Las Conchas Fire - update # 2

The video embedded above shows back burns conducted yesterday (June 29) outside of Los Alamos National Labs. According to a press release dated June 29 found on inciweb:

Firefighters began setting "back burns" on the west side of New Mexico State Route 501 around mid-morning. Those operations were declared complete by evening. The burns were intended to remove available fuel from the Las Conchas Fire, which has consumed more than 60,000 acres on two sides of the 37-square-mile LANL site but only one acre of the Lab itself.

To see the rest of this press release go to this inciweb page.

As of late in the evening on June 29, the fire had grown to some 80,000 acres and is still at 3 percent containment. As for aircraft working the fire, inciweb reported that five helicopters are working the fire.

An ABC newsreport on yesterday's back burn operations may be found here and Los Alamos National Labs has posted some photos relating to the Las Conchas fire here, including a couple of photos of an Erickson AirCrane.  Finally, Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today reports on yesterday's back burn operations here; Bill's latest update (posted as I wrote this) on the fire may found here.

Las Conchas Fire

Like many of you, I have seen various news reports on the Las Conchas Fire that started June 26 near Los Alamos, NM. It has burned at least 60,000 acres and is at 3 percent containment. Evacuations are in place for residents and business in the town of Los Alamos, and  Los Alamos Labs is closed to non-essential workers. You might want to check out the latest Inciweb report and Bill Gabbert's ( Wildfire Today ) latest article on the fire may be found here.

I'd like to thank a friend who sent me a link to a nice collection of photos from the Las Conchas Fire, that may be found on this smugmug page.

Report on Rifle Range Fire - contained

Here is a news report about the Rifle Range Fire from ABC6 Action News out of Philadelphia. I believe that this report was reported sometime Monday, June 27 while the fire was still burning. Perhaps the news helo was one of the helos that Johnny saw over the fire? The fire was contained at 171 acres Tuesday morning (June 28), see this wildland fire hotlist thread for more information. I'd like to thank my friends at the NJFFS section B10 website for their fire reports, for their wonderful website, and for posting a couple of my pictures that I shot from the air on the 27th.



ABC6 Action News also has a slide show of photos from the fire These are of better quality than the ones I took. :-)

Rifle Range Fire (Wharton St. Forest, NJ) - seeing the fire from above

I went on a flying yesterday, another "scenic airplane flight", but more accurately it was a photography flight. My idea for this flight was to go to the NJ Pine Barrens, and see from the air that which until now I had only seen from the ground. I had an idea of a route, staying away from restricted air space where military operations take place in the Pine Barrens,. About an hour before the flight I found out that the Rifle Range Fire (about 100 acres at the time) was burning near Atison in the Wharton State Forest in the NJ Pine Barrens, see a post dated 6/27 in this wildland fire hotlist thread

As you can see from the photos at the end of this article, we flew near the fire. Before I get to writing more about the fire, which I will do tomorrow, I want to talk about what we (the pilot and I did) to stay safe in the air, and not get in the way of the any air operations over the fire.

Fortunately, I had enough information about the location of the fire, that I was able to plot the approximate location on my aviation chart of the area. I located the fire from the nearest navigation aide (14 nm off of the 263 degree radial of the Coyle (CYN) VOR. I had already checked the Notices to Airmen (NOTAM) to see if there were any that would affect our flight (there were not).

So, I  checked (TFRs) at National Interagency Fire Center Temporary Flight Restrictions , there were no fire TFRs listed in New Jersey at the time. In fact there were no other TFRs near our flight path. I knew that the New Jersey Forest Fire Service may have had two helicopters in the air over the fire (one working the fire with a bucket along with a possible second helo for observation. I located water bodies on the aviation chart near the fire where a helo and bucket could dip.

I drove to the airport and did my pre-flight on the plane we would be using. The pilot, Johnny, came and I told him about the fire. Johnny said that he saw smoke from that fire on an earlier flight. We agreed to get flight following from approach control (McGuire Approach/Departure) who controls the air space we would be flying through. Flight following means that we will be getting traffic advisories. We will know about any military aircraft in the area and aircraft doing fire operations.

