AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 52
PILOT BRIEFING
FLY-OUTS |
Heroes of the west
Smokejumpers museum showcases
a dangerous profession
B Y J U L I E S U M M E R S WA L K E R
IN THE 1989 movie Always, actor Richard Dreyfuss plays an aerial firefighter
who saves his fellow pilot's life by sacrificing his own. He goes back to help
the man who takes his place-and gets his girl. There's not a dry eye in the
place when that movie ends. What it did too, though, is put the experience
of aerial firefighters and smokejumpers into popular culture, highlighting a
profession most would find too dangerous. On site at Missoula International
Airport (MSO) in Missoula, Montana, is the largest smokejumper base in the
nation. The active base houses 75 rapid-response smokejumpers, their ready
room, and an equipment center, as well as a museum featuring memorials,
writer Norman Maclean's cot on which he wrote A River Runs Through It, an
original 1930 fire lookout tower, a gift shop, and more.
Aerial fire patrols began in the early 1920s in California and Washington.
The use and practice of parachuting was established in Missoula in 1941
mainly because Johnson Flying Service was the premier mountain flying service providing the aircraft and pilots. The Johnson brothers made Missoula
synonymous with aerial firefighting. The original Ford Trimotor of the flying service is housed in the nearby Museum of Mountain Flying, also on the
airport. In August 1949 a lightning storm set off one of the most devastating fires in the west, burning 3,000 acres in less than 10 minutes. The Mann
Gulch fire claimed the lives of 13 firefighters, who all died within 300 yards
of one another. That fire and its response permanently changed the way the
U.S. Forest Service fights fires, according to the museum. Famous World War
II Gen. Hap Arnold supervised aerial fire patrols after the war.
You'll learn all this and more when you experience the 45-minute tour at
the Smokejumpers Visitor Center. You'll see the lockers where the smokejumpers keep their gear, the giant room where they inspect and care for their
equipment, the sewing room where they repair their parachutes, their sleeping quarters-and, maybe, see them dispatched to a fire.
The Smokejumpers Visitors Center is open Memorial Day through Labor
Day, and tours are free. Those attending the first AOPA Fly-In of 2018 in
Missoula will have special access.
EMAIL julie.walker@aopa.org
WEB
www.fs.fed.us/fire/people/smokejumpers/missoula
The first AOPA Fly-In of 2018 takes place in Missoula, Montana, at Missoula
International Airport (MSO) June 15 and 16. For details on this exciting twoday event, visit the website (www.aopa.org/mso/learn).
52 | AOPA PILOT May 2018
http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/people/smokejumpers/missoula
http://www.aopa.org/mso/learn
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018
Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - Intro
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - BB1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - BB2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - Cover1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 4
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 5
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 6
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 7
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 8
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 9
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 10
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 11
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 12
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 13
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 14
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 15
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 16
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 17
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 18
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 19
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 19a
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 19b
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 20
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 21
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 22
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 23
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 24
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 25
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 26
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 27
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 28
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 29
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 30
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 31
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 33
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 34
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 35
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 36
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 37
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 40
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 41
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 43
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 45
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 46
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 47
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 48
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 49
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 50
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 51
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 52
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - R-1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - R-2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - R-3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - R-4
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - R-5
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - R-6
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - R-7
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - R-8
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 53
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 54
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 55
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 56
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 57
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 58
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 59
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 60
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 61
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 62
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 63
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 65
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 66
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 67
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 69
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - 70
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2018 - Cover4
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