Reflections on the DC-3 (smokejumpers): part 2 of 2

Among the many types of service (see my May 6th article) that you and your military sisters have done is that of a smokejumper aircraft aka a jump ship. I believe that your first service as a jump ship was around the time that World War II ended. The last of your kind to serve as a jump ship in the United States was retired in 2015. That is about 70 years of service. I believe that it was sometime in the very early 1990s that the last two of you owned by the U.S. Forest Service had your round piston engines removed to be converted to a turbo prop along with other renovations. You were then sometimes referred to as a BT-67 after Basler Turbo Conversions, the company that did the conversion.

I wish that I knew how many of your kind flew for the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management or one of their contractors, but I do not. I think that the numbers may not really matter. What matters is that many of you flew smokejumpers. You served long and well, flying what could be tens of thousands of smokejumpers and their cargo to remote wildfires, mostly in the western U.S. and Canada. That is, many remote wildfires that thanks to you and other jump ships smokejumpers could reach the fire in a matter of hours as opposed to what may have been a day long hike in carrying heavy fire gear and rations.

It is my very great loss that I have not gotten to know you better in your service as a jump ship. Nonetheless, I love you and you have a special place in my heart. While other types of jump ships are flying the smokejumpers, you have a special place in my heart. Thank-you for your service.

In this 2005 video below at about 1:45 you will hear smokejumper Skodt Jones talk about the DC-3.


Direct link to video on Youtube


Direct link to video on Youtube

Smokejumping 101 part 3: More on Smokejumper Aircraft

Here are some videos and or pictures of four smokejumper aircraft. Later this week I'll be back with more in this series

Twin Otter
8 smokejumpers


direct link to video

Casa 212
10 smokejumpers

Practice jump Casa 212


direct link to video

Shorts Sherpa
10 smokejumpers

I believe that the aircraft you are seeing in the video from KQED on the California Smokejumpers that I embed below is a Shorts Sherpa. If the embed code doesn’t work, the direct link should work. I first shared this video in August 2014, but it is approrpriate to share it again.

direct link to video

I shared some links to photos and videos of the Sherpa on February 27, 2015. (I was having trouble with this link, and if it doesn't work just scroll down a bit on the main page of my blog and you should find the post).

Dornier 228
8 smokejumpers
picture from California Smokejumpers Aircraft page (bottom of page)

Smokejumping 101 - part 2: About Smokejumper Aircraft

Just as the Interagency Airtanker Board approves Interagency Airtanker Board (IAB) Multi-engine Tankers, SEATS, Helitankers and Retardant tanks the Smokejumper Aircraft Screening and Evaluation Board (SASEB) evaluates and approves

smokejumper/paracargo aircraft and related accessories, initiatives, proposals and issues. SASEB will provide guidance for standardization, when evaluating new interagency smokejumper/paracargo aircraft and related aircraft accessories (Smokejumper Aircraft Screening and Evaluation Board (SASEB)).

There is a list of SASEB approved aircraft dated 2004 on the Smokejumper Aircraft Screening and Evaluation Board (SASEB) website, but if you click on the 2004 Meeting Approved List the resulting document is dated August 2, 2000. It isn’t quite clear to me if the SASEB approved aircraft list has been revised since that time.

What I do know is that I found a listing of Smokejumper Aircraft 2015 from the National Interagency Coordination Center’s aviation page. Of course, if you are landing here sometime after 2015, I’m not sure what will happen when you click on the link that I gave. Anyway, the listing of smokejumper aircraft that will be used in 2015 includes some useful information. such as the tail number, aircraft type, aircraft identifier and assigned base.

Four types of smokejumper aircraft will be used in 2015: Twin Otter DHC-6, Sherpa, Dornier, and Casa 212. I will write more about these four aircraft types on Friday, March 5.

Looking to the future, Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation has been reporting about 15 Sherpa C-23B aircraft that the U.S. Army is transferring to the U.S. Forest Service, his latest article was written on October 28, 2014. He asked Jennifer Jones, a U.S. Forest Service spokesperson for an update:

As of 9/11/14, a total of 10 C-23B+/SD3-60s have been transferred from the DoD to the U.S. Forest Service and the remainder are scheduled to be transferred within the next few weeks. . . . 

