Pine Island Cranberry Bogs 1 of 2

Pine Island Cranberries has 1,400 acres of cranberry bogs and has been in busy for over 100 years. You have already seen some pictures of the bog when I posted some still photo and video compilations of a Downstown Air Tractor 602 and on October 29 I wrote about one of Downstown's Ag Cats applying dry fertilizer to Pine Island Cranberry Bogs. I want to include some information on Pine Island's Cranberry harvest by linking to some of their blog articles, known as the Pine Island Scoop.

Before I do that, I should say that as I write this we in NJ are waiting for the arrival of Hurricane Sandy and whatever she will bring to the Mid-Atlantic. In early September, Hurricane Issac brushed southern NJ bringing 18 inches of rain to Pine Island Cranberry Bogs. They wrote about the clean-up and repairs in articles on September 7 and September 14.

I thought that you might be interested in reading about about Pine Island's Cranberry harvest in the words of Pine Island's blogger(s):

harvest begins
harvest is about teamwork
water harvesting
gathering

I am writing this article ahead of time for automatic posting on October 31 in case power and/or internet outages keep me from posting. If you are reading this then I am unable to get on the internet and make any revisions to the article to reflect current events. as pertains to Hurricane Sandy.

Next up: Pine Island's packing houses

Monday morning - Sandy is almost upon us

I just set up articles for automatic posting through Friday, Nov. 9 on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule.

Hurricane Sandy or what is left of her as she soon transition into what is known as extra- or post-tropical will impact a large area of the Mid-Atlantic, New England and into eastern Canada. I hope that every one living in one of those areas is staying safe.

As I write this we have had 4/10th of inch of rain since the rain arrived in my neck of the woods sometime after 7 AM. The latest wind observation was 8 mph sustained with gusts up to 29 mph. Areas in south Jersey have already seen over 3 inches of rain as it started raining there Sunday afternoon with winds gusting in excess of 40 mph. NJ's barrier islands are under a mandatory evacuation order since 4PM yesterday afternoon. The next high tide is due this evening along with our full moon and the arrival of Sandy late tonight.

If any of you are so inclined, I was just checking out the Press of Atlantic City website, they have a page devoted to Sandy with a live camera at Atlantic City along with other stories that may be found on this Press of Atlantic City webpage.

I'll report back when I am able. In the meantime, I hope that you enjoy the articles that I have set up for automatic posting through Friday, November 9.

Stay safe everyone!

Aerial Applications in NJ Cranberry Bogs: Ag Cats in action

direct link to video

Enjoy this short compilation I did of one of Downstown's Ag Cat applying dry fertilizer on the Pine Island Cranberry Bogs near Chatsworth, NJ.

Next up: A little more about Pine Island Cranberry

Sandy coming to mid-atlantic

Obtained from http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ on 10/27/12 @ 11 PM EDT

I suspect that by know most of you know that what is now known as Hurricane Sandy is due to make landfall Monday evening, perhaps as a tropical storm. At the time I write this the National Hurricane Center is call for Sandy to make landfall in southern NJ. But this could change between now and Monday evening.

There is not much more I am going to say about Sandy at the moment. But I do want to say that I am in the process of preparing some articles that I hope will automatically post on this blog for the coming week and perhaps into the first part of the following week in the event that I am without power and internet access for several days. I am continuing the series of articles that I have been writing out of my visit last week to Chatsworth NJ to see my friends at Downstown do some aerial applications of dry fertilizer to some cranberry bogs. I also got a chance to visit a couple of cranberry bogs. I have two articles prepared for automatic posting on 10/29 and 10/31(I hope), and two more that I will do tomorrow for automatic posting on 11/2 and 11/5. What I won't get a chance to do this weekend is to do some of finishing touches on these articles, that will have to come later. Nor will I attempt to do the final two or three articles in this series. Those too will have to come later.

If I am able, I will post here next week to let you know how I made out.

