No PSOB for contract pilots and crew

Up until fairly recently, I only had a vague notion that the families of police officers, fireman, and other public safety officers who died in the line of duty received death benefits. Further after receiving the lump sum death benefits under the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program (PSOB) (current benefit is $303,064), spouses and children are eligible for educational assistance under the Public Safety Officers’ Educational Assistance Program. Finally public safety officers’ who receive injuries in the line of duty that result in permanent and total disability are eligible for disability benefits under the PSOB program.

The PSOB program and its benefits, as described in this document, can not take away the pain that comes with the death of a loved one in the line of duty. It can not take away the physical and emotional pain that comes with a permanent disability. But these monetary benefits can take away some of the sting. With these benefits comes acknowledgement as well as financial benefits.

But there is a catch, one group of firefighters who do not receive PSOB benefits: those who work under contract to public firefighting agencies and are not employees of federal, state, or local (public) agencies involved with wildland fire management and suppression. As I understand it, the Bureau of Justice Assistance within the U.S. Department of Justice, the agency that administers the PSOB program, has ruled that air tanker pilots and crew are not eligible for benefits under the PSOB program because they are contractors and are not direct employees of federal, state, and local (public) wildland fire fighting agencies.

In 2007 two U.S. Senators, Enzi (R-WYO) and Feinstein (D-CA) introduced the Aerial Firefighter Relief Act of 2007 that would of provided benefits under the PSOB program to aerial firefighters (pilots and crew) working under contract for public agencies and suffer death or disability. Similar legislation was introduced at the same time in the House of Representatives. For more information on this attempted legislation see this newspaper article and Sen. Feinstein’s press release about the legislation. To the best of my knowledge, this legislation was not passed.

For years, organizations involved with aerial firefighters, including but not limited to the California Fire Pilots Association and the Associated Airtanker Pilots have been trying to get PSOB Program benefits for aerial firefighters. To date their efforts have not been successful.

To the best of my knowledge, no aerial fire fighters dying in the line of duty have received Public Safety Officer Benefits. Aerial firefighters and other contract public safety officers deserve the same benefits as policeman, firefighters, and other public safety officers. All I can say is that I think it is wholly unacceptable that aerial fire fighters and other contract public safety officers are not eligible for PSOB Program benefits. As I say this, my words feel wholly inadequate.

What these aerial firefighters, male and female, do is very dangerous, and many have died. To read about the stories of the experiences of the families of a couple of air tanker pilots who died in the line of duty, read this 2002 msnbc report. I point you to this report so that you may read about the experiences of these affected families. The experiences of the families are still relevant, but the various State level politics that msnbc reports on may be dated. See also this 2004 testimony of an air tanker pilot widow before Congress.

I hope that this changes and there may be hope on the horizon. You may recall that I wrote here about the tanker 09 crash killing the pilot and crew. Tanker 09 was flying a CAL FIRE fire when they crashed. The Chief of CAL FIRE, Del Waters, has signed the PSOB applications of the tanker 09 families. Good for him. See this thread on the Associated Airtanker Pilots website for more information. There is hope that this will mean that the Dept. of Justice will approve the tanker 09 PSOB applications. Time will tell. We can only hope.

Nor have I forgotten about the families of tanker 42 that crashed in late April of this year while on a firefighting mission resulting in the death of the pilot and crew. They too deserve PSOB Program benefits.

more helitack posts to come

I have three more posts that I plan to make on helitack.

1. CAL FIRE helitack
2. helitack, State of Nevada
3. heli-rappelling

I plan to continue with these helitack posts tomorrow so stay tuned.

From a 2007 Zion helitack crew member

Women are helitack crew members too!

Helitack crew member training

Wildland firefighting, including helitack, requires a high (or arduous) level of physical fitness. So, prior to the start of crew assignments for the upcoming fire season helitack crew, like other ground fire fighting crew members, have to pass what is known as a pack test (also known as a work capacity test). The specific work capacity test depends on what level of physical conditioning is required for the specific fire fighting job and must be passed annually. The helitack requires an arduous level of physical fitness with the associated required work capacity test being a three mile hike on level ground carrying a 45 pound pack in 45 minutes or less. For more information on the pack test and other work capacity tests see this document.

Physical fitness training does not stop with the pack test, but continues throughout the season as does related firefighting skills training. One example of ongoing firefighting skills and physical fitness training may be found on this webpage of the Coeur d’Alene Helitack Crew (Idaho Department of Lands). Another example of skills training is shown in the above embedded video. Finally, the Zion helitack crew maintains an “unofficial” blog . They write about the two week training period that takes place at the beginning of their season in these blog entries:

May 13, 2009: Week 1 train-up
May 16, 2009: Week 1 photos
May 24, 2009: Week 2 photos

To my friends in America, happy fourth of july!

update on De Luz fire (CA-RRU-De Luz)

The folk at wildlandfire have a new thread with more updates, including a link to a video report on the fire from this morning.

For your convenience, this is the link to the video.

helicopters working fire in CA

This is a link to a short video of a fixed tank helicopter and a helicopter and bucket working a fire (CA-RRU-De Luz)in the De Luz area in Temecula, California.

This fire was first reported on July 2. See this link from the wildlandfire initial attack hotlist forum. And for more recent posts about the fire, here is a post to this same thread, in its entirety.

About helitack

I spent a couple of hours the other day watching a wide assortment of videos about helitack operations, mostly on youtube. I learned a lot about what helitack means through these videos. I will be including some of these videos in this post as well as my upcoming posts.

In composing my upcoming posts on helitack I will rely less on the written word and more on videos, pictures, and other internet resources.

I don't know about you, but I think that one picture or video is worth a thousand words. Enjoy this video, "Craigmont helitack 2007".

Intro to helitack

What is helitack? I looked at a couple of sources, the Interagency Standards for Fire and Aviation Operations Guide aka Red Book (chapter 16 on aviation), the Interagency Helicopter Operations Guide (glossary), to name a couple, to see how helitack was defined. The result is this definition:

Helitack: helicopter attack. The use of helicopters to transport crews, equipment, and fire retardants or suppressants (class A foam) to the fireline during initial attack. The term also refers to the crew that performs helicopter management and attack activities. Helitack crews may also be used in “all risk” activities such as search and rescue, law enforcement and medical transportation.

