Memories of air tankers in 2009 (part 1 of 2)

 It was approximately 14 years ago, August of 2008, when I first became interested in learning more about wildland firefighting. The focus of those early entries were on what I was learning. In early 2009 I began to learn about airtanker operations thanks to the help of a few friends, current and former airtanker pilots. I took you along as I learned about the airtanker business and learned about the contractors that then had contracts with the U.S. Forest Service. I cut my teeth in 2009 into 2010 by watching live stream and other videos of Aero Union's P-3's, 10 Tanker Corp's DC-10, and Evergreen's 747 tanker flying fires. most of the videos that I am embedding below were previously shared on my blog.

In 2009, Tanker 910, operated by 10 Tanker Corp was under contract with CAL Fire, see my May 16, 2009 article for more information. Tanker 910 was capable of carrying up to 12,000 gallons of retardant though I suspect that most of the time she carried less retardant. I enjoyed watching her lay down a line of retardant. 

Direct link to 2008 video uploaded by palealien on YouTube

10 Tanker Corp is still around in 2022 and continues to fly DC 10 air tankers, download their fact sheet for more information. 10 Tanker has four DC 10 tankers -- T 910, 911, 912, and 914 -- in their fleet. Her current retardant capacity is 9,400 gallons. I believe that 10 tanker corp has contracts with the US Forest Service as well as State agencies.

I will never forget watching Evergreen's 747 tanker link up and drop a long line of retardant on the 2009 Station Fire in southern California. You will have to take my word for this as the video is no longer available. I recall watching a live stream of this drop on one of the Southern California TV News outlets, awesome. While that video that so impressed me is no longer available, check out this 2009 video 

Direct link to video from elvladyman on YouTube

According Bill Gabbert's May 2, 2014 Fire Aviation post Evergreen's 747 was not under contract in 2014. Sometime later, I don't recall exactly when and I have no link at the moment, I believe that this 747 was no longer operated by Evergreen.  A newer 747 tanker, T-944,  operated by 747 supertanker  began operations sometime in 2017 and had some contracts but ceased operations in April 2021, see Bill Gabbert's April 23, 2021 article. On September 3, 2021 Bill Gabbert reported that a 747 tanker, owned by Logistic Air, is expected to return to service for wildland firefighting by late 2022, see Bill's May 4, 2022 for updated information.

Finally, I enjoyed watching AeroUnion's P-3 tanker (3,000 gallon retardant capacity) fly fires. Sadly, the U.S. Forest Service terminated its contract with Aero Union for their P-3's in August 2011 and shut down operations a few months later after selling off their assets including some of their P-3s (see my January 18, 2012 article)

Enjoy this tribute to the P-3 tanker from Scorched Sky Productions.

Direct link to video on YouTube from Scorched Sky Productions

Another air tanker company, Neptune Aviation had contracts with the US Forest Service in 2009 and is still in business  flying airtankers. I will write about Neptune Aviation on August 22. Stay Tuned

Global Supertanker (T944) ceased operations

As some of you already know, the company that operates tanker 944 (Boeing 747), Global Supertanker ceased operating T944 on or about April 21st of this year. I read this news on Bill Gabbert's Fire Aviation site on April 23rd. Here is an excerpt of Bill's reporting on April 23rd.:

The investor group that owns the 747 Supertanker, Tanker 944, is shutting down the huge air tanker. In an email sent April 21 to officials in Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and the federal government, Dan Reese the President of Global Supertanker gave them the news:

This week the investors that own the Global SuperTanker just informed me that they have made the difficult decision to cease operations of the company, effective this week…This is extremely disappointing as the aircraft has been configured and tuned with a new digital drop system and other upgrades to make it more safe and efficient.

Mr. Reese said in the email they are in discussions with prospective buyers, but it was unknown at that time if the aircraft would continue to be configured as an air tanker capable of carrying more than 17,500 gallons or if it would be used as a freighter.

If you have not already done so, you will want to read Bill's full report about the cessation of operations of Global SuperTanker Services.

Global SuperTanker Services is owned by Alterna Capital Partners

On Monday, April 26th, thanks to Mike Archer's Wildfire News of the Day e-mail newsletter, I read an April 26th article on the Aerial Fire Magazine about the cessation of tanker 944 operations, Global SuperTanker/Alterna Capital Partners Release Official Statement on GST Shut Down: the management of Alterna Capital Partners says in part:

Unfortunately, the 2009 vintage Alterna fund that owns GSTS has a 10-year finite life and does not have the resources to see the vision to come to fruition. Accordingly, the decision has been made to immediately cease all GSTS operations and look for alternatives to maximize the value of the team, the drop system and the 747-400 aircraft.

Alterna is actively pursuing various options, including, but not limited to, the recapitalization of GSTS as an aerial firefighting business, the sale of GSTS to strategic or other investors and/or the sale of the aircraft as a freighter. The option to sell the aircraft as freighter has been in part driven by the COVID-19 crisis, which has led to a significant increase in value for freighter aircraft.

