2026 Wildfire Season: Aeroflite Tankers on Contract in Washington

 

As we are in to spring and early summer wildfire season, I do try to follow, as I can, where Airtankers are currently based. I saw this post from AeroFlite Aerial Firefighting on Facebook a week ago. I believe but am not 100 percent certain that at least one of the airtankers they are referring to are Dash 8-400 AT airtankers

I am glad to see that these two AeroFlite airankers were based in Washington week ago, I hope they are still there.

Direct link to May 26th Facebook post from AeroFlite Aerial Firefighting on Facebook

A look at the Global Supertanker T-944

In the "so what else is new category" we had a few inches of snow yesterday with more unsettled weather forecast for this week. I do have help with driveway plowing and shoveling, for that I am eternally very grateful, they are the salt of the earth and take good care of us in the winter and doing the lawn and other landscaping in the warm season. Still, there is shoveling that I do, so I did some earlier this morning and again this afternoon and will a little more this evening. Then there is the more mundane activity of going to the super market for my curbside grocery order. 

At times like this, I am glad that I have some airtanker videos saved so I perused what I had to find something interesting to share today and came up with a couple of videos about the Global Supertanker 747 T-944. According the Supertanker's technology overview she can drop 19,200 gallons at a drop height of 200 to 300 feet at a drop speed of 150 knots. Those of you who are interested in more details about the Supertanker will want to take a little time to look at the Supertanker's technology overview. Other information about her mission profile, a drop comparison chart the aforementioned  technology overview, and a short video where you may see her tank system up close and personal may be found on Global Supertanker's Technology page. Through 2020, she has flown missions in Israel, Chile, Bolivia, California, and Oregon. I am not quite sure where she is now.

Enjoy the videos.

Direct link to video uploaded by Simple Flying

Direct link to video uploaded from Airboyd

B747-400 Supertanker (May 2019)

I have known about the Global Supertanker's B747-400 Supertanker, capable of carrying about 18,600 gallons of retardant (perhaps up to 19,200 gallons). She can also carry gel, water or foam. Global Supertanker has a nice page that may be found here where you can learn more about the Supertanker can do. I have only written about the 747 Supertanker on one previous occasion in January 2017 when the 747 Supertanker was deployed to Chile to work a major wildfire. Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today and Fire Aviation was embedded with the Suipertanker crew at that time and has written extensively about the 747 Supertanker (Bill's posts tagged Global Supertanker may be found at this link). In addition to Chile the 747 Supertanker flew has flown wildfires in California and Oregon. She may have had contracts to fly fires in other places that I do not know about.

At the time that I am writing this article, Global Supertanker has only one 747 Supertanker.

I was inspired to write this article thanks to an article with videos and a photo gallery from KATU that Mike Archer shared in a recent Wildfire News of the Day Newsletter.

The actual KATU (Oregon) article about the 747 Supertanker is a short piece that you can read quickly. However, the meat of this piece is in two videos about the 747 Supertanker that I am sharing below and a great photo gallery featuring the 747 Supertanker by KATU Photojournalist Rick Peavyhouse. There is no embed code, so you will have to the KATU article to watch the two videos, they are worth watching so I hope you take this opportunity to watch the two videos (allow five minutes).

Here is a July 2018 video from KPIX in the San Francisco Bay Area of California featuring the 747 SuperTanker.


Direct link to video from KPIX

Tankers don't always carry full loads

I want to briefly mention something that I will spend more time writing about later after I have had a chance to do some research as well as talking to my aviator friends. That is, more often than not, tankers and helos will not carry a full load of retardant or water in their tanks due to aeronautical concerns. So, when the reports are saying that the Martin Mars can carry 7,200 gallons of water/gel mixture or that the Evergreen 747 supertanker can carry 20,500 gallons of retardant, they will carry these loads under "ideal" circumstances. The word "ideal" may be a misnomer, but it will have to suffice for now.

