Temporary Air Control Tower at McClellan AAB

Thanks to Mike Archer for his daily Wildfire News of the Day e-mail where I learned in his WNOTD e-mail yesterday, October 11th) about a temporary Air Control Tower that is in operation at McClellan Air Attack base. Ordinarily McClellan has no tower and the pilots talk to each other as they are arriving, taxiing on the ground, and then departing. However, with twelve Airtankers working the various northern California wildfires out of McClellan, the air and ground space was a little busy so CAL FIRE called Tower Tech for help. Learn about Tower Tech in this report with video from CBS News Sacramento. Unfortunately, I am unable to get the embed code provided by CBS News Sacramento to work, so I hope that you take about three minutes to go and watch the video.

Titus Gall, CEO of Tower Tech spoke with CBS Sacramento:

'The traffic becomes a little bit too complicated,' said Titus Gall, President and CEO of Tower Tech, Inc. . . . 

'Everything that uses this airport is now talking to these guys,' Gall said, referring to the two-man team running the traffic control. 

Typically, there is no air traffic control team at McClellan and the pilots simply communicate with each other when they need to land and depart. 

The Tower Tech team is scheduling 12 air tankers on a loop, loading fire retardant, making drops and coming back to load up again. But the guys are also handling private planes here on business. 

Tankers reloading at Redding Air Attack Base (2015)

Time to stand by the fence and watch tankers reloading at Redding Air Attack Base in July 2015. Thanks to John Lord for the great video allowing us to watch along with him. Enjoy!


Direct link to video from John Lord

Thank-you air attack base ground crews

Please take a few moments to watch a video from KPAX in Missoula Montana (July 5, 2012) reporting on ground operations at a Montana tanker base during a wildfire last July.

A couple of days ago, one of my friends sent me a link to a very nice article from the Billings Gazette (July 8, 2012) about the tanker base in Billings Montana. At that time, there were two Convair 580s and their bird dogs (aerial supervision planes) from Canada and at least one Lockheed P2V tanker at the Billings Air Attack Base. Before I go on, I hope that you take a few moments and read the July 8 article from the Billings Gazette because you will get an insight into what goes on at a tanker base. Here is another article from the TimesCall in CO, dated June 11 of this year as the High Park Fire was burning in Colorado.

I am reminded that tankers can not fly with out the help of the crews at air attack bases such as the bases at Billings Montana or Broomfield Colorado. Aircraft maintenance, as necessary, is done at the bases during the overnight and perhaps between flights. Aircraft are refueled. When the dispatch order comes in, the pilots perform their preflight checks, and retardant is loaded. All this happens with the help and support of various ground crews and the tanker base manager.

For all of you who are working on the ground at various air attack bases in support of aerial wildland firefighting activities, a big thank-you. I know you are there.

Speaking of Montana, as I write this, I know that there are a few wildfires currently burning in Montana, including but not limited to the Sarpy Hills Complex Fires and the Rosebud Complex Fires. I am not in a position at this time to speak with certainty about aircraft that are currently working the wildfires in Montana, but I suspect that there are tankers and helos at bases in or near Montana ready to fly fires when the calls comes in. And when the call comes in, the ground crews at the tanker bases will work as a team to get the tankers, lead planes, bird dogs for any Convair 580s and helos up and flying within five to ten minutes.

Airtankers at tanker base in Austin TX Oct 3, 2011

About a month ago a friend told me about the great video done by KVUE in Texas. I've been meaning to embed the video to share with all of you for awhile. One thing lead to another and to be honest I forgot about this particular video until I was going through some of my notes just now. So, I want to share this video with you. You will see both tankers, lead planes, and I believe that you may also see a CV-580 and her birddog (from Conair, our friends in Canada). I think, but am not certain, that many of these planes may no longer be in Texas.

Enjoy!

Tanker Ops at Jeffco tanker base in CO

Forgive me if this is a rerun, I thought that you might enjoy this video of operations at the Jeffco tanker base in Colorado.

Memories: Hemet-Ryan AAB 1964-1971

I'd like to thank TL Stein for his permission to post this video. The video is in memory of his Dad, Chief Thomas W. Stein. Chief Stein shot the footage over the course of seven years (1964-1971) during his career with the California Department of Forestry. TL Stein shares his feelings about this video:

When aerial firefighting started out, it was an entirely new concept and science.  For 30 years, people had experimented with various ideas until what we know as the "retardant tank" was made the solution.
 
What is seen in the video, is basically the way it was in it's first 10 years of life.  The planes, the people...pioneers with an idea and a concept.  I'm proud my father was a part of this history and this is the major reason it's important to me to be sure it is documented as best I can.

