AERIAI, FOREST FIRE PATROL 773 



The radio performance, when considered throughout the course of 

 the 1920 season, was fairly good. There was some trouble experienced 

 during the first part of the season, but by making adjustments and 

 constantly testing the equipment these troubles were largely eliminated. 



The patrol routes were so organized as to cover as much of the 

 timbered section of the regions as possible. At first definite routes 

 were laid out and the patrols required to fly them. It was found, 

 however, that more accurate results could be obtained by the ships 

 going directly to each fire, consequently strict adherence to a pre- 

 scribed route could not be maintained. 



Each ship on patrol carried two men, a pilot and an observer. The 

 former attended to all of the flying duties, the latter confined all of 

 his attention to finding and reporting fires. Flying as flying alone soon 

 became an old story, and the fun of the flying soon died down into a 

 steady work. Competition in attempting to secure first discoveries of 

 the fires reported, developed and served to keep everybody keyed up 

 to the situation at all times. 



To adequately cover the territory assigned to a route required from 

 four to six hours, dependent upon the number of fires discovered. At 

 noon a landing was made to replenish the gasoline and oil supplies 

 for the continuance of the flight. An average rate of 100 miles per 

 hour was maintained at any altitude of approximately 9,000 feet. 



As soon as a fire was sighted from the airplane, the pilot flew to it. 

 The observer noted on a specially prepared form a description of the 

 situation, including size, location, character of material in which it 

 occurred, etc. This was immediately sent by wireless telegraph to 

 the nearest base. Here, the report was plotted on a map, checked 

 and forwarded by telegraph or telephone to the suppressive head- 

 quarters of the district involved. After the suppression force had ex- 

 tinguished the fire the actual location was sent back to the patrol re- 

 porting base to serve as a check upon the work of the observers. 



The chief advantages of the aerial patrol, as referred to previously, 

 consists of direct vision, mobility, ability to cover a large area in a 

 short time and at a small cost per acre, ability to see through a smoke 

 blanket with more ease than a lookout, and ability in obtaining an ade-t 

 quate idea of the fire situation as it concerns large districts. There is 

 an added advantage in the fact that a quick reconnaissance of a large 

 fire can be made, obtaining information as to the activity of the fire on 

 all sides. This was found to be of great assistance in directing the 

 fire-fighting crews in their work of suppression. 



