Crystal Fire - Ft. Collins CO

There is a 2,000 acre fire burning in the Fort Collins area of Colorado. I believe, but am not certain that at least one heavy tanker has worked the fire since the fire started on Friday. Winds may have grounded the crews last night and there was a storm that went through mid-day today that also may have grounded aircraft. I understand that it was quite windy last night.

inciweb on Crystal Fire
Wildland Fire hotlist forum on Crystal Fire
Wildfire Today on Crystal Fire
slide show from channel 9 in Denver (no longer available)

Here is a report from a station local to Fort Collins (channel 9), I'm not certain about the date of the report. For those who are interested, there is some fire footage. It is a little over 20 minutes. They are reporting on damage to structures and evacuations are in place. Precipitation is in the forecast. At the time that I first wrote this blog article in April 2011, Channel 9 in Fort Collins CO had a great 20 minute report on this fire. I only just realized on September 5, 2017 that the video is no longer available so I have deleted the video.

B-17 in WW II - stories in pictures and video

I am profoundly moved by the accounts of the crews of the B-17 (and the B-24) during WW II. Words escape me. But one picture or video is worth a thousand words, so I offer two videos. Thanks to Airboyd TV for the fist video on the 12th Airforce, and thanks to FuntimeSteve for the second video, B-17 8th Airforce Tribute,


Direct link to video


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Direct link to video

B-17 in WW II - Crew stories

I can not separate the B-17 from the crew who flew her on the bombing runs, nor can I separate the B-17 from the ground crew (aka crew chief) who kept the plane running.

I offer you a couple of websites where I found crew stories.

The Jesse Woffard B-17 Crew (text) and photos of Woffard's crew.

Dwayne Bennett, pilot.

I found a nice book called The Bomber Boys: Heros who Flew the B-17’s in World War II (2005) by Travis Ayres. Ayres interviewed five surviving WW II veterans who served as crew on B-17’s. Three of these veterans whose stories Ayres tells are George Ahem, Art Frechette, and Anthony Teta. George Ahem was a Ball Turrett Gunner from the 351st Bomb Group, 509th Bomb Squadron. While on leave in London he and his crew mates missed being killed by a German V-2 rocket strike only because they stopped to take pictures of Big Ben. Their cab driver told them that if they had not stopped to take pictures, he would have turned down that street at the precise moment the rocket hit.

Art Fretchette, Navigator, 301st Bomb Group, 419th Bomb Squadron managed to get out of his B-17 while unconscious just before the B-17 blew-up. He did not have time to pull the rip cord before landing on a mountain in the snow covered alps. He fell 15,000 feet. Four of his crew mates died. Art was captured by the Germans along with five of his crew mates at least some of whom were at different POW camps. The Germans treated Art’s wounds. Art and his crew mates were released by the Germans at the end of the war.

In a story Ayers calls "The Lucky Bastards Club", Ayers tells the story of Anthony Teta, Navigator, 305th Bomb Group, 366th Bomb Squadron. Tony Teta made it home, surviving 35 missions. Surviving 35 missions was not always easy. By the time Tony and his crew got to England, P-51 Mustangs and P-47 Thunderbolt fighters escorted the bombers on their bombing runs.

On one bomb run, they got to the target, the bombardier dropped the bombs, and they turned around to head back to base. The flak from the anti-aircraft guns was very heavy. Jerry Chart, the pilot, took evasive action in an effort to avoid the flak. Suddenly, things got complicated when the word came to the cockpit that they had five bombs stuck in the bomb bay. A little later, Tony felt a sudden impact followed by the propellers of the inside engine on the right wing stopping. Ayers tells what Tony does next:

The interphone was dead . . . .He climbed quickly up the little ladder in the back of the nose compartment, emerging right behind the pilot's seat. A cold wind swirled blue smoke around the cockpit, sparks were spewing from a fuse box next to the top gun turret. Tony could see blue sky. Flak had ripped away a sizable pice of the bomber's roof. . . . (Ayers, 2005, 46).

Chart told Tony to plot a course to neutral Sweden, just in case. He knew that it was only a matter of time when they would have to drop out of formation and lose the protective cover of the other bombers. They finally had to drop out of formation,and the pilot in the lead B-17 wished them luck. Chart and his crew were on their own. All the crew, especially the gunners, were on the look-out for German aircraft. Being on their own, they were quite vulnerable.

Suddenly, two fighter planes were spotted. At first the crew could not tell whether they were Allied fighters or Germans.

