Coulson CH-47 Helitanker on 83 day contract in Southern California

I write this post to my friend Matt who died six years ago. Matt was a good friend and loved helicopters, he had a great deal of knowledge about helicopters. We had frequent discussion on helicopters and he would not hesitate to correct me if I was wrong. That is what friends do. My way of honoring Matt's memory is to make occasional posts in his memory. Because this is an anniversary of his death at a young age, it feels entirely appropriate to write about Coulson-Unical's CH-47 helitanker. Coulson's CH47 helitanker, N42CU, currently on an 83-day contract in Southern California thanks to a partnership between the Orange County Fire Authority And Southern California Edison. Coulson-Unical's helitanker has a capacity of 3,000 gallons with a retractable snorkle hose and can fly 24 hours, seven days a week. I am sure that this helitanker will be a valuable asset in support of the firefighters on the ground during this devastating wildfire season in California.

For a little background on the Helitanker (and Coulson's UH-60 helicopters) see an article I wrote on May 27th

For more information on this helitanker see:

• Coulson-Unical's spec sheet on the CH-47 helitanker
• Coulson-Unical's press release announcing the Southern California contract
• Orange County Fire Authority's Facebook post on the press conference announcing the contract for the CH-47
• Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation on the Night-flying Chinook begins contract in Orange County California  (October 2nd)
• LA Times (Oct 1st) article about the CH-47 helitanker (paywall)

Matt, you would of loved this five-minute video from Coulson with an overview of the CH-47's systems. We can not talk about this helitanker, but I know that you are up there somewhere flying in favorable winds at a safe distance from the helitanker and other aerial firefighting operations.

Direct link to video from Coulson