Almost, not always, but almost  every time I fly, every time I get in an airplane, no matter what the mission,  I see something that routinely amazes me.  On this day we dodged a bunch of small thunderstorms and rain-shafts not more than 2-3 miles across as we crossed Wyoming at about 15,500 MSL,  heading eastbound toward the Crazy Women VOR to fight a small fire.  

Mother nature can kill you quicker than you can sometimes reasonably react and respecting it is a must in this business.  Knowing the airplanes limitations, but more importantly your own is what separates a long life of safe effective flying from a farm that the wife buys when your gone.  

This storm was small on the RADAR but packs the same deadly punch as its larger cousins that may illuminate red on the screen.   …

I was raised to be a God fearing Catholic, fearing had a lot to do with it, but what I gravitated to the most is the ritualistic part of the ceremonies.  I enjoy the order and discipline of the faith, not sure why, personality thing I guess.  My Grandmother was insistent about a lot of traditions associated with the church and it importance on a long, happy, healthy and prosperous life.  I don’t say this because I am, in anyway proselytizing; just a reference to my upbringing and a how I came to the conclusion of the naming this Photo.

I have no idea, like everyone else on the planet what the gates of heaven look like. But If I were to imagine what I would hope to see when I arrive, it would be this view.  The entrance,  I would …

Aerial firefighting has no middle ground when it come to the level of activity.  It’s either “full steam ahead” with continous movement all around, or completely quiet, nothing moving, just waiting for the call.  I have sat in hangers and on flight-lines for days waiting for the call, only to go home with dropping a single gallon.  This is the nature of fire-fighting from the air.  I would imaging this is a similar scenario for city and county fire-fighters all over the country.

The blackness of the night can be deceiving when you’re over the Great Plains at 37,000 feet. With a full moon and high clouds obscuring the horizon, it can be difficult to determine what clouds are Thunderstorms and which ones is innocent cirrus. It’s easy to spot the lighting that comes with all Thunderstorms from hundreds of miles away, especially this high. It’s the the isolated storms that are hiding off in the distance, behind a thicker obscuration that pose the greatest challenge to say the least at night. Thank God for RADAR, making the ominous and elusive line of storms easier to spot.

I have seen a lot of Thunderstorms doing this job; in the south where daily afternoon storms kick up quickly, In Texas, where storms are both extremely deadly and dramatically beautiful and finally in the North East. …