I have already written about the role helicopters play in initial attack with foam/water drops, either by fixed tank helicopters or helicopters with bambi buckets. The Erickson AirCrane is an example of the role of retardant carrying helitankers in extended attack. I want to spend a little time talking about the role helicopters play in transporting crews (aka helitack crews) and equipment to fires.

Where federal agencies are concerned, helitack crew size varies by agency. The National Park Service and the US Forest Services sets their crew size regionally while the minimum Bureau of Land Management (BLM) crew size for exclusive use contracts is seven (supervisor, assistant, squad leader, and four temporaries).

As for State agencies, I believe that California has nine helitack crews at various locations through out the State -- including one based at Ryan-Hemet Air Attack base -- with ten crew members each (not including the pilot). See this CAL FIRE document for more information. Idaho (Idaho Department of Lands) has a helitack crew with 7 to 9 crew members based in Coeur D’ Alene Air Terminal in Hayden, Idaho.

I am still working out the other posts that I will be making in this series on helitack. But, please stay tuned for more.

Regarding the video that I embedded, it is a two minute highlight reel of the Fort Howes 2005 helitack season. I went searching for Fort Howes helitack on the internet. According to this post, the equipment and crew of this helitack base may have moved to Miles City, MT in 2007.

Note: At the time of this posting, the links that I provided for the Red Book and the Interagency Helicopter Operations Guide, both at nifc.gov, were down. But they did work earlier today.

References:

Redbook (2009) Chapter 16: Aviation Operations, accessed on June 30, 2009 from http://www.nifc.gov/policies/red_book.htm
Interagency Helicopter Operations Guide (2006), Glossary, accessed on June 30 2009 from http://www.nifc.gov/ihog/

What Air Attack does

For the last few months I have been writing different types of air tankers and helicopters in the arsenal of air attack fire fighting resources (aka air attack) used by State and Federal agencies here in America. I have talked about retardants and class A foams used by these air tankers and helicopters to retard or suppress flames. But what is it exactly that air tankers and helicopters do? Yes, they drop retardants and suppressants (water/foam mix). But they do more, aerial fire fighting resources and the people who fly them as well as those who provide support operations do what they do to support the crews on the ground who work to contain, control, and mop-up wildland fires. Or to put it another way, air attack (air tankers and helicopters) supplements ground crews and slows the fire until the ground crews can get to it. In what is known as extended attack on a fire, you will have both ground crews and air attack working a fire.

Tl Stein offers these observations:

In an ideal situation, both entities (air attack and ground crews) work as a team to bring a fire under control. 97% of the fires that aircraft are used on, ARE put out by the crews on the ground.  We just give assistance, that's all.  That is our purpose, that is our focus and that is our goal.  Initial attack is the key to keeping potentially huge fires small, therefore, the quicker we can get retardant in front of the fire, the quicker and more efficient the crews on the ground can do their job.

The other 3% fall into those fires that are most likely lightening caused, 20 miles from the nearest road, inaccessible terrain and no chance of dropping a helitack crew....much less smoke jumpers.  The theory being, surround the active fire with retardant and/or drop massive amounts of water via helitanker, then sit and watch it for a day or two.  One or two more drops of water to kill any rekindle after that.

I am going to write a series of articles in two broad parts. Part 1, if you will, focuses on two aspects of what I call the intersection of aviation resources and ground crews: helitack aka helicopter attack and the smoke jumper program. One aspect of helitack is using helicopters to deliver specially trained fire fighters, often working with other ground crews, to work a wildfire. As their name implies, smoke jumpers parachute in with equipment to help contain a fire.

In part 2, I will write a little about what ground crews do, relying heavily on various resources from the internet.

So stay tuned. In my next article, I will write an introduction to helitack.

header image and other photos

I'd like to thank J. Laval for granting me permission to use his photo in my blog header. The CAL FIRE Pilot's Association has a gallery page with links to a photo gallery, video gallery, as well as specifications for the S2-T air tanker and the OV-10 Bronco air attack/lead (observation) plane.

The image that I am using in my blog header may also be found in the photo gallery page referenced above.

There are some awesome pictures and videos in this gallery, take a few moments to check them out.

Changes to blog layout and other things

Yes, I have made some changes to the appearance of my blog, including changing the title, blog description, my profile, and revisions to the links section to reflect the focus on aerial wildland firefighting.

Last night I spent time teaching myself how to place photos at the top of my blog and in the process of doing so, you may have seen a photo. All photos, including one that was accidently up for a few hours, have been taken down. I am working on getting a photo that I will then put at the top of page (with appropriate attribution). So, while I am working out the details, there will not a photo at the top of my blog.

Thank-you for your patience.

Spartan C-27J

The Spartan C-27 (shown above flying in a 2007 airshow) was on display at the recent Paris Air Show (June 2009), see this video to see what this aircraft can do, with narration (that includes some technical details) in both English and French.

For more information on this aircraft you might want to read this short article.

This aircraft has generated some interest for its great possibilities in aerial firefighting. However, any uses in aerial firefighting probably won't happen anytime soon. As I understand it, the aircraft is currently being produced for military use only.

The military use of these planes may preclude their use for aerial fire fighting. Moreover, the current MAFFS units are designed only for the C-130 so modifications to either the MAFFS unit and/or the airframe would be required for the C-27.

Even if the C-27 was available for non-military use, the price tag of a new plane is too costly for aerial fire fighting budgets. Obviously, I am not in the position to know specifics, but using a 2007 Dept. of Defense contract as a guide, the cost comes in at about $25 million each. I used figures referenced of $2 billion over 5 years for 78 planes referenced here.

Nonetheless, the C-27 puts in an awesome performance in the video from the 2009 Paris Air Show, it is worth looking at.

Erickson AirCrane: retardant and water/faom drops

Fixed-tank helicopters such as the AirCrane use Phos-Check 259F retardant, requiring that a mobile retardant base be set up near the incident. This happens on a regular basis with large fires. The video that I have embedded here shows an AirCrane using a dip tank to fill its fixed tank with retardant.

Being that the AirCrane can be used for retardant drops as well as water/foam drops, I asked Kenny Chapman when AirCrane is used for retardant drops in the U.S.:


Once the Crane is hauling retardant it is utilized the same as an airtanker. (Building retardant line ahead of the fire.) It can also switch back and forth between retardant, water and foam as needed. Retardant is not used in the initial attack role unless the helicopter is sent to a new fire directly from an existing incident that has a retardant plant set up already.

