Firebird??

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rpgaun

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I have noticed over the past few month that "Firebird" has not been on the air or being dispatched to assignments. In addition I have not seen it flying around. I have only seen new (to me) blue Phx PD helos flying. Anyone know if the "Firebird" program in still round?
 

Phoenix805

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I haven't been paying a lot of attention lately but I do know Firebird was involved with a mountain rescue last Sunday. There was some conflicting information about the actual location of the missing hiker so they brought Firebird in and he was able to locate her. She was in an area where he couldn't land so he directed firefighters to her location to guide her out. That was out near 124 St north of Shea.
 

CKennedy4812

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I have noticed over the past few month that "Firebird" has not been on the air or being dispatched to assignments. In addition I have not seen it flying around. I have only seen new (to me) blue Phx PD helos flying. Anyone know if the "Firebird" program in still round?

Phoenix PD still has a large fleet of 'Firebird' helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. There are five AStars, two A119s, and one A109. They all have blue and white paint schemes except the 109, which is red and white. That one is shared by PD and FD and is used for most rescues. It has a rescue hoist.

They also have a Pilatus PC-12, and three Cessnas, a 172, a 182, and a 210.
 

KB7MIB

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IIRC, at least one of the helo's is dual-marked. On one side it says Phoenix Police Department, and on the other side it says Phoenix Fire Department.
When on Phoenix PD talkgroups, they ID as "Air nn", where nn is the time it goes off duty. (Air 12 goes off duty at 1200 hours. Air 24 goes off duty at midnight. Etc) When talking to Phoenix FD or any other agency, they ID as Firebird, and the number is based on the tail number.
You should add 123.025 and 123.550 to your scanner. 123.025 is used by all helos to announce their movement to all other helo traffic. 123.550 is the Phoenix PD "company" channel. Phoenix PD pilots use it for extended conversations so as to not tie up 123.025 when there are 2 helos up at the same time.
I've also recently heard 2 pilots take a conversation to A-12, one of their encrypted talkgroups.
 

CKennedy4812

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IIRC, at least one of the helo's is dual-marked. On one side it says Phoenix Police Department, and on the other side it says Phoenix Fire Department.



This is 'Firebird 10.' At least that is how he (or she - there is at least one female pilot in the air wing now) identifies himself to the tower at Deer Valley Airport. They usually use the last number in the registration, but one of the AStars is N359FB and that is 'Firebird 9.'

The markings are the same on both sides. All of the other Phoenix PD helicopters are blue and white.
 
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KB7MIB

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Cool, thanks.
 

rpgaun

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You should add 123.025 and 123.550 to your scanner. 123.025 is used by all helos to announce their movement to all other helo traffic. 123.550 is the Phoenix PD "company" channel. Phoenix PD pilots use it for extended conversations so as to not tie up 123.025 when there are 2 helos up at the same time.
I've also recently heard 2 pilots take a conversation to A-12, one of their encrypted talkgroups.

Thanks! I had the frequencies in the radio and hear the stuff on 123.025 all the time. This post made me look at the programming and low and behold I found the second frequency was wrong. It's now corrected. Thanks again!
 

KB7MIB

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You're welcome. They used to use 123.500 I believe, then changed it to .550.
 

Phoenix805

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They used to use 123.500 I believe, then changed it to .550.

I have both 123.500 and 123.550 programmed in, labeled as Phx PD helos a & b. I've got several hundred hits on both of them, so they're both used. I just never paid any attention as to what's being said over either channel. I'm not sure how/where/why I came up with the a/b designations.

But now that I think about it, I suppose I could have hits on .500 in the past and now I'm getting hits on .550. I think I'll reset the counters to 0 and watch for awhile.
 

mm

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PHX pd moved from 123.500 to 123.550 because of a conflict with .500 which is the ops frequency for Embry-Riddle in Prescott. It wasn't that uncommon to be waiting on the Tarmac between Wulfsberg Electronics and Embry-Riddle all the while tuned to 123.500 and hear PPD traffic come across our Wulfsberg 5000's or the Garmin 430 and 530w's.
 

KB7MIB

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There was an article in last Wednesday's Republic newspaper (the Phoenix regional Wednesday insert) about how an audit of the air support unit has suggested selling off 3 of the helo's and 1 of the fixed wing aircraft, in order to save money on operating costs. (And make money from the sale of the aircraft.) I don't know if/when the suggestions may be followed through on.

Also, I've been hearing some foreign language on 123.550 for the past several minutes. Either Phoenix PD pilots have discovered that two or more of them are fluent in a language other than English, and they're using it to keep listeners in the dark, lol (ahem :/ ), or if a couple of foreign pilots here in the state have picked that channel as their chit-chat channel, not knowing that the Phoenix PD air support unit has it as their company channel.

4:37pm local.
 

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Has anyone head Phoenix PD on 123.550 (or old the old 123.500) recently? I hear them on 123.025 all the time, but I have never monitored them on 123.550.
 
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