Flying Tankers is Complicated

By the time that I had been writing about aerial wildland firefighting for a few months I had realized that flying tankers is complicated. Moreover, a couple of tanker pilots that I correspond with will be quick to remind me that the tanker business is complicated. Recently, I have have found reflecting on the fact that the tanker business being complicated.

Speaking of being complicated, even flying Cessna trainers (e.g. the Cessna 172) used by many flight schools is not uncomplicated. There is a lot for the student pilot to learn, both for the systems portion of the FAA written exam as well as all aspects involved in flying the airplane. The Cessna trainers do not have retractable landing gear and have what is known as a fixed pitch propeller. You can not change the pitch or angle of a fixed pitch propeller as you can with controllable pitch propellers found in more complex airplanes. And as a reminder, the Cessna trainers have one engine and what is known as tricycle landing gear - two main wheels and a nose wheel. By the time the student pilot has passed all of the FAA exams (written and practical) flying a Cessna trainer should be close to being second nature.

The next level of complexity in airplanes could be a plane with retractable landing gear and a controllable-pitch propeller. Not only do you have to retract your landing gear at the correct speed after take-off and extend it again before landing, the controllable-pitch propeller means more instruments to monitor. The change to a tail wheel plane means learning how this plane, known as a tail dragger, handles. At one time, taildraggers were the convention, now a days, there are more tricycle gear planes than tail draggers.

When you transition to a more complex airplane there is another round of sessions with a certified flight instructor.

Take the Air Tractor 802F (one of the types of SEATs used in aerial wildland firefighting), a tail dragger, with non-retractable landing gear, and a type of controllable-pitch propeller known as a constant speed propeller. Now, add in the gate system for dropping retardant and remember that SEATs -- as do other tankers -- fly low, often in windy conditions in mountainous areas making drops on a wildfire. Flying SEATs is way complicated.

Now take a heavy tanker, such as one of Butler's DC-7's (4 engines), a P-2 (2 engines plus 2 jets), or a P-3 (4 engines. More engines, more instruments. Another layer of complexity is added with multi-engines on top of the complexity of retardant drops.