I asked him if there was ever a situation where a mobile retardant base was established where an AirCrane was working an existing fire and a “new” fire popped up near the mobile retardant plant. With a mobile retardant plant already set up near a “new” fire, was the AirCrane used to haul retardant in “initial attack.” He said:

I remember one that I did on a fire out of Santa Ynez around 2003 or so. Someone was smoking in fire camp and started a fire at the camp at exactly the time I was picking up a load. I was able to contain the new start with one load.

AirCranes carrying water/foam are frequently used in initial attack. The AirCrane has a separate foam tank, so after the pilot has filled the main tank with water he can decide whether or not to inject foam into the tank (already filled with water) based on the wants/needs/requirements of the incident commander.

Because the tank on the AirCrane does not have to be rinsed or otherwise cleaned out between retardant and water/foam drops, the AirCrane can go from flying initial attack with water/foam to flying extended attack with retardant once a mobile retardant base is set up near the incident.

How to fly a helicopter

I have what I believe will be one more post to make in my series of posts about the Erickson AirCrane. Today got a little complicated and I am trying to do some fact checking before making that last post. So, stay tuned, it will come, I promise. In the meantime. . .

As a part of my background reading and research on helicopters, I was checking around on the internet for materials on how to fly helicopters. Now, I also happen to now someone who is a helicopter pilot, George. George does not fly firefighting helicopters, and he is a wonderful teacher and mentor. He knows his stuff.

Anyway, George has been helping me learn about helicopter flight performance. In the course of my e-mails with George, I sent him some of the materials that I found on the internet about flying helicopters. I asked him which one was the best of the group of four or five that I sent him. He said that the best is the youtube video that I have embedded below.

Thank-you George!

Erickson AirCrane: firefighting module

If you go to Erickson’s firefighting page, you will notice a “quick specs” link at the top where you will find this information on the AirCrane’s firefighting module:

Our patented ram scoop hydrofoil allows the Helitanker to refill from fresh water and sea water sources in less than 45 seconds.

A flexible hose snorkel features a high pressure impeller and can draw water from any water source 18 inches (45 cm) or deeper as fast as 45 seconds.

The 2,650 gallon (~10,000 litre) tank drops water, retardant, or foam mix. Microprocessor controlled tank doors offer eight individual coverage level options.

accessed on June 17, 2009

The coverage levels referred to above may be selected by the AirCrane pilot. They are:

1 = 1 gallon per 100 square feet
2 = 2 gallons per 100 square feet
3 = 3 gallons per 100 square feet
4 = 4 gallons per 100 square feet
5 = 5 gallons per 100 square feet
6 = 6 gallons per 100 square feet
7 = 7 gallons per 100 square feet
8 = 8 gallons per 100 square feet

Erickson AirCrane: A versitile helicopter

Before writing a little more about the AirCrane's fire fighting abilities in my next post, I thought that this video clip will serve as a nice follow-up to Kenny Chapman's interview. You will some nice footage about some of the other things the AirCrane can do such as construction, rescue, a spray nozzle, etc.


This same video, embedded from YouTube, may also be accessed from Erickson's firefighting webpage through the video link (1st video on the left).

Erickson AirCrane: Kenny Chapman interview with Aero News

This is an interview by Aero News network with Kenny Chapman, Sr. firefighting pilot with Erickson AirCrane. He has been with Erickson since 1979. The best way to learn about the firefighting abilities of the AirCrane is to listen to what Kenny has to say in this 9 minute video. And while you are at it go to the youtube page and read all the commentary (click more info) in the grey box at the top right hand side of the screen.

I need to add that I have been in touch with Kenny Chapman over e-mail. I have learned a lot from Kenny about the AirCrane. Thank-you Kenny!

Stay tuned for more on the AirCrane in my next post.

Erickson Aircrane: intro, history and specs

When I started writing about aerial resources used to fight wildland fires six months ago, it did take me long before I saw pictures and videos of the Erickson Aircrane. The Erickson Aircrane is a type 1 helicopter (gross weight of more than 12,500 pounds, capable of carrying 11 to 16 passengers). The gross weight of the Erickson Air-Crane model S64-E is 42,000 pounds.

To provide a frame of reference, the Super Hueys that I wrote about recently are type 2 helicopters (gross weight up to 12,500 pounds, and/or carrying 8 to 10 passengers). The gross weight of H-301, one of CAL FIRE's super huey's is 10,500 pounds.

The Aircrane, when fitted with a fixed tank, is a helitanker. The Interagency Airtanker Board (IAB) establishes procedures and criteria for air tankers, helitankers, and tanks. According to section V (helitanker requirements)

helitankers shall be a Type 1 helicopter capable of lifting 1000 gallons of water at sea level (STP). Buckets will not be considered.

Erickson Aircrane has a very good web page chock full of information. The you tube video that I embedded above may also be found by clicking on the video link on their firefighting webpage (2nd video from the left).

This is the first of four or five posts that I will make about the Aircrane. Today I focus on history and specifications. In my next post, you will hear an Aero News TV interview with Kenny Chapman of Erickson. Among other things, Kenny describes the development of the Aircrane's fixed tank system and the Aircrane's firefighting capabilities.

Erickson has a web page where they write about the history of the Aircrane, here.

Specifications are shown in the image below for the two Aircrane models (accessed on June 8, 2009 from http://www.ericksonaircrane.com/index.php, design weights and performance page)

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.

San Diego County CA Copter 12

A while back, I found the above video on youtube, shot from the cockpit of San Diego County's Copter 12. It is an awesome video, with some great fire shots. hwyted posted the video and he has several others posted on youtube. If you are interested in shots from firefighting helicopters, check out his other videos. For some more information on copter 12, a Bell Huey 205 A1++, go this webpage where there is brief description of all aircraft used by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.

These aircraft are ASTREA (Aerial Support to Regional Enforcement Agencies) aircraft. ASTREA has a nice photo gallery with photos of copter 12 and other helicopters. Copter 12 can be identified by the "12" on its front end.

Another photo gallery of ASTREA helicopters may be found here, on the webpage of the Aerial Law Enforcement Association.

Copter 12 and it's sister, copter 10 have 375 gallon fixed tanks on their bellies and are also known as helitankers. Helitankers fill up their belly tanks by hovering over a body water, using a long tube, called a snorkle that takes water into the tank. If you watch the video above, you will see some footage of another helitanker refilling its tanks. Look at the pictures on the photo galleries and you will see some pictures of copter 12 flying with its snorkle tube hanging from its belly.

