Memorial Day

Let's pause and remember all those who served our country. Thanks everyone!

About the SEAT

Best Defense Against Wildfires: The 'Seat': MyFoxPHOENIX.com

Thanks to a friend who told me about this report on SEATs and how they are used in Arizona. This is a great report on the SEAT and the role they play in fighting fires in Arizona. While the report focuses on Arizona, I think that the importance of the SEAT in aerial firefighting applies to other locales.

You will meet "Betty", the AT-802A, her pilot Steve, and ground support Russell.

An article that goes with the video, by Fox 10 in Phoenix AZ, may be found here.

SEAT crash (5/9/11) near Miles City, Montana

On Monday, May 9 at about 9:15 MDT, an Air Tractor AT-802A crashed while on a ferry run. The sole occupant and pilot, Mike Biggerstaff (65) of Stanford Montana died in the crash. The AT-802A was owned by New Frontier Aviation (Fort Benton, Montana) According to this report by 3KRTV, Biggerstaff had just finished a 30-day contract in Wisconson. He left Wisconson  on Sunday, May 8, and flew to Aberddeen SD for the night. He was due to refuel at Miles City before continuing to Fort Benton.

I'd like to take this opportunity, albeit a little on the late side, to offer my condolences to Mike's family, friends, and co-workers. May you fly in favorable tailwinds.

Associated Aerial Firefighters (AAF)

I first became aware of the Associated Airtanker Pilots, now known as the Associated Aerial Firefighters a couple of years.  Some of you are already familiar with the AAF, and some are not.

According to the AAF FAQ page,

Created in the early 90s, the Associated Airtanker Pilots (AAP) is a fraternal non-profit organization whose members have a common interest in the aerial firefighting industry. Included in this definition are fixed and rotary wing aircraft that a) drop fire retardant, foam or water, b) fly in a lead plane or tactical air-control capacity and/or c) provide logistics support or personnel deployment missions at fire incidents. In 2010, the name was changed to the Association of Aerial Firefighters (AAF), to more accurately reflect our diverse membership.

If you scroll down on the AAF FAQ page, you will see that the AAF is a membership organization. I joined last year as an auxiliary member because I am a member of the general public interested in supporting the AAF community.

I have benefited greatly by the time I have spent on their website and reading their message board over the last couple of years. They have recently updated their website and have a new message board using the familiar model of multiple thread forums. Anyone can register for the forums, I believe that you must be registered in order to post to the forums. However, "guests" can read. New users might want to read the AAF forum FAQs

I like the newly redesigned AAF forums, and I am looking forward to following the forums as the wildfire season continues. I have already benefited from what I have read in the forums. For example, there have been posts about safety, news from the fire line, and a general topic thread where interesting news about the biz is posted.

The forums are still relatively new, only a couple of months old. Drop by and visit, and check back throughout the fire season and beyond. I know that I will.

Fire breaks in the NJ Pine Barrens

One of the the fire mitigation projects under way in the Pine Barrens in NJ is the construction of fire breaks in Stafford and Barnegat, towns within the Pine Barrens. I wrote last February, about the planned construction of a fire break along Pancoast Rd. in Barnagat and a similar project on Hay Road in Stafford.

In my wanderings recently on the internet, I came across an article from Courier Post Online, that the construction of fire breaks is currently under way in both Stafford and Barnegat. The article says in part:

Long-planned fire break projects are under way in Stafford and Barnegat. Over the last four years the state Forest Fire Service methodically burned more underbrush during controlled conditions, setting up blocks of less-flammable forest to help defend against future wildfires.

"We've been doing some work on Hay Road (near the Stafford Business Park) and Pancoast Road" in Barnegat, said Bill Edwards, a district fire warden.

Work by contractors involves thinning trees alongside the roads to create a defensible zone that firefighters can use to head off an advancing blaze.

Contractors get valuable oak and pine out of the projects, and the 2007 fire actually delayed the Hay Road contract by burning up a lot of good wood, Edwards said.

