NJ Floods - Rivers below flood levels

I wrote here and here about the recent floods affecting northern NJ. The good news is that the last of the Rivers, the Passaic River, that flooded last week have receded below flood levels today. For those living near Passaic River and her tributaries, this was the first time in almost two week that the River was not under a flood warning. See this article from NJ dot com for more information, and note the photo gallery.

FEMA Surveying NJ Flood Damage: My9TV.com

For businesses and residents in flood stricken areas, some of whom have seen flooding multiple times in the last few years, the clean-up is just begining. FEMA visited northern NJ communities affected by the floods a couple of days ago assessing damages.

Reflections as tankers and helos go on contract

I have begun to hear about wildfires cropping up in various parts of the U.S and I have heard rumblings that tankers and helicopters have worked at least a couple of wildfires. However, I don't know any specifics to report to you here. Don't worry, that time will come. I am sure.

As I am now in my third year of writing about aerial wildland firefighting tankers of various sizes along with helos are beginning to go on federal or state contracts. Pilots and co-pilots who aren't on contract are going through their annual training and check rides. Aircraft are being made ready for the season and their inspection prior to the start of the season. Some tankers and helos are already on federal or state contract. Or will be soon. Here in NJ our SEATs go on contract soon for our spring fire season. Fire season is already under way down south.

I wondered the P-2s and P-3s that are starting to go on contract. A couple of weeks ago, there was no 2011 list available, now there is, you may go here to get a copy. I saw that there are already five or six P-2s and P-3s on contract.

As I prepared to write this article, I found myself thinking about how much I care about all who are involved in aerial wildland firefighting both in the U.S. and abroad. Those of you who follow my blog know that I write about other things, but my raison d'etre is about tankers and helos fighting fires from the air. So, for all of you in the world of aerial of aerial wildland firefighting from pilots to co-pilots to loaders to base personal to mechanics to base gofers to dispatchers and to anyone I am missing, this blog is for you.

I can not fly a plane, and even if I could, I could not fly a tanker or a firefighting helo. I learn about aviation because I am finding that aviation is and always part of who I am. But I also do this for all of you, in hopes that I can bring what I learn about aviation to my writing to better honor all of you in the tanker and helo business. And to bring my readers into your world. At least in the way that I can.

I wish all of you pilots and co-pilots safe flying and favorable winds. Favorable winds in more ways than one. I know that you do what you do support the crews on the ground and to keep all of us safe from wildfires.

To the public, if you wonder where the tankers are and the winds are squirrelly or you can't see because of smoke or fog, then the tankers are not flying because it is not safe for them to fly.

Distance constrains me from being out west on the tanker bases in the public viewing areas watching you work. Perhaps I'll get to one of the tanker bases here in NJ this fire season to watch. Nonetheless, be assured that I am with you all in my own way through my meditations and words.

Safe flying in favorable winds everyone.

Journey into Aviation thru scenic rides

A quick point of clarification, I have written previously about my journey into aviation including attending ground school and passing the FAA private pilot exam, my first scenic ride, and a series on a scenic ride in the form of a "cross-country" flight. Any flight that I have taken and paid for (except for flights on airlines), are in the form of scenic rides where the pilot may happen to be a certified flight instructor. While I have learned things on every scenic ride that I have gone on over the last 15 months, these flights are not flight instruction because I am not taking flight training with a flight school. As appropriate, I have done my best to revise the posts that I have already written about my journey into aviation and other relevant posts to reflect that my flights are scenic rides (or scenic flights).

NJ Floods - update - March 14

Yesterday I focused on flood levels reported by gauges along the Passaic River, what I did not say is that major flooding continues along the Passaic River and her tributaries and is not confined to areas where the two gauges are located. While the flooding is not as bad as officials feared, it is still bad enough. Waters continue to recede, but it may at least a couple of days before homeowners and business owners can return to their homes or businesses. As reported by the Star Ledger yesterday, the NJ State Climatologist (Dave Robinson) reports that the recent Passaic River basin flooding ranks as the fifth worse on record. A report in today's Star Ledger may be found here. And here is a report from The Record (North Jersey).

I found a few videos to show the extent of the flooding. The first video was shot at the Great Falls in Paterson NJ on March 12.



The next two videos are from NY television stations. I believe that this video was shot this morning.

Water Slowly Recedes In N.J.: MyFoxNY.com

I'm not sure when this report was shot, the scenes are around Paterson, NJ.

View more videos at: http://www.nbcnewyork.com.

Finally, I found this video on youtube, uploaded on March 12 from a homeowner in Wayne, NJ.

NJ Flooding - Rivers crested - update 1

To the best of my knowledge, all the rivers in New Jersey where some level of flooding was a concern (after two significant rain storms in the last week) have crested. However, in some cases rivers will continue to be at moderate or major flooding levels for at least the next couple of days. I obtained the images that I am posting here from the National Weather Service's Midatlantic River Forcasting Center on Sunday afternoon, March 13. Note that some of the information on this site reflects current information. So, if you go there in two weeks, you may not see any of the data that I am referring to here. This is why I am posting these images.

Here is an image showing current flooding observations (3/13/2011). You will see that there are two locations - noted in purple experiencing major flooding. Both involve the Passaic River, the two locations are referring to flooding recorded by gauges, one in Little Falls and the second in Pine Brook. I have noted each location with a placemarker. You will also see a placemarker for Pompton Plains, which I wrote about the other day.

First an update on the location in Pompton Plains, specifically the Pompton River. You will see from the hydrograph copied below that the Pompton River crested sometime during the late afternoon or evening of March 11, 2011. As I write this, the Pompton River has currently receded to the action stage and is forecast to go to levels below the action stage sometime late in the day on March 14 before receding to the action stage this Wednesday, March 16. I'll try to see if I can get some information for you about how folk in Pompton Plains are making out.

Things are not quite so rosy for the Passaic River at Little Falls and Pine Brook. You can see from the two hydrographs (below) that while the gauges at both locations show that the River crested sometime late last night, flooding is forecast to continue for awhile longer. In the case of Little Falls, the River is forecast to fall below the major flooding stage later today or in the wee hours of March 13 before receding to the action level sometime on Wed. March 16.

In the case of the Passaic River at Pine Brook, it is forecast to remain at major flooding levels until sometime tomorrow afternoon March 13, but is forecast to remain at or near moderate flooding levels on Wed. March 16.