If you are so inclined, you may find aircraft certification for copter 12 (N107BZ) here.

helicopters with buckets

I have a great deal of respect for the work that helicopters with bambi buckets do in working wildland fires, initial and extended attack. Many state fire agencies, including my own state, have helos with buckets that are used in wildland fire fighting. For all of you firefighting helicopter pilots, thank-you for all you do.



I like the video (embedded above) because you can see the operations of a helicopter with a bucket, as could be used for firefighting operations, up close and personal, so to speak. I believe that this is a military helicopter, and that the video is showing bucket training operations.

I found this youtube video a few days ago, shot during the 2008 Humboldt fire near Chico CA. There is some awesome footage of a helicopter and bucket working the fire as well as a shot of tanker 910 (DC-10).

Here is a link to some of my earlier posts on helicopters.

Air Attack: California 2008

Take six minutes, go here and watch this six minute video. You will see a variety of air tankers, helicopters, and a helitack team working one of the California wildfires. Note that this is you tube video where embedding is turned off, so I had to post the link for you.

Raw footage of CA-SCU Mustang - Wildland Fire - Henry Coe Park

A couple of weeks ago I was reading the initial attack hotlist forums on wildlandfire.com where I found a link to some raw footage from ktvu of a wildland fire that was then burning near Santa Clara, CA. This is about four minutes of footage, probably shot from a news helicopter. About one or two minutes into the video, you will see a tanker making a retardant drop. I am not sure, but I wonder if it is a CAL FIRE S-2T.

I am posting this because I found the footage interesting, for the shots of the smoke and flames, and the shot of the tanker retardant drop. Finally, if you look at the top of the ridges in the video, especially after the shot of the retardant drop, you can see the "red" retardant line on the top of the ridge.

There is some information on this fire in this thread on wildlandfire.com's initial attack hotlist forum.

In addition, you might want to go here where the blogger reports on the Mustang Fire (dated May 13) and includes some shots from the ktvu footage and a map of the fire area. For a larger view of this map, go here. The blog I referred you to, among other things, reports on fires in CA and is not affiliated with any government agency.

And Speaking of SEATs

Take four minutes and go and check out this awesome video on Patrick's Aviation on SEATs working fires in France. Some of this is taken from the cockpit of a SEAT. You will see some footage of an AgCat shot from the SEAT cockpit. TL Stein tells me that the single-winged aircraft are an Ayers S-2R and confirmed that the bi-wing planes are AgCat G-164A's.

For a refresher on AgCats, see this earlier entry to my blog on AgCats. I wrote about the Ayer's Thrush aircraft here.

Reflections, S-2T's, SEATs and initial attack

I love the light tankers (S-2T’s and single-engine air tankers) in a special way. Perhaps it is because I live in NJ, and I have grown to appreciate and the role that single-engine air tankers (SEATs) have in initial attack (and extended attack). And it is not only NJ that uses SEATs, many states contract for SEATs. In the case of NJ, I am aware that the majority of our wildland fires are small in size. I also know that during our spring season that the NJ Forest Fire service deployed SEATs and helicopters to fires that were only a couple of acres in size. I am aware of this because of a couple of websites that I have followed, not because of the media.

Some of you know that I got interested in wildland fire fighting last July because I have a couple of friends who lived in or near the area burned by the Basin Complex Fires. And I have written about a couple of other larger California fires. I have written about CAL FIRE’s S-2T’s. Up until now, I have neglected to write about the very important role the S-2T’s, a light tanker, play in initial attack. Until now when I want to focus on initial attack.

California has an impressive number of large fires that make national news. I don’t know the numbers, but most of California’s fires are small in size, being 2, 5, or 10 acres. I have recently engaged in an e-mail exchange with an experienced air tanker pilot who will be flying S-2T’s this year. He was telling me about the importance of initial attack in keeping fires small and manageable until ground crews can get in:

Regarding the use of tankers, the best tactic is initial attack. In initial attack, S-2T tankers and helicopters are deployed to the wildfire as soon as possible in order to stop the spread and hold until ground troops have access and put it out. The goal is to keep the fire small: 2, 5, 10 acres maximum so it is ‘easy’ to manage. Roughly ninety-seven percent of fires in California are put out this way. The public may not hear about it. But...if you're not aggressive enough you get behind the power curve and then get complicated fast (wind, fuel, terrain...).

I understand that things can get complicated, especially with the drought, sundowners and the Santa Ana winds. And the terrain. I get that. Sometimes initial attack is not going to keep the fire small. But most of the times it does. How many houses have been saved, lives saved? You light tanker pilots -- the workhorses of CAL FIRE, other State fire fighting agencies, and the national fleet -- what you do is special. I want you to know that.

From a former air tanker pilot in memory of Mike Flynn

This story was sent to me by Gordon, a former air tanker pilot. I post this here with his permission.

In 2003, flying on a fire near McCall, ID, we experienced a malfunction of the computerized drop system in our Lockheed P2V. Without warning, the system suddenly jettisoned 2450 gallons of fire retardant. We were no where near the fire at the time and since we had plenty of altitude, we were not in any danger.

The resulting steep pitch-up of the aircraft's nose when that eleven tons of retardant suddenly left the plane was a little disconcerting, but with full forward stick and a bit of swearing, we were under control.

We knew we would be in trouble with the Forest Service for wasting an expensive load of retardant and when we returned to base, we were told the load had landed on a house and the owner was hopping mad. The base manager told us to expect a phone call from the director of heavy airtanker operations and that we'd have to fill out a bunch of paperwork. We were prepared to take our medicine when the base manager's phone rang. He listened and nodded a few times, said he understood and hung up.

It seems that the telephone over at dispatch had been ringing off the hook with "thank you" calls from grateful neighbors of the fellow whose house we had painted with retardant. Apparently, all summer long he'd had an illegal burn barrel going in his yard.
Repeated complaints to the various authorities, especially the Forest Service, went unheeded and the callers were just phoning in to express their thanks. Our retardant load had squashed his burn barrel and the neighbors all thought it was a deliberate act of law enforcement.

I send this to you in honor of my co-pilot that day, Mike Flynn, killed this past April 25th in the crash of a P2 airtanker near Stockton, UT. Mike was a wonderful man, a consummate pilot and a true gentleman.

