About the Eagle Fire

This is some footage, about eight minutes worth, of aerial operations at the Eagle Fire that burned in San Diego County CA in July 2011. Among other reasons, I was interested in this particular fire because I have some family that recently moved to southern CA, so I have been paying closer attention to fires in southern CA. Also, the fire was large enough that I heard of it while I had limited e-mail and internet access in late July. So, I was curious about finding out a little more about the fire.

The fire, attributed to arson, eventually burned about 14,100 acres before being brought under control on July 30. For a summary of information about this fire, see this CAL FIRE page. I understand that one of the DC-10 tankers was activated for this fire.

The fire was still burning when the P-3's were grounded on July 29th. I am not certain if if any of Aero Union's P-3's were working the fire along with the S-2T's from CAL FIRE.

A thread on the wildland fire hotlist forums may be found here. Bill Gabbert of wildfire today has posted pictures of the Eagle fire, in three parts (so far), part 1, part 2, and part 3.

Sikorsky S-76B Helo take-off and rotor wash

I shot this video at a local summer solstice festival about six weeks ago. This is the first time that I have been this close to a large helo taking off.  The helo is a Sikorsky S-76B used by the NJ State Police for emergency medical operations. For more information about NJ's air medical services, go here.

I was especially interested in experiencing first hand the effects of rotor wash as the helo lifted off. You will see the effect for yourself at the appropriate point in the video as the camera shook a little when I experienced the effects of the initial rotor wash. As I understand it, rotor wash are winds created by the rotors of the helicopter. The "winds" from rotor wash are not dependent on altitude. Those of us on the ground, as I was when I shot the video can feel the winds from rotor wash as a helo flys low to the ground as it does during take-off.

I can't find a good short explanation about rotor wash to link to at the moment. I'll keep looking and if I find something, I'll follow-up with a link.

Here are some photos I took of the S-76B just before she took off.

revised on Aug. 12 2011, 3:25 PM and Aug. 20, 7:58 PM

B-17 and B-25 over AZ

H5 - WWII Bombers over Arizona Landscape from H5 Productions on Vimeo.

Here is a nice video showing a restored B-17 and B-25 in action over Arizona. I thought that this would be a nice way to wrap up the series of the B-17's service as a tanker. For more on the video, see this vimeo page. If I am not mistaken, both aircraft in this video are owned by the Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force. If that is the case, then the B-17 that you are seeing is Sentimental Journey formerly seeing service as a fire bomber for Aero Union.

This is one of my favorite videos. Enjoy.

Added on February 1, 2017. I had to make a couple of changes to get the embed code to the video to work, it should now work in your browser. If it does not, just click on H5 - WWII Bombers over Arizona Landscape to go to the vimeo page where you can watch the video

Letter to B-17 air tankers

Letter to B-17 air tankers:

I wish that I could go back in time to see the first  time you flew as a tanker back in 1960, probably somewhere in or near California. I don't know what fire you flew on, but it doesn't really matter. More of your kin came into service, so by the mid 1960s there were many of you flying fires, carrying 1,800 gallons of retardant. 

The 1960s were still the early days in the air tanker business. There were many tanker crashes and some of your kin were lost, but those of you who survived continued to fly fires. 

You were built for stability so you were difficult to turn. Tanker flying always requires thinking ahead and knowing an escape route. Your pilots had to plan way ahead, but you kept flying fires.

You were not the fastest tanker in the fleet but in some cases you carried more retardant than the faster tankers. You got to the fire, made your drop, and got back to the base to get another retardant load, because you wanted to fly fires.

You flew a long time, for something like 25 years. That is a long time in the tanker business. Some of you are restored as warbirds, in WW II configurations. You continue to be loved and a part of our culture.

Today, you stand as testament to your designers, builders and the brave people who crewed you.  You are a much decorated veteran of two wars, one foreign and one domestic. Your service to the fire fighting community will not be forgotten.

More to come on B-17 service as an airtanker

I had the best intentions of writing the next article in my series on the B-17's service as an airtanker for posting today. I am hoping to post this next article either the end of this week or early next week. Thanks to all you wonderful people for your patience.

Tanker numbers (part 1)

Yesterday I was talking with a good friend about the recent termination of Aero Union's contract by the USFS, that there were now only 11 heavy air tankers (note 1) available. I went on to say that there were about three to four times the number of heavy tankers ten years ago then there are today. He needed some better numbers than I could provide for a project, so I asked my aviation historian friend, Tom Janney for some help. The following sentences come from my conversations with Tom. The idea being is to provide some relatively decent numbers representing the decline in the number of heavy tankers from 2001 to present. The numbers are good enough to get the point across that my friend is interested in, that the number of heavy tankers have decreased since over the last ten years and the loss of Aero Union's tankers only makes matters worse. I thought that my friend's question and Tom's response are interesting and pertinent to the recent termination of Aero Union's contract.