When we were about 25 nm out of the fire area, we got flight following, Johnny told the controller that we were on a photo flight near the Hammonton Airport (an airport near the fire). Johnny asked about the wildfire, andt he controller did not know about it. However, a few minutes later, the controller told Johnny about the fire, giving us a location, and Johnny told the controller what we were doing, that we were on a flight to take photos of the fire. As soon as I was done, perhaps five minutes, ten minutes at the most, we left the area continuing with flight following.

The traffic advisories came in. I knew that I was in safe hands with Johnny flying the plane. Johnny had suggested early in the flight that I could open the window in the cockpit to take pictures. So, when we got close enough to the fire for good photos, I stuck my camera out the window and took some shots. While I was doing this, I had my head set off, so I did not hear the traffic advisories that Johnny got telling us about the two helos that were over the fire. Johnny told me later that he thought from the colors, that one might be a news helo. Johnny got a couple of other traffic advisories while I was taking photos.

The point that I am trying to make here is that Johnny and I did not just fly towards the fire. To do that would be unwise and possibly unsafe. We checked with the appropriate agencies for flight restrictions over the fire (none that we knew of), got flight following, and were looking out for other traffic being especially mindful of air operations over and near the fire.

Updated 6/28/11 at 10:50 AM EDT. I believe that one of the helos we say may have been a NJFFS helo doing observation work.

Be safe out there everyone.

Edited Aug 20, 8:07 PM

NJFFS to Honey Prairie Fire Complex

According to a report (June 23, 4:30 PM) on the Wildline Fire Hotlist, the NJ Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) has filled an order from the Eastern Area Coordination Center for five engines/brush trucks to be sent to the Honey Prairie Fire Complex (GA). A total of 15 NJFFS personnel make up the team, three per truck. These NJFFS crews will be their for about two weeks, and if necessary another 15-person crew will relieve the crew in two weeks. The crew is expected to arrive sometime this afternoon.

According to the latest report from inciweb, the Honey Prairie Complex Fire has burned 280,527 acres and is 60% contained. A reminder that incident information is subject to updates as conditions warrant and these figures may have changed by the time you access their page.

Two Fl firefighters die in burnover

Some of you no doubt have already heard of the deaths Monday night of two Florida Division of Forestry firefighters in a burnover while fighting the Blue Ribbon fire in Hamilton County, FL. The deceased are Josh Burch (31) and Brett Fulton (52). Robert Marvin and Stephen Carpenter were injured. I want to take this opportunity to offer my condolences to the friends, family, and co-workers of Josh and Brett.

I pray that Robert and Stephen recover quickly.

Bill Gabbert reports on the burnover here. The Daytona Beach News Journal has a report on that may be found here.

For those of you who are wildland firefighers whether you work on the ground or in the air, stay safe out there!

P-3 at Monument Fire in AZ

A friend of mine told me about this video this morning, and I thought that you might enjoy it as well. The video was shot from the cockpit of a P-3 Orion at the Monument Fire in Arizona on Tuesday, June 14. The video was posted by towpilot2003 to youtube recently. I was especially interested that towpilot2003 reported that

We stopped this portion of the fire using only aircraft as the ground troops couldn't keep up with it's incredible pace ( see http://youtu.be/lQT21UBGsVk ).

Wow. For me this speaks to the important role that aircraft (tankers and helos) play in wildland firefighting - being able to fly to have a shot at keeping up with the fast pace at which the fire was moving. There is nothing more that I can add to what towpilot2003 shared.

Some of you may have seen this video already, as Bill Gabbert of wildfire today wrote about it here.

Keep up the good work everyone and stay safe out there.

Mannis Duck Pond Fire (June 10-11) Warton State Forest NJ

A line of thunderstorms moved through NJ Thursday night June 9 (and possibly another line on June 10). From what I understand these thunderstorms did not necessarily produce a lot of rain. However, fire towers in the NJ Pine Barrens spotted a small fire in a remote section of the Warton State Forest in the Pine Barrens about 2 PM on Friday, June 10. It appears that this fire may have been caused by lightening. From what I understand, the fire was about five to eight acres when the first crews with trucks arrived. Burnout operations were conducted by NJ Forest Fire Service crews.