‘I think they're ours,’ Robinson announced from the top turret. Then when he could make out the fighters' distinctive shapes, he added, ‘Yeah, its two little friends.’ Moment's latter two shiny P-51 Mustangs pulled alongside of Chart's number 015 Fortress--one cruising just feet away from each of the bomber's wingtips. Chart returned a friendly wave from one of the fighter pilots, and then everyone on board found himself smiling and waving.

Tony was not surprised when their skipper announced his intentions. They would be continuing back to England. Whether it was the friendly fighter escort that had tipped the scale, Chart did not say, and Tony would never know. Chart had made his decision and his men trusted him. (Ayers 2005, 50)

Tony, Robinson, Chart and the rest of the crew made it back to England, not without more adventure as their earlier encounter with flak damaged the electrical system, and remember they did still had five bombs stuck in the bomb bay. The damage to the electrical system meant that they had to do some jury rigging to the electronics to lower the flaps and the landing gear.

I have only given you a taste of the stories that Ayers tells, and there are two other stories that I have not mentioned. One is of Peter Seniawsky (Peter Scott), Left Waist Gunner, 384th Bomb Group, 547th Bomb Squadron. Peter baled out of his crippled B-17 over Germany, evaded capture by the Germans and walks to Spain over several weeks before making it back to his base in England. Then there is the story of the crew of the Stork Club who participated in food and supply drops in German occupied Holland right around V-E day. The drops were arranged by the Allies and agreed to by the Germans. German guns were supposed to be quiet. Problem was that for an unknown reason a German soldier manning an anti-aicraft gun fired his gun. The Stork Club was hit, resulting in a large hole in one of her wings. She made it back to base with her crew.

I found Ayers’ book at my local library, and I’d recommend the book to those of you who want a taste of the experiences of B-17 crews in WW II.

References:

Ayres, Travis A. 2005. The Bomber Boys: Heros Who Flew the B-17's in World War II. NY: New American Library Group, a division of Penguin Group (U.S.A.)

Next up: B-17 in WW II - more crew stories

B-17 in WW II - How to fly the B-17

I found this intact WW II era training video on flying the B-17 on youtube recently. The video takes just under 30 minutes. I enjoyed it, there is a short educational cartoon in the middle of the video. I soak up everything I can about the planes that I write about, and the B-17 is no exception. So, watching this video was a real treat. Of course, I do keep in mind that this is a training video, the idea being to lay a solid foundation for the pilots in preparation for the difficulties in flying the bomber in bombing runs during WW II. Revised December 29, 2021: The link that I originally shared  on flying the B17  from archives dot org no longer works, but I found what I hope is a similar video on Youtube.



Direct link to video from AirBoyd on YouTube

Not being a pilot (nor am I B-17 pilot) I can’t speak to whether the training video reflects what it is like to fly the B-17, whether it be as a WW II bomber or as an airtanker. While I am not exactly intimately familiar with what is involved in flying multi-engine airplanes, I have enough of a sense of multi-engine airplanes to have an idea of what they are talking about in the video. That was helpful to me as I watched the video. If you have an in interest in aviation and/or historic aircraft, then I think you will enjoy watching the video.

Roger A. Freeman, in his 1977 book, B-17 Fortress at War has a section where surviving crew members discusses their specific role as a B-17 crew member. Pilot, James W. Johnson offers his impressions on flying the B-17:

The Fortress inspired a tremendous confidence. It was the only propeller driven aircraft I have flown that was completely viceless; there was no undesirable flight characteristics. The directional stability was excellent, properly trimmed, the B-17 could be taken-off, landed and banked without change of trim. Both ailerons and elevators were particularly responsive for such a large multi-engined airplane, so there was normally no effort at the wheel even at quite high altitudes. The B-17G was a totally predictable aircraft. Most warplanes were given to some scary situations and you could, of course, get into trouble with any of them. But in normal circumstances, you had to be a really sloppy pilot to get into trouble with a B-17 (Freeman 1977, 114).