I suspect that what this means for the folk in areas of Little Falls and Pine Brook is that it may be awhile before they can begin to assess the damages caused by yet more flooding. I'll report back in a day or so with an update. I don't have any videos taken today to show you, that may have to wait until tomorrow. But I did find an article on The Record (North Jersey) with more information. Please note that I'm uncertain how long this article will be available to the public.

Flooding in NJ

Tristate Rivers Flood: MyFoxNY.com

I heard about flooding in New Jersey earlier this week from a different storm while I was in Florida. When I got back to town late Wednesday night, I heard about yet more floods in New Jersey for Friday into Saturday. Yesterday I gave some thought to what I'd write about today I thought I'd write about the floods as I have written about flooding in NJ and PA on previous occasions.

When I woke up today, I heard the news about the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. When I saw those pictures of the Tsunami  I had second thoughts. Then I found out that a buddy of mine is in Toyko, thank goodness he is all right but rather shaken up. My buddy knows of the work that I do on this blog. I know exactly, what he would tell me to do if I could talk to him, he would tell me to write about the floods in NJ. Hugh this is for you.

The purple and red markers in the image below show rivers with major and moderate flooding respectively as of 11 PM (obtained from the NWS at about 11 PM on March 12):

A hydrograph from the NWS for the Pompton River at Pompton Plains NJ (referred to in the video) is shown below:

Historical Crests of the Pompton River at Pompton Plains
(1) 24.47 ft on 04/06/1984
(2) 22.78 ft on 03/14/2010
(3) 22.18 ft on 05/30/1968
(4) 21.72 ft on 04/16/2007
(5) 21.00 ft on 09/17/1999

A map of Pompton Plains showing the river gauge where data shown in the hydrograph is shown below:

The worse of the flooding for other rivers in northern New Jersey may not hit until tomorrow and I'll make a follow up post tomorrow.

And let us not forget about all those affected by the Tsunami and the earthquake in Japan.

Pensacola Naval Aviation Museum

I took a few days vacation to Pensacola Beach, Florida. We spent one day at the Pensacola Naval Aviation Museum. I took some pictures which I will you show you in a few days after I've had a chance to go through my pictures. In the meantime, enjoy this video that I found on youtube. This video contains some images shot on the flight line behind the restoration hanger. Visiting this area of the museum requires a bus ride. I had hoped to go visit the flight line but my tour was canceled at the last minute. So, I thought some of you might enjoy seeing some of the aircraft on display at the flight line.

In memoriam of WWII bomber crews

I came across this video on youtube a few weeks ago while I was looking at historica video compliations (stills as well as video footage taken at during the war) of the B-17 and B-24 bombers. I post it without comment. Watch the video and listen to the words of the song.

What's coming up

I am going to be busy for the next few days and may not be able to update this blog for a few days. So, I am taking the opportunity to share with you about what will be coming up over the next couple of months.

Late last year, I got interested in learning more about the B-17, aka the Flying Fortress. Many of you know that she was a heavy bomber in WWII. A few B-17's were used as tankers up until sometime around 1980, give or take a couple of years. My original intention was to write a series of articles on the B-17 focusing on her military history and her use as a tanker a couple of months ago. Then I got distracted by a nasty sinus infection and one thing lead to another and I did not get back to the B-17. Well, writing this series is my next priority, but I still need to put my notes together in a form that will later end up as a series of articles. So, be patient and stay tuned. My goal is to start posting this series along about March 17 give or take a couple of days.

A second upcoming series will focus on spending a couple of days watching one of the Cessna that I take scenic rides in get her annual inspection. I'm not quite sure when this will post, it could be awhile.

Finally, the spring fire season here in NJ is approaching and those of you who have been following this blog know that I try to write updates about wildfire activity here in NJ.

RIP Leland Snow

Leland Snow, the founder of Air Tractor died on Sunday, February 20 while jogging. He was 80. I offer my condolences to his family, friends, co-workers and all who loved him.

Fairly early in writing on aerial wildland fire fighting, I heard about Leland Snow when I was writing about the Air Tractor and the Thrush , two SEATs. He designed the Snow S2 airplanes in the early 1950s. By 1957-58 he had moved the production operations of what was later the Thrush Aircraft company to Olney TX. The Thrush aircraft used in fire fighting are descendants of the Snow S2. The Thrush aircraft used in fire fighting are descendants of the Snow S2. He owned the Thrush Aircraft to Rockwell-Standard in 1965 and was hired by Rockwell as a VP where he worked on Thrush Commanders. He left Rockwell around 1972 and went back to Olney, TX and began building Air Tractors.  You can read more about Leland on the Air Tractor website. In addition, you may want to read this article from the Times Record News. Bill Gabberts post on Leland Snow's passing may be found here.

Over the course of the last two years I have encountered many interesting and unique personalities in the aviation community, through books as well as correspondence with pilots and others in the tanker community. I only knew Leland Snow through a couple of articles that I read, but it is clear to me that he was an interesting and unique aviation personality. His loss will be felt, I am sure. It is my loss that I did not know him better. I understand that he has written an autobiography, I am going to try to dig up a copy and read it so that I can get to know him better.

Updated on May 20, 2013: Thanks to someone who contacted me to tell me that Leland Snow left Rockwell around 1972. I had incorrectly reported the date when Leland Snow left Rockwell and am thankful for my anonymous friend who corrected me. I apologize for the error.

110,000 acre Texas Wildfres

When I was watching the weather this morning, I saw a brief report about wildfires currently burning in Texas. I was not able to find a copy of that report, but I did find a report by the Associated Press on youtube that I embedded here. Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today reports here that multiple wildfires driven in part by winds encompass 110,000, have burned 68 homes, and have resulted in the death of a five-year old girl. He also reports that firefighting aircraft were grounded on Sunday due to high winds, that the Texas Forest Service hopes to get these aircraft in the air today if conditions allow.

The Texas Forest Service (TFS) has a couple of webpages that you might want to check out: (1) current fire conditions where they update current fire conditions around Texas, and (2) a page where you can download a kmz (google earth) file that, among other things, includes a layer showing current TFS wildfires, see this TFS Page for more information (click on the "map" link to go to page where you can download the kmz file. I downloaded the KMZ file and saved an image for you.

Finally, the Texas Forest Fire Service has a Facebook page, I believe that you can access the page without a Facebook account

I'm not sure if there are other wildfires currently burning in Texas that are not shown in this map. But, at least you get an idea of what is going on.