Associated Airtanker Pilots

I have had the pleasure of spending time on the Associated Airtanker Pilots (AAP) website. There is a lot of good info on this site, including a good photogallery. I was lurking on their message board one day, and it got me thinking that it would be good for you to hear some of their stories. To make a long story short, I reached out to one of the AAP members who liked my idea and gave me permission to post a message to their message board (it is a closed board) to share my idea and ask for their help. So, the idea is that from time to time, I hope to get stories from air tanker pilots, the idea being to give you an idea of what it is like to fly air tankers. In addition, I may also share my own reflections based on my correspondence with air tanker pilots.

I have the first air tanker pilot story, which I will post tomorrow. I will follow that up with my first reflection post. Actually there will be two reflections in two posts, the second is a video that I found. So stay tuned.

At this point, I only have one story and one reflection to post. I am hoping to get more, and I am being patient. As I do get more, I will post them here.

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

Martin Mars: US Forest Service contract and video tour

The Hawaii Mars will be under a new contract with the U.S. Forest Service this year, based at Lake Elsinore, California from June 1 through November 15, 2009. A Sikorski helicopter equipped with thermal imaging equipment will work with the Hawaii Mars filling the role of a “lead.” See this article by Bill Gabbert for more information. Bill also has a link to articles he wrote about the Martin Mars last summer when one of their tankers was based in northern California.

The Westcoaster, a newspaper based in Port Alberni, British Columbia has an article announcing the U.S. Forest Service Contract that may be found here.

For a 10 minute ride around the outside of the aircraft and a tour inside take a look at this video:

Martin Mars (part 1 of 2): history and specs

The Martin Mars, capable of landing on water, was developed for the U.S. Navy towards the end of the second World War as a transport aircraft. A total of six were built two were lost by 1950. The remaining four were retired by the U.S. Navy in 1959 and purchased by a Canadian Company known as Flying Tankers Inc. One crashed in 1961 and another was destroyed the next year in a typhoon. The remaining two, Hawaii Mars and Philippine Mars were converted for fire fighting in 1963 and are currently operated by the Coulson Group, based at Sproat Lake near Port Alberni, British Columbia.

A wikipedia article on the Martin Mars may be found here.

Each tanker is capable of carrying 7,200 gallons of water and has a 600 gallon foam tank. Finally are capable of delivering thermo-gel. Thermo-gel, also known as a water enhancer, does what its name implies. It enhances water’s suppression capabilities and is better able to coat fuels. If you are interested in reading more about water enhancers, see Fire Management Today, volume 67, issue 2. Starting on page 24, you will find a short article called: “The Latest on the evolution of chemical fire supression – water enhancers eyed for the future.” The authors include a text box with a brief description of foam, water enhancers, and retardants. The current issue of FMT along with archives of most back issues may be accessed on this USDA Forest Service webpage.

Refilling the water tanks involves “skimming” the water surface while maintaining a speed of 70 to 80 mph. Through the use of a scooping system water is injected into the tanks. It takes approximately 25 seconds to fill the water tanks. The video below shows this process:



For more information on the two Martin Mars aircraft, see this Coulson Group webpage. This page also includes a link to a specifications page.



A pilot, co-pilot and two flight engineers make up the crew of the Martin Mars.

Specifications:
Overall Length: 120 ft.
Height: 48 ft.
Wing Span: 200 ft. (61 m)
Gross Weight: 162,000 lbs. (73,483 kg)
Cruising Speed to Fire: 190 mph
Drop Speed: 138 mph
Landing Approach Speed: 115 mph
Touchdown Speed: 92 mph
Fuel Consumption (Cruise): 420 US gal
Fuel Consumption (Operations): 780 US gal
Operations Duration (normal): 5 1/2 hours
Area Covered, single drop: 3 to 4 acres
Drop Height: 150 to 200 ft.

Stay tuned for part 2 on the Martin Mars coming in a couple of days.

S-2T: end of season retardant tank maintenance

At the end of the season, or when maintenance on the retardant drop system is required during the season, the retardant tank is washed out. When this happens, the flapper valve and the tank doors at the bottom of the aircraft are in the open position. In addition the hotload cap is off. This allows any standing water to be vented from the system.

Here is a video of what this operation looks like:

Jesusita Fire, Santa Barbara CA

For those of you who are interested in reading reports of the Jesusita Fire that has burned around 8,700 hundred acres as of early this morning (Saturday. May 9, 2009), a couple of firefighting blogs that I follow are reporting on this fire:

1. wildfire today by Bill Gabbert
2. Firefighter blog by Cap't Mike.

This fire is also listed on the inciweb national incident reporting system. I understand that this site may be prone to being down or busy.

The Santa Barbara County has a fire information page that may be found here.

The LA Times has a google map of the fire with informational links.

Finally, I was able to watch live feed shot from a news helicopter of T-911, one of the DC-10 air tankers making a drop on the fire. A Santa Barbara television station, kety, has a report on the drop with a video here. The site where I saw the live feed may be found here. This site has six feeds from southern California media. I believe that live feed was shot by the kcbs helicopter. I think. It may take a while to load, and I had to do some fussing to turn off the audio and video of the feeds that I was not interested in.

The DC-10 tanker was one of 14 (I think) air tankers along with numerous helicopters that were providing aerial firefighting support yesterday.

S-2T: in action (2 of 2)

If you have nine minutes and want to see a good video of a few S-2T's in action along at a helicopter with a bucket working fires in California, take a look at this video. SCU refers to Santa Clara Unit.

S-2T: in action (1 of 2)

Here are a couple of very short videos of S-2T's in action. In the first video, the S-2T is working with a lead plane in the 2007 Zaca Fire in Los Padres National Forest. The first plane you see is the lead plane showing the S-2T where to make the drop. A few seconds later, the S-2T tanker flies through to make the drop.



In the second video, the S-2T tanker seems to be working with out a lead plane. At least a lead plane is not shown in the video. The last few letters in the name of this video is cut off, it is "CDF Air Tanker 78 Drops on Felter Fire/Santa Clara Unit"

martin mars

S-2T: making the retardant drop

When an air tanker such as an S-2T is deployed to a wildland fire, the air tanker pilot will be in touch with either the incident commander on the ground or some one known as the air tactical group supervisor (ATGS). The ATGS oversees aerial support for the fire, including retardant drops from a tactical aircraft, sometimes known as an air attack plane flying over the fire. The ATGS will be in touch with the incident commander (IC) on the ground. CAL FIRE’s tactical aircraft are known as OV-10’s and there is one OV-10 at each air attack base. The ATGS, after consulting with the IC, will give the S-2T tanker the information that s/he needs to make the drop, including but not limited to the location. In initial attack the S-2T pilot may make his own determination about the necessary settings and where to make the drop.