Burnout operations were completed by about 11 PM and the fire was declared under control at 6 AM on June 11. The fire, dubbed the Mannis Duck Pond fire burned 152 acres (including burn out operations).

For more information on this fire, see the Wildand Fire Hotlist on Mannis Duck Pond Fire.

The map that I included here was done by Trevor Raynor of the NJ Forest Fire Service and was obtained from NJ Incident Management Team Map of Mannis Duck Pond Fire

Wildfires in FL (summer) - update #2

I spent a little time this morning looking around on the internet to see what photographs or videos I can find on the current wildifire activity in Florida. Recall that I wrote about these wildfires here where I included some links that you can go to for more information.

Among other things, I was interested in aircraft being used to work the fires in Florida (and Georgia). I think but am not sure that a couple of P-3 tanker's may have been assigned to either Florida or Georgia to work either the Honey Prairie Complex Fire and/or the wildfires in Florida. I was hoping to find some photographs or videos showing tanker's working the fire. However, I found no photos or videos. Which doesn't mean that there are not photos or videos around, it just means I haven't found any. If I find any, I'll let you know.

However, I did find a photo library from the Orlando Sentinel showing pictures of the wildfires in Florida, including several nice shots of a helo and bucket working one of the fires, go here to see the photos.

I checked the National Weather Service (NWS) and as far as I know, there were no red flag warnings issued for Florida or Georgia for today (June 20, 2011). To see the current fire weather warning map (revised frequently), go here. Please be advised than when you check out the fire weather page, the red flag warnings will be different than they were at the time I write this article.

Update - Honey Prairie Complex Fire (GA)

I last posted about the Honey Prairie Fire (GA), burning in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, June 6. At that time the fire was 80 percent contained and had burned just over 166,00 acres. The situation has changed since that time, and it is past time for an update. I just checked out the most recent inciweb report (posted on June 16) for the Honey Prairie Complex Fires (9 fires) to see that acreage burned (for these 9 fires) is up to 196,369 acres at 49 percent containment. The Honey Prairie Fire on its own has burned over 193,000 acres and is also at 49% containment. For the latest inciweb report go here. The map below comes from inciweb, and I believe it reflects fire information as of June 13.

The Georgia Forestry Commission has a webpage with links for more information on the Honey Prairie Complex Fires along with a facebook page and a twitter page.

For information from the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, you might want to check out their webpage or their facebook page.

Update: June 18, 2011 at 1:46 PM
Almost forgot, the Southern Area Coordination Center issues a morning report, the latest report may be found here. Significant fires in the southern region are summarized, along with crew assignments, weather, etc.

Wildfires in Florida (Summer) update #1

The wildfires in Florida have also been in the news recently, I want to spend a little time on these fires. Of course, the fires in the southwest in AZ and NM, including the Wallow Fire continue to burn (up to at least 500,00 acres), check out Wildfire Today where Bill Gabbert continues to do a great job writing about those fires (among other things).

As you can see from the map that I have posted (from the Florida Division of Forestry, as of June 17, 2011 there were 443 active wildfires. Of these 56 wildfires are over 100 acres. You may go here to download the latest active wildfire map from the FL Div of Forestry. An interactive mapping program with many layers, including but not limited to fires currently burning in FL may be here.

The Florida Div of Forestry also posts a State Wildfire Update with information on significant wildfires The latest update is dated June 17 at 8 AM, I have pulled out some information on larger significant fires from the latest update below:

Impassable Bay Fire (Baker County) at 7,818 acres and 15% containment,
Santa Fe 11 Fire (Bradford County) 6,500 acres at 60% containment,
Bad Land Fire (Levy County) 3,175 acres at 80% containment,
Maytown Road Fire (Volusia County) 1,230 acres at 50% containment,
Espanola Fire (Flagler County) 5,047 acres at 40% containment,
Big Cypress Oil Pad Fire Complex (Collier County) 9,530 acres at 0% containment,
Trail 3 Fire (Palm Beach County) 6,528 acres at 90% containment.

Those of you wanting more information might want to check out he main webpage for the FL Division of Forestry here. I should say that they have a link for daily (wildfire) reports which I am unable to access, perhaps because it requires Microsoft IE v6, which I don't have.