NJ Forest Fire Service: Contract Aircraft for 2011 Fire Season

We are getting into the end of February, which means that the spring fire season here in New Jersey will soon be upon us. In a typical year, the spring fire season starts in New Jersey in the later half of March, depending on the weather. As you may recall from an article I wrote last year, the New Jersey Forest Fire service contracts for Ag Cats and Air Tractor 602's.

As I understand it, the tentative schedule for New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) contract aircraft is as follows:

The tentative schedule for contract aviation coverage is as follows:

Division A - northern NJ - Aeroflex
Alpha 2, Ag Cat (300 gal), Sat. March 26 through Wed. May 4 (40 days)
Alpha 3, Ag Cat (300 gal), Sat. March 26 through Wed. May 4 (40 days)

Division B - central NJ
Coyle Field
Bravo 1, Air Tractor 602 (600 gal), Sat. March 26 through Wed. May 11 (47 days)
Allaire (aka Monmouth Executive Airport - note 1)
Bravo 2, Ag Cat (300 gal), Sat. March 26 through Wed. April 27 (33 days)

Division C - southern NJ
Downstown
Charlie 1, Air Tractor 602 (600 gal), Sat. March 26 through Sun. May 8 (44 days)
Charlie 3, g Cat (300 gal), Mon. March 21 through Fri. March 25 (5 days)
Hammonton
Charlie 2, Ag Cat (300 gal), Sat. March 26 through Sun. May 8 (44 days)

Go to this NJFFS webpage to see a map of NJ by NJFFS Division (showing counties in each division).

note 1 - I believe that what is know called Monmouth Executive Airport was formerly known as Allaire Airport, see this media report and this wikipedia entry.

note 2 - I am pretty confident that the airports that I have linked to in the listing of NJFFS contract aircraft are correct.

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Follow-up: High winds on Feb 19

I am late in getting back to you on what happened in the way of wildfires on Saturday, Feb. 19, where high winds were gusting to 50 mph plus along the mid-atlantic and areas to the south.

Here in NJ, there were numerous small fires, mostly in the southern part of the State. To the best of my knowledge all were brought under control reasonably quickly. For more information see articles on NJ.com and the Press of Atlantic City.

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today did his usual good job of reporting in two articles on wildfires down south on Feb. 19. go here for an article on VA fires with pictures and a video, and he wrote an earlier article reporting on these fires that may be found here. And he wrote a follow-up article on the fires in VA yesterday with pictures and a video.

Flying yesterday

The last time that I went flying on a scenic ride with a pilot (Mike) was just after Christmas. I was grounded, so to speak, for much of January into early February recovering from a sinus infection. Then I had two flights canceled because of windy conditions. So, I finally went up yesterday with and had a great flight. I had to learn navigation and pilotage when I was studying for the FAA private pilot exam last year. I wanted to do a little more work on navigation and pilotage by plotting a course for this scenic ride. Of course, the pilot, and not I, would normally do the navigation and pilotage. Simply, I plotted a course on an aeronautical chart, and picked out visual reference points along my route. The good news is that we found our way to our destination.

I did not choose the best visual reference points, Mike and I talked about this on the flight back. We talked about why my reference points were not good, and he suggested reference points that I could look for on the same flight in the future. For example, he pointed out a very large lake near the interstate that is an excellent visual reference point.

Part of the problem, according to Mike, could have been that the winds at our altitude (5,500 ft) may have been blowing a little stronger than forecast in the winds aloft charts I used. When planning a flight under visual flight rules, there are ways that you work the effects of winds into your flight planning, and I thought that I had done this. But we were a little to the right of my plotted course, possibly due to stronger winds aloft.

If I had used better visual reference points such as the large lake near the interstate, then this might not have happened. Fortunately, Mike is a good pilot (just to clarify that he was flying the plane). It was very clear and we could see for miles, so he was able to spot a good visual reference point near our destination.
I hope that on future scenic rides, that I will be better able to follow along by identifying a visual reference points and then finding these reference points on my sectional.

High Winds and Red Flag for 2/19/11

Well, here we go again. The National Weather Service has issued a high wind watch (gust may exceed 50 mph) that includes all but northeast NJ for Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011. Northeast NJ is under a wind advisory (gust up to 40 to 45 knots). My portion of NJ and north still has some snow cover, and I can attest that ground is like a sponge. But southern and central NJ has no snow cover and will be under a Red Flag Warning all day Saturday, Feb. 19.

I pulled the map off of the NWS Fire Weather page a little while ago. I should say here that when you go that link, you are likely to see a different map as they update the maps at least once a day, maybe twice a day. Also, remember that the areas in yellow are under a fire weather watch.

The spring fire season here in NJ will soon be upon us. Perhaps a little early in southern and central NJ. I'm a little busy this weekend with company coming in, but I'll try to monitor what is happening in NJ firewise tomorrow as time permits. Of course, wind damage as might affect power will affect my ability to monitor things. 

more on emergency retardant drops

I recently wrote about emergency retardant drops here. I was going through some files on my computer earlier today and saw a draft of an article that I wrote in Dec. 2009, one of a series of articles on the DC-7 tanker. Most of the articles that I posted in December 2009, were on DC-7 air tankers, so here is a link if you are interested in the entire series. The article that interested me today is called Up close and personal with DC-7 tankers: retardant drops pt 2 of 2, written on Dec. 18, 2009. In this article, Larry Kraus, pilot of DC-7 tanker 62 speaks about emergency retardant drops. I am reposting the entire article here because of its relevance to my recent post. Enjoy!

Up close and personal with DC-7 tankers: retardant drops (pt 2 of 2)
Originally posted on Dec. 18, 2009 Random Ramblings: Aerial Wildland Firefighting Blog.

In my last post, I was writing about the Aero Union multi-door tank system (8 doors) used by Butler's DC-7's. I'll let Larry explain to you the sequence he goes through making a typical retardant drop:

To drop a full load at Coverage Level 6, I would have the co-pilot arm the tank system, and I would set the intervelometer to the 12 o'clock position (1), set the timer to 0.4 and set the doors to open selector to 8. Assuming that we'd gone through the Descent Check List while descending into the drop pattern I should be set. All that I have to do next is to determine the correct place to begin the drop and hold down the drop button (located on the yoke) until all of the doors open.

I know that there are times when tanker pilots must make an emergency drop of a retardant load. If an emergency happens near a tanker base, there is usually a designated place, e.g. coordinates, where emergency drops can be made. Otherwise, the pilot tries to look for a safe place -- no houses, no people on the ground, away from water sources, etc. -- to make the emergency drop. As I understand it, if a tanker pilot were to drop the entire load at once (aka a salvo) while making an emergency drop, the nose will do a sudden pitch up because of the sudden loss of 27,000 pounds of retardant. Often the pilots have a few hairy moments when this happens as they bring the tanker under control.