Of interest to me was getting an idea of how the pilot and co-pilot work together. Each have jobs to do, and they often work from check-lists. For example, Jim Fletcher (co-pilot of a B-17 in WW II) describes some of the tasks that the co-pilot did (Freeman 1977, pp. 116-9). The co-pilot works with the pilot where the pilot may ask the co-pilot to do a certain task on the appropriate check-list. These tasks included but are not limited to:

• priming and then starting each engine after the pre-flight and start-up checks,
• check propeller feathering,
• magneto and turbo checks for each engine,
• operates the tail wheel lock during taxiing,
• locks tail wheel just prior to lift-off,
• retracts the landing gear,
• opening or closing the cowl flaps,
• monitoring and adjusting the power systems,
• sharing flying time with the pilot(Freeman 1977, pp. 116-9).

Here is some information that you might find useful to explain some of the terms that are referred to in this article:

1. parts of an airplane. Note that this page includes some parts that the B-17 did not have (e.g. slats and spoilers).
2. wikipedia on airplane magnetos
3. wikipedia on trim tabs.
4. I went to Jablonski to find a description of the turbosuperchargers in the B-17. Jablonski is discussing the B-17 flew at high altitudes up to 30 or even 35,000 feet: "At this high altitude also, turbosuperchargers--one per each engine--were employed to provide sea-level air pressure. The outside air was drawn into the supercharger through intercooler air intakes in the wing’s leading edge and compressed to the proper pressure before being fed into the engine’s carburetor" (Jablonski 1965, 315).
   

Next up: B-17 in WW II - stories

References:

1. Roger A. Freeman, 1977, B-17 Fortress at War (Great Britain: Charles Scribner’s Sons)
2. Edward Jablonski, 1965, Flying Fortress: the Illustrated Biography of the B-17s and the Men Who Flew Them (Garden City NY: Doubleday and Co.)

In rememberance - six die in crash of firefighting helo in Spain

I first heard about the crash of a firefighting helo in Spain, killing six on board, last week from wildfire today. I wanted a little more information before posting a remembrance so I reached out to a Spanish speaking friend who has spent time in Spain. She found an article on the crash in english from El Pais.

The Bell 407 helo crashed into a hillside on March 19 in a remote region of Aragon Spain. There was no bad weather and visibility was good. The crash is under investigation.

According to El Pais, the following firefighters died in the crash:

Ramón Millán Salafranca, 24
Angus Thompson Caminals, 35
Albert B., 38 (pilot)
Rafael A. O., 40
Esteban Javier Galve B. O.
Francisco Javier Galve B. O.

A seventh firefighter, Ángel Aznar (32) survived the crash and was hospitalized with critical injuries.

My condolences go out to the family, friends, colleagues and all those who loved those who died. I pray for Ángel and his family. And for the sad Bell 407. . .

For the people of Spain, I join you as you grieve this tragedy.

May you fly in favorable tail winds.

Wildfires in CO

video of helo working Indain Gulch Fire from the Denver Post:



Fire season in the Rockies may have gotten off to an early start with the Indian Gluch Fire being one. Another one burned 12,000 acres near Karval, CO is 100 percent contained according to the Denver Post. Still another fire, this one in Douglas County, CO is 95 percent contained, see this Denver Post Article.

As always, I can't say how long the Denver Post articles (and the embedded video) will be freely available.

There are also wildfires burning in other areas of the country, for example the southwest and the south. For more information on these and other fires, see the wildland fire hotlist forums.

B-17 in WW II - crew positions and responsibilities

can not write about the B-17 as a bomber without writing about the crew. For in some ways, the crew and their Fortress were as one. So I present this brief overview of crew positions and responsibilities.

A typical B-17 was flown by a pilot and co-pilot with a crew of eight others, including gunners. I say typical because sometimes the numbers of gunners varied. In addition, I understand that later on in WW II, the navigator and bombardier positions were combined into one position done by one man.