Inciweb has information on a few wildfires currently burning in FL, all seem to be in the Big Cypress National Preserve. I found this information here on June 18. Note that the information on this page may well have changed when you access the page as active fire information on InciWeb is updated frequently.

I'll be checking out FL media outlets for news on these fires over the next day or so and will report back here in a couple of days with an update on the wildfires in FL.

Update: June 18, 2011 at 1:46 PM
Almost forgot, the Southern Area Coordination Center issues a morning report, the latest report may be found here. Significant fires in the southern region are summarized, along with crew assignments, weather, etc.

A lot has been going on

There has been a lot going on the last several days when I was otherwise engaged. I am only now beginning to catch up with things such as the fires that continue to burn in Arizona and New Mexico. I expect that I'll have some reflections on these fires in a couple of days, so stay tuned.

A friend wrote me last week about a fire in the Pine Barrens that I'll write about in a day or so. The fire seemed to have been started by lightening, and was about 130 acres or so when it was contained.

RIP Liberty Belle (B-17, 44-85734) - crew and passengers ok!!

Direct link to video

Many of you no doubt already know that on Monday June 13 the B-17 Flying Fortress, Liberty Belle, made an emergency landing just outside of Auroa IL. Thanks to skilled piloting there were no fatalities. All seven occupants, including the crew, got out safely. Sadly, what started as a smaller fire in the left wing necessitating the emergency landing turned into a larger fire (after the occupants were safely off the plane). Some of you may have seen pictures and videos of what is left of the Liberty Belle after the fire, much of the fuselage between the wings and the tail section was destroyed by the fire.

The NTSB is investigating the incident.

I am only now posting about the loss of the Liberty Belle Flying Fortress. I am not ashamed to say that I wept when I finally saw the pictures and videos the other day. After spending many weeks learning about, and then writing about the B-17, my love for the Forts continues to grow.

I have never seen the Liberty Belle up close and personal, but I want to remember her flying proudly as shown in the video that I have embedded here. So, I am not posting links to the many photos and videos taken during and after the fire that consumed her after her emergency landing.

The Liberty Belle Flying Fortress (44-86734) was lovingly restored over a fifteen year period by the Liberty Foundation. It was only after the restoration that she flew as the Liberty Belle. The original "Liberty Belle" flew in the 390th Bomb Group in WW II. She completed 64 combat missions before being salvaged in early 1945. To read more about her story you might want to see the Liberty Belle History page, here.

The Chief Pilot of the Liberty Foundation, Ray Fowler, made a statement on the home page of the Liberty Foundation webpage on June 14 about the loss of the Liberty Belle. At the time I write this (on June 17), the statement may be found here. I am including an excerpt from Ray's statement:

Let me go on the record by thanking the flight crew for their professionalism. Their actions were nothing short of heroic and their quick thinking, actions and experience led to a “successful” outcome to this serious in-flight emergency. John and Bud (and Cullen) did a remarkable job under extreme circumstances and performed spectacularly. While the leading news stories have repeatedly reported the “crash” of our B-17, fact is they made a successful forced landing and the aircraft was ultimately consumed by fire. Airplanes are replaceable but people are not and while the aircraft’s loss is tragic, it was a successful result.

This leads me into discussing the exceptional safety record of the Boeing B-17 and to hopefully squash the naysayers who preach we should not be flying these types of aircraft. Since we first flew the “Liberty Belle” in December of 2004, we have flown over 20,000 passengers throughout the country and if you count our historic trip to Europe in 2008, worldwide. Of the other touring B-17s, some of which that have been touring for over 20 years, they have safely flown hundreds of thousands of people. (obtained from http://www.libertyfoundation.org/index.html on 6/17/11)

Cullen, a volunteer with the Liberty Foundation took off in his T-6 just after the Liberty Belle, flying chase (to support the B-17). He did a lot of radio work and other things in support of the crew of the Liberty Belle and Air Traffic Control while the incident was under way.

Again at the time I write this, the Liberty Foundation has a photo page and a page with videos.