Red Flag and High Wind Warnings for Southern California

Obtained from http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/FXC/wxstory.php?wfo=lox on 10/26/12

While I've been spending a great deal of my time of late working on aerial applications in NJ's cranberry bogs and related reading, I have been trying to pay attention to what is going on wildfire wise elsewhere. To that end, I did notice that red flag warnings and high wind warnings due to Santa Anna winds are in effect through Saturday, October 27 in Southern California. Related articles on these warnings may be found on weather dot com and CBS Los Angeles. I found this graphic on the website for the NWS LosAngeles-Oxnard Office a short time before I wrote this article on Friday, Oct. 26.

I will admit to being somewhat preoccupied with my own preparations for Hurricane Sandy due to make landfall this coming Monday somewhere on the east coast between the Mid-Atlantic and New England. That being said, if I'll do my best to keep you informed should any larger wildfires break out in southern California.

Aerial Applications in NJ Cranberry Bogs: Air Tractor 602 in action

direct link to video on youtube

This is a compilation of stills and video that I shot last week when I was near Chatsworth NJ watching Downstown's aerial application operations. That day they were applied dry fertilizer to 700 acres of Pine Island Cranberry bogs in three hours using two Ag Cats and an Air Tractor 602.

The video starts out with a couple of stills in the loading area of the air strip near Pine Island followed by a video of the AT-602 taking off. You will then see a series of stills as the Air Tractor completes her take-off roll, lift offs, and then we move to the cranberry bog for the rest of the stills.

The pilot of the Air Tractor did a great job that day, and I got some great shots with my camera and telephoto lens.

Aerial Navigation - Precision Navigation using GPS

direct link to youtube video

My friends at Downstown thought that the best way to explain how they navigate when making their aerial application runs would be to show this video. The GPS system that they use is similar to the one that you will in this video.

Enjoy.

Next up on October 26: Downstown Air Tractor 602 in action

Aerial Applications - Getting Ready

The National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) video that I am embedding below is just under 5 minutes. While the title of the video is called "Getting Ready To Spray", much of what is described in the video applies to both spraying (liquid aerial applications) as well as dry aerial applications. I saw dry aerial applications last week. Downstown does both liquid and dry aerial applications.

NAAA: Getting Ready to Spray


direct link to video on youtube

Next up: GPS in agricultural aviation

National Agricultural Aviation Association

Last Friday I wrote about the loading of dry fertilizer into Downstown's agricultural aircraft. I want to take a step back and to introduce you to the National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) . The NAAA is the voice of the aerial application industry. To read about the NAAA go to the About NAAA webpage, the NAAA has a short description on About Agricultural Aviation, and a set of FAQs.

The short video that I am embedding below is an introduction to Agricultural Aviation from the NAAA. As you will see in this video, aerial wildland firefighting operations fall under Agricultural Aviation (Agricultural aircraft operations in the U.S. including all or most aerial wildland firefighting operations are regulated under Federal Aviation Regulations Chapter 14 part 137).



direct link to video

Upcoming articles:

October 23: Aerial Applications in NJ: Getting Ready for Aerial Applications
October 24: Aerial Applications in NJ: GPS and Ag Aviation
October 26: Aerial Applications in NJ Cranberry bogs: Downstown's AT-602 in action

Aerial Applications in NJ Cranberry Bogs: Loading dry fertilizer

The pictures that I am posting show the steps involved in loading the dry fertilizer into Downstown's Ag Planes. On this day, Oct. 17, 2012, two of Downstown's Ag Cats and one Downstown AT-602 applied dry fertilizer to 700 acres of Pine Island's Cranberry bogs over three hours. Pine Island has approximately 1,400 acres of cranberry bogs near Chatsworth NJ in the NJ Pine Barrens. I'll be writing more about Pine Island in a later post, so stay tuned. Downstown will fertilize the remainder of Pine Island's bogs via aerial application before election day in early November. If things work out, I'll be going down to Chatsworth to see this last aerial application of the season, so stay tuned.

The bags of dry fertilizer are stored in the Dry Area, a building on the Air Strip (Haines Air Strip) that Downstown uses located near the Pine Island cranberry bogs. A forklift takes pallets of fertilizer from the building out to the pad in front of the building. Each bag is lifted by the forklift over the loader bin, where one of the crew opens the bag so the dry fertilizer is dumped into the loader. Finally, the loader is moved into position next to the Ag Plane, in this case the AT-602, where the dry fertilizer is conveyered into the hopper of the Ag Plane.