Prior to 2002, there were 44 airworthy heavy air tankers (note 2). At of the start of the 2011 fire season, there were 19 heavy air tankers available for use. As of August 2, 2011, there were only 11 heavy tankers (all Lockheed P-2V's) available.

Eleven is not enough.

This is the first of two or three articles on the numbers of federally contracted air tankers. I'll post the second article, focusing a little more on the aftermath of the 2002 tanker crashes as time allows, probably sometime next month.

Notes

1. For purposes of this article, when I use the phrase heavy air tankers, I am referring to air tankers with retardant tank capacity from 1,200 to 3,000 gallons. Where the capacity is under ideal conditions.

2. Simply, 44 airworthy heavy air tankers means that there were 44 heavy air tankers that the industry could have fielded as tankers prior to 2002. The number of heavy air tankers on federal contract would have bee a little less, perhaps 41 or 42.

As I understand it, tanker contractors contract for a certain number of tankers. So, if a tanker has to pulled off duty and out of service for longer than three days, then the contractor will be in violation of their contract. To avoid this circumstance, most if not all contractors will keep a "spare" tanker around that can be put on contract to replace a tanker that is out of service thus the contractor is in compliance with contract by supplying the contracted number of aircraft. This "spare tanker" will be an "airworthy" tanker.

edited 6:15 and 7:50 PM EDT on Aug. 3 and 2:52 PM on Aug. 4

B-17G - Memphis Belle (1999 Movie), David Tallichet - Military Aircraft Restoration Corp. Bureau # 44-83546-A

The third (of three) B-17s use as air tankers that I am writing about is a B-17, N3703G, that iwas owned by the Military Aircraft Restoration Corp in August 2011 when I first posted this article. I don't know if the name Military Aircraft Restoration Corp. is recognizable to many of you. I was interested in this particular B-17 because I knew that she was purchased by David Tallichet. Tallichet died in 2007, here is a short obituary from the LA Times (11/11/07) .

Now I knew that this particular B-17 that David Tallichet through the Military Aircraft Restoration Corp. purchased and later restored was used in the 1990 movie, Memphis Belle, see this piece of imdb Memphis Belle movie trivia. Actually, according to another piece of Memphis Belle movie trivia from imdb, she was one of two B-17s that played the Memphis Belle. But I digress.

The MARC was a nice website for the "The Movie" Memphis Belle with a short article about the history of this Fortress aircraft including her service as an air tanker, what they refer to as a water bomber. You will see  that the MARC B-17 was indeed flown as an airtanker, first by Fast Way Air as T-78 who first flew her as an air tanker in 1960; and later by TBM. She flew as an air tanker until she was purchased by MARC sometime in 1982.

As I revise this article on December 29, 2021 the restoration of the Memphis Belle was completed in 2018 and is on exhibit at The Museum of the US Air Force with good entry page for the Memphis Belle on their website which I just accessed here (with links where you can go for more information). She is going on 

USFS cancels Aero Union contract

I just got back in town after being away for a couple of weeks in northern New England with limited internet access through wireless hotspots. So, while I was able to access my e-mail and do some blog posting, I was unable to keep up with most current events affecting the tanker and helo biz. While I was checking my e-mail a couple of hours ago, I saw a note from a friend telling me that the USFS had canceled its contract with Aero Union. He referred me to this press release from the US Forest Service, saying in part

The U.S. Forest Service announced today that it has terminated its contract with Aero Union of Sacramento, Calif., because the company failed to meet its contractual obligations. The company was providing six airtankers under exclusive-use contracts to the Forest Service.

.

Aero Union had six P-3 Orion's under contract which are now grounded, leaving 11 P-2's under exclusive use contract and two very large airtankers under a call when needed contract.

You might also want to read the article that Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today reported on the cancellation of the Aero Union contract in an article he wrote yesterday. Some of you may have already read Bill's article or heard the news elsewhere.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm still absorbing the news. I'm in shock. And hot and dirty from a 450 mile drive.

I will continue with my series on the B-17's service as an airtanker on Monday. And, of course, I will report back if there is further news on the termination of the Aero Union contract.

B-17G Flying Fortress - "Sentimental Journey", Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force Bureau # 44-83514 (note 1)

The "Sentimental Journey", owned by the Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force (AWCAF) is on my list of three because Aero Union (who currently flies the P-3 Orion tanker on