Colorado paid pilots, mechanics $2.3 million last year to fly a firefighting helicopter that hasn't 

Did they actually pay the pilots or just bill for their salary??

@@SegoManthey paid for a contract for Coulson to pay them. Basically the state owns the helicopter while Coulson pays the pilots and mechanics.

They had to have a contract which only does 1 year at a time but do to the manufacture having issues the helicopter was delayed but they probably kept saying next week it will be done like any company nowadays

Looking for scandal where there is now is not news. We will need these helicopters when the fires start. These reporters should find something else to gripe about. These useless reporter is the one overpaid!

You're trying to excuse the fact that they have pissed away $44 million and the taxpayers have gotten exactly ZERO from it!

You see the video of the zip-lock bag half full of aviation bushings that are being sold for 2 million? Insane!

@@Humboldtfarms oh yeah that's probably a deal.

@@HumboldtfarmsYou’ve got your numbers WAY off…

and anything that involves democrats / liberals always end is fraud, waste and abuse

Actual bargain for two straight up Black Hawks, with fire kit a steal. Firehawks are a new version of Blackhawk, will take time and go over budget before reaching IOC.

Because the second one hasn’t been paid for or delivered it’s a deposit and a queue in the factory they committed too

When you go to a mechanic... Did they sign contract on when it will be fixed? Lmao

The flipside of that is a hit piece on why the helicopter was finally delivered two years late and the state still doesn't have people to fly or maintain it.

It's just tax dollars, not like they have to answer to a CEO or board of directors.../s

Don't let the facts get in the way of a news story!

@mineown1861 in normal aviation yea but experienced fire crews are in short supply they probably didn’t have a choice but to book years out I’d bet they signed that contract not long after they bought the fire hawk allocation they should’ve sublet the pilots out to another state or outfit to recoup there cost and train there own in the down year instead of paying a Canadian fire crew to mill around the hanger do the recall maintenance and mandatory training

I don't think it's misleading at all. We learned that CO has spent nearly $50M on an expensive press conference backdrop that took some company 3 years to manufacture. No helicopter should take 3 years to manufacture and expecting a quicker turnaround is not "rushing to get a build done"... it's holding a company and our government accountable...

@@brendangalios1961 The news makes it sound like they are ready to fly and just aren’t. And the gov never does anything fast or in the correct order. Putting a pilot in contract well before completion was obviously a stupid move.

@@brendangalios1961 Ummm... part of those three years were absolutely impacted by supply chain. And it does take years to complete helicopters.

@@Look_What_You_Did Does it? A ship, sure. But this is a rebuild that should not take more than a year even with supply chain issues. This is now taken 3 plus years, AND even after the first flight it may have major issues before lifting off for a second flight? How long is it taking for other orders to be finished?

@@brendangalios1961 It's kinda worse, they bought 1, hired a company to hire the crew, then, even though it wasn't delivered on time, they got so excited that they decided to buy another one. "It took so long to deliver my car that I decided to order another one from the same dealer! Man it's gonna be great if they ever deliver it!"

You mean taxes...

But "Firehawk" sounds so much more awesome. I'm sure they have a reason.

not with how Canada is being run currently they are being so self destructively that they just may sell the state a defective product and call its "free euthanasia"

Wrong . The cost of of purchasing and maintaining a CL415 is much greater the your estimate .

Yeah, but the problem is that there is no one on the procurement committee whose wife's cousins friends ex's sister in law 's second husband's first wife's kids boyfriend will benefit.....

Obviously you're cluless

Actually they’re mega republicans

@@mvelilla12 They're based out of British Columbia, go see your shrink and let them know your TDS is flaring up.

Say want you want about them, but the firefighting aviation service has done a lot of work fighting forest fires in Canada and part of the US.

There a Canadian outfit lol no one in Colorado they couldn’t get out of the contract because fire crews have to be booked in advance because there high in demand

​@Doubie. They're, not there.

So piss away our tax dollars cause that's the Norm? Are you okay? Don't you want change?

@tdub3366 It's how new programs of this size and complexity work. You haven't a clue what your talking about. Get educated on how procurement and development work. Bye.

@@sandbridgekid4121 it’s people like you that allow the government to get away with wasteful spending and corruption! Bye-bye

@@sandbridgekid4121 so let's not innovate and be efficient? That's why Japan can build a high speed rail across the country in less than 3 years and you guys can't deliver a helicopter in the same time. Go kick rocks lol.

@@sandbridgekid4121if the company signed a one year contract it shouldn’t take 3 years to complete. But it’s a government contract so they know that there are no repercussions, they will just continue to drag their feet and still get paid.