In closing, while I grieve what may be the loss of the Liberty Belle, I want to commend the pilots, John Hess (left seat) and Bud Sittig (right seat) for bringing her down in a wheels down emergency landing. To John and Budd and the passengers, you watched her burn after you got out. I can't begin to imagine what that was like. Cullen, great job! To all involved in the Liberty Foundation, words escape me.

I know that the Liberty Belle is flying in favorable tail winds in the great beyond, that she was and will continue to be loved. Her work and the work of the Liberty Foundation will go on.

Tanker Ops at Jeffco tanker base in CO

Forgive me if this is a rerun, I thought that you might enjoy this video of operations at the Jeffco tanker base in Colorado.

Hemet-Ryan Air Attack Base - May 28

Here is some nice footage shot by Nick Mitchell at Hemet-Ryan Air Attack Base on May 28.

Cessna 182

As I was writing about the Cessna Cutlass a few days ago, I remembered that I forgot to write about the Cessna 182 (aka Cessna Sky Lane) that was in for her annual inspection at the same time that I was visiting with State Line Aviation in December 2010 to watch the annual of one of the Cessna 172P trainers. Some of you may recall that I wrote a nine part series a couple of months ago based on what I learned from watching an annual service of a Cessna 172P last December; go here to read this series and scroll down to April 29 to begin at the first post.

Back to the 182, the Cessna 182 that I saw at State Line Aviation one day last December had some sort of controllable pitch propeller (I think that it was a constant speed propeller) and a mechanism known as a propeller governor. She also had cowl flaps. I know from my reading about aircraft systems (chapter 6) of the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge that cowl flaps are opened and closed by the pilot through a control in the cockpit, to facilitate engine cooling. For those who are so inclined, I found a short article cowl flaps here, it is written for simulator pilots, but I thought that some of you might enjoy it.

I was interested in the 182 because it was one of the first times that I been up close and personal with a single-engine plane that was more complicated than the Cessna 172P I had been in on my scenic airplane flights. Furthermore, I had heard about cowl flaps and prop governors through aviation books, wonderings on the internet, and e-mails over the past two years but had never seen any up close. I was very happy to be able to look at the 182 up close and personal and get a few (but not enough) photos.

The original intent of this post was to try to talk about some of the differences between the Cessna 172P trainer that I had flown in for my scenic flights and the Cessna 182 (differences in the types of propellers). After receiving some correspondence through this blog in July of 2012, I decided to keep things simple. So, I have deleted all of the text from the earlier version of this post, but I am leaving the photos of the 182 from the original post. I have revised the text and have added some links.

I believe that these were the only photos that I have of this particular 182, sorry. I got so intrigued by looking at the cowl flaps and the prop governor in the 182 that day that I forgot to take a longer shot of the182. And of course, I was very focused on my photos of the annual of the Cessna 172P!

More on observing flight maneuvers

I want to continue where I left off last Friday when I reviewed aerodynamic stalls in preparation for writing about some flight maneuvers that I was observed during a scenic ride I took a few weeks ago.

Mike (pilot/CFI) flew to a practice area near the airport where we demonstrated these flight maneuvers.

 Mike told me what he was and doing and why, I took some notes on the flight. In addition, I had some notes from ground school and other scenic rides that I will refer to in this article.

Before starting each maneuver, it is important that one be at a safe altitude. There is also something called "clearing turns" that are done before each maneuver is started. The purpose of the clearing turns is to look for any other traffic before starting the maneuver. Depending on the maneuver, there will be additional items on "the checklist" that are completed prior to starting the maneuver. Unless otherwise noted, the maneuvers that I observed are required knowledge for those seeking a private pilot certificate.

Mike started with steep turns, a 360 degree turn (a complete circle) in a bank angle more than 45 degrees (but less than 60 degrees). As I understand it, constant altitude and airspeed is maintained during the steep turn. Mike demonstrated two steep turns, one at the Cessna 172P's normal cruise speed of about 99 knots and the second at about 85 knots. I was very interested to see that in the steep turn at the slower speed, Mike had to increase back pressure on the yoke in order to maintain constant altitude.

I have seen stalls demonstrated on earlier scen ic rides where the pilot comes to a near stall and then recovers. Recovering from stalls is an important skill for all pilots, and a life-saving skill.

