Avialsa Air Tractor's: 802 and Fireboss

direct link to video on youtube, one of a series of airtanker videos recently made available on the new Associated Aerial Firefighters youtube channel

This is a video of an Avialsa AT-802 and a Fire Boss. Avialsa Air Tractor's fly fires. I don't know about you, but I love watching Air Tractors. Air Tractors hold a special place in my heart because I have met the AT-802's little brother, the AT-602 up close and personal thanks to my friends at Downstown Aero. I could spend all day watch Air Tractors fly. I would love to see a Fire Boss up close and personal, never have. Perhaps one day.

wrapping up BAER and hydromulching, and what's next

As I sit here in the early stages of yet another snow event affecting the mid-Atlantic region, I have been wondering how I was going to wrap up this series of posts on burned area emergency response (BAER) and aerial hydromulching operations. I'm not sure that I have all that much to say. For I think that the videos that I embedded speak for themselves.

That being said, I find myself thinking that aerial wildland firefighting often times does not stop with tankers dropping retardant or water-foam on wildfires. In some areas where the burn has been severe and/or erosion can be a real problem, aircraft such as the AT-802 and the Erickson Air Crane perform an important role in post-fire rehabilitation. So, as time goes on, I will periodically revisit BAER progress after wildland fires, including but not necessarily limited to aerial hydromulching operations.

As for what's next, I have continued to correspond with Larry Kraus, pilot-in-command of tanker -62, one of Butler Aircraft's DC-7 tankers that will be under contract with the Oregon Dept. of Forestry later this year. I'll be make a few more posts on the DC-7 tanker next week into early the following week. Stay tuned!

Angora Fire Recovery Aerial Hydromulch (part 2)

Angora Fire Recovery Aerial Hydromulch

This is the first of a two part video showing aerial hydromulching operations after the Angora Fire. Five AT-802's were used in these hydromulching operations, flying over 3,200 loads of hydromulch. In addition to watching the hydromulching operations you will see some nice footage of the AT-802 in action.

Enjoy! I will post part 2 in my next post.

More on hydromulch: Jesusita Fire

In this video you will find out more about what hydromulch is, why it works, and how it is loaded onto the AT-802.

Hydromulching: Jesusita Fire

The Jesusita Fire burned over 8,700 acres in Santa Barbara County, California in May of 2009. Last fall Santa Barbara County and Los Padres National Forest performed aerial hydromulching operations on areas burned by the fire. Simply, hydromulch -- one component of the Burned Area Emergency Response -- is applied to burned areas to prevent damage from erosion and runoff during the time it takes for new plant life to grow back.

Information on Santa Barbara County's hydromulching, that took place last September may be found here, including an FAQ page with more information on hydromulch, some photos of hydromulch, a map of the Jesusita fire hydromulch areas, and a link to the you tube video that I embedded here.

Information on the USFS hydromulching applications in areas burned by the Jesusita Fire in Los Padres National Forest may be found here.

And speaking of the Air Tractor 802A, you will see in the video that the AT-802 was used for hydromulching. I enjoyed watching these AT-802A's go through their paces.

I'll be embedding some more videos of aerial hydromulching applications later this week, so stay tuned.

November 19, 2015: Unfortunately, all of the links with the exception of the embedded youtube video are inactive (or dead links). 

Up close with the AT-802 with the help of Queen Bee: About flying fires

In my wonderings on the web recently, I found a couple of articles on how the AT-802's are used for flying fires. I think that they are both appropriate for this series, so I am sharing them with you. In the first article (from SWAviator online), a twenty-year veteran fire fighters gets up close and personal with the AT-802. The second article is from The National Agricultural Aviation Association, and you will hear from SEAT Contractors and BLM officials about how SEATs are used with a focus on the AT-802.

Here is another drop from an AT-802, this time on a fire in Croatia.

correction to an earlier post on the AT-802F

I made a correction to this post from last week on the AT-802F. The retardant delivery system is known as a Fire Retardant Delivery System (FRDS). I had incorrectly used the term Fuel Retardant.

I have gone in and made the change. Also, Air Tractor's FRDS is specific to their air tanker. If I understand correctly, it can not be used in another manufacturer's air tanker.

On Some AT-802F specifications

Referring to these AT-802F specifications from the Queen Bee webpage, I want to spend a few moments describing some of the specifications in a little more detail. Queen Bee is an authorized Air Tractor dealer and has a SEAT contract with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). A complete listing of BLM SEAT contracts as of July 1, 2008 may is listed in this pdf document.

A word on the weight and useful load specifications. The aircraft has a maximum rated weight for take-off and landing. This would be a fully loaded aircraft including pilot, fuel, and payload (water/retardant, additional cargo and equipment, etc.). Useful load is difference between the maximum weight of the aircraft and the empty weight. So, the useful load includes pilot and crew (if any), cargo, water/retardant, and fuel. It also includes anything attached to an airframe that was not installed at the factory as factory installed equipment.