In the case of the DC-7, Larry tells me that emergency dump switch (outlined in blue in the photo) is centrally located on the cockpit panel. When Larry or his co-pilot lift the guard and activate the system by flipping the switch to the up position, the doors open at an approximate coverage level 5 drop. If I am thinking about this correctly, an added benefit is that an emergency drop at an approximate coverage level of 5 means that any pitch up of the nose of the tanker will not be nearly as bad as a sudden salvo of all doors at coverage level 8 (or higher). Larry provides some more details on emergency drops:

As far as having to jettison retardant in an emergency, it all depends on the severity of the emergency, the location and other local circumstances. In most cases, such as an engine failure deep in a canyon, there will be time for some quick (maybe 15-30 seconds) of trouble-shooting followed by determining if there is time (and the terrain allows) to fly to a suitable drop area. If we really are deep in a canyon, a suitable drop area will be anyplace nearby that doesn't contain a water source, people, vehicles or structures.

Again, it all depends on the circumstances. Generally, it will be possible to fly a few miles to an open area, but it's better for a spot on the ground to be covered with retardant than the flaming wreckage of an airplane. It would be unlikely that we would climb out of a canyon with 3 engines to carry the load to a designated jettison area. However, if the failure occurred enroute to the fire at altitude, that could be an option. There are also other emergencies not involving engines. Hydraulic problems being high on the list. I also once had a failure causing the loss of the fabric on the rudder on Tanker 62 during a drop run.

As I've mentioned before, nothing is ever easy in the tanker business.

Brushfires in NC and VA on Feb. 14

I was checking for wildfire activity yesterday (Feb. 14) as a result of yesterdays red flag warnings in the southern part of the US. So far, I have heard of a 580 acre brush fire in Surry County in western NC, for more information on this fire see this report from MyFox8 in Greensboro.

Then I found a website reporting reporting Fire News in VA with reports of several brush fires in VA. A media report of a brush fire in Dinwiddle County VA that was contained on the evening of Feb. 14 may be found here. In addition there was at least one smaller brush fire in the Richmond VA area that was contained mid-day on Feb. 14, go here for more information.

According to an article from the Hometown Annapolis.com (MD) on Feb. 15, there were multiple brush fires in Maryland yesterday and this morning.

Enhanced fire danger continues for Burlington, Cape May, and Cumberland Counties in southern NJ. Red flag warnings continue in portions of Maryland, Delaware, and Florida on the east coast.

obtained from http://radar.srh.noaa.gov/fire/briefing.php on 2/15/11

Red Flag Warnings in portions of the East Coast USA

Noting that all of New Jersey is under a wind advisory for this afternoon into the wee hours of Tuesday where there will be sustained winds at about 20 to 25 mph with gust to 45 or 50 mph, I got curious about what the fire danger might be south of me. That is, here in northern and central NJ we still have snow cover which I expect lessens the fire danger. However, this is not the case in southern NJ.

Southern NJ, while not under a red flag warning, the southern NJ counties of Cape May, Atlantic, Cumberland and southeastern Burlington Counties will see enhanced fire danger this afternoon into this evening with fine fuel moisture at about 10 percent, gusty winds, and a the possibility of a decreasing relative humidity.

You will see from the map that areas to the south of NJ, including portions of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida are under red flag warnings. I believe that the winter fire season in Florida and Georgia is under way. I'm not sure about the dates of the fire season in other regions in the south. But the spring fire season in NJ (and Pennsylvania) starts in early to mid March. As we move towards March I'll start to monitor fire conditions in NJ as I did last year. So, stay tuned.

Here is a wlildand fire hotlist thread on fire danger in No. Carolina. I will continue keep my eyes and ears out for fire activity that may result from today's red flag warnings.

The areas mapped in yellow in New Mexico are under fire weather watch.

If you want to check out fire weather for the U.S. National Weather Service was a fire weather page. The map on the top of this article is from the National Weather Service.

lead planes working with tankers

I wrote the other day about Conair (from Canada) leasing five tankers and a "bird dog" plane, a 690 Turbo Air Commander to Victoria, Australia for their summer season. What is a bird dog plane? A bird dog plane in Canada is similar to a lead plane in the U.S. One of the functions of a bird dog or lead plane is to sniff out the route that the tankers will take to drop retardant on a fire. Simply, the lead or bird dog plane leads the tanker to the site of the retardant drop.

Previously I have written about a couple of fires that Larry Kraus's T-62 worked, with pictures that show T-62 working with a lead plane. In this article, Larry explains how he works with an Air Supervision Module, function as both a lead plane and air attack. Another series of photos showing T-62 working with a lead plane with commentary from Larry may be found here.

I hope, but may not be able, to write a little more about lead planes in a few weeks, but for now I found three two videos that I am embedding here, they are all short, showing footage of a bird dog or lead plane working with a tanker. You know what they say, one picture is worth one thousand words. These videos show lead planes in the United States working with tankers. In both videos you will first see the lead plane followed by the tanker.

edited on November 10, 2017 to delete unavailable video


Direct link to video


Direct link to video

Convair 580 firebombers, AT-802's, and a third AirCrane leased by Victoria Australia

I have been interested in the aircraft that are being used in Australia during their summer fire season. Late last September (Sept. 24, 2010 to be precise), I read This article by Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today reporting that the DC-10 air tanker had failed its test in Victoria Australia. At the end of the article, he reports that the State of Victoria was planning to bring in two Convair 580 firebomber planes an additional Erickson AirCrane and four other fixed wing aircraft for the summer fire season. More information may be found here.

I already knew that Erickson AirCrane Erickson AirCrane are among the aircraft used in Australia to fight wildfires, see for example the Victoria CFA aircraft page here.

So, I was interested in the arrival of these aircraft. in Victoria, Australia. One thing lead to another and I did not follow through on what was happening in Victoria Australia until I went to Wildfire Today on Feb. 4, 2011 and saw Bill's article reporting that Australia have leased 5 air tankers from Canadian based Conair along with a "bird dog" plane, a 690 Turbo Air Commander. The five air tankers being leased by Victoria, Australia from Conair include the Convair 580 bombing planes along with the three Air Tractor 802's. Erickson has three AirCranes in Australia. Elivis and Elise are joined this year by Marty.