Colorado had a town wiped off the map just 2 or 3 years ago.....look it up

It's called the Boulder fire!

Maybe if we actually implemented proper range management techniques (logging , prescribed burns and beetle mitigation) we would not have these mega fires..

Speaking of stupid. Why would you hire a pilot and a mechanic while the helicopter is still undergoing conversion?

@@foghornleghorn8536 training for the pilots on how to fight fires and the mechanics needed to put the helicopters together.. lol

@@foghornleghorn8536its part of the contract that once its signed theres no backing out. Unlike cars where in California you have a 2 day cool off period to return the car if you pay for that contract.. in contracts like this there is no such thing. Once your committed your committed

@@1234crevis You don't need a pilot or a mechanic for a helicopter that hasn't even been delivered. The aircraft is being converted to fire fighting duty by a company called United Rotorcraft. The mechanic being hired has nothing to do with the aircraft until it's part of the CAL FIRE fleet.

@@foghornleghorn8536 the mechanics are converting the helicopter into a firefighting helicopter yes I understand you need Mechanics for maintenance but it said they were making the helicopter into a fire helicopter because right now it is not ready for firefighting so the mechanics payment is that and not paying mechanics that are sitting around in an empty hanger the payment for mechanic is going to California to build the helicopter. Also if you have a new helicopter you're going to have a new pilot that would need training that would take maybe a year maybe two especially when you're talking about firefighting...but one will be in the air this week...

Contact pilots can. So can pilots that are “on call” but don’t get called. Just like a tow truck driver or on call nurse. Even when nobody calls for a tow truck or needs a nurse, they still get paid just for being available because of their contract. It costs money to tell any licensed professional to go home but stay ready and available because as soon as the phone rings you need to run for the door and come to work. So while you say the pilot did nothing, the pilot would probably say he was ready and willing 24/7 but the phone never rang. Was the family vacation, other possible work experience and relatives funeral in another state he had to miss in order to keep himself available for the year worth nothing? Not like he could work another job while and be on call under contract for them. Would you expect trained helicopter pilots with up to date credentials to be sitting around homeless? Many would be if they didn’t get paid for “doing nothing”sitting around on call. 👊

@@jaxturner7288 Right, but they didn’t need to be hired at all three years before the aircraft was ready. You could wait until six months before you take delivery and then start the hiring process.

There's not even a pilot! The contractor responsible for hiring crew for a helo that wasn't ready made 2.5M just to exist for a year while the manufacturer pissed around with airframe certification and engine recalls. If I was a Coloradan I'd be mad, and I'd also wonder if these helos are going to be reliable once they're certified.

@@jaxturner7288 Yeah, the difference is the tow truck wasn't serviceable, so the driver didn't do a damn thing.

@@TheGrobe They bought the helicopter 3 years ago. They hired the operating company and team last year -2023, because the expectations were that the equipment would be delivered and ready to use in 2023.

I’m pretty certain that if you were my tenant and you signed a contract with me and then six months into the lease, you said something about backing out of it we’d have to talk about it in court

So the people who own that business should be left on the hook. The companies who are behind should be held accountable.

yea if i had to spend that type of money building something i wouldnt let you back out of it either and leave me on the hook for millions. clearly you have never run or owned a company before

From an engineering standpoint. The timeline of delivering the second one makes more sense. Since all of the engineering, design, and certification process has been done for the aircraft (which is what takes the most time), all they have to do to make the second one is build it. From the customers standpoint, ordering another won't be a mistake, the company has a reputation for making these fire hawks as an extremely high quality product. And their past customers have loved them so much that they kept ordering more. Calfire has ordered 10+ of these over many years.

Oh you mean Democrat politics. We have watched this happen to Colorado over the past 20yrs with our Dem government.

@@scoutdogfsr dnccp

Yes but that means a veteran would be given an opportunity. Can't have that. Polis needs to train and employ an illegal immigrant before any American, let alone a vet. Jus sayin. This country doesn't support the vets, why else would vets be ignored while illegals get the red carpet treatment.

I guess I should have stated that I agree with you though.

I'm sure there is no steak dinners. Vegas vacations or kickbacks that are involved........... The bigger question is did the pilots get paid or was just their wages collected and pocketed by the co???????

Thats not how contracts work. You’d actually have to read the contract to determine that.

You expect less from KommieRado?? Maybe if we actually implemented proper range management techniques (logging , prescribed burns and beetle mitigation) we would not have these mega fires..

There will always be wildfires. Infact there will only be more as temps warm. So it'll get used for its purpose eventually