Water or retardant is carried in the 820 gallon hopper.

The AT-802F has an 18 gallon foam tank. This is for the foam agent that can be mixed with water. When water is loaded into the hopper on the aircraft, the foam agent is mixed in at the specified ration.

The final specification that I want to write about is something called stall speed. I ran across this spec on the Air Tractor Company’s page for the AT-802F. Click on performance, note the three stall speeds. As I understand it from my correspondence with TL Stein, stall speed for an aircraft is the speed where the forward speed of the aircraft is not producing enough air flow over the wings to produce lift or support the airplane at its altitude.

When a pilot is landing an aircraft, the plane is just over stall speed.

If you have used the link above to look at Airtractor’s performance numbers for the AT-802F, you will note the following numbers:

Stall Speed, Flaps up: 105 mph (169 kph) at 16,000 lbs (7 257 kg)

Stall Speed, Flaps Down: 91 mph (146 kph) at 16,000 lbs (7 257 kg)

Flaps are usually on the trailing edge of the wings. If you fly on a commercial airliner and are seated at a window seat near the wings, you may have noticed that the flaps are in the down or extended position when the pilot is landing the plane. This reduces the stall speed allowing the aircraft to approach landing more slowly. In some aircraft, flaps may be partially extended for take-off. Conversely, if flaps are in the up or retracted position, stall speed is higher. For a discussion on flaps with pictures, see this wikipedia article .

I will be writing more about stall speed in my next post.

More videos of AT-802F in action

Here are links to two youtube videos showing the AT-802F in action:

1. phoscheck retardant drop. Phoscheck is a type of retardant (note the red tint in the retardant drop in this short video.

2. Croatia.

About AT-802F: Part 1

The single engine AT-802F, manufactured by Air Tractor, is widely used both in the United States and globally for wildland fire fighting for retardant and water/foam drops. The 802F is Air Tractor’s fire fighting model, equipped with special equipment adapted for wildland fire fighting, I’ll get to that a little later. There is also an 802, without this special fire fighting equipment, that is used primarily for agricultural use such as crop dusting. Go here for Air Tractor’s page on the AT-802. The “A” suffix added to the end, e.g. AT-802FA or AT-802A means that it is a single seat cockpit. There is an 802 and 802F that come equipped with amphibious gear for landing on water. These models are known as the AT-802 Fire Boss and the AT-802F Fire Boss.

Air Tractor has a web page on the AT-802F . I posted a link to the later page a couple of days ago, so if you have not checked out, check it out now. If for no other reason than to see some spectacular pictures of the 802F and the 802F Fire Boss in action.

I will be writing about the AT-802F (either the single-seat cockpit version or the two-seat cockpit version) as well as the AT-802F “Fire Boss”. These Air Tractor models have what is known as the Air Tractor Fire Retardant Delivery System (FRDS). I refer you to this link for more information on the AT-FRDS II system. I think it is self explanatory. What is notable about the FRDS system (aka the FRDS air tanker door system) is that it is the only SEAT door system that is approved for use by the Interagency Airtanker Board (IAB). All aircraft contracted for use for wildland fire fighting by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and other cooperating federal must meet IAB standards. TL Stein, aviation historian, tells me that

there are other systems available, including home-made systems in use that are not USFS or BLM approved. These other systems may be used by State aircraft or other 802’s not available for a nationwide tanker contract. Generally, the after-market and home made conversions are done on older aircraft where the installation of a FRDS system is not economically feasible or needed.

For a very good and short video of an 802F in action, including shots of the FRDS, check out this youtube video.

updated information (as of January 28, 2010). At the time that I wrote the above, I only knew about one approved SEAT door system approved by the IAB, the FRDS I system. Sometime in the last few months a newer model of the FRDS SEAT door system -- FRDS II -- was put on the market. At the time I wrote the original article, there was information available on the web through Air Tractor (I believe) on the FRDS I gate system that I linked to in February 2009. That link has since expired. With the advent of the FRDS II system I have not been able to find any obvious information on the net about the FRDS I system that is still being used in many AT-802F's (e.g. Queen Bee's). Moreover, I recently found out that there is another computerized SEAT gate system that has preliminary approval by the IAB, known as the Hatfield Gate. I expect to writing about the Hatfield Gate system in early February 2010, so stay tuned.

Air Tractor AT-802

I am going to be writing about a SEAT known as the AT-802F, manufactured by Air Tractor. The AT-802F is widely used in wildland firefighting both in America and internationally. I plan on making at least two and possibly more posts on this aircraft. I think that I have finished my research on the aircraft, but I have to plan out my entries before I write my first entry sometime this weekend.

In the meantime, to learn a little about this aircraft, go here to the manufacturer's website to see some pictures and look at some of their specs.

And for a video of an AT-802 in action, go here.