Thanks to Bill Gabbert for posting this wonderful video of Convair 580's in action in British Columbia, Canada in his Feb. 4 article.

.

Thank-you Bill Gabbert for your usual great reporting!

Go here and here for additional reports on the arrival of the two Convair 580 aircraft.

Wildfires in and near Perth Australia

Well, we go from flooding in Australia to wildfires (aka bush fires). After all, it is their summer fire season down under. The video that I embedded here reports on a bush fire in the Perth area of Australia. Sixty-four homes have been destroyed with evacuations in place. Firefighting Helicopters are working the fire. A report from Sky News Australia with a video clip may be found here. The Courier Mail reports on the fire here, they are reporting that the fire is at or near containment but the fire danger remains. Reports from the Fire and Emergency Services Authority in the Perth region including a map may be found here. Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today reported on this fire here in a post he made yesterday (Sunday, Feb. 6).

still to come on aerial firefighting safety: escape routes

I wrote about how tanker pilots will jettison retardant in the event of emergencies such as an engine failure or an encounter with bad winds here. Of perhaps greater importance is that tanker and helo pilots working a fire will always plan for an escape route out of there should the need arise. I will be writing about escape routes a little later, perhaps this coming week.

TBM Avengers revisited

Some of you may recall that I wrote a series of articles on the TBM Avenger last August, these articles may be found here (scroll to the bottom to see the first article in the series). Briefly, the TBM Avenger was used in World War II and then later as a fire bombing aircraft.

She is a magnificent aircraft. Thanks to a new friend, I recently came across this video of a restored Avenger. I love the sound of the radial engine!

I also want to remind everyone about a very nice webpage about the history of the TBM Avenger's service with Forest Protection Limited (New Brunswick, Canada). There are some great photos of the Avenger along with some history of her use in aerial fire fighting and budworm spraying, a listing of pilots who flew the Avenger, and other great information. You could spend hours on this site, go here to get started.

Dumping retardant in an emergency

Unless there are firefighters and other individuals on the ground that might be in danger from falling retardant, a tanker pilot can jettison their entire retardant load if in the event of an emergency such as an engine failure or an encounter with bad winds. Typically the pilots will jettison the retardant in a controlled matter to avoid sudden pitch-up of the nose of the tanker. The hope is that once the retardant is jettisoned, the crew of the tanker in trouble can make it safely back to the nearest tanker base.

From what I understand, most if not all tanker bases have a designated area near the base for jettisoning retardant. These jettison areas are important when something goes wrong with the tanker during or after take-off. Most tankers can not land with a full load of retardant, so the pilot will jettison the retardant in the designated jettison area before returning to base to have their tanker repaired.

I promised you some numbers for the weight of load of retardant for a couple of air tankers. If memory serves, one gallon of water weighs about 8.35 gallons. Retardant weighs a little more than 9 pounds per gallon (ppg).

I will talk about three tankers: a DC-7 tanker, a P-2V tanker, and CAL FIRE's S--2T tanker.

Some of you may recall that I wrote extensively about Butler's T-62, a DC-tanker that has been piloted by Larry Kraus for over 27 years. Larry was very generous with his time and his knowledge of the tanker business, so it was easy for me to find information from my blog about weight specifications of T-62 that may found here.

The DC-7 tankers, including T-62, carry 3,000 gallons of retardant. Multiply this by 9 ppg and we can see that the weight of a full load of retardant on T-62 is roughly 27,000 pounds. Larry told me the normal take-off weight of T-62 with a full load of retardant is 108,000 pounds.

The maximum gross weight of a P-2V, for example those operated by Neptune Aviation is 80,000 pounds. While the P-2 can carry about 2,700 gallons of retardant, the current contract load according to Neptune Aviation is 2,082 gallons. 2,082 gallons of retardant comes in at a total weight of 18,738 pounds.

According to CAL FIRE, the S-2T tanker has a maximum gross weight of 29,150 pounds, carrying 1,200 gallons of retardant which weighs a total of 10,800 pounds.

The example of these three tankers, demonstrate how much lighter the tanker is with empty retardant tanks.

I am glad to post this tonight, prior to our latest round of winter. I may have more to say about this subject, but that may have to wait for a bit. In the meantime, enjoy!

working on tomorrow's post

I am working on my next post on the weight of retardant as I write this. I hope to make this post later tonight before going to bed in order to have the post up prior to our latest round of winter weather (in the form of an ice storm). If you don't hear from me for a couple of days you will know why.

Lighten the load of an aircraft

All aircraft have a maximum gross weight for safe operations. Weights are checked before the airplane takes off, and the pilots occupy themselves with all that is involved in flying the airplane. Sometimes something goes wrong in flight, and the plane is may be too heavy.

Allow me to tell a couple of stories to illustrate.

I have been reading about WWII bombers including the B-17 and the B-24 for some future articles for this blog. I have read some accounts of a heavily damaged bomber making her way back to base. Perhaps an engine was out and the performance of the bomber was suffering. Once they back in friendly territory and no longer at risk for being shot down in enemy territory, the pilot had to find a way to lighten the aircraft to have the best odds of returning to base. So, he would order the crew to dump equipment, armament, etc. overboard. The now lighter aircraft may be able to make it back to base. Or at least land or ditch in friendly territory.

Several months ago a commercial airliner got in trouble shortly after take-off. If memory serves, they had a hard time retracting their landing gear. They had to return to the airport, but they were too heavy to land. Procedures called for the pilots to jettison some fuel until a safe landing weight was reached. They circled at a safe altitude for something like 20 to 30 minutes. The fuel evaporates in the air, well before it reaches the ground. After the safe landing weight is reached, the pilot returns to the airport for an emergency landing. Emergency vehicles are on alert. The landing gear holds and the pilot brings the plane down safely. No injuries and fatalities. The passengers deplane and catch a later plane to their destination.

I believe that I was about three or four months into writing about aerial wildland firefighting when I first learned that all (or most) tankers and helo pilots have the capability to jettison a full load of retardant when an emergency arises. Such emergency situations where the tanker pilot will jettison a load of retardant include an engine failure, and getting caught in bad winds. Of course there are important considerations here before jettisoning the retardant because the weight of falling retardant can kill people on the ground so a tanker pilot will not make an emergency drop if there are folk on the ground in the path of the emergency drop.

I have some numbers for you to demonstrate the weight of the retardant. That will come in my next post. If the weather and the power grid allow, I hope to be making this post on Wednesday.

