do not get flustered when things don’t go as planned,” she says.

In actuality, Neptune pilots represent a diversity of aviation backgrounds, including passenger airlines, cargo carriers, and the military.

Despite pilot shortages impacting all aspects of aviation, Kendall says that Neptune receives approximately 50 resumes each year from pilot applicants – mainly as a result of word of mouth through the operator’s current pilot group. “The Chief Pilot and the Flight Administrator will peruse the resumes and choose the initial candidates,” she explains. Those resumes selected for further interest are then referred to a cadre of current Neptune air tanker pilots, who will then contact the applicants for an initial phone interview. “The purpose of the phone interview is basically to get to know the candidates and their backgrounds, and assessing if they will be a good fit with the current pilot group,” Kendall points out, adding that Neptune does not use a software-based screening process for the applicant selection process.

The phone interview, if successful, leads to an interview at Neptune’s headquarters, with the Chief Pilot, Flight Administrator, and one to two current Neptune air tanker pilots. Kendall explains that of the applications received yearly, roughly 10 are passed to the pilot cadre for review and phone interviews, and of those, about six are invited to the on-site interview and a simulator evaluation.

Just prior to, or following the interview, the candidate goes through a simulator-based evaluation at SimCheck International, located near Sacramento, California. The scheduling of the evaluation depends on simulator and Neptune staff availability. Using a King Air simulator, the evaluation looks at the candidate’s instrument abilities, aeronautical decision making, and stick-and-rudder skills, along with the aviation knowledge expected of a pilot at the minimum level of experience Neptune mandates.

At the end of the screening process, roughly four candidates are selected for initial training, although Kendall stresses that this number varies year to year, based on staffing needs.

“All those involved with our hiring process will impress upon the candidates the risks involved in aerial firefighting, time away from family and home, and explain some of the mission-specific challenges they will face in this job,” Kendall notes. “Our hiring process has allowed us to have above-average pilot retention, which is currently trending upward. This may also be attributed to our dedication to maintaining an improved schedule, better wages, and a clear career path.”

The selected pilots commence Neptune’s training program for the BAe 146 air tanker, which, starting in 2010, replaced the company’s fleet of Cold War era, former US Navy, twin-piston engine P2V Neptunes, from which the company gets its name. At one point, Neptune operated 11 P2Vs, reconfigured as air tankers, retiring its remaining ones in 2017.

“Although the BAe 146 isn’t a fast airplane by jet standards, it is much faster than the P2V, which cruised to the fire at 170 KIAS,” says Loren Crea, the carrier’s Initial Attack Training Captain. “The BAe 146 can easily cruise at 250 KIAS below 10,000 feet. That 80 knot differential creates the need for the aircrew to think ahead a bit more.”

Crea points out that the initial training program on the BAe 146 was developed by Oxford Aviation, a UK-based company which was subsequently purchased by CAE. Early in the BAe 146 program, flight training was provided by instructors that were introduced to Neptune by Tronos Jet, Prince Edward Island, Canada. That company had originally worked with Neptune on the passenger to tanker conversion project – specifically on the retardant tanking system design.

“Neptune tends to get more in-depth with systems training than is afforded at some of the airlines,” says Crea, who reports that training commences with a 10-day, 8-hour per day, ground school, which is structured as an in-depth study of each major aircraft system, as well as an introduction to operations in the FTA. “Interim exams during ground school are given, along with a final comprehensive exam,” he reports. “Those exams are systems focused.”

According to Crea, the pass rate from the ground school is nearly 100 percent, which he attributes to the normally small class sizes, that translate into near-individual instruction. “We also do company-assigned on-line training throughout the entire calendar year with an exam at the end of each system block,” he says.

Following ground school, new-hire pilots – as well as First Officers upgrading to Captain – attend 10 days of simulator training. With few remaining operators of the BAe 146 globally, simulator systems for the four-engine jet are scarce. As Crea explains, Neptune currently carries out simulator instruction on the aircraft at CAE at London Gatwick Airport, as well as at Ansett Aviation in Melbourne, Australia. Both locations utilize a full-motion, Level D simulator, and are the last remaining locations offering BAe 146 simulation.

“Originally, the simulator training was conducted by CAE and Ansett Aviation instructors, but we have since transitioned to a cadre of Neptune pilots that also provide simulator training,” he says. “We also utilize at least one contract trainer who is on-site in London.”

As Crea explains, the initial portion of the simulator training is simply learning the aircraft basics outside of the firefighting environment. “We do put firefighting operations in the syllabus but are somewhat limited to what the visual system can produce regarding the fire environment,” he notes.

All the checklists that are taught are the ones Neptune uses in its day-to-day firefighting operation. “Due to the unique nature of the training, we were starting from scratch with regard to programming that portion of the syllabus,” Crea reports. In that regard, he says, Neptune provided the training companies with the profiles for inclusion in the syllabus, in order to meet company training requirements. They included the number and type of precision approaches, non-precision approaches and specific systems-related failures meant to reinforce the training received in the classroom. The simulator companies provided the visuals to the extent possible.

Initial training on the simulator consists of 10 days of sessions, with each session lasting about four hours, for a total of 40 hours. One pilot does the flying while the other observes, then the flying pilot observes, while the other flies the simulator. The pass-rate, says Crea, is nearly 100 percent, which he attributes to the screening and interview process designed by the Chief Pilot.

“It is essentially a type-rating course, but since the simulators are outside the US, and not FAA-certified, the type rating does not happen until the pilot returns to the US and completes it in the aircraft,” Crea explains. “That consists of two to four hours of aircraft time, prior to taking the check ride with a check airman.” Neptune conducts line standard checks on as many crews as possible throughout the fire season to ensure compliance with company standards and facilitate learning.

Training is capped off by the initial operating experience on the aircraft during an actual firefighting mission. The new pilot observes for a period of time then occupies the First Officer’s seat under the supervision of a senior First Officer and Captain, completing proficiency requirements outlined by Neptune.

When the Covid-19 pandemic led to global travel restrictions, Neptune’s access to the simulators in the UK and Australia was cut off, and training was disrupted. Fortunately, the company had a workaround in place, as Nicholas (Nic) Lynn, Vice-President, Operations describes. “Because the existing simulators for the BAe 146 are outside of the US and not FAA certified, we already had our training program designed to conduct training in our aircraft,” Lynn explains. “At the same time, we did use a 737 simulator at Pan Am International Flight Academy in Miami to conduct training that is not aircraft-specific, such as crew resource management (CRM), windshear, and Instrument proficiency training, which we cover in the BAe 146 simulators.”

Asked what he sees as the long-term availability of the BAe 146simulators, Lynn is optimistic. “We are in constant communication with the current simulator operators and as of this time, we anticipate them being available for the foreseeable future,” he says. “Ideally, we would make an effort to purchase the simulators should the training providers decide to discontinue their use.” Lynn adds that as travel restrictions ease, Neptune intends to return to those providers.

While access to the simulators will likely reopen in the not to distant future, recruiting a fresh crop of air tanker pilots is a challenge that won’t disappear anytime soon.

“The same aspects that draw certain pilots to our mission – low-level flying, never-knowing where or when you are going, or end up – deter other pilots” Lynn admits. “The mission and lifestyle aren’t for everyone, so the pool of pilots that are interested in aerial firefighting is small. The complexity and time required to train our crews to be safe and effective, typically 3-5 years to go from First Officer to a rated Captain, is always a challenge. With the global shortage of pilots and maintainers in aviation, I think as an industry that is our biggest challenge.”

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