The settings that S-2T air tanker pilot (and other air tanker pilot’s) use for the retardant drops are on a panel on the cockpit. This is the same one pictured in the preceding post, so I will be using that picture as a reference. Perhaps you will want to open up a new window in your browser so you can look at TL Stein’s photograph and follow along.

The pilot adjusts the dial on the left to set the amount of retardant to be dropped while the dial on the right is set to determine the coverage level (also known as gpc). The coverage level is gallons of retardant per 100 square feet. Coverage levels are somewhat technical, depending on the type of vegetation on fire (fuels) and the fire behavior. The coverage settings dial is scaled from .5 to a maximum of 8 (gallons per 100 square feet). A switch known as the arm-disarm switch is set in the disarm position until it is near time to make the actual retardant drop. This prevents accidental drops. The button that the pilot pushes to make the drop, drop control switch (not pictured), is on the pilot’s control panel for ease of access. The door control (switch in the middle), is set to automatic.

Once the settings on the two dials are made, and the pilot is at or near the location and correct altitude for the drop -- 150 feet above ground level for the S2-T -- the pilot flips the arm-disarm switch to arm the system. The pilot has only to push the drop control switch at the appropriate time, the tank doors open and the drop is made. It is not merely the cockpit controls that make the retardant drop possible, there are various avionics (aviation electronics) and hydraulics that make the retardant drop possible.

If there is an emergency situation, the pilot can make an emergency retardant drop by pulling an emergency handle (not pictured).

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.

Rest in Peace Tanker 42 and crew

I want to pause for a moment to reflect on those we lost on Saturday, April 25 in a crash near Stockton, Utah. Tanker 42, a P2V owned by Neptune Aviation and on route from Montana to New Mexico to help fight a wildfire. Three crew members died in the crash:

Crew
Tom Risk, 66, of Littleton, Colo., Pilot
Mike Flynn, 59, of Alamogordo, N. M., Co-pilot
Brian Buss, 32, of Alberton, Mont., crew cheif

Tanker 42
Lockheed P2V, owned by Neptune Aviation
tail number: 42
serial number: 150283
registration number: N442NA

A picture oftanker 42 may be found on Neptune Aviation's homepage. A video of tanker 42 in action on April 22, 2009 at the O"Brien Creek Fire in Montana may be found here. If you are so inclined, take a moment to read the comments.

Neptune Aviation has a tribute page for tanker 42 that may be found here.

I am saddened to be writing another memorial to a fallen air tanker and her crew. I did not know Tom, Mike and Brian nor did I know tanker 42. Yet, I feel like I knew you through my writing about air tankers. I cried for you as I cried for tanker 09, and I know that you are flying in favorable tail winds.

For my tanker pilot friends, stay safe out there.

My thoughts, prayers and reflections are with the family, friends, Neptune Aviation, Tanker pilots and crew, fire fighters and all those who love Tom, Mike, and Brian.

CDF S-2A

The photo is a picture that TL Stein’s Dad (TW Stein) took of the first S-2 that CDF (predecessor agency to CAL FIRE) took delivery of in February 1972. He says:

My father took this photo within an hour of it arriving from the AMARC facility. As pictured, the original fleet of S-2’s served with VT-27 “Boomers” training squadron out of Corpus Christi, Texas. One thing I remember vividly, is that one of the aircraft ferried in that morning still had a practice torpedo in the bomb bay.

I love knowing something about the history of the aircrafts that I am writing about, that there was a life before it was upgraded and retrofitted to work as an air tanker. History makes things come alive, again and again.

There are two short YouTube videos of a CAL FIRE S-2A here and here.

S-2T: history and specs

In the mid 1970’s CAL Fire’s fleet of air tankers were growing old and needed to be retired. These aging air tankers were replaced by newer Grumman S-2A aircraft (sometimes referred to as the S2-F1) beginning in 1975. These aircraft were used from the from the mid-1950s to the mid to late 1970s by the U.S. Navy for surveillance. The S-2A’s used by CAL FIRE were modified for use as civilian air tankers. The last of CAL FIRE’s S-2A air tankers was retired in 2005.

For a short history of the military service of the aircraft that is also known as the Grumman S2-F, the S-2 Tracker Museum has a webpage on it’s history. When you get to the home page, click on the “history” link at the top of the page.

By the mid-1990’s the fleet of S-2A’s had been in service for about 20 years, CAL FIRE began to prepare to retire the S-2A fleet. A decision was made to replace the S-2A’s with what CAL FIRE calls model S-2E/G series aircraft. Without getting into the complexities of changing model numbers over time, let’s just say that these were later variations of the Grumman S2-F aircraft. CAL FIRE acquired at least 23 S-2E/G aircraft from the Department of Defense. Marsh Aviation made extensive modifications to the S-2E/G aircraft including: adding a 1,200 gallon constant flow retardant tank, new turboprop engines, new avionics, and new electronics. CAL FIRE has 23 of these air tankers that they call S-2T’s. By 2005 the last three S-2T air tankers were delivered. Twenty-two are stationed around the state at CAL FIRE air attack bases and one is used for maintenance relief. CAL FIRE has a fact sheet on the S-2T air tanker that may be found here. The CAL FIRE Pilots Association has a nice map of CAL FIRE’s air attack bases that includes links for more information on each base, it may be found at this location.

Specifications of the S-2T:

length (ft): 65
wing span (ft): 73
turn radius (ft): 45
cruise speed (knots): 250
gross weight (lbs): 29,200
range loaded (st. miles): 1,500
contract operating weight (lbs): 29,200
retardant load (gallons): 1,200

NJ: Follow-up on Red Flag warning

Section B-10 of the NJ Forest Fire Service updates their website frequently with brief notes about fire activity. I just checked their website to see what kind of fire activity is/was going on in NJ today. They wrote about three fires in Division B (central NJ).

