A-26 Tankers in Canada: Air Spray's A-26 fleet in 1994 (part 12 of 13)

I'd like to thank a friend of mine who told about a great article written by W.M. "Turbo" Tarling

in 1994, called Invaders from Red Deer.  Yes, as you might have guessed, the article is about Air Spray's A-26 Tankers in 1994. Turbo retired from the Canadian Air Force when he reached mandatory retirement age in 1982 with 11,645 flying hours in 50 different types of aircraft (go here for info on Turbo's flying time). After he retired he spent 17 seasons flying for Air Spray in Alberta where he flew the Douglas A-26. Turbo has a webpage with some articles, photo galleries and other information.

What I like about Invaders from Red Deer is that Turbo paints a portrait of a moment in time -- 1994 -- in Red Deer Alberta. After taking you through the history of Red Deer Industrial Airport, formerly RCAF Station Penfield. He then brings you up to 1994 where he introduces you to Air Spray's fleet that included 18 Douglas A-26 Invaders. He walks you through winter maintenance of Air Spray's aircraft, pilot refresher training, history and terminology of the A-26, walk around the A-26 outside and inside, flying the A-26 tanker, firefighting, and a photo gallery. 

The article is long, and well worth reading. I especially enjoyed Turbo's descriptions of flying the A-26. I felt like I was in the cockpit with him, as a quiet observer taking it all in. So, buckle up and enjoy the ride as you read Invaders from Red Deer.

Note: I wrote an article about Air Spray on February 10 where I wrote about a fire in one of Air Spray's hangers in 2000 that destroyed some A-26 tankers. The last year that Air Spray flew A-26 tankers was in 2004. Two photos of Air Spray A-26's may be found here and I shared some videos of Air Spray's A-26 tankers by MrFlyerboy101 on Feb. 17, Feb. 19, Feb. 21, and Feb. 26.

Updated on December 20, 2020: Unfortunately the links to "Turbo" Tarling's 1994 article, Invaders from Red Deer are now expired. A retired tanker pilot with whom I am no longer in contact in Canada told about Turbo's article at the time I was writing these articles on the Douglas A-26 Invader. If memory serves all the information in this article was on a webpage. I regret that at the time I wrote this post that I did not write a little about Turbo in this post and cite a couple of passages from his article. More recently, knowing that sometimes links go dead, I will write a little more in my post so that it may make sense if one or more links go dead. 

A-26 Tankers in Canada: flying fires in an A-26 (part 11 of 13)

I can't not share one more video from MrFlyerboy101, this one includes historic footage shot from the cockpit of an A-26 tanker flying fires in Alberta Canada. Enjoy!



Direct link to video

A-26 Tankers in Canada: flying the A-26 (training video) (part 10 of 13)

In this article and the next articles I will be focusing on sharing videos (today and on the 26th) and an article (on Feb. 28th) relating to flying the A-26. Today I will be sharing a 1945 era training video on flying the A-26 that I first shared on March 1, 2013. Recall that a friend of mine who used to fly an A-26 tanker in Canada shared the video with me saying that he agreed with the techniques presented in the video. Since that time at least one other former A-26 pilot told me that he too agreed with these techniques.



direct link to video

A-26 Tankers in Canada: enroute (part 9 of 13)

I close out the this part my series on A-26 tankers in Canada with a third video from MrFlyerBoy101 showing a group of Air Spray A-26 tankers and their birddog enroute to Ft. McMurray. Allow 14 minutes for the video (it might take a couple of minutes to load and the sound is a little funky, but you should be able to hear the pilots talking to each other over the radio.) 

Added on October 21, 2016: The video that I had originally shared here is no longer available so I have removed the code.

I will continue this series next week with four more articles. I will post a revised scheduled later this evening or tomorrow. 

A-26 Tankers in Canada: take-off (part 8 of 13)

Here is another video from MrFlyerBoy101 showing a group of Air Spray A-26 Tankers (1,3,14,12) and their Birddog taking off. The video ends with T-12 landing. Allow about five minutes for the video. According to the information supplied by MrFlyerBoy101accompanying the video, the personnel in the aircraft you will see are: Gordon Sherman (T-1), Arnie Schreder (T-3), Butch Foster (T-12), Ted Stenton (T-14) and Dave Poole (Rooster) in the Birdog.

direct link to video

A-26 Tankers in Canada: on the ramp (part 7 of 13)

Here is a video from MrFlyerBoy101 of some of Air Spray's A-26 tankers on the ramp at Smithers in British Columbia with a bit of fun thrown in.

direct link to video

A-26 Tankers in Canada: Air Spray A-26 Tankers 31 and 36 (part 6 of 13)

I'd like to thank Peter Mitchell who flew A-26 tankers (and other tankers) for both Air Spray and Conair some years back for two photos that he wanted me to share with you: photos of T-31 and T-36.

The Warbirds Registry has a page on the history of T-31 (serial # 44-35893) and T-36 (serial # 44-35456). Of note, Air Spray purchased both of these A-26 tankers from Conair. Air Spray bought the
A-26 (serial # 44-35456) that was to become T-36 from Conair in 1983. Before that she flew as Conair
T-26 from 1972 to 1983.

