Reflections on CAL FIRE's S2-T tanker (part 1)

I would be remiss to write reflection pieces on air tankers and not include the Grumman S2-T Tracker flown by CAL FIRE. I am not quite sure how many S2-T's are currently flown by CAL FIRE. According to CAL FIRE's fact sheet (2005) on the S2-T there are 23 S2-T tankers in service. Twenty-two are assigned to twelve air attack bases with one or two S2-T’s assigned to each base. One, T-100 is a spare and is at McClellan Air Attack Base until needed.

I first learned of the S2-T in the spring of 2009 shortly after I decided to devote this blog to aerial wildland firefighting and related concerns. I have grown to love the S2-T and her pilots. S2-T's are based at air attack bases around California so they can easily and quickly be deployed to fly wildfires in support of the wildland firefighters on the ground. They do a lot of initial attack work and many times their quick response coupled with the wildland firefighters on the ground wildland fires can be put out while they are still small. And when that is not possible, they will continue to fly the fire with, the support of other air tankers and helicopters.

I do not live on the west coast, but I have visited southern California a couple times and stopped by Ramona Air Attack Base for a visit. The morning I visited, it was a quiet day and one of the S2-T's, T-71, was sitting on the ramp along with the OV-10 air attack plane. I was delighted to be able to take a tour of the base with some photos which I shared in my July 13 2012 post.

I found a very cool video, almost six minutes long, of footage shot from inside a S2-T tanker. According to a knowledgeable friend, the pilot is Bob Forbes, now retired, and the video was probably shot near Hemet California where his home base (Hemet-Ryan in Riverside County California) was located. I love videos that take me inside the cockpit of a tanker flying a fire. There is no audio, but I found the sound of the engines to be comforting. Enjoy.



Direct link to video