Hermann Messerli – Master of the Skies
From the Desk of Anne Held - May 2006

Let me introduce you to Hermann “Mänu” Messerli and Rocky, and tell you about a passionate helicopter pilot from Thun (canton of Berne, Switzerland), an American skycrane and the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS).

Hermann grew up in Thun, where he also successfully completed his apprenticeship as tool maker at the Swiss Defense equipment manufacturing workshops. Just like every able-bodied young Swiss man, at age 20, he underwent the basic military service which is compulsory. With his skills, he then got a job as helicopter mechanic with the Swiss air force. However, the urge for adventure, space and freedom was strong. Young Hermann found out that far away, in Australia, great opportunities existed and that for people with his background, it was easy to get a visa for permanent residency. He arrived at Sydney airport in 1981, in sandals, with a beard and curly hair and very proud of his school English. During the flight, the movie ‘The Man from the Snowy River’ had been shown. He was ready for his new life.

For 3 years, he worked on big cattle stations in the Northern Territory, mustering cattle and buffalos on the vast plains. Having been employed as helicopter engineer first, he decided that fixing helis was great, but that he also wanted to be able to fly one. He soon got his pilot’s license.

After a stint in Mt Isa, an opportunity was offered to fly gold transports in commodity rich Papua New Guinea, flying over lush jungle with some mountains as high as the mountains in his homeland Switzerland.  He soon got used to the armed guard sitting next to him, keeping an eye on the precious metal traveling from PNG’s largest gold mine to the coast.

Hermann became a bit restless. His reputation as reliable, professional and very skilled helicopter pilot grew steadily and he received new employment offers from Switzerland as well. Between 1988 and 1999, he fulfilled various contracts in PNG, Australia and Switzerland. Working for Air Glaciers SA in Lauterbrunnen for example, he got involved in the transport of various goods and construction equipment in the high alpine regions. Logging and the transport of huge trees was a new challenge, as were rescue flights to help skiers and climbers in trouble. Always looking for more, Hermann also got his flying instructor license in Australia. For a change of scenery, he regularly returned to his PNG activities.

While contracted by Helog AG in Küssnacht, he was appointed to lead the operations for relief flights in Albania on behalf of  the International Red Cross team during the Kosovo crisis. He had been specially trained to fly the large model Super Puma helicopter. Another involvement with a military and political crisis found Hermann being operations manager and pilot in East Timor and Bougainville between 1999 and 2002. This peace keeping mission from the Australian government saw Hermann engaged in rescue transports and medical evacuations for both army personnel and locals. Working with a Sydney-based company, he also had very pleasant assignments with film and advertising shoots in our photogenic Sydney, and transport of VIP’s (some of them more famous than others). With his talents, he was much in demand for difficult tasks involving high buildings. Remember the three stainless steel sculptures placed on top of the Centrepoint Tower in the CBD a couple of years before, and during the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000? Remember when two brand new sandstone church spires appeared on top of the previously flat topped main towers of St Mary’s Cathedral? We know one Swiss-Australian who was very busy during those important operations and who could tell you everything that was happening behind the public scene.

But there was another field of aviation which fascinated Hermann. Because of their versatility, helicopters are very useful and a great help for aerial fire fighting operations, for reconnaissance, air attack supervision, fire bombing and transport of fire crews and key equipment. The NSW  Rural Fire Service (RFS) with its volunteer membership of nearly 70’000  is an oganisation working closely with the NSW Fire Brigade, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and State Forests. The responsibility of all these groups is the fire suppression and prevention in NSW.  Already in 1996, Hermann had fulfilled a first seasonal contract with the RFS. He also got called for urgent fire fighting in other countries like Spain and the USA. He discovered that the largest existing helicopter was made and used in the US and that the RFS was going to use this incredible machine for the local fire season. Hermann already had extensive experience with fire fighting as well as flying heavy helicopters in difficult and extreme situations. He traveled once again to the States for an intensive training on this Skycrane in Oregon. And in late 2005, he got involved in the safe transport of ‘Rocky’ the Skycrane from Oregon to Sydney. 

You, dear reader, might remember ‘Elvis’, the same model aircraft which made its debut during the NSW fire seasons 2003 and 2004 and received a lot of media coverage. After the success of this first venture, the RFS contracted ‘Rocky’ for the 2005/06 fire season.  Hermann Messerli was appointed captain and lead pilot, assisted by  American and Canadian flight crew and flight engineers.

Till the end of March 2006, Rocky was based at the Sydney Helicopters Helipad in Granville. He is 27.23 m long, 7.82 m high and his main rotor is 22 m. His maximum take-off weight is 22 tons.  He burns 1’893 liters of fuel per hour, but his main talent is that he can suck up 9’000 liters of water in just under 1 minute through its special nozzle. Rocky can ‘scoop up’ salt water while in forward flight, and, through a different nozzle, can fill up on fresh water while hovering over a water source which needs to be at least 1 m deep and has to be clear of any obstacles within 70 m, due to his very strong down wash.

Apart from an incredible 44 degree New Year’s Day, NSW did fortunately not experience too many bush fires last summer. The worst fires caused severe damage on the Central Coast and the Gosford and Woy Woy areas. Victoria was hit much harder, and Hermann, Rocky and their crew were sent to our neighbour State to help fight the destructive fires in the Grampians and east of Melbourne.

How does it all work in case of alarm, when a RFS fire call comes in? Obviously, time is of essence and the first 30 minutes are crucial for a real chance to contain a fire. Often a fire develops in rugged terrain, difficult to reach by road.  Rocky is ready any time, and in a severe case, can be launched within 10 minutes. However, a small helicopter is usually on stand-by as a faster scouting machine. With this helicopter, it is possible to identify the local conditions, the potential damage to properties,  the nearest water sources and the best and most efficient angle for Rocky to fly in to the hot spot. But Rocky cannot work on his own. Consuming nearly 2000 liters per hour in the air, his time is limited, he needs fuel to be operational. A refueling tanker is on the road as soon as Rocky takes to the air. The tanker is usually accompanied by a maintenance truck with engineers and other crew. The collaboration between the lead pilot, the crew in the air and on the ground and the RFS Command Centre with its whole team has been well trained. All involved are familiar with their duties, rely on each other and give their very best.

Working with Rocky is not cheap. However, the high cost of some $ 20’000 total per day is still a cheap insurance against large scale destruction of property, land and possibly the loss of human lives. Being able to drop 9’000 liters of water at one time really can make a difference in slowing down and containing a raging fire. Rocky’s standing charges are covered by the Australian and the NSW government, with the NSW government also covering the operational costs.

Lat month, Hermann completed another training on the Skycrane in Oregon. After taking a break and enjoying a Swiss summer, he will be back on duty for the next fire season in NSW, ready once more for action with Rocky or one of his brothers when smoke shows up on the horizon.

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