"That was a project that was in the works before the fire," he said.

Both the unpaved, sand Hay and Pancoast roads are wagon trails through the Pine Barrens that make logical lines of defense, for wildfires cannot be stopped by brute force with hoses, only with strategy and maneuver that aims to deprive fires of fuel before they arrive.

I'm not certain how long the link to the Courier Post Online will be active, and there is a photo montage of a fire burning in the Pine Barrens, I understand from this post on the wildlandfire hot list (where I first saw this article), that the fire shown in the slide show is not the 2007 Warren Grove Fire (the fire referred to in the article), but is the 2008 Atison Fire that also burned in the Pine Barrens. The photo montage includes photos of a SEAT working the fire and a helo doing bucket work.

The NJ Forest Fire Service just put out a publication called Best Management Practices for Creating and Maintaining Wildfire Fuelbreaks in New Jersey's Wildland Urban Interface, it is a very nice, short, easy read to read publication with a nice glossary and photos. Construction of a fuel break is something that most homeowners can do, perhaps with some help of an arborist to remove trees. The publications provides some how to tips for constructing fuel breaks. While written by the NJ Forest Fire Service for New Jersey residents, I think that it some of the information crosses state boundaries. So, I'd recommend reading it. You may click on download the publication in pdf format.

Slave Lake Fire, Alberta - tanker video

A friend of mine told about the video that you see above. If I am not mistaken, you are seeing two Canadair tankers (nor sure if they are 215 or 415) dropping water on the Slave Lake Fire in Alberta. According to this article from CBC News, there are 44 fires burning in Alberta, and 17 are in the Slave Lake area, the article also mentions that evacuees are getting there first tour, by bus, of the Slave Lake fire.

Fatal Bell 212 Helicopter Crash - Slave Lake Fire

While checking my e-mail this morning, I read the very sad news of the crash of a Bell 212 helicopter while fighting the Slave Lake Fire in Alberta, the pilot and only occupant died in the crash.I went online and found this article from the CBC. Then I saw Bill Gabbert's (Wildfire Today) article onthe crash here.

I offer my condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of the pilot.

Spring Fire Season in NJ???

Since I first began writing about aerial wildland firefighting early in 2009, I have equated the arrival of spring here in NJ with the start of the period when the NJ Forest Fire Service's Single Engine Airtankers aka SEATs (AgCat's and two AT-602's) are under contract. This year the first SEAT went under contract in southern NJ on March 21. Most of the remaining SEATs were under contract by March 26, several went off contract on or about May 4. The last SEAT went off contract on or about May 11.

Some of you may have noticed that I have not written much about wildfires in NJ this spring. I do recall a couple of days of red flag warnings in late March. Then followed a reasonably wet April. The NJ State Climatologist has a detailed report on New Jersey's April weather here.

As I understand it, after some moderate fire activity earlier this year, wildfire activity in NJ was fairly light during most of the spring fire season. However if things do dry out in NJ, and all it takes is some dry weather for a couple of weeks, and wildfire activity could return to "normal" levels, or perhaps even above normal levels if there is a prolonged dry spell.

As I sit here and write this article after a week of rainy and cloudy weather here in NJ due to a cut-off low, it is hard to think about prolonged dry weather. But you never know.


Corrected on May 21, 2011 - Sorry for leaving out the date when the first SEAT went on contract here in NJ.

Texas wildfires - update # 3

Recalling the wildfires that plagued Texas that I first wrote about on April 18 and in subsequent articles later on April 18 and again on April 20 and April 22, I was curious about current wildfire activity in the Texas. I had been aware that while some of the larger fires that burned in late April have since been contained, I knew that wildfire activity continued.

For example, one of the fires that made national headlines was the Rock House Fire (314,444 acres per inciweb). When I went to the inciweb page for the Rock House Fire today, I saw that the fire has been contained and controlled. National crews and equipment (engines, dozers and a water tender) continue to work with TX firefighting crews to mop-up and monitor the fire. I would be remiss if I were to leave out Bill Gabbert's report on local resident's reaction on the management of the Rock House Fire.