1. Barnegat/Stafford border off of Rte. 72 (Section B-4, Ocean County), fire of 1.75 acres. The Air Tractor 602 (Bravo 1) made three drops on the fire. At the time I logged on the the B-10 website, they reported that "at 6PM, sounds contained." There is a short news report with a link to a video here.

2. Jackson (Section B-9, Ocean County), an Ag-Cat (Bravo 3) made one drop on the fire. At approximately 5PM, the fire is under control. Acreage unknown.

3. Multiple fires along railroad tracks in Middlesex County, from Monroe to South Brunswick.

I expect that there were other fires that I don't know about.

Nice work NJ Forest Fire Service. Stay Safe.

Revised April 29, 2009

NJ Fire Season update

Section B-10 of the NJ Forest Fire Service updates their website frequently with brief notes about fire activity. Reporting on yesterday's activity:

1. an early morning fire on April 27 of unknown size in the central portion of the State (Section B-5).

2. Two fires of about one-half each, one in the northern part of the state (Section A4, West Milford) and the second in the central part (Section B-6, Pemberton) of the state. one or both with air support.

3. light to moderate initial attack activity continued state-wide for the third day in a row on April 27.

NJ Statewide fire statistics:

YTD through April 19, 421 fires burning 869 acres.
YTD through April 26, 465 fires burning 897.5 acres.

Regarding today's red flag warning, if I hear of any fire activity today, which I may not, I'll post it here.

NJ, DE, PA: Red Flag Warning

Red Flag Warning
URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
1034 AM EDT TUE APR 28 2009

DEZ001>004-MDZ008-012-015-019-020-NJZ001-007>010-012>027-PAZ054-
055-060>062-067>071-290000-
/O.NEW.KPHI.FW.W.0003.090428T1600Z-090429T0000Z/
NEW CASTLE-KENT-INLAND SUSSEX-DELAWARE BEACHES-CECIL-KENT MD-
QUEEN ANNES-TALBOT-CAROLINE-SUSSEX-WARREN-MORRIS-HUNTERDON-
SOMERSET-MIDDLESEX-WESTERN MONMOUTH-EASTERN MONMOUTH-MERCER-SALEM-
GLOUCESTER-CAMDEN-NORTHWESTERN BURLINGTON-OCEAN-CUMBERLAND-
ATLANTIC-CAPE MAY-ATLANTIC COASTAL CAPE MAY-COASTAL ATLANTIC-
COASTAL OCEAN-SOUTHEASTERN BURLINGTON-CARBON-MONROE-BERKS-LEHIGH-
NORTHAMPTON-CHESTER-MONTGOMERY-BUCKS-DELAWARE-PHILADELPHIA-
1034 AM EDT TUE APR 28 2009

..RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING.

TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO RISE INTO THE UPPER 80S TO LOWER 90S
THIS AFTERNOON WITH RELATIVE HUMIDITIES EXPECTED TO DROP INTO THE
MID 20S. WEST TO SOUTHWEST WINDS SUSTAINED AT AROUND 15 MPH, WITH
GUSTS OF 20 MPH OR HIGHER ARE EXPECTED THROUGHOUT THIS AFTERNOON.

WITH 10 HOUR FUEL MOISTURES LESS THAN 10 PERCENT AND THE CONTINUED
DRY CONDITIONS, THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A RED
FLAG WARNING FOR THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING.

A COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO CROSS THE REGION LATE TONIGHT,
REDUCING THE THREAT FOR FIRES.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS
ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF
STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND WARM TEMPERATURES WILL
CREATE EXPLOSIVE FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL

C-130 MAFFS II: 2nd generation MAFFS

Aero Union, under contract with the USDA Forest Service has developed a new, 2nd general MAFFS unit. Called the Airborne Fire Fighting System (AFFS) by the contractor, these eight new units will be referred to as MAFFS-2 after the units have been delivered and are operational, military and Forest Services documents will refer to them as MAFFS2. Two of the new MAFFS2 units were tested in California in 2007, see this Aero Union press release.

Unlike the 1st generation MAFFS units that could only be used on C-130’s E and H models equipped with the US Air Force 463L cargo handling system, MAFFS-2 units can be used on C-130 models E, H, and J without special modification, i.e. no cargo handling systems required. This means that the military has more flexibility in assigning C-130’s for MAFFS duty.

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today reported on January 28, 2009 that the Forest Service has accepted delivery of two new MAFFS units for operation by the Air National Guard (ANG) of Port Hueneme, CA. The ANG has begun training with these units.

The discharge tube of the MAFFS-2 fits through a port in the side “paratrooper” door of the C-130 allowing all doors to be closed and the cabin pressurized. This also makes for a cleaner aircraft inside and out. And the loadmaster does not have a uniform covered with the red goo.

There are three more important upgrades in the MAFFS-2 unit: (1) one retardant tank instead of five, (2) on board air compressor to recharge the pressurized tank, and (3) the tank holds 3,400 gallons of retardant. Like the 1st generation MAFFS, the MAFFS-2 is loaded onto the C-130 through the rear cargo door, and the module includes the loadmaster’s station.

For a short video of a C-130 MAFFS-2, go here. Windows media player is required to view this video, or if you have a Mac you will need a plug-in or media player that will allow you to play windows media files.

There is a nice, easy to follow presentation on the MAFFS-2 unit see this pdf file. I have tried to provide the salient details of the MAFFS-2 unit here, you may want to take a look at this file to learn more about the MAFFS-2.

For those of you who may prefer not to download the pdf file, the Forest Service has a MAFFS-2 webpage that includes several captioned pictures from the pdf file as well as a link to a short video of a MAFFS-2 equipped C-130 making a practice drop (this is the video I referred you to earlier), and a power point version of the pdf file.

New Jersey Fire Season update

The Mt. Holly Office of the National Weather Service provided this fire weather forcast for today, Sunday April 25:

REMARKS...RELATIVE HUMIDITIES LOWERING TO 25 TO 30 PERCENT IN THE AFTERNOON, WINDS GUSTING AT TIMES TO NEAR 20 MILES AN HOUR ESPECIALLY MONDAY, AND LOW FUEL MOISTURE WILL CONTRIBUTE TO ENHANCED FIRE SPREAD CONDITIONS TODAY AND MONDAY.

The website maintained by Section B-10 of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service reported light to moderate initial attack activity for Saturday, April 25 and Sunday, April 26.

