A Southern Gulf NRM weed control innovation forum and field day at Richmond got a spectacular demonstration of aerial capabilities from locally-based Fox Helicopters.

Fox Helicopters owner Dave Fox said aerial fuel bombardment was a simple, effective way of putting fire over large areas of ground.

“In the past you may have been igniting rubber vine by four-wheeler or walking down creeks, but anyone who has done a lot of rubber vine burning will know you get so far and it starts to catch up with you unless you get things right,” Mr Fox said.

He said aerial incendiary work should be used in conjunction with the poisoning process when the material has fallen or starts to dry out.

“We are finding in areas where we are getting good ignition we are starting to see the grass come back underneath,” he said.

“That’s going to allow you to choose to burn again or let it recover, get in there with a four-wheeler on foot and do some tidy up work.”

Mr Fox said the Raven 44 aircraft could take up to 660 pounds (just under 300 kilos) on a hook.

“But it only weighs 170 pounds (80 kilos) all up so we’ve got plenty up our sleeves,” he said.

He said the fuel burn rate was variable, controlled from the cockpit.

“We can pump it out as fast as we want but we usually try and limit it to 200 litres an hour,” he said.

“So you imagine the country we can cover in an hour, in good burning conditions we can do a lot.”

The unleaded 91 fuel is retarded and coagulated by special products made by a company that specialises in fire control.

For more on the weed control day see page 8.