Smokejumpers

Smokejumpers are amazing, parachuting into remote areas to fight forest fires with little more than the equipment that they can jump with. Their bravery and dedication to duty is often out-of-sight and out-of-mind even though they risk their own lives to protect the lives of others and the environment, preventing what could become an ecological disaster.

This project features a tilt-rotor aircraft that can deliver smokejumpers faster and further than a helicopter to fight fires, then switch to provide timely aerial support for the smokejumpers once they are on the ground. A tilt-rotor can operate from nearby clearings just like a helicopter, instead of having to spend more time transiting to and from an airport further away.

There are four minifigures - a pilot for the tilt-rotor, and three smoke jumpers. One smoke jumper is equipped with a Compressed Air Foam fire extinguisher. The other two smokejumpers create firebreaks using a shovel and a chainsaw. Axes are carried as a backup should machinery fail.

The project also includes a patch of burning forest and some forest animals.

The tilt-rotor includes the following features:

1. Rotating propellers which can fold back against the engine for easier storage

2. Engines which can tilt up or down (would not be a tilt-rotor otherwise)

3. Two-part rear door -  the top half folds upwards while the lower half folds downwards to form a ramp

4. The minifigures can fit into the fuselage with all their equipment.

There are 248 bricks in this project.