DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS FOR 1933 123 



machine cannot be expected to be an effective suppression unit. The result 

 of frequent use of such aircraft on suppression duty tends to lower the efficiency 

 of the Air Service, and of the Forestry District concerned. This is a result of 

 the direct rise in maintanence cost on machines so used, and of an increase 

 in the days such machines are rendered unserviceable through local failures 

 in certain over-stressed parts. 



(b) Obsolescence of Equipment: 



The average age of the machines at the end of the 1933 season is nearly 

 2,100 hours. On a commercial basis this means that all machines have been 

 fully depreciated on the hourly basis, and the fleet is on a sound and profitable 

 footing. Due to reasonable care on the part of the pilotage staff and to excellent 

 maintenance and overhaul practice, all machines of the fleet are in good con- 

 dition. They therefore have a reasonable useful life of more than 2,000 

 hours, which fact contributes strongly to the conditions which make it possible 

 for the Air Service to supply flying on a much more economical basis than can 

 be had from private concerns. 



The oldest machine in the fleet has done over 3,680 hours of flying. This 

 machine is still as good as any machine of its kind in the fleet in the performance 

 of work for which it was bought some six years ago. During the six seasons 

 since it was purchased, however, additional experience has dictated certain 

 alterations in policy. One very potent factor that influences a change in policy 

 with regard to the replacement of these machines, now that many of them are 

 well beyond what may be termed their commercial life, is the demonstrated 

 tendency to use these light machines for transport duty. It is obvious that if 

 the Air Service is to continue to render a highly efficient service to the Forestry 

 Department, its light patrol machines must be replaced with light transport 

 machines, as opportunity and economic considerations permit. 



(c) Position of the Transport Section: 



The future demand for additional Transport Aircraft may be judged from 

 the fact that there appears to be very little reduction during the past three years 

 in the amount of suppression flying that has had to be bought from commercial 

 organizations. An additional criterion is found in the increasing amount of 

 suppression flying that detection craft are called upon to do. 



A conservative estimate indicates that two transport aircraft should be 

 added to the transport division for the next season, in order to give at least 

 partial suppression security to the whole area under patrol. 



3. Features Supporting the Value of Specialized Equipment: 



The policy followed in the past in the purchase of flying equipment for the 

 Provincial Air Service was to procure machines best suited for the service they 

 would be required to perform. Since two main types of flying have to be done 

 for the Forestry Department, namely, Detection Patrols and Suppression 

 Freighting, the machines purchased must be properly adapted to this work. 

 This has necessitated, until recently at least, two distinct types of flying 

 machines. On the one hand, the duty of the detection machine has been to 

 supply swift and accurate detailed information as to the location and nature 

 of forest fires, while on the other hand, the freighting machine must have 

 sufficient carrying capacity to land an effective fire-fighting crew or unit near 

 the site of the fire in the first trip. 