• The pilot was the commander of the crew. In addition to being the pilot in command of the B-17, he was responsible for all aspects of crew training, discipline, safety and efficiency 24/7. But he was more than the commander, he was also one of the crew.
• The co-pilot was the executive officer. He must be as familiar as the pilot with all aspects of flying the B-17, ready to take over both as pilot and commander if necessary. The B-17 required a flight crew of two to fly the plane. For example, the co-pilot monitored and adjusted the power systems and performed a number of vital tasks from taxiing to take-off to climbing to flying to flying to and from the bombing target to approaching home base to landing.
• The task of navigating to and from the target was the job of the navigator using one or more of: (1) dead reckoning - using charts and visual references; (2) pilotage - using charts along with time, distance, and speed calculations; (3) use of radio navigation aides; and (4) using the sun observations or at night using stars and planets.
• As the B-17 arrived at the target, the bombardier takes over command of the plane (including flying) as they approached the bomb target. When they arrived at the target he released the bombs. Accurate bombing was crucial and that was the bombardier’s responsibility.
• Communications, working the radios, and keeping the radios in good working order was the job of the radio operator. There was a lot of radio equipment in the B-17 that allowed for both communications and navigation. He maintained a log and was often the photographer of the crew. A good radio operator knew his equipment inside out. He was also a gunner.
• Simply, the flight engineer knew the all equipment on the B-17 better than the pilot and any other crew member from the engines to the radio equipment to the armament to the engines to the electrical system and to anything else. Many flight engineers served as maintenance crew chiefs before moving to the position of a B-17 flight engineer. The flight engineer was also the top turret gunner.
• A typical crew had four gunners, sometimes less. In a configuration of four gunners there were two waist gunners (right and left), a tail gunner, and a ball turret gunner. The two waist gunners station was in the middle of the plane. As the name implies, the tail gunner’s position was in the tail and the ball turret gunner (a small man) position was in a turret underneath the B-17. Each gunner was responsible for their own armament and ensuring that their guns were in working order.

More information on each crew position may be found here. I want to note that I have the same information in excerpts from a WW II era pilots training manual for the B-17 that Jablonski included in an appendix (pp. 324-7) to his 1965 book, Flying Fortress: The Illustrated Biography of the B-17s and the Men Who Flew Them (by Edward Jablonski, Doubleday and Co.: Garden City, NY).

By this time I have read more than a few stories in various books written by WW II veterans who served as crew members on a B-17 (I'll post a list of references later). I have been deeply moved by what I read and along the way I learned about what these various crew members did. I was looking for something on the web that could give you some of what I got through the books I read. Fortunately, I found an excellent interactive graphic of crew positions in the B-17 maintained by the EAA who a restored B-17 Aluminum Overcast. You can click on a crew member in the graphic to hear a story from a surviving crew member. You may find the interactive graphic here as well as their photo gallery showing the interior of a B-17 and historical images. Added on September 4, 2011, the current page on the B-17 from EAA may be found here

Keep in mind that what I provide here and in future articles in this series on the B-17 in WW II is an overview along some websites where you may go for more information. For example, It is not my intent to delve into specifics of formation flying on bombing runs. Nor do I delve into the specific responsibilities of the crew of the plane leading the bombing run in regards to specifics like navigation and sighting the bomb target where the other planes in formation are following the lead plane; however the appropriate crew members of the planes following the lead plane had to know where they were and where the bombing target was in the event that something happened to the lead plane.

There is a wealth of information out there on heavy bombers in WW II, both on the web and in print form. I am barely touching the surface.

Next up - flying the B-17.

B-17 in WW II -- production and specifications

In 1934, the U.S. Army Air Corp was looking for a bomber to replace biplane bombers. To that end, they had a competition. Boeing responded to this competition when they developed an the airplane that was later known as the B-17.  In June of 1935, the first prototype, aka model 299, was unveiled at the Boeing plant in Seattle WA, ready for testing, go here for a photo of model 299).  A press release written shortly afterwards on model 299 may be found here.

Edward Jablonski describes model 299 in his 1965 book, Flying Fortress:

It was a beautifully designed, streamlined, gleaming giant of a plane. The wings spread to more than a hundred and three feet, the cylindrical fuselage stretched almost sixty-nine feet from turret to tail. Immediately striking, was the array of four giant Pratt and Whitney engines protruding, from the wind, each with a three bladed, eleven and a half foot in diameter, propeller. ... These five gun emplacements won the 299 the name of Flying Fortress. So did the size ... . One of the main wheels was almost as tall as a man and the elevator spanned thirty-three feet--three feet more than the wingspan of the Boeing’s F4B-4 Fighter (Jablonski 1965: 6).

Added on September 4, 2017, the video of the model 299 prototype that I posted in March 2011 is no longer available on youtube. But I did some information on the model 299 from Historic Wings.

The Air Corp wanted a heavy bomber and liked what they saw leading to the production of the model 299 series, later to be designated the B-17. The rest is history.  