Please take a couple of minutes to read the full statement from Alterna Capital Partners about why the decided to cease operations of Global SuperTanker Services.

The 747 Supertanker (tanker 944) with her 17,200 gallon tank capacity was a great resource in the aerial firefighting toolbox. California, Mexico and Chile are among the places where she flew fires. She will be missed. I sincerely hope that any financial and any issues (if applicable) with the 747 and the tank will be resolved so that she may return to service as an airtanker. 

Evergreen 747 supertanker drop

Bill Gabbert has some pictures of the Evergreen 747 supertanker's earlier drops this fire season.

There was  a 12 minute video from myfoxla that is no longer available. As you will see on the video, the Evergreen 747 is known as tanker 979 (the number on the tail). The first drop in this run is about 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the video. Tanker 979 split this load into two drops of 10,000 gallons each that Fox captured in this video. Think about it, she dropped 20,000 gallons of retardant without having to return to her base at McClellan for reloading. For those of you who are interested, the first of these drops occurs at about 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the video

Updated on September 8, 2014: The wonderful 12 minute video that I embedded here when I first wrote this article is no longer available. At least I couldn't find it. 

Updated on August 3, 2015: According to Bill Gabbert's May 2nd (2014) article on Fire Aviation it seems that Evergreen has declared bankruptcy.
 

Evergreen 747 demo drop in Spain

I want to thank Carlos, who was flying an AT-802 on the same fire in Spain where the Evergreen 747 did a demo drop last month. He did not see the drop, but reports that a forestry technician told him that the drop was no good. Going on to say that it was a tough day with very strong winds. To read his comment and my response, see the comments on this post.

Updated on August 3, 2015: According to Bill Gabbert's May 2nd (2014) article on Fire Aviation it seems that Evergreen has declared bankruptcy.

Evergreen 747 tanker: free demo drops

I saw a report on the Associated Airtanker Pilots message board last month (from a Spanish newspaper article translated into English) that Evergreen's 747 supertanker, currently under a call when needed contract (CWN) in California traveled to Spain last month to make a demonstration drop on Poyatos fire that was burning in a mountainous area of Spain. The 747 super tanker then traveled to Alaska where she made a second free demonstration drop on the Railbelt Fire.

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today reported on the 747 supertanker's drops on the Railbelt fire here.

Updated on August 3, 2015: According to Bill Gabbert's May 2nd (2014) article on Fire Aviation it seems that Evergreen has declared bankruptcy. Assoicated Airtanker Pilots is now called Associated Aerial Firefighters, the message board that I had linked to in this article is no longer available.

Update: Evergreen 747 and Martin Mars

I am interrupting my series on helitack with an update on the status of the Evergreen 747 super tanker and the Martin Mars.

When I wrote about the Evergreen 747 super tanker here, this very large air tanker had received interim certification from the Interagency Air Tanker Board, but was not yet under contract with a public fire fighting agency.

According to a July 9 article in the Press-Enterprise CAL FIRE signed a contract with Evergreen International Aviation for use in fighting wildfires. Recall that the Evergreen 747 carries up to 20,000 gallons of water or retardant. This is almost seven times the capacity of the Lockheed P-3 tankers capable of carrying up to 3,000 gallons of retardand. For a point of comparison, the DC-10 tankers carry 12,000 gallons of retardant while the Martin Mars can carry 7,200 gallons of water/foam.

Speaking of the Martin Mars, according to the Press-Enterprise, there is no word on if or when the Martin Mars will arrive at Lake Elsinore where the plan would be based under the agreement between Coulson Tankers, owners of the two Martin Mars tankers, and the US Forest Service. The Press_Enterprise article on the Martin Mars may be found here, and my earlier articles, including this one, on the Martin Mars can be found here.

Updated on August 3, 2015: Links to Press Enterprise articles left in article, but they no longer work. I did access these articles at the time I wrote this article in July, 2009. According to Bill Gabbert's May 2nd (2014) article on Fire Aviation it seems that  has Evergreen declared bankruptcy.

Evergreen 747

Evergreen International Aviation announced on March 24, 2009 (link no longer works) that its B747 supertanker received interim certification from the Interagency Air Tanker Board (IATB). IATB certification is required before an air tanker can be under federal contract. Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today reported on the 747 receiving IATB approval here.

Capable of flying at 600 mph, the 747(tail number 979) can drop more than 20,000 gallons of retardant.

The 747 recently completed what is known as a drop test. Briefly, in a drop test an air tanker (or helitanker or helicopter with bucket) flys over a cup-and-grid matrix to test the coverage level for each type of drop.

Evergreen produced a seven minute video on the 747 supertanker:





Updated on August 3, 2015: I had to delete some old and outdated links from Evergreen Aviation that no longer work. At the time I wrote this article, they had a photogallery of the 747 and a page describing her capabilities. According to Bill Gabbert's May 2nd (2014) article on Fire Aviation it seems that Evergreen has declared bankruptcy.