"The Firehawk has repeatedly proven its reliability and ruggedness. The stresses we place on the aircraft when we take on and then aggressively release 8,000 pounds of water multiple times a day are far more than what its military variant might do in normal operations at maximum gross weight. Like a good pick-up truck, we beat it up and it keeps coming back for more." Source: Thomas Ewald, assistant fire chief of L.A. County's Air and Wildland Division, in comments made after the County of Los Angeles awarded a contract to Sikorsky for two S-70i Black Hawk helicopters in a baseline configuration. Sikorsky is assembling the two new S-70i Black Hawk helicopters for delivery to L.A. County in December 2017.
|