Erickson Aircrane revisted

I am a little under the weather so I did not make a post yesterday. I hope to be back in a day or so. In the meantime, enjoy this video, probably a repeat, of the Aircrane, Isabell, piloted by Kenny Chapman, working the Backbone Fire in the Six Sisters National Forest in July 2009.

Aircraft tire pressure and hydroplaning

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine sent me an article on the importance of properly inflated aircraft tires, it may be found here. This got me thinking about the importance of properly inflated aircraft tires. While the article that my friend sent me talks about improperly inflated tires as a cause of the crash of a Lear Jet and a commercial airline in the Middle East, it is important for all aircraft, from my Cessna trainer to Lear Jets to airtankers to Jumbo jets, to have properly inflated tires. I am going to talk a little about what I am learning about the importance of properly inflated tires on single-engine aircraft such as the Cessna 172 that I take scenic rides in.

I have recently been working on pre-flight inspections of an aircraft with the pilots that take me on scenic rides. The tires are one of a number of items on our pre-flight checklist. So, I told him about the article that my friend sent me. He told me that he thought that the proper tire pressure on the Cessna 172P was about 30 pounds per square inch (psi). He went on to remind me that we had talked about the relationship between tire pressure and hydroplaning and aircraft speed in ground school.

Automobiles can hyrdoplane, as can aircraft. Not a situation you want to be in either vehicle. When you hydroplane, for example on a wet runway, your tire loses contact with the ground and you lose control of the aircraft.

Take a moment and go here and watch a two minute video on NASA's work on hyrdoplaning. You will see a formula in the video:

9 * (the square root of the tire pressure) = the speed in knots at which you will begin to hydroplane.

According to the above formula, a tire with pressure of 30 psi will start to hydroplane at about 49 kts.

I learned a quick and dirty version of this formula in ground school:

(tire pressure &#247 by 6) * 9 equals the speed that aircraft will start hydroplaning.

Using the quick and dirty formula, the tire will start hydroplaning at 45 kts. I like that the number is a little lower than the 49 kts in the NASA video because you have a target safe landing speed that is a little lower. Perhaps providing a safety margin? But it is an easy formula for to remember, and you can do the calculation in your head (or on the pad of paper on your knee board).

The key here is that the lower the tire pressure, the lower is the speed that the aircraft will start hydroplaning. Using the quick and dirty formula, the number comes out to be 42 knots. If you land at 45 knots with tires at 28 psi on a wet runway you will hydroplane.

I don't know about you, but that short conversation with the pilot made an impression on me. I"ll leave it to the folk at NASA to do their tests and research on hydroplaning aircraft tires.

Note - apologies for not using proper mathematical notation for the square root symbol. If I can figure out how to include a square root symbol in html code that will show up here, I'll revise the article later.

More on Flooding in Australia

It is summer in Australia, and in other years it is around this time of year that the summer fire season down under would be ramping up. It was my intention to try to follow the 2011 summer fire season in Australia. They had been in a long term drought not so long ago. Things changed.

Sometime around the end of 2010 or early 2011 I first heard about widespread and catastrophic flooding in Australia. The videos I saw on the news were horrific. Words escape me and I wish that I could do something to help.

I suspect that given the moisture that will be present in the soil and the vegetation, even after these catastrophic flood recede, that the wildfire danger will be diminished. However, I am not exactly an expert on these matters. Nor am I familiar enough with Australian geography and weather patterns to know if there are areas in Australia that have not seen these flood waters that might be at risk for wildfires. I suppose that I'll find out as the summer months in Australia unfold.

That being said, I do want to provide a couple of resources for those of you who might want to see the effect of the catastrophic flooding in Australia. To that end, I am providing a couple of links. And here I am probably only touching the surface of coverage (media, personal accounts, etc) available on the internet.

1. Skynews Australia has a flooding webpage with reports and videos that may be found here.

2. A newspaper in Brisbane in Queensland AU, The Courier Mail has extensive coverage of the floods. This coverage includes, but is not necessarily limited to photo galleries (two may be found here and here, a story page with personal stories of devastation and hope, an interactive map of the Brisbane River Flood Crisis, and a link to a very good high resolution online mapping system of Australia that may be found here. And there are other links on the Courier Mail site that I am not including here.

Flooding in Australia

I would be remiss to not post about the devastating flooding in Australia. Words escape me.

Aircraft maintenance logs

My point in writing this short article about aircraft maintenance logs is to not to go into any kind of detail of on keeping the FAA required aircraft maintenance logs. Rather it is to write about something that I had never given much thought to -- aircraft maintenance logs -- until about one year ago.

At some point after I'd been writing about the world of aerial wildland firefighting for several months I had a vague awareness that detailed maintenance logs were kept for all (or most) aircraft. Then I went to ground school last winter and to learn various FAA regulations, including but not limited to the regulations for who can do what type of maintenance on an aircraft, who (airframe and power plant mechanics or airframe and power plant mechanics with inspection authorization) can do what type of inspection, and that maintenance and inspections are logged in the appropriate maintenance log(s).  Keeping maintenance logs for a given aircraft is not an option, it is required under FAA regulations. Furthermore, the logbook(s) are transferred when the airplane is sold.

It is not just one or two maintenance log books, but multiple logbooks. There is an airframe maintenance logbook. And there is one logbook each for each engine and propeller. So, the (single-engine) Cessna trainer that I go flying in has three logbooks. A tanker with four engines with four propellers (such as a P-3) will have four engine logbooks and four propeller logbooks.

FAA regulations specify certain preventive maintenance that can be performed by the pilot/owner. After the pilot completes the preventive maintenance item, s/he notes the repair in the appropriate logbook and then signs and dates the logbook. Likewise, maintenance completed by an airframe and power plant (A&P )mechanic  is logged in the appropriate log book and then signed and dated by the A&P mechanic. Inspections are also logged in the appropriate logbook by the A&P mechanic (with inspection authorization as appropriate) completing the inspections.

The FAA does not require that the maintenance logs be kept in the airplane. It is a legal document that must be available to the FAA, NTSB and other agencies within a specified time period when requested. It is not a good thing for the logbooks to be lost and/or destroyed. For these reasons the maintenance logbooks are usually kept in a safe place away from the airplane.

For those of you who never knew about maintenance logs until you read this article, perhaps the next time you see an aircraft, no matter how small (a Cessna trainer) or how large (a jet operated by an airline), you will know that there are multiple maintenance logs for that aircraft.