I was especially interested in the two power-off stalls that Mike flew. If memory serves, power-on stalls are done in what is known in "take-off configuration" as the airplane is climbing to altitude (with power).  As I understand it, power-off stalls are done with power set at idle in what is known as the landing configuration. Mike did one power-off stall where he prolonged the stall enough that we lost 400 feet in altitude before he recovered by putting the nose down and increasing power.

The next to last maneuver was the chandelle. Chandelle's are required for CFI's and the commercial rating. Those seeking a private pilot certificate do not have to learn the chandelle. According to the Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3A) (p. 9-4), the objective of the chandelle

is to develop the pilot's coordination, orientation, planning, and accuracy of control during maximum performance flight. A chandelle is a maximum performance climbing turn beginning from approximately straight-and-level flight, and ending at the completetion of a precise 180 degree turn in a wings-level, nose high altitude at the minimum controllable airspeed.

See this wikipedia article on chandelles for more information and some graphics.

I observed two chandelles, one entered from the left and the other entered from the right. In my notes from that flight, I noted that the bank angle on the chandelles that I experienced was no more than 30 degrees. Our altitude when the chandelles were completed was 5,500 ft.

After completing the chandelles, Mike flew a steep spiral (another maneuver required for CFIs and the commercial rating, but not for private pilots). As the name implies, Mike descended to about 2,500 ft in a spiral. For more on the steep spiral including a graphic, check out this link.

We were in the air for just over three-quarters of an hour. I was thrilled to observe these maneuvers and came away with renewed appreciation for the skills involved in flying an airplane. And just as thrilled that I did not get sick to my stomach.

All these maneuvers are discussed in detail in the Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3A) with pictures. In addition, these maneuvers are covered in an excellent publication by ASA (Aviation Supplies and Academics, Inc.) called Visualized Flight Maneuvers Handbook. I have the edition for high winged aircraft. I understand that there is one for low winged aircraft as well. I have a hard copy that is small enough to fit in a flight bag, I do not know if you can purchase an electronic file.

A few wildland fire resources on the net.

I've got some other projects and family obligations that will be keeping me busy and may keep me away from the internet for the next several days. Hopefully, I'll be able to post on my regular schedule, but if not, don't worry.

In the meantime, if you want to keep up with current wildfire news, including the fires in Arizona and other developing news affecting the wildland fire community, please check out:

• Wildfire Today
• Wildland Fire hotlist (check out your geographical area of interest, media reports are in the shift briefing section
• inciweb
• NIFC Geographic Area Coordinating Center (click on the map for your region of interest).
• Associated Aerial Firefighters Forums

Andover-Aeroflex Airport

I'll get back to the maneuvers that I was referring to last Friday in my next post (Wed. June 8). But first I want to spend a little time writing about another scenic airplane flight that I took with Mike (pilot/CFI) yesterday. This time, we flew in a Cessna Cutlass (aka Cessna 172RG), an airplane with a constant speed propeller and retractable landing gear.

Retractable landing gear is what the name implies, the landing gear retracts into the fuselage. Simply, after the plane has achieved a certain speed and is safely off the ground, the pilot operates a lever to retract the landing gear. Mike's habit is to have the person sitting in the right seat (me) check to confirm that the gear is up on the right side of the airplane while he checks the left side of the airplane. The constant speed propeller requires a couple more gauges. Oh, and there was a Garmin GPS in the plane, another first for me.

The Cruise speed of the Cutlass (120 kts) is a little faster than in the C-172 trainers that I have ridden in. So, we made good time to our destination, an airport in northern NJ (12N), Andover-Aeroflex. Aeroflex is a public airport, and also serves as the tanker base for the northern division of the NJ Forest Fire Service. The airplanes were off contract by early May.

We flew in on runway 3. As you can see from the google earth images, the approach to runway 3 is over a lake. Literally. Mike did a good job on the final approach, keeping the airplane at a safe elevation over the lake. The only interesting part was the flock of Geese sitting at the end of the Lake right at the end of runway 3. Mike raised the nose just a tad to keep a respectable elevation over the flock of Geese. The Geese did not budge, thankfully. They just hung out and watched this noisy airplane fly right over them.