Plan on spending about 12 minutes to watch the video, you will see some vintage air tankers and get a feel for what life was like at an air attack base in the late 1960s. History helps to form the present. To appreciate what air tanker and helicopter pilots did 45 years ago is to appreciate what they do today. 

Enjoy!

Life at Paso Robles Air Attack Base (1993)

I found this video, shot at Paso Robles Air Attack Base (CA,) on youtube several weeks ago. Not only did I enjoy seeing some now retired air tankers in action (e.g. tanker 127, PB4Y2), but I enjoyed the glimpse into life at an air attack base. You will also see tankers being loaded with retardant, including a loading error, and a couple of retardant drops.

I asked one of my air tanker pilot friends to id the aircraft in the video (in order of appearance):

Aero Union tanker #03, P2V Neptune
Cessna O-2, CalFire Air Attack #340
PB4Y-2, Hawkins and Powers tanker #127 (Silver 4 engine)
P-3, Aero Union tanker #22
DC-4, Aero Union. tanker #15 (mixmaster clip)

Enjoy!

And speaking of tankers/crew

I was going to start a new series today on temporary flight restrictions and fire traffic areas, but I need a couple more days to finish my research. In the meantime, I just found this video on youtube. I think it sort of fits in with the post I made two days ago.

underneath H-301

Thanks to TL Stein and a friend from Ryan AAB, I have the following description of what is underneath H-301:

We start at the top of the image. On either side, you can see the floor windows and the observation mirrors that look back at the tank and snorkel, and the PA - Siren speakers.  On the far left, just below the step, is the filler coupling where the tank is refilled on the ground using either a fire truck or a hydrant should there be no water sources to snorkle from.  On the outsides of the tank, just inside the skid supports, are the hydraulic actuators that open and close the tank doors.  Inside the triangle looking fixtures, are where the pivot arms attach to both the actuators and tank door gear box. You'll notice that one tank door is open, this is to keep the inside of the tank dry when not in use.  In the center of the tank, you can see the fittings and snorkel hose as it's folded back under the helicopter. The two smaller black hoses are the hydraulic lines that power the pump on the end of the snorkel. The hydraulic power is provided by a small unit that is mounted inside the crew area, behind the pilot and co-pilot.  The item hanging down (painted red) that looks like it has a golf ball on the end of it, is part of the WSPS (Wire Strike Protection System).  There is a WSPS installed on the top as well.  It's purpose is to cut any power line or cable that the aircraft may accidentally fly into.  Also, you can see a small cable that exits the aircraft and angles down to the tank (starts at the top of the "3".  This is the manual emergency release for the tank, in the event of a hydraulic failure.  All the pilot needs to do in this event, is pull a T-handle on the floor of the cockpit and it open both doors, dropping all the contents of the tank.  Usually, in the event of a failure, the doors can only be closed on the ground so in typical operation, the tank would be removed and a bucket will be used.

For more information about the WSPS go here. This page includes information about the WSPS along with other flight performace issues of helicopters. You will need to do some scrolling to get to the section on the WSPS.

Thanks to my friend at Ryan, I have some clarification on if H-301 can be used for bucket operations. The answer is that if the fixed tank is not operational for some reason, the fixed tank can be removed and a 324 gallon bambi bucket can then be used.

Correction: H-301 tank size

I have a minor correction. The fixed tank on H-301 is 360 gallons, not 325 gallons. I believe that the buckets on CALFIRE helicopters have a capacity of around 325 gallons. I have updateded yesterdays post to reflect the correct fixed tank size on H-301.

Thanks to my friend at Ryan for pointing this out.

CAL FIRE's helitack

I'd like to thank TL Stein for a photo of one of CAL FIRE's helitack helicopters, H-301, based at Hemet-Ryan Helitack Base. CAL FIRE has a fleet of nine helicopters positioned around the state, in addition, I think that they also have a couple that are maintained as emergency aircraft.

I believe that two CAL FIRE helicopters have belly tanks. One of the copters with a belly tank is H-301 and the other is based at Bear Valley. My friend at Ryan tells me that H-301 has a 360 gallon fixed tank on its belly. I don't know if the copter at Bear Valley has a 360 gallon tank. I am pretty certain that both H-301 and the copter at Bear Valley have foam tanks for class A foam.

Go here for a pictorial overview of Ryan's helitack operations, take time to check out the links! I will be writing in some more detail about helitack operations in a couple of weeks.

Note: I revised and corrected this post. I had misidentified H-301 as a helitanker. It is not a helitanker. Helitankers are heavy, large helicopters such as the Erickson Aircrane that I will be writing about next week.