Progressive Inspections (2 of 2) -- A brief look at what happens in progressives

What might happen in a progressive inspection program? I don't have access to any current progressive inspection program documents, but thanks to discussions with friends who are airframe and power plant mechanics who have worked on progressive inspections, I have an idea of how progressives work.

In a typical FAA approved progressive program, the progressive is based on three or four operations that recycle after a certain number of hours. So lets say there is an approved progressive program , e.g. for a hypothetical single-engine fixed wing aircraft, has four operations occurring at 50 hour intervals, recycling after 200 hours (of flight time). Further, the progressive inspections must be completed within a twelve month period.

Lets say that the last twelve month period started on January 31, 2010 and the aircraft has only flown 140 hours to date with progressive inspection operations one and two already completed. Operations three and four must be completed by January 31, 2011.

There will be a list of specific items that have to be inspected in each operation. Each operation is likely to focus on detailed inspections of one or two components with routine inspections of the other components. For example operation # 1 may  have detailed inspection items for the landing gear and wings with routine inspection items for the rest of the aircraft (cabin, fuselage, engine, propeller, and empennage).

In my discussion of progressive inspections, I would be remiss if I did not mention that the FAA regulations mention that life-limited parts have to be replaced before the end of their life. I suspect, that life-limited parts will be replaced during progressive inspections. I also suspect that the replacement of life-limited parts is an important component of maintenance and inspection programs in the tanker business, whether they be progressive inspections or some other type of FAA approved inspection program.

As I have learned more about how progressive inspections work, I appreciate that the world of aircraft maintenance and inspections, including but not limited to progressives) is often complicated. A progressive inspection program in the tanker business is going to be much more involved and a lot more time consuming than a progressive for a fixed-wing single engine aircraft with non-retractable landing gear. Nothing is simple in the tanker business.

This ends my two-part series on progressive inspections. Perhaps I'll revisit progressives again in later articles. For now, I am moving on. In my next article, I'll write a little about maintenance and inspection logs.

Progressive Inspections (1 of 2) -- Why progressives?

An owner/operator of an aircraft can fulfill the requirements under CFR 14 FAR part 43, appendix D by having a maintenance and inspection done once a year, known as an annual, by an airframe and powerplant mechanic with inspection authorization. I'll be writing about annual inspections a little later. For now, I'll say that the FAA requires that the annual inspection be done at the end of the twelfth month following the last annual. So, if the last annual was done on Dec. 5, 2010 the next annual is due on or before Dec. 31, 2011.

An annual inspection for a Cessna trainer or similar general aviation aircraft might mean that the aircraft will be out of service for two or three days. The more complex the aircraft systems (including multiple engines), the longer the annual will take and the longer the aircraft will be out of service. For example, I suspect that the multi-engine airplanes used as tankers may be out of service for at least one month.

A private pilot who owns their own plane for personal or recreational use, either individually or in partnership, can often live with having their aircraft out of service, even if the inspection requires a longer period of time. But take an operator that has a business requiring almost constant use of their aircraft, even seasonally. In the tanker business, taking one aircraft out of service for a couple of weeks, means that aircraft can not be used on a fire. Moreover, the operator loses money.

Another example would be aircraft used for surveillance where at least one aircraft has to be in the air 8 to 10 hours a day. Or perhaps a charter/air taxi operation has a few single and twin-engined aircraft used for charter operations, they need all or most of their aircraft in the air every day. Then there are freight operations, even those using smaller aircraft. It is situations like these where progressive inspections are more suitable to meet the requirements of FAR part 43 appendix D. I wrote here that under a progressive inspection program, the aircraft is out of service for shorter periods of time, where the maintenance and inspection tasks required to be completed in a twelve month period are broken down into three or four tasks.

An aircraft owner/operator who is interested in progressive inspections starts by obtaining the maintenance and inspection procedures from the aircraft's manufacturers if they don't already have them. The manufacturer probably already has procedures spelled out for progressives and will work with the owner-operator to come up with a good progressive inspection program for their aircraft. It doesn't stop here, the FAA must sign off on the progressive inspection program.

Stay tuned for my next article, posting on January 17, where I will continue to write about what might happen in a progressive inspection program.

CAL FIRE inspection & maintenance of airtankers

In this short video from CAL FIRE TV you will learn a little how CAL FIRE maintains and inspects their air tankers (S-2Ts). CAL FIRE contracts with  Dyncorp for the maintenance and inspection of their S-2-T airtankers, OV-10 air tactical aircraft, and UH-1 helicopters, see this CAL FIRE webpage for more information on CAL FIRE's air program. All operators of aircraft used for aerial wildland firefighting have an inspection and maintenance program for their aircraft, with the specifics of those inspections varying depending on the aircraft and the operator.

According to the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) most aircraft, including fixed-wing aircraft, have to have certain items inspected in a given twelve month period. This list is found in CFR 14 FAR part 43, appendix D.

The FAR sets forth the manner of doing these inspections with the specifics of these inspections varying depending on category (e.g. airplane, glider, lighter than air, and rotorcraft) class (e.g. single-engine land, mutli-engine land), type (aircraft with a gross weight in excess of 12,500 lbs) and use (e.g. flight schools, charter, airlines, public-use - air tankers) of the aircraft.

It is likely that the type of inspections that are being discussed in the CAL FIRE maintenance video that I embedded here are what are known as progressive inspections. In a progressive inspection, the inspection tasks that must be completed within a 12 month period are broken down into three or four "tasks". The benefit of progressives is that the aircraft is not taken out of service for a long period of time if the inspection is done only once a year. Rather in a progressive inspection, the aircraft is out of service for shorter periods. The operator of a fleet of aircraft can stagger their progressive inspections to minimize the number of aircraft out of service at one time.

Over the next couple of articles, I will be writing a little more about progressive inspections, so stay tuned!

Aircraft maintenance and inspections are important!

In going to ground school last year and studying for the FAA private pilot exam, learning FAA regulations took a fair amount of time. The FAA regs are fairly comprehensive. And no, I'm not going to write about FAA regulations.

But it was studying the regulations that speak to aircraft maintenance and inspections that I do want to spend some time with in this blog. It did not take me all that long after I started writing about aerial wildland firefighting to appreciate the importance of aircraft maintenance and inspections. I knew that such maintenance and inspections take place on an ongoing basis, both during and outside of fire season. But I never gave any thought to the specifics aircraft maintenance and inspections.

I learned that there are specific items of preventive maintenance that private pilots can do, such as changing seatbelts; replacing landing gear tires, and replacing batteries, and replacing or cleaning spark plugs.), that these are detailed in CFR 14 FAR part 43, appendix A (c).