So, the Martin Mars was, as Bill Gabbert pointed out the other day, was carrying a smaller load of water (about 4,600 to 5,500 gallons). Chances are the Evergreen 747 supertanker was carrying a smaller load of retardant. Those of you who are aviators, or firefighters more familiar with aeronautics than I will know that one of the main reasons that tankers (and I assume helos) carry a lower load is because of something called density altitude. I will be writing some articles later about density altitude. I had begun discussions with some of my fire aviator friends several weeks ago about points such as density altitude and retardant coverage levels. I am beginning to revisit these issues.

One final point, while I am on the subject. When the Fox newscasters were covering the other day about the Evergreen 747 supertanker's retardant drops, one of them said that the supertanker could lay down a retardant line 3 miles long. This was also under "ideal" conditions and when the load is dropped in one run. I will add here that they were reading from specifications and other data on the supertanker, as they should. Having read specs myself, what I have to remember is to read words like "maximum" or the data sheet might say something like "the supertanker can drop a retardant line up to three miles long." Point being that I have to remember to think about these words as I listen to newscasts or read articles online.

Returning back to retardant line laid by the Evergreen 747 supertanker, the supertanker split the load into two runs, as all tankers are able to do. Likewise, at full capacity and under ideal conditions, the Martin Mars can cover 4 acres with its water/gel mix. If I understand things correctly, each water/gel load dropped by the Martin Mars covered less than 4 acres. Again, in later articles, I will try to write more about this issue.

I will also be writing about other aerodynamic issues relating to retardant and water drops. In some sense this planned series of articles will be a continuation of the short series of articles I wrote several weeks ago on wing stalls as relates to retardant drops. I won't link to this here, but if you look at the labels on the lower left side of this page, you will see a label that says "aerodynamics." If you click on that label you will get all my posts on aerodynamics to date, including posts on wing stalls.

Look for this series down the road a bit.

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.

DC-10 tanker: videos

For another good video, see this youtube video, and be sure to read the explanation of the video.

DC-10 Tankers: Tanker 910 history and specs

The first of the Very Large Airtankers (VLAT) put in service is tanker 910, first seeing service on a call when needed (CWN) contract with CAL FIRE in 2006 where it flew retardant drop missions on fires in southern California and one fire in Washington State. Tanker 910 is one of the DC-10 family of passenger jets. The first DC-10, designed and built by the Douglas Aircraft Company of Long Beach, CA, now the Long Beach Division of Boeing Commercial Airlines.

Starting in 2007, tanker 910 is under an exclusive use contract with CAL FIRE from June 15 through October 15.

Tanker 910 was modified and tested over four years by 10 Tanker Air Carrier with mostly private investment capital. Three external retardant tanks are mounted along the bottom center of the aircraft, capable of holding 12,000 gallons of retardant (50 tons!) capable of dropping a line of retardant in about eight seconds. Typical drop height is 500 ft. above ground level at about 170 mph. A crew of three -- pilot, co-pilot, and flight engineer -- flies the plane working with a lead plane when drops are made. They are not as maneuverable as CAL FIRE’s S-2T working on ridge tops or flat lands. But as they carry 12,000 gallons of retardant to the S-2T’s 1,200 gallons, one of the advantages of the DC-10 is that they can save the S-2T’s for initial attack.

See this page for more specs and technical information on the aircraft. CAL FIRE’s DC-10 tanker fact sheet (requires a pdf viewer) may be found here. Wikipedia’s article on tanker 910 may be found here.

10 Tanker Air Carrier now has a second DC-10 tanker, tanker 911 that was available earlier this year for fire fighting duty. It saw service in the recent Jesusita fire.

My next post: more pictures and video of the DC-10 tankers.

Very Large Airtankers

The last group of air tankers that I am writing about are known as the very large airtankers (VLAT). These are DC-10’s and 747’s. There are two DC-10’s (tanker 910 and tanker 911) and one 747 (tanker 947). All three saw service as commercial passenger jets before being modified for service as very large airtankers. The two DC-10 tankers can drop 12,000 gallons of retardant and tanker 947 can drop 20,500 gallons of retardant. I will be making one or two posts on each, starting with the DC-10 tankers.

copyright 2009 K. Tyler Miller