Dean Talley (Part 3 of 3): Some of the Tankers that Dean Flew

Dean Talley flew a variety of types of air tankers over the course of more than 35 years. It is not my intent here to provide a history of these air tankers. Rather, my purpose here is to provide those of you who may be interested with more information and additional resources about some of the air tankers that Dean flew. I’ll start with some specific references to specific aircraft and contractors. Then I’ll move on to a couple of more general databases of historic and current air tankers. This information is only a partial listing of available information on these air tankers.

CAL FIRE

CAL FIRE has a very good website with a lot of links where you can go to for a variety of information. They do have a good section on history of the agency including a page on aviation history where you can learn about historic and current fixed wing aircraft. The California Pilots Association has a nice webpage on the agency’s current fixed wing aircraft with links to photos and videos.

AERO UNION

One of the contractors that used to have contracts with the US Forest Service for air tankers was Aero Union. Aero Union was founded in 1961 and over the years they had a variety of different aircraft that served as air tankers, including C-54/DC-4 tankers, a variation of the Lockheed P2V that Aero Union called the SP2H and the P3 Orion. I believe that Dean also flew the Lockheed P3 Orion. Here is a short video of an Aero Union P-3 making a drop. When I began writing about aerial wildland firefighting in 2009 the only type of aircraft left in their fleet were several P-3s. Aero Union lost its contract for P3s with the US Forest Service in 2011, permanently grounding Aero Union’s fleet of P3s. Wikipedia has a page on Aero Union that you may want to read.  A friend of mine, Scorched Sky Productions did a nice tribute video on Aero Union and the P3 Orion that you may find here.

MINDEN AIR CORPORATION

Minden, out of Reno Nevada had three Lockheed P2V Neptunes at one time. By 2013, there was only one P2 left in Minden’s stable, tanker 48. Dean Talley was flying tanker 48 for Minden up until the incident in 2014 with the collapsed nose gear. Dean and his co-pilot were flying the Shirley Fire just before the hydraulic failure resulting in the nose gear collapse with no injuries. There  is a short video taken of Tanker 48 over Shirley Fire just before nose gear collapse. Tanker 48 was taken out of service after the nose gear collapsed.

P2V NEPTUNES

A couple of different types of Lockheed P2V Neptune’s saw service as air tankers, flown by Aero Union, Minden Air, Neptune Aviation and other companies.. There is a nice webpage on P2V Neptune Airtankers with links to different contractors. For example, you may read about Minden Air’s and Aero Union’s air tankers.

My friend, Gordon Koenig was Dean’s co-pilot in Aero Union tanker 18 in 1996. Gordon spent a few years as captain flying Lockheed P2V Neptune air tankers for Neptune Aviation after he flew with Dean. Aero Union retired their P2V tankers several years ago. Gordon explained the difference between Neptune Aviation’s P2V tankers and Aero Union’s “SP2H” tankers in 1996 when he flew with Dean: 

Aero Union used to have 3 P2V's in the stable. They were modified by Aero Union to meet the California rule of being able to land loaded. They did things a bit differently at CAL FIRE (formerly known as the California Department of Forestry or CDF). When a smoke is spotted, they launch everything they have within a certain radius. Most everybody got cancelled on the way to the fire, unless the thing is huge and growing.

A loaded P2V, such as the one’s flown by Neptune Aviation (formerly Black Hills), is above its maximum landing weight. So, a cancelled dispatch in one of those P2's meant you had to pitch the load in the woods in order to land. Aero Union pulled off the jets and used only the inboard fuel tanks in order to meet the maximum landing weight. They were good airplanes, faster than the Black Hills model and they climbed better once you got them up to speed. Dean and I were flying an Aero Union version, which they called the SP2H. They sold them all and they have all now been scrapped.

That SP2H designation was borrowed from the Navy and has nothing to do with the real SP2H designation that the Navy used on some Neptune’s. I think Aero Union didn't know what to call their version and they wanted the agencies to be able to recognize and differentiate between theirs and the other P2's flying at the time. Aero Union especially wanted CDF to recognize the Aero Union version as an airplane that met the loaded landing requirements of a CDF contract.

OTHER DATABASES

There are two other databases that I use when I quickly need to find information online about historic air tankers. The first one I have already referenced in parts 1 and 2, that is Ruud Leeuw’s  database of air tankers including tanker number, contractor, type of aircraft, registration and c/n, and link to an outside (copyrighted) photograph. 

Another nice database of historic and some current air tanker types is by napoleon130 with some basic information along with a history of the development of the aircraft, specifications, and a photo. You start by going to napoleon130’s air tanker listing (by retardant capacity), find the tanker you are interested and click on the link. While some of the information found on this site is likely found elsewhere, I like it because it is one-step shopping.

Note: this is part 3 of a three-part series on Dean Talley.  Part 1 focuses on Dean the family man and tanker pilot, and part 2 focuses on remembrances of Dean from fellow tanker pilots.