I've attached a couple of images of Andover-Aeroflex from Google Earth, a photo I took while we were taxiing to depart showing some of the hangers, and a couple of photos I took of the Cutlass' cockpit.

Arizona Wildfires and update on Honey Prairie Complex Fire (GA)

No doubt that some of you have heard of the Wallow fire that has burned on the order of 200,000 acres in eastern Arizona near the border with New Mexico.

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today has done his usual excellent job of reporting on this fire. I don't believe in reinventing the wheel, and since I have some other projects on my plate right now I am going to suggest that you check out his site for the latest. An article that Bill posted today may be found here. He has some maps and other information posted.

I do understand from Bill's reporting that helicopters are working the fire. I have no definitive word at the moment about tankers working the fire, but given the size of the fire, I'd suspect that some tankers (including SEATs) are working the fire.

Other pages that you might want to check out:

inci web on the Willow Fire
inci web on the Horseshoe Two Fire
wildfire today hotlist thread on Wallow Fire

I reported awhile back on the Honey Prairie Complex Fire in Georgia. When I was on inci web just now, I saw that they are reporting that the fire is 80% contained. The fire has burned over 166,000 acres. Check out this inciweb page for more information

more enhanced fire weather advisories in NJ

We have another day of enhanced fire weather advisories here in NJ and adjoining regions. I have not heard of any significant wildfire activity that occurred yesterday or is occurring now. Which doesn't mean that there is not significant fire activity, it only means that I have not heard of any.

I suspect that there may well have been smaller wildfires that were contained in initial attack, but have no specific knowledge of same other than a small (two acre fire now under control) reported on the NJFFS Section B10 webpage today.

Observing certain flight maneuvers

There are various maneuvers that student pilots have to learn. Learning various maneuvers, the specific maneuvers required vary depending on the rating, is an important part of pilot training. Or for training for a commercial rating or to be a certified flight instructor (CFI).

Specific maneuvers teach certain skills, and the student has to be proficient in the required maneuvers as they may be required to demonstrate these maneuvers as a part of their testing to get their pilot certificate or for later ratings.

I recently went on a scenic flight with Mike, a pilot/CFI where Mike demonstrated certain maneuvers, two were more advanced maneuvers that private pilots do not learn but are required for commercial pilots and CFI's. Mike and I had talked prior to this flight about the maneuvers that he would show me, so I was able to read up on these maneuvers prior to our flight.

Before writing about these maneuvers, I need to talk about stalls.I first wrote about aircraft lift and stalls over two years ago. Since that time, I have been to aviation ground school and passed the FAA private pilot written exam. So, I have a better idea of what a stall is. In thinking about how to provide a reference for stalls, I liked what TL Stein told me in this article from March 2009  so rather then reinvent the wheel, I am referencing that article:

stall speed for an aircraft is the speed where the forward speed of the aircraft is not producing enough air flow over the wings to produce life or support the airplane at its altitude. When a pilot is landing an aircraft, the plane is just over stall speed. ... the faster the air moves over the wing, the more lift is created Air speed is in direct relation to life. Lift enables flight. Lose lift and the aircraft sinks. When the forward airspeed no longer produces enough low pressure over the top of the wing to sustain flight . . . this is stall.

There is a nice animation on aircraft stall that may be found here.

With that as background, I will turn to writing about some maneuvers that Mike demonstrated for me, chandelles, steep turns, and power-off and power-on stalls in an article that I will post next Wednesday, June 8. These and other maneuvers required for the private pilot, CFI and commercial pilots ratings are covered in detail in an excellent publication by ASA (Aviation Supplies and Academics, Inc.) called Visualized Flight Maneuvers Handbook. I have the edition for high winged aircraft. I understand that there is one for low winged aircraft as well. I have a hard copy that is small enough to fit in a flight bag, I do not know if you can purchase an electronic file. I got my copy through my local airport.

Enhanced Fire Weather in NJ for June 2

For much of April into late May, it has been a tad wet here in NJ. We had a few days of drier weather in early May was followed by at least a week of daily rain events (through May 23). I may be mistaken, but as I recall, there have been no red flag warnings or enhanced fire weather advisories for any portion of NJ since late March or early April.

While some areas of NJ have had isolated showers or thunderstorms over the last seven to ten days or so, we have begun to dry out so to speak.

