Trey: To the best of my knowledge, the new Velocity pumpers are not in-service yet because a decision was made to move the CAD MCT laptop from a swivel mount centered on the engine cover between the driver and OIC (the driver would push ENROUTE and take a look at the dispatch and or mapping info while the OIC geared up) to a spot directly in front of the OIC (think about the glove box location) which, from what I have heard runs right into some of the wiring and other necessities for the Velocity's air-bag system. I believe some re-engineering is in progress now at AES.
Juice: This is far deeper than just taking the old Roto-Ray off a surplus rig and installing it on the new one. When the first mid-mount Pierce towers were delivered in 2005, they were spec'd with Roto-Rays and even had Roto-Rays installed while in Wisconsin (I swear I saw pics with them mounted!). Then, a brilliant future deputy fire chief in charge of the Apparatus Section determined that the little section of light bar mounted under the windshield in the Roto-Ray's spot was brighter and had some flash to the side ability and was therefore a more effective warning device than the traditional Roto-Ray. And a different somebody on the Apparatus Committee who happens to abhor Roto-Rays made the mini-light bar part of the standard FXCO cab spec.
Juice: This is far deeper than just taking the old Roto-Ray off a surplus rig and installing it on the new one. When the first mid-mount Pierce towers were delivered in 2005, they were spec'd with Roto-Rays and even had Roto-Rays installed while in Wisconsin (I swear I saw pics with them mounted!). Then, a brilliant future deputy fire chief in charge of the Apparatus Section determined that the little section of light bar mounted under the windshield in the Roto-Ray's spot was brighter and had some flash to the side ability and was therefore a more effective warning device than the traditional Roto-Ray. And a different somebody on the Apparatus Committee who happens to abhor Roto-Rays made the mini-light bar part of the standard FXCO cab spec.