I did not time the loading operation from start to finish, but I'd say that an Ag Plane is loaded in the matter of a couple of minutes. Bags of dry fertilizer are on the pad ready to go for the next Ag Plane that has to be loaded. The loader is moved back to the pad for its new load of dry fertilizer ready for the next Ag Plane to be loaded.

I need to point out what I am writing about here and in the next few posts involve aerial applications of dry fertilizer. Liquid aerial spraying is very different from the mixing of the materials to the loading to the actual aerial application (aka spraying). Another building on the Air strip known as the "wet area" is used to prepare these liquid materials. Av gas and jet a fuel is also stored in the wet area. I hope to be able to observe liquid aerial applications next year when Downstown applies liquid fungicide to the cranberry bogs.

Bags of fertilizer in dry area

0-0-50 (dry) fertilizer used in this aerial application

Bags of fertilizer on pad waiting to be loaded into loader, forklift on left, loader on right in front of pad

Loader untying bag of fertilizer over bin on loader

Bin on loader filled, waiting to be loaded into AT-602. Building in background is "wet area"used to prepare and load liquids for spraying, note water tanks.  Jet  A Fuel  and Av Gas are stored in the wet area building.

Dry 0-0-50 fertilizer being loaded into AT-602

Dry 0-0-50 fertilizer being loaded into AT-602, Ag Cat on left waiting to be loaded.

AT-602 loaded with 0-0-50 dry fertilizer on take-off roll to apply fertilizer to the cranberry bog

Bye! She'll be back soon for another load

Next up: behind the scenes in aerial applicationsNational Agricultural Aviation Association

Aerial Applications in NJ Cranberry Bogs: part 1

I had a wonderful morning with my friends from Downstown Aero Crop Services observing their operations as they applied fertilizer to cranberry bogs in the NJ Pine Barrens Two Ag Cats and one Air Tractor 602 fertlized 700 acres of cranberry bogs in three hours. I will be writing much more about my trip in future posts. For now, I am offering a preview of things to come by posting a few photos of today's operations. These photos are taken at an air strip not from the cranberry bogs.

I have a lot more pictures that I am just beginning to go through. More will come, I promise.

Each bag of fertilizer weighs 1,600 pounds.

This is the fertilizer that Downstown applied today

Fertilizer on dock outside "dry area" The runway of the air strip is in the background

Air Tractor 602 taxiing for take-off for aerial application run

Air Tractor just after lift-off

Ag Cat taxiing for take-off for aerial application run

Ag Cat just after lift off from air strip

Ag Cat applying fertilizer on cranberry bog in the NJ Pine Barrens

Air Tractor 602 applying fertilizer on cranberry bog in the NJ Pine Barrens

Aerial Applications -- Agricultural Aviation: Introduction

Some of you may recall that I wrote several articles last spring about some time I spent with my friends at Downstown Aero Crop Services, all those articles may be found here. I have been reading up on agricultural aviation of late, and am hoping to write more about agricultural aviation within the next week or so. I have some irons in the fire so to speak, and when I am done working with those irons, I'll be ready to write some articles here and include articles on their shops, SEAT operations, and their aerial application operations. I had a chance to fly over some cranberry bogs courtesy of Downstown, and offered some reflections on what I had learned about ag aviation here. I am starting back on this project of learning more about ag aviation picking up where I left off last spring.

My friends at Downstown suggested that I subscribe to AgAir Update, a newsletter devoted to agricultural aviation, and gave me a copy of Ag Air Update which I read from cover to cover. I finally did so last week and have enjoyed their electronic weekly newsletters and am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my first issue in snail mail as a subscriber.

So while I've been doing some background reading and research on agricultural aviation, I thought that you might the video that I found courtesy of my new friends at AgAir Update, via their webpage. You will note that the title of the video is crop duster. I understand that the preferred term is aerial applications and not crop dusting. I'm still learning so I can't really say much more than that at the moment. Stay tuned as I take you along on my journey as I continue to learn more about the world of agricultural aviation.

