SEAT air tanker bases

Before leaving SEATs and moving on to my next series of posts on stall speed, I want to briefly address the issue of SEAT (single engine air tanker) airbases. I obtained a copy of the 2008 Air Tanker Base Directory -- now outdated and no longer available on the web -- published by the US Forest Service. There are SEAT only bases in just about every region of the U.S. And many bases serve both multi-engine airtankers and SEATs. I did a very rough and not reliable count of the airtanker bases. There are a little over 100 bases, approximately 1/3rd are SEAT only bases, and just over half are authorized for SEAT and multi-engine airtankers.

Of course, there are likely to be many more SEAT bases that are not on this list I referred to such as those who have SEAT contracts with States, such as Downstown in New Jersey.

Reference

US Forest Service. 2008 Interagency Airtanker Base Directory (NFES # 2537), Good through December 1, 2008 (no longer available on the web).