Aerial firefighting for foreigners

[Leono0601]

Dzień dobry, I mean, hello everyone.

I'm young, demanding Pole. I'm about going to studies and I'm looking for job as firefighter pilot on your continent. However, my first thought was go to Air Force of Poland, they'll probably reject me ( ) so I need an equivalent. In Poland we have aerial firefighting too (maybe you've heard about PZL M18 Dromader?) but salary is horrible low and in my country forests' fires are not a big problem. I wonder, if I could go to USA or Canada after doing my CPL license in Poland and try this type of flying.

I know that costs of life and training on the West are big so I need a guide what path to choose to become a real firefighter pilot? Can anyone tell me where is the best place to start working, for example as PPL(A) instructor, aerotow (towing gliders) pilot, skydiver pilot or bush pilot? Or maybe there is another option to assimilate and work for courses required for aerial firefighting?

[TG]

Salut,

You will need the right to work there. Like getting a work visa of some sort or you being a citizen of Canada, or United States, giving you this privilege.
This done the best is probably going through a bit of everything including aerial work, Bush flying, two crew things, etc...

[Slats]

As mentioned above, step 1 is the legal right to work here. As for the aviation specific parts, aerial firefighting will require a few thousand hours and all of the same qualifications and experience that any other flying job would, and then some. Any "normal" experience (2 crew, SOPs, multi-engine IFR, turbine, 705 time) is desirable and relevant and can contribute positively to developing a resume that will look good to firefighting outfits, but because it is specialty work, specialized skills (PIC, floats, tailwheel, low-level operations, mountain flying, general bush flying) might be more relevant and important. A combination of all of the above would be best. If I were strategizing a career progression solely with fire fighting in mind, I'd be looking to find an operator that offered as many of these things as possible for you to scratch off the to-do list as you progress. A bush operation with a mixed fleet of small singles (think: Cessnas) and/or light twins (Navajos, Twin Otters, King Airs) in as many different configurations (wheels, skis, floats, VFR, IFR, single pilot, 2 crew) would be a great place to start. Failing that, or if you wanted as much of all those distilled into one experience, you'd probably be hard pressed to beat going to an operation that runs Twin Otters on floats, wheels and skis. That will not only knock those three things off the list, but also 2 crew, SOPs, multi engine IFR, turbine, low level ops and general bush flying as well as possibly mountain flying and PIC time if you stick with it long enough to upgrade.

Aerial firefighting is niche work. Try to get experience in other operations that share similar specialties.

[W5]

A worthwhile thread from a few years ago:

viewtopic.php?t=66913