I learned about different kinds of aircraft inspections and who can do them, either an airframe and powerplant mechanic or an airframe and powerplant mechanic with inspection authorization, depending on the type of inspection. An inspection is not the same thing as preventive maintenance that can be performed by a private pilot.

For me, the most important thing that I have been learning and doing, is the pre-flight inspection of the Cessna 172 when I take scenic rides. The pilot and I do this together, where he is looking for things that I miss. Like everything else in aviation, this is on a check list that is kept in the aircraft. In this case, the check lists are on laminated cards for ease of use. It covers things like:

• siphoning off a little gas to check for impurities, to
• checking the oil level and the alternator belt, to
• looking at the cables in the ailerons, flaps, elevators and rudders; to
• looking at the rivets (we don't want any popped rivets); to
• checking the propeller to be sure there are no nicks.

This is just a sample of what is on the pre-flight list for the Cessna 172. It is the most important part of the flight. Doesn't matter if she just had an annual inspection the week before, you do a pre-flight anyway. Doesn't matter if you took it up yesterday, you do another pre-flight. The check list will be different perhaps, depending on the aircraft, but a pre-flight is a pre-flight.

I'll be writing more about aircraft (fixed-wing) inspections and maintenance as time goes on. In the next three articles, I will be taking about a certain type of inspection known as a progressive inspection. I had the privilege of seeing an A&P mechanic with inspection authorization perform an annual inspection on a couple of general aviation aircraft, I'll be writing about that in a few weeks. So stay tuned.

Florida - drought and wildland fire potential outlook

source: http://radar.srh.noaa.gov/fire/briefing.php (obtained on 1/8/11)

source: http://radar.srh.noaa.gov/fire/briefing.php (obtained on 1/8/11)

A while back a friend sent my a link to a Fire Weather Page (experimental) of the National Weather Service, it may be found here. So, I went there to see what information I could find about the elevated fire danger in Florida, and thought that two maps that I posted above might be of interest. In the map on the top, you can see that Florida, along with other areas in the south, is in an area where the drought is forecast to persist or intensify. In the second map, you will see that the wildland fire potential outlook for the month of January 2011, both Florida and Texas is estimated to be above normal.

The Southern Area Coordination Center (SACC) has an intelligence page with a variety of useful information, including U.S. year to date fire and acreage by state and agency that may be found here. According to the year to date figures for Jan, 7, 2011, there have been 93 wildand fires in Florida burning 1,292 acres and 6 prescribed burns at 14,272 acres. I'm not quite sure how often these figures are update, so when you go to that site, you may well find different numbers.


Another document of interest at the SACC intelligence page is the U.S. Year to Date Large Incidence List dated January 7, 2011 (again, what you see may be different), there have been three large fires in Florida year-to-date.

• New Years Fire (FL-FLS-2011-08-0848), burning 25 acres with 4 structures destroyed,
• Deep Cypress Fire (FL-FLS-2010-18-0213), burning 684 acres, and
• Black Bear Fire (FL-FLS-2011-17-0005), burning 300 acres.

All were human caused. They report start and ending dates. The three fires burned for about one day. The ending dates for the Deep Cypress and the Black Bear Fires were Jan. 6, 2011 with a start date of Jan. 5, 2011. The New Years Fire started on Jan. 1, 2011 with an ending date of Jan. 2, 2011.

My only concern in discussing these numbers is that I have no historical data to compare them with. Also, it is only one week into the New Year, so it is still early. Time will tell if Florida was a bad winter fire season or not.

Perhaps some of you will want to check out the SACC intelligence page later to see what is going in Florida.

The State of Florida has a fire information page with links to a map and a daily summary. I can not get the daily summary page to work in either of the browsers on my Mac, so I am not linking to it here. Perhaps those of you with PCs will have better luck. I can access Florida's mapping page which I can access with Firefox, but it requires you to get Microsoft's silverlight plug-in. You will want to read the instructions for their mapping system first which may be found here. They do have a link to mapping system that does not require silverlight that may be found here.

Elevated fire danger in Florida

Florida has been near and dear to ever since studied the history of the Everglades in graduate school. So, knowing that winter is fire season in Florida, I was on the lookout this morning for what is happening in Florida wildfire wise.

Bill Gabbert of wildfire today wrote here about the Three Forks Fire that was burning in Florida in late December 2010. This was a 4,000 acre that firefighters were fighting with a 9,000 acre burnout. At the time Bill posted his article, the fire was 85 percent contained.

Then I was reading the wildland fire hotlist forums, I saw this post about dry conditions in the southern part of the US, with a link to this Daytona Beach News Journal Article about drought conditions and elevated fire danger.

After reading the Daytona Beach News Journal Article, I went to the webpage of Florida's Wildland Fire and Fire Prevention Agency where I saw a report predicting increased fire danger in Florida in 2011, it may be found here.

I will try to follow what is happening in Florida and elsewhere down south in regards to wildfire activity over the coming weeks.

Added at 2:45 PM on Jan. 8, 2011. I just did a google search to try to find out happened with the fire, Three Forks Fire, that Bill Gabbert wrote about. According to this news report (with photos) , the fire was contained at 13,000 acres on Dec. 31, 2010.

Great Airtanker Video

I am feeling a little under the weather due to a winter cold, and I am finished with posting about the DC-3. I have a couple of things in the pipeline that I'm not quite ready to write about, I will probably wait until early next week before starting anything new.

In the meantime, I've embedded this video before, so this is a rerun. However, it is one of my favorites, so I hope that those of you who have seen it before will enjoy seeing it again. It is called "A Great Airtanker Video", and I believe that it s footage taken for a National Geographic piece about 15 or 20 years ago. Enjoy!

DC-3 (part 6) virtual tour courtesy of MAAM

Thanks to the folk of the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum (MAAM) in Reading PA, we have the opportunity to take a virtual tour of a restored R4D-6 (DC-3. The R4D-6 was the US Naval version of the US Army C-47 (DC-3). Both the C-47, the R4D-6 and the RAF Dakota were used as transport aircraft in World War II. For more on her history and the restoration, go here. To the best of my knowledge, the MAAM R4D-6 is airworthy as it is available for airshows.

You may also take "virtual tours" of the MAAM R4D-6, each of the following five pages of the tour has several images that you can click along with descriptions of each image:

• walk around
• cockpit
• instrument panels
• cabin
• engines

Enjoy!