In my little corner of NJ, we had a thunderstorm early Sunday morning followed by a shower yesterday. I figured that at some point the conditions would again be favorable for fires, and the weather service would issue either an enhanced fire weather advisory or a red flag warning.

No red flag warnings, but I did note the following enhanced fire advisory in the hazardous weather outlook issued by the Mt. Holly Office of the National Weather Service at 3:28 AM EDT this morning:

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL DELAWARE...NORTHERN
DELAWARE...SOUTHERN DELAWARE...NORTHEAST MARYLAND...CENTRAL NEW
JERSEY...NORTHERN NEW JERSEY...NORTHWEST NEW JERSEY...SOUTHERN NEW
JERSEY...EAST CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA...NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA AND
SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.

ENHANCED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL OCCUR TODAY...WITH GUSTY
NORTHWEST WINDS...LOWERING HUMIDITIES...AND DRYING FINE FUELS.

followed by the special weather statement at 8:06 AM:

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
806 AM EDT THU JUN 2 2011

DEZ001>004-MDZ008-012-015-019-020-NJZ001-007>010-012>027-PAZ054-
055-060>062-067>071-022300-
NEW CASTLE-KENT-INLAND SUSSEX-DELAWARE BEACHES-CECIL-KENT MD-
QUEEN ANNES-TALBOT-CAROLINE-SUSSEX-WARREN-MORRIS-HUNTERDON-
SOMERSET-MIDDLESEX-WESTERN MONMOUTH-EASTERN MONMOUTH-MERCER-SALEM-
GLOUCESTER-CAMDEN-NORTHWESTERN BURLINGTON-OCEAN-CUMBERLAND-
ATLANTIC-CAPE MAY-ATLANTIC COASTAL CAPE MAY-COASTAL ATLANTIC-
COASTAL OCEAN-SOUTHEASTERN BURLINGTON-CARBON-MONROE-BERKS-LEHIGH-
NORTHAMPTON-CHESTER-MONTGOMERY-BUCKS-DELAWARE-PHILADELPHIA-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...WILMINGTON...DOVER...GEORGETOWN...
REHOBOTH BEACH...ELKTON...CHESTERTOWN...CENTREVILLE...EASTON...
DENTON...NEWTON...WASHINGTON...MORRISTOWN...FLEMINGTON...
SOMERVILLE...NEW BRUNSWICK...FREEHOLD...SANDY HOOK...TRENTON...
PENNSVILLE...GLASSBORO...CAMDEN...CHERRY HILL...MOORESTOWN...
MOUNT HOLLY...JACKSON...MILLVILLE...HAMMONTON...
CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE...OCEAN CITY...ATLANTIC CITY...
LONG BEACH ISLAND...WHARTON STATE FOREST...JIM THORPE...
STROUDSBURG...READING...ALLENTOWN...BETHLEHEM...WEST CHESTER...
NORRISTOWN...DOYLESTOWN...MEDIA...PHILADELPHIA
806 AM EDT THU JUN 2 2011

...ENHANCED FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS...

A DRIER AND GUSTY WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE OVER THE
AREA THIS MORNING AND PERSIST INTO THE AFTERNOON. RELATIVE
HUMIDITY LEVELS AND FUEL MOISTURE LEVELS WILL DECREASE THROUGH THE
DAY ALSO. THESE CONDITIONS INCREASE CONCERNS FOR WILDFIRE GROWTH
ACROSS THE AREA TODAY. CONSIDER POSTPONING ANY ACTIVITY THAT
INVOLVES OUTSIDE BURNING TODAY.

Don't know what will happen today. If I hear of anything in the way of wildfires here in NJ, which I may or may not depending, I'll follow-up here.

SEATs in action - hydromuching

Speaking of SEATs, I ran across this nice two part video on SEATs on youtube the other day. I thought that they looked familiar, but it wasn't tell I was well into watching part 1 that the lightbulb went off and I remembered when I had seen them. It was when I was writing a series of articles about sixteen months ago on hydromulching and I included these videos in the series. They are well worth watching again. The video shows five SEATs doing hydromulching operations as a part of post-fire recovery after the Angora Fire.