There were a total of eight different B-17 models (aka Flying Fortress) beyond the single “model 299 prototype”. These were the: Y1B-17, Y1B-17A (1 only), B-17B, B-17C, B-17D, B-17E, B-17F, and B-17G. Including the one model 299 prototype, there were a total of 12,731 B-17’s built from 1935 through 1945. Of the 12,731 B-17’s manufactured, 3,405 were model B-17F and 8,680 were Model B-17G. Douglas (3,000) and Vega/Lockheed (2,700) began producing B-17s with the F models. Just over one-third or 4,750 B-17s were lost in combat (Jablonski 1985: 308-9). Note that I do not think that Jablonski's figure includes B-17's lost in training and other non-combat related accidents.

In addition to the models that I just listed, I just found out that there was also a model known as the B-17H. Apparently this variation was used in rescue operations with a life raft that was carried underneath the forward section of the fuselage. The National Museum of the US Air Force has a fact sheet on the B-17H that may be found here. In addition, the National Museum of the US Air Force has a fact sheet for each of the B-17 models. Go to their bomber page, scroll down to the section on the left side of the page for 1930s development and you will see listings for the B-17 models.

Added on September 4, 2017, the information that I found in 2011 on the B-17H from the National Museum of the US Air Force is no longer available, but I did find a short description of the conversion of B-17-G's to B-17-H for rescue operations on this wikipedia page on B-17 variants.

A nice discussion of the production history along with a summary of the B-17’s role in the U.S. Eighth Air Force in Europe, an account of a German Luftwaffe pilot on his impressions of a B-17 captured by the Luftwaffe, and some specifications may be found here. Boeing has  a nice webpage on the B-17 that includes a short history and specifications. I encourage you to spend a few minutes on these two sites as well as the US Air Force pages on the B-17 referenced in the last paragraph. In doing so, I hope that you will start to get to know and love the Flying Fortress as I have.

Note: The specifications on the two sites that include specifications are for the B-17 in her military configuration. Certain specifications such as cruise speed along with other performance specifications are likely to be different when the B-17 was reconfigured for use as a firebomber. You will note the the cruise speeds on the two sites are different (182 mph and 150 mph). I will leave it to those of you who are aficionados to sort these differences out. Finally, there are numerous sites around the web listing specifications for the B-17, I have only listed two.

Reference: In preparing this article, I have linked to some websites. In addition, I found a good reference in The Flying Fortress: The Illustrated Biography of the B-17s and the Me Who Flew Them by Edward Jablonski (1965, Doubleday and Co.: Garden City NY. My copy was a gift, and I understand that copies may still be available through the second hand book market.

Edited on September 4, 2017 to strike out dead links and add current links where available.

Next up: B17 in WW II - the crew

B-17 Introduction

I think that I have known about the B-17, aka the flying fortress, at least by name, since junior high or high school. But I don’t think that I ever gave her much thought until I started writing about tankers a couple of years ago. Last year, two things happened that served to peak my interest in the B-17, the first was learning a little about the B-17’s use as a firebomber in the 60s and 70s through my wonderings online and conversations with folk in the tanker business. The second event was seeing the Collings Foundation’s  B-17 Nine O Nine when the Collings Foundation’s birds (B-24, P-51, and B-17) were in NJ for a couple of days late last summer. After I saw Nine O Nine, I was hooked.

I knew that I wanted to write about her, but before doing that I wanted to get to know the B-17 up close and personal. I took advantage of a number of books about the B-17, both through my local library and purchases. I’ll get to those books at some point during this series, perhaps at the end. I also found a number of videos of footage shot in WW II. Through my reading and these videos, I got to know both the B-17 as a WW II bomber and her crew. The difficult task is distilling all this into the articles on her use in WW II.

As I write this, I am still formulating the articles that will form this series of articles on the B-17. These articles will fall into three parts and a concluding essay or two where I will offer my own reflections. Articles on her service in WW II form the first part. A second part will focus on her service as a tanker. Finally, a third part will focus on restored B-17’s. I am still in the process of finishing up some things for the articles on her use as a firebomber and restored B-17’s, so it is possible that these articles will follow a little later.

Below is a tentative schedule for the articles focusing on her service in WW II, ending with a short article on her post WW II service. The dates are tentative and may be interrupted for news on the spring wild fire season or other related events.

March 23: B-17 in WW II - production
March 25: B-17 in WW II - the crew
March 28: B-17 in WW II - flying the B-17
March 30: B-17 in WW II - stories
April 1: B-17 in WW II - stories in pictures and video
April 4: B-17 in WW II - Memphis Belle
April 6: B-17 in WW II - maintenance
April 8: many did not come home
April 11: B-17 a look inside a B-17 bomber
April 13: B-17 - post WW II

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.