When I went to inciweb today and set the filter to Texas only, I saw three wildfire incidents in TX with updates within the last 24 hours, the Schwartz fire (83,995 acres, 90% contained), the Iron Mountain fire (87,401 acres, 90% contained), and the Gage - Holland Fire (5,975 acres, 100 % contained. Please be advised that what I have referenced from  inciweb for Texas, may be different when you access the page, as the incident information is updated, and new incidents are added. Also, not every incident makes inciweb.

I went to the Texas Forest Fire Service Newsroom very early this morning , before todays update (note, what you see when you click the link may be different as daily updates are mode). On May 16, the Texas Forest Fire Service reported that

"Since fire season started on Nov. 15, 2010, Texas Forest Service and area fire departments have responded to 10,123 fires that have charred 2,589.303 acres."

As of May 18, 2011, the Texas Forest Fire Service continues to report on the Iron Mountain Fire and the  Schwartz Fire that have been picked up by inciweb (above). They also report on a new fire since Tuesday, May 16 - the Price Fire in Sterling County (3,363 acres, 95% contained). In todays update, they report on a new large fire, the Forest Ranch Fire in Wichita County (1,000 acres, 75% contained).

I understand from both the reports from the Texas Forest Fire Service that I have already referenced, that two SEATs worked the Foster Ranch Fire and three "heavy tankers" worked the Price Fire. Inciweb reports that aircraft worked the Schwartz Fire (obtained from http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2220/ on May, 19, 2011).

A final point. Fighting these and other wildland fires often involved both ground crews and air tankers and helos along with other aerial resources such as lead planes, observation aircraft, air supervisor modules). Aerial resources work to support the crews on the ground. Words the echo in my head as I write this come from some correspondence I had with an airtanker pilot last year - "see, I told you that the tanker business is complicated."

I think that the business of fighting wildland fires is complicated. All of you who are involved fighting wildland fires, whether you be on the ground or in the air have my utmost respect.

Part 9 of 9: Cessna Annual 172P - Reflections

As I write this piece, it has been about four months since I sat in on the annual inspection of the Cessna 172P that I call Red. An inherently stable aircraft, she is also known as a trainer, used by student pilots learning how to fly. I have taken a few scenic flights in Red.

Something changed when I saw Red’s last annual inspection. I saw her up-close and personal, taken apart. I suppose you could say that I saw her naked. But it was more than that. I still remember the love and care that Brent and his apprentice John took with her annual. It is hard to explain what I experienced as I watched them work on “Red.”

Yes, I was assured of Red’s safety.

Yes, I know that Brent and John love what they do, and live out the aviation mechanic creed. I'd like to thank Brent for opening up his shop to me. It was great. I learned a lot from both Brent and John.

I hope that what I have written here along with the pictures give you some idea of what is involved in the annual inspection of the Cessna 172P and similar trainers. I am so glad the Brent opened up his shop, State Line Aviation, to me.

Red is an airplane, loved by many. But if it is possible to bond with an airplane, than I bonded with Red over the course of those three days.

Honey Praire Fire, GA

For the last couple of weeks now, I've been monitoring the Honey Prairie Fire that is burning in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia. According to today's update on inciweb, it is burned approximately 128,000 acres.

The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge has a publicly available facebook page with a video page where you may see five videos. Four are videos from NFWS personnel of the fire. One shows a helo and a bucket dropping on a hot spot, a second shows a helo and a bucket doing to (or from) a dip site.

I found a third video to be very interesting because it was taken from inside a helo where personnel were doing mapping operations around of the fire perimeter using a GPS. Nice piloting by the helo pilot! A fourth video is a very short clip of the fire itself. Finally you will want to check out the fifth video of one of their visiting alligators named "Big Boy."

For more information about the fire, you might want to check out:

• wildland fire hotlist thread on the Honey Prairie Fire,
• Wildfire Today 5/15 article,
• Miami Herald - Florida Wires on 5/17,
• Florida Times Union (5/16),
• You can download a copy of the latest morning report of the Southern Area Coordination Center here.