More on SEATs

The other day, I ran across this article from the Argus Observer on SEATs thanks to Mike Archer's Firebomber Publications Blog. You may recall that I wrote about SEATs not to long ago, here.

I have a fondness for SEATs, and am very appreciative of the role they play in aerial wildland firefighting. I wanted to do more than post one link to an article, so I am embedding these videos that I think you might enjoy.


direct link to video on youtube


direct link to video on youtube

Thank-you Air National Guard and Reserve C-130 MAFFS

Direct link to video on dfidshub.net

In a year that may have been the worse year ever for wildfires, see this editorial from the MinnPost, four wings of C-130 equipped with Modular Airborne Firefighting Systems (MAFFS) were deployed to help aerial wildland firefighting efforts in the U.S. Each wing has a maximum of two C-130s. The four wings are:

North Carolina Air National Guard 145th Airlift Wing
California Air National Guard, 146th Airlift Wing
302nd Airlift Wing, U.S. Air Force Reserve Command
Wyoming Air National Guard, 153rd Airlift Wing

Tragically, MAFFS 7 of the NC Air National Guard, 145th Airlift Wing went down in early July killing 4 of 6 crew members. According to a Aug 28th Press Release from the U.S. Air Force, MAFFS had dropped 2 million gallons of retardant during the 2012 fire season on Aug. 24, and this was the first year since 2008 that all four MAFFS wings have been activated.

By Sept. 17, per a later U.S. Air Force press release, the U.S. Forest Service had deactivated all C-130 MAFFS. Each of the U.S. Air Force press releases describe the MAFFS program, some of you may want to spend some time reading both articles. In addition, the US Forest Service maintains a webpage on the MAFFS program.

Thank-you to all the pilots, crew, ground support staff, etc. of the four MAFFS wings for all that you did to help fight wildfires this year. 

Those who died when MAFFS 7 went in are flying in favorable tail winds. You will not be forgotten. Prayers continue for your family, friends, colleagues, and all who love you. And prayers continue for the two survivors and their families.

Conair donates Firecat to Canadian Museum of Flight

A direct link to the video, Conair Firecat comes to Langley may be found here.


direct link to video of the Firecat's arrival at Langley Field from the LangleyTimes

As I understand it, Conair Aviation based in Abbotsford British Columbia in Canada recently retired the last of their Firecat Airtankers from aerial firefighting service in Canada. Conair has donated one Firecat to the Canadian Museum of Flight. She arrived at Langley Field home of the Canadian Museum of Flight on October 5, making two fly-bys and one water drop.  See this article from the Langley Times for more info. I think that it is wonderful that a Firecat will be at this museum where she will be loved by many, a testament to her role in British Columbia aviation history. Good show!

I thought that some of you might want to watch this video of Conair Firecats in action, allow just under 5 minutes for the video.


direct link to Conair Firecat in action on youtube.

CV 580 working June 2012 Colorado Wildfire

This is a video from Paul Filmer taken from the nose of one of Conair's CV580's working one of a wildfire in Colorado in June 2012. You will see the take-off, following the bird dog (lead plane) to extend a retardant drop and the landing. Paul has a webpage for the High Park and Springer Fires (CO) including some absolutely stunning galleries of his photographs of aerial operations.

Range Fire (Banning CA)

I first heard about the Range Fire about the Range Fire from a couple of friends of mine so I thought I'd check it out. The Range Fire was broke out early in a remote area of Banning CA on the evening of Saturday, September 29. According to the Range Fire Incident Report from the Riverside County Fire Department the fire was contained at 364 acres on Oct. 1 and fully controlled by Oct. 2; four tankers and at least three helicopters worked this fire.

43 El Grupo - CL 415 Super Scoopers in action

43 Grupo 2012 from Hidros on Vimeo.

This is a great video of CL 415 Super Scoopers from 43 El Grupo in action over Europe. The direct link to the video on vimeo may be found here. Enjoy!