Air Spray T-36

A-26 (Serial # 44-35893) flew for Conair as T-31 from 1974 through 1982. Sometime in 1982, Conair sold her to Air Spray, where she kept her T-31 designation. She flew for another twenty years (give or take).

Air Spray T-31

A-26 Tankers in Canada: Conair A-26 Tanker 28 (part 5 of 13)

Conair T-28 "Blue Canoe"

I have always liked Conair's T-28 because she started out in a blue and white paint scheme as you can see in the photo. One of my tanker pilot friends from Canada referred to her with some affection as the "Blue Canoe." I'm not quite sure when, but sometime before 1983 she was repainted in the Conair paint scheme as shown in a 1983 photo of Conair's livery of Tankers in the History of Aviation in the BC Forest Service: Part 2 Air Tanker Operations (2011, p. 18).

Conair acquired her in April 1974, selling her in November 1988. Assuming that she was flying through the summer of 1988 she would have flown for 14 or 15 seasons depending on how long it took to convert her to tanker configuration. For more information about her history, see the Warbirds Registry page on T-28 (Serial # 44-34520).

Thanks to Maureen Wilson for the photograph of T-28.

A-26 Tankers in Canada: Operators -- Air Spray (part 4 of 13)

Air Spray whose corporate offices are in Edmonton, Alberta was founded in 1967, see Air Spray's history page.  Air Spray's founder, Don Hamilton, started the company with one A-26 and a Cessna 310 (birddog) aircraft.  Air Spray acquired one A-26 that was converted for firefighting in 1970 and paired with a Cessna 310 Bird Dog aircraft. Air Spray eventually had 18 A-26 tankers flying them the A-26 into the 2000s. Air Spray finally retired all of their remaining A-26 tankers after the end of the 2004 fire season (see an article by Ruud Leeuw on his 2006 visit to Air Spray's maintenance hanger in Red Deer Alberta, scroll down a bit past some photos of a couple of Lockheed L188 Electras where he writes about Air Spray's A-26 Invaders). Before I go on, some of you will recall that the Douglas A-26 Invader went through a couple of changes in her designation, being designated the B-26 from 1948 through 1962, I write about the changes in her military designation here.

In the course of reading up on Air Spray, I came across a nice article from the November/December 2009 edition of Wings on Air Spray called Position Report: Vintage planes dousing flames (A position report on Air Spray) by Frederick K. Larkin. Wings is an aviation magazine focusing on Canadian aviation.  learned a little more about the history of Air Spray thanks to Larkin's article. That is, David Harrington started the company that was to become Air Spray in 1954, focusing on crop dusting before moving into aerial fire fighting in the early 1960s. If you are interested in this early period in Air Spray's history and find yourself in Edmonton, Alberta with some time on your hands, the Provincial Archives of Alberta Canada has what is known as a fond (documents) from Mary Harrington, David's wife. According to Larkin, the company Harrington founded became Air Spray Ltd. in 1967. Harrington acquired a Douglas B-26 in 1969 (recall that the B-26 was later redesignated the A-26). That is when Don Hamilton, who later became CEO of Air Spray entered the picture. Hamilton acquired a 50 percent interest in this B-26 that was converted to firefighting configuration in 1970. Sometime later, Hamilton acquired the remaining interest in Air Spray becoming the sole owner of Air Spray.

I had heard about the 2000 hanger fire at Air Spray's maintenance hangar In Red Deer as I was doing research for these articles. On October 16, 2000 a fire started in one of Air Spray's maintenance hangers in Red Deer when sparks from an electrical cord that was being unplugged ignited some fuel. The hanger went up in flames and six aircraft were destroyed, including four A-26 Invaders (For more information see a short description of this fire from the Aviation Safety Network.

In my next couple of articles I'll focus on three tankers, one from Conair (Tanker 28), and two from Air Spray (Tankers 31 and 36).

Updated on February 11, 2014: As sometimes happens when I write series like this people contact me with additional information which I do my best to incorporate into the series that I am working on. I'd like to thank one of my tanker pilot friends from Canada who sent me some more information about Air Spray last night, some of which I incorporated into this article, and another piece he sent me will be incorporated into an article later in this series. As sometimes happens when I write series like this people contact me with additional information which I do my best to incorporate into the series that I am working on.

A-26 Tankers in Canada: Operators -- Conair (part 3 of 13)

Conair, based in Abbotsford, British Columbia flew A-26 tankers for 16 years from 1970 to 1985 (History of Aviation in the  BC Forest Service Part 2: Air Tanker Operations, 2011, pp. 12, 18).

Around the time that the British Columbia Forest Service (BCFS)  celebrated their 100th anniversary, Gord Bell wrote a wonderful three part paper on the History of Aviation in the  BC Forest Service: A pictorial account for the BCFS Centennial. According the author's information (in the appendix of all three parts), Bell worked for the BCFS for 35 years and spent 25 years working with aviation programs for the BCFS. Part 2 is devoted to airtanker operations and provides some history of Conair, some great pictures and a discussion of Conair's A-26 tanker operations. 