S-2T: Retardant loading at Ryan AAB

Loading retardant onto the S-2 is a reasonably simple process. The yellow hoses in the photo are called pit supply lines, running from the storage tank to a high capacity, high volume pump. Each storage tank has it’s own pump. TL Stein tells me that “as the pump pulls the retardant from the storage tank it sends it into the pit supply line.” Once the pit supply is fully charged, the black loadout hose (see picture) is connected to the hot load at the tail end of the aircraft (see photo). The gate valve at the end of the load-out hose is gradually opened allowing the retardant to flow into the tank on the aircraft.

He explains how they know when the tank is full:

On some of the S-2T’s, there are a series of loading lights on the right side of the aircraft that light up to indicate how full the tank is getting. On others a mass flow meter is watched to indicate how much retardant has been pumped into the aircraft. As the aircraft fills, it will tend to settle due to the addition of weight and the tail will drop about six to eight inches. This settling action is not slow, but a rapid drop and signals the loader that the aircraft is getting close to full. When this happens, the loader will close the gate valve about halfway until either the full light lights up or the mass flow meter reads the desired amount of retardant has been pumped into the aircraft.

After the aircraft has been filled, the gate valve on the loadout is closed and the hose is disconnected from the aircraft. The ground crew leaves the area, and the plane is ready for take off.

Take a look at the annotated close-up of one of the panels in the cockpit. I will be talking more about the controls on this panel in my next post. On the top right, is a switch labeled “open - closed control for tank backflow valve.” This valve, also known as a flapper valve sits between the retardant tank and the hot load. To put it simply, the flapper valve seals the system. It serves three important purposes: (1) the valve is open when retardant is being loaded into the tank (2) when closed, prevents retardant in the tank from flowing back to the rear of the plane to the fill point, and (3) is left open when the retardant tank is washed out at the end of the season or when maintenance is necessary (more on this in a later post).

Recall from the post on S-2T specifications that the S-2T holds 1,200 gallons of retardant. There are times when the retardant tank will not be filled to capacity. One of these times is when it is very, very hot outside. TL Stein tells me that Ryan sits in a large basin, and when it is hot, it is very, very hot at Ryan. During times like this, the air density is lower. And when the air density is low, heavy airplanes do not fly very well. So, on a really hot day, the weight of the air tanker needs to be lightened. So, less retardant will be put in the tank on the S-2T. Retardant weighs about 8.5 pounds a gallon. Filling the tank with 1,000 gallons of retardant instead of 1,200 gallons saves 1,700 pounds. Lowering the weight of the air tanker by 1,700 pounds on a really hot day, according to TL Stein, makes a huge difference!

Still to come in this series of posts on the S-2T are (1) the retardant drop; (2) videos of the S-2T making retardant drops, and (3) cleaning out the retardant tank at the end of the season.

Retardant at Ryan AAB and S-2's

In today’s post I am going to be writing about retardant mixing at Ryan Air Attack Base (AAB). This is possible because I have learned about retardant mixing operations at Ryan AAB from TL Stein. Moreover, Ryan has an S-2 air tanker. This provides me with a unique opportunity to link mixing retardant with a specific type of air tanker. In addition, unlike Ramona AAB which uses a mobile mixing system, Ryan AAB has a permanent mixing system. Ramona, the oldest AAB, uses a (mobile) mixing trailer because they have little room for expansion. Ryan like many other larger AAB’s use permanent mixing facilities.

Ryan Air Attack was first used as an air attack base by the USDA Forest Service in 1957 and the California Dept. of Forestry (CDF) started air attack operations at Ryan in 1959, making Ryan the first joint air attack base in the U.S. In the 1960s a permanent retardant mixing system was installed and shared by both the USDA Forest Service and the CDF (now known as CAL FIRE). In 1998 the USDA Forest Service moved their air attack base to the San Bernardino International Airport.

Thanks to TL Stein -- who made a short video on retardant mixing operations, took some photographs and gave me an excellent write up of retardant mixing at Ryan -- I am in a position to make this blog entry. The video is included in this post. After you watch this short video, I hope that you will have a good idea of how retardant mixing at Ryan works.



In addition to the video, I am including a couple of TL Stein’s photos. One is a photo of an eductor assembly at Ryan where the water and retardant pipes are labeled. As you will learn in the video, as water flows through the eductor, it creates suction in the retardant pipe. Retardant is therefore drawn into the eductor. The powdered retardant mixes with water at the point (see the photo) where the water and retardant pipes come together. From there it goes into a storage tank. The second picture is of the retardant mix control panel where the mixing operation and flow of mixed retardant to the various storage tanks on the base.

In my next post, I will write a little more about the process of loading the retardant mixture onto the S-2 and share some of TL Stein’s up close and personal photos of the S-2.