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Re: new astrea equip?
Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 2:08 pm
by mike
The new Bell 407 is refered to as Astrea 1 they were doing a missing person search in Chula Vista and I happened to catch the name.
Re: new astrea equip?
Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 5:33 pm
by 800
mike wrote:The new Bell 407 is refered to as Astrea 1 they were doing a missing person search in Chula Vista and I happened to catch the name.
Actually, for the patrol birds the ASTREA number indicates shift, not air ship. 1 is the first bird on Days (3 is the Nights first out).
Re: new astrea equip?
Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:26 pm
by musician2111
Ya, the only ASTREA callsigns to be permenant are ASTREA 10 & 12. They are specifically the two helocopters which have firefighting capabilities and can be identified by the water storage tank mounted underneath. They use these callsigns regardless of day/time/shift. I THINK they also have the hoist/rescue capabilities. ASTREA has/had been considering which Make/Model of helo to switch over to. There were several considerations including what rating(s) the current pilots would have or need for any given scenario. I am not sure if they made a decision or if this 407 represents all future purchases as funds are available. Maybe an email to the ASTREA unit via the SDSO website would result in some good intel.
Re: new astrea equip?
Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 7:57 am
by SDnative
When do they change shifts? I have heard both 1 & 3 on the air at 4pm, on my way home. And, I have heard Astrea 4 on the air in the evenings. Where do they come in?