When I first read Linc Alexander's Firebombers into Hell in the fall of 2010 I had been writing about aerial wildland firefighting for about 20 months. Before reading Linc's book, I knew little about the Canadian companies that flew tankers. That changed when I read Linc's book, and Linc's book provided me with my first introduction to Conair. Linc's first season for Conair was in 1974, flying the A-26 tanker. He was to continue flying A-26 tankers for Conair for a total of four years (Alexander, 2010, 248-55). 

I read more about Conair when I read Allan MacNutt's book, Altimeter Rising. Allan was chief pilot at Conair for two years from 1975 through 1977 (Mac Nutt, 2000, 202-5, 245). By the time I read Allan's book I was somewhat more familiar with Conair having done more reading about Conair after they first loaned the US Forest Service some of their tankers after the US Forest Service terminated its contract with Aero Union (go here for more information).

I want to share some information about a Douglas A-26 Invader that saw service with Conair: tankers 22. Tanker 22 is preserved in her Conair colors by the BCAM. I have grown to love the A-26 and I think it is great that tanker 22 is preserved in her Conair colors in homage to all the good work that she and her kin did first in military service and later in service as a tanker. One of these days perhaps I'll get to British Columbia and I'll go to the BCAM and see her up close and personal in all her splendor. 

Finally, some of you may recall that I referenced the napoleon130 A-26 Invader tanker website in my acknowledgements when I first wrote about A-26 Tanker last summer.  The napoleon130 A-26 Invader tanker website has a page devoted to Conair, including but not limited to information on tankers 22 and 28.

I'd like to thank a few pilots who used to fly A-26 tankers for Conair for taking the time to correspond with me about your experience with this incredible airplane. Your help was invaluable.

Note: More information on Linc Alexander's Firebombers into Hell and Allan MacNutt's Altimeter Rising may be found in this acknowledgements post from an earlier series on the A-26.

A-26 Tankers in Canada: Operators -- Kenting (part 2 of 13)

I learned about three companies in Canada that flew A-26 tankers from the 1970s through the 2000s: Kenting, Conair, and Airs Spray (see List of Douglas A-26 Invader operators). Before I begin, let me say that there may well be other companies or individual operators that flew A-26 tankers in Canada during this time period that I am unaware of. 

I first came across Kenting Aviation when I read Firebombers into Hell by Linc Alexander (214-17, 227-33, 235-245). He spent a couple of years working for Kenting Aviation, based in Ontario, acquiring two A-26 Tankers in the early 1970s. He wrote about one fire season where he was based first in Fort McMurray Alberta and then in High Level Alberta. High Level, according to Linc is the northern most tanker base in Alberta. Much of the time he was in High Level it rained (Alexander, 2010, 235-45). Kenting sold both of their A-26 tankers to Conair at the end of the 1973 fire season (see the article I wrote on August 7 for more information).

A-26 Tankers in Canada: Introduction (part 1 of 13)

Several months ago I wrote a series about the Douglas A-26 Invader (several posts begin here and a little later I wrote some more beginning here. At long last, I am starting a series about the A-26 service as an airtanker in Canada. I am still working on the last couple of posts in this series, but as you can see from the tentative outline below, I have some time to work out this out. I will be writing about three Canadian operators of A-26 tankers and their tankers. 

Feb 5, 2014 A-26 Tankers in Canada: Operators -- Kenting (part 2 of 13)

Feb 7, 2014 A-26 Tankers in Canada: Operators -- Conair (part 3 of 13)

Feb 10, 2014 A-26 Tankers in Canada: Operators -- Air Spray (part 4 of 13)

Feb 12, 2014 A-26 Tankers in Canada: Conair A-26 Tanker 28 (part 5 of 13)

Feb 14, 2014 A-26 Tankers in Canada: Air Spray A-26 Tankers 31 and 36 (part 6 of 13)

Feb 17, 2014 A-26 Tankers in Canada: on the ramp (part 7 of 13)

Feb 19, 2014 A-26 Tankers in Canada: take-off (part 8 of 13 )

Feb 21, 2014 A-26 Tankers in Canada: enroute (part 9 of 13)
Feb 24, 2014 A-26 Tankers in Canada: flying the A-26 (training video (part 10 of 13)
Feb 26, 2014 A-26 Tankers in Canada: flying fires in an A-26 (part 11 of 13)
Feb 28, 2014 A-26 Tankers in Canada: Air Spray's A-26 fleet in 1994 (part 12 of 13)
March 14, 3024 A-26 Tankers in Canada: Reflections (part 13 of 13)

snow removal in Japan's snow canyon

I am getting ready to start a series of articles on the A-26 Tanker tomorrow. I took a snow day. Literally. Clearing out almost eight inches of heavy, wet snow from my driveway. More to come. Anyway, I came across this video recently of some really heavy duty snow removal in Japan's snow canyon. Enjoy!



direct link to video