The U.S. Forest Service will locate one aircraft in Ogden, Utah to serve as the prototype aircraft for FAA Civil Certification as an SD3-60 Sherpa and will then conform the rest of the C-23B+ aircraft to that standard. One of the three aircraft located in Redmond, Oregon will be used to complete the Smokejumper Aircraft Screening and Evaluation Board (SASEB) approval process and to develop pilot familiarity and training. The other aircraft will be progressively certified, configured for wildfire suppression missions, and brought into service. 

The U.S. Forest Service expects to begin bringing the aircraft into service incrementally (two to four aircraft per year) beginning in 2016 . . .

For more information on the 15 Sherpa C-23B aircraft read Bill’s October 28, 2014 article. I expect that Bill will continue to report on this as new developments arise so you might check out Fire Aviation every so often.

Stay tuned for my next article in this series where I’ll continue to write about smokejumper aircraft.

Smokejumper Aircraft: Shorts Sherpa C-23A

I  am pretty certain that I embedded a video last August showing the California Smokejumpers from Redding shows the smoke jumpers jumping out of a Shorts Sherpa C23A.  The California Smokejumpers - Redding have an aircraft page where you can learn more about the current aircraft they use (Shorts Sherpa and Dornier (contracted) as well as past aircraft.

The Sherpa 330 is made by the Shorts Brothers in Northern Ireland and is known as a flying wing because of its unique, aerodynamic body shape. The Sherpa has a cruise speed of 160 knots, carries up to 10 jumpers and is jumped from a stand-up position. It has a range of approximately 300 miles and is currently still used at Redding. (California Smokejumpers-Redding about aircraft) 

The Missoula Smokejumpers have a publicly available Facebook page that may be found where their aircraft photo album has a couple of pictures of a Sherpa.

More on McCall Smokejumpers and their aircraft

I shared a great video about the McCall Smokejumpers on January 5th and if you haven't looked at this video (just under seven minutes), I hope that you take the time to look at it. I wanted to dig up some photos of the other smokejumper aircraft, the DH-6 300 series Twin Otter, the Shorts Sherpa C-23, Dornier, and Casa. I have just begun this process and in found a couple of photo galleries from the McCall Smokejumpers with some photos of the Smokejumper aircraft.

I loved the first photo gallery, McCall Smokejumpers 2014 which you may view as a slide show starting with here with the first photo. Included in this wonderful photogallery (please take a few moments to go thru the pictures) you will some pictures of a Twin Otter Smokejumper aircraft. In fact there are several pictures of the Twin Otter through out the gallery.

The McCall Smokejumpers have a photo page which includes an aircraft gallery including photos of Smokejumper aircraft (DC-3T, and the Twin Otter).

Last season for last DC-3 smokejumper aircraft - Jump 15

Earlier today, I read that this is the last season for the last DC-3 smokejumper aircraft, see Bill Gabbert's Fire Aviation Blog (February 22, 2015) and an article (February 21, 2015) from the Missoulian. Here is passage from the Missoulian February 22nd article where I got a sense of how much she is loved by her pilots and passengers.

“It has been flying since my grandpa was in the Army Air Corps,” smokejumper Colby Jackson said as the big plane’s engines howled through a pre-season test run. “He always gets a kick seeing pictures of us with the DC-3. He was stationed with them in Africa, when they were C-47s.” 

Jump-15 (its radio call sign) is the last DC-3 still hauling smokejumpers and backcountry cargo for the U.S. Forest Service. Pilots love her ability to land and launch from tiny forest airstrips, her muscle and endurance. Jumpers love her big exit door and reputation for reliability. With room for 16 parachute-strapped firefighters and all their gear, Jump-15 has twice the capacity of any other jump plane on the runway.

And in the 2005 video below at about marker 1:45 Smokejumper Skodt Jones talks about one of the DC-3 smokejumper aircraft (not sure which one). Jump 15's sister, Jump 42 retired a couple of years ago. I wrote about the DC-3 Smokejumper Airplanes on December 31, 2010.

direct link to video

Jump 15, I have never had the privilege of meeting you in person. I know that you are loved. You have served long as well as a smokejump aircraft. I wish that I knew how many missions you flew and where. You are almost 70 years old, wow. I wasn't born yet. A lot of us weren't born yet. You are a special lady, the last one of your kind flying as a smokejumper aircraft. I wish you, your pilots, and your smokejumpers in this your last season. Be safe.