Wildfire in Alberta, Canada

Bill Gabbert, of Wildfire Today is reporting here (5/15) and here (5/16) on a wildfire that has burned a significant portion of the town of Slave Lake. As I understand it from Bill's articles, airtankers and helicopters were grounded yesterday by high winds. He has some photos, a video, and a map of the fire area. I suspect that Bill will continue to report on this fire, so those of you who are interested might want to check his blog.

Crash of Air France 447 - data recovered

This just in. The French BEA issued a press release earlier today, go here for this press release saying that investigators have successfully downloaded data from the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder into a secure computer. According to the BEA press release, this operation was filmed. In addition, observers from the U.S., Great Britain, Brazil, an officer from the French judicial police and a French court expert observed the operation. Data analysis will be ongoing for a few weeks, and the BEA expects to release an interim report later this summer.

You might also want to check out this 5/16/11 New York Times article. The NY Times reports on the data recovery as well as additional details of the ongoing investigation by French agencies.

Part 8 of 9: Cessna Annual 172P - finishing up the annual

Final installment in this series on May 18, my reflections

Crash of Air France Flight 447

Watch the full episode. See more NOVA.

It is now almost two years since Air France Flight 447 crashed in the Atlantic Ocean on a flight from Brazil to Paris, France. I suspect that many of you know that this crash is again in the news as remains of the crash were recently located by a team of investigators along with the two black boxes. More information on the location of the wreckage on the ocean floor, the recovery of the two black boxes, and other information may be found in these press releases from the French BEA investigation of AF 447.

The folk at PBS's NOVA did there own investigation into the crash of AF 447 in an episode aired in February 2011. This is not to be confused with the investigation currently underway by French authorities. Given that this crash has been in the news recently I thought that some of you might be interested in watching this hour long show, so I am embedding the video here. A link to the video on the PBS is found here and the accompanying NOVA webpage for the crash may be found here.

The show was recorded before the two black boxes were found, so it will be interesting to see what the French investigation into the crash turns up when the report is released. According to this BBC report, the final report on BEA's investigation into the crash of AF 447 will not be released until early 2012 (at the earliest).

If watching shows about airplane crashes is not your thing, than you might not want to watch the video.

Note - Blogger had an outage on May 12 and I have temporarily lost the posts that I made on Wed. May 11, including my original post on the Crash of Air France Flight 447. I recreated the article last Friday, including some updates.

Part 6 of 9: Cessna Annual 172P - magneto services

Blogger had an outage on May 12 and I have (temporarily) lost the posts that I made on Wed. May 11 including "part 6 of 9: Cessna Annual 172P - magneto services." I am reposting this now, out of order. Thanks for your patience.

I will write about the magneto service here, and will continue discussing magnetos when I write about the engine and propeller service in part 7 of 9. The  three photos below show the magneto service.

I watched Brent do the magneto service over the course of about 30 to 60 minutes (I think). I enjoyed watching him work. Unfortunately, I spent most of the time listening, and did not take a lot of notes. Sometimes it is better to just watch and listen. so, I regret that I don’t have more to say about this service. Perhaps I’ll have an opportunity to watch him do another magneto inspection in the future.

However, while Brent was talking, I did make some notes about what the magneto does. Single-engine planes such as the Cessna 172P have two magnetos. Simply, they are self contained ignition systems. One of the items on the pre-takeoff check is checking that both magnetos are operating on their own. If one of the magnetos doesn't work, you are grounded. While you only need one magneto for flight, you always want to go up with two working magnetos. You do not want to take off with only one working magneto and risk having that one working magneto fail in flight. It may not be a good outcome.

Part 7 of 9: Cessna Annual 172P - magnetos (cont), propeller, and engine services

I was taking some notes as Brent showed me around the engine of this 172P. The Lycoming engine of this 172P is a horizontally opposed engine. One magneto is wired to the bottom left side and the top right side of the engine. The other magneto is wired to the top left and the bottom right side of the engine. In the photo below, you see a close up of this wiring on one side of the Lycoming engine.