I got year to date wildfire numbers from the NJ Forest Fire Service last Monday. Year-to-date through April 19, 2009: 421 wildfires burning 869 acres.

C-130 MAFFS: more information

I was working on my next and final article on the C-130 MAFFS program when I found a nice short article by the National Park Service on the MAFFS program, it may be found here.

Finally, as I was wondering around you tube a little while ago, I found two videos (parts 1 and 2) of the role of MAFFS's in providing aerial support for the 2008 wildfires in California. This was the first time in twenty years that all eight MAFFS outfitted C-130's were deployed to California.

part 1loading, pre-flight, and take-off.

part 2, cockpit shots and shot from rear of a drop.

Tomorrow I will be writing about the 2nd generation MAFFS unit.

Lockheed P2V crash

Another Lockheed P2V Neptune crashed this afternoon in the Oquirrh Mountains between Stockton and Tooele, Toole County, Utah. It was on route from Missoula, Montana to Almogordo, NM when it crashed. All three crew members died in the crash. While I have seen media reports where the names of the deceased are identified, I am going to hold off on the names for awhile out of respect for the families.

My thoughts and prayers are with the families, friends, and colleagues of the crew members.

May you fly in favorable tail winds...

C-130 MAFFS: retardant drop

The loadmaster, who sits at the loadmaster station on the MAFFS module in the cargo area in the back of the tanker works with the co-pilot in making the drop. You may recall from my earlier post, that the retardant flows through two discharge tubes that stick out the rear cargo doors of the aircraft. This means that cargo doors are left open and the load master wears a safety harness tethered to the rear of the plane. When it comes time to make the drop, the loadmaster monitors and then arms the system using the master control panel at the loadmaster station. It is the co-pilot, sitting in the cockpit, who pushes “the button” to drop the load.

The C-130 MAFFS works with what is known as a lead plane in making the drop. The lead plane flies as close as 1,000 feet in front of the tanker showing the path and height that the tanker will fly in making the drop. There is a nice article an the CAL FIRE MAFFS webpage about the role of lead planes in MAFFS missions. The article is called “exactly who is leading this mission”, it may be found here. Both civilian air tanker and military MAFFS pilots train with a lead plane every year.

To see a short you tube video on a C-130 MAFFS working with a lead plane go here.

C-130 MAFFS: activation

I believe that there are a total of four reserve/national guard bases, each with two C-130’s capable of being fitted with the MAFFS unit. This makes a total of eight C-130 MAFFS. One base is in North Carolina, and three are are out west. with California, Wyoming, and Colorado having one base each.

Before one or more C-130 MAFFS units are activated for wildfire fighting duty, the request has to go through a certain chain of command, so to speak. The incident commander in charge of a fire contacts his or her superior (department head) requesting type 1 air tankers (type 1 air tankers are the class of air tankers capable of dropping 3,000 gallons of retardant. The department head approves the request for type 1 air tankers and forwards the request to the state or regional forester. If the fire is on either privately owned land or State owned land than the request goes through the state forester. If, on the other hand, the fire is on land under federal control, then the request goes through the regional forester. The state or regional forester approves the request and passes it on to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC).

The NIFC is responsible for deciding what civilian contracted air tankers to send to the fire. If no civilian air tankers under national contract are available in the region the NIFC will look to see if any civilian air tankers under nationwide contract are available. If all are committed to fires or otherwise unavailable, the NIFC then goes through military channels to contact the U.S. Air Force to request C-130 MAFFS air tankers.

Once the request is approved at the appropriate military level, the closest reserve unit with MAFFS capabilities is order to mobilize and sent to the fire.

C-130 history

I was going through my C-130 data a few minutes ago and found a nice write-up on the history of the C-130 here.

Coming up: more MAFFS and S-2 (CAL Fire)

I thought it might be helpful to some of you to know what I plan to write about next.

I have two more posts planned on the MAFFS: (1) activation, lead planes, and drops; and (2) the new MAFFS II unit.

I will then move on to CAL FIRE's S-2 in a series of what I hope will be five posts:

1. specs, history, location CAL FIRE Air Attack Bases
2. S-2's in action
3. pictures (hopefully)
4. end of season maintenance

NJ Forest Fire Service: aircraft photos

Section B-10 of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service maintains a photo page of NJFFS aircraft that may be found here.

I want to draw your attention to some new photos of one of their contract AgCats (a SEAT) and the new Air Tractor-602, and a very nice photo at the bottom of the page of an AgCat working a fire in the NJ Pine Barrens.

There are also photos of their air attack bases, observation helicopters, more AgCats, etc.

C-130 MAFFS: MAFFS unit

The MAFFS unit was developed for Lockheed C-130 Hercules models E and H equipped with what is known as the US Air Force 463L cargo handling system.

The module, weighing 11,000 pounds, has:

1. five retardant tanks and one compressed air pressurized tank (1,200 psi)
2. loadmaster seat -- works the master control panel for the retardant drop
3. master control panel
4. two discharge tubes
5. electric power to the module is supplied by the aircraft or a 24 volt battery on the control panel

For more information, see this article about the MAFFS program on the USFS website and this wikipedia article. A photo of a C-130 MAFFS may be found here.

The five tanks hold 3,000 gallons of retardant that can be discharged in eight seconds. There is a nice video on you tube showing scenes from the rear of the aircraft as a drop is being made, as well as reloading retardant at the AAB, that may be found here. Reload time is eight minutes.

The pressurized tank on the module is recharged at the Air Attack Base (AAB) by means of a special air compressor module that remains at the base. I believe that every base has an industrial sized air compressor. Once fitted with the right fittings, the compressor can be used to recharge the compressed air tank on the C-130. Under this scenario, the air compressor does not have to travel with the C-130.

Twenty-four hours are required to outfit the C-130 with the MAFFS as well as pulling together the required support systems including the military pilots, some ground crew, supplies and equipment. To get an idea of how the MAFFS unit is loaded onto the aircraft see this you tube video. Base personnel at the host AAB will augment the military ground crew that arrives with the C-130.

The two discharge valves extend out the rear door of the aircraft. This means that once the MAFFS unit is set up that the rear cargo doors are left open during the entire mission, which could last two or more weeks. In an emergency, the crew may need to dump the retardant as a safety measure. The loadmaster wears a safety harness teathered to the aircraft to prevent a fall outside the rear of the plane. The plane is flying at a low enough altitude during the drop so that supplemental oxygen is not required.