For those of you who are interested, a magneto works by means of a rotating magnet. A charge is created a that eventually travels through the distributer cap to a wiring harness to the spark plug on the engine.

The bottom spark plugs are disconnected during the inspection so the propeller can be safely turned. While you can start a Cessna 172P by turning a key inside the cockpit, you can also start the plane by turning the propeller by hand (known as hand propping). So, disconnecting the bottom spark plugs is a safety measure. There is no risk that the 172P will start accidentally. See the two pictures below.

The engine service includes but is not limited to servicing the alternator belt, inspecting the engine controls, and inspecting the engine.

After the propeller is inspected it is polished. In the photo below you see John polishing the propeller.

Next up on Monday, May 16: Finishing up the annual.

Part 5 of 9: Cessna Annual 172P - Inspection

There are many inspection portals in aircraft, including the Cessna 172P, where the Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic with Inspection Authorization can inspect what is “underneath”. Mostly various wires and cables. In this series of photos, you will several such portals, finishing up with a couple of shots of Brent performing this phase of the annual inspection.

Next up: magneto service

Martin Mars working in Mexico

In other news, Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today is reporting on the Martin Mars working the fires in Mexico, see this article with a photo and a video. The Martin Mars works with a sikorsky helicopter and both have been very effective as they work in Mexico. Take a few moments to read Bill's article.

Wildfire in North Carolina

Two videos on a fire currently burning near Stumpy River NC (Dare County) in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge.

According to this post on the wildland fire hotlist the fire had burned 3,500 acres yesterday (May 6).

Part 4 of 9: Cessna Annual 172P - Battery Service

Unlike the battery in my car, I learned that the battery in the Cessna 172P is not a sealed unit. That is the battery in the Cessna 172 can be opened up to add distilled water. In the photo below, the battery is being charged. Distilled water has already been added to the battery, if necessary, prior to being charged.

MAFFS training in Boise Idaho

I saw in an article earlier today about the C-130 MAFFS training that is currently on near Boise Idaho when I saw this wildlandfire hotlist thread linking to an article from the Magic Valley News (with pictures). A little later, a friend of mine who lives near Boise wrote me telling me that the C-130s have been putting on quite an airshow in the Boise area for the last couple of days.

Then as I was in the process of signing on here, I saw that Bill Gabbert had written an article about the MAFFS training here also referencing the article from the Magic Valley News. I learned from Bill's article that the National Interagency Fire Center has a face book page where they posted photos.

Tomorrow I will posting my fourth article in a nine-part series (was eight parts, but decided to split one article into two) based on three days that I spent watching the annual inspection of a Cessna 172P. Tomorrow's article is on the battery service. As I post the rest of the articles in this series over the coming weeks, I am keenly aware that fire season is already upon us in parts of the U.S. and elsewhere in the world, so I will be keeping my eyes open and my electronic pen in working order.

Part 3 of 8: Cessna Annual 172P - Emergency Locator Transmitter Service

I watched the service of the Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT). I learned that the batteries are replaced after 1 hour of cumulative use or after 50% of their service life is expired. The ELT is designed to activate and transmit a signal after being subject to forces generated in a crash. I understand that the ELT is in different locations in different airplanes.

Next up: battery service

Part 2 of 8: Cessna Annual 172P - landing gear, wheels, and brake service

My first afternoon at State Line I watched Brent’s apprentice, John, work on the landing gear and brakes. John works under the direction of Brent. Brent is a Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic with Inspection Authorization and is the one who “signs off” on the annual inspection. John cleans the landing gear with mineral spirits in the first two photos. The wheel bearing is cleaned with mineral spirits in a parts cleaning machine in the third photo.

In the first photo below you see the new brake pad (L) and the old brake pad (R). The brake calipers are shown in the next three photos.

Landing gear wheel back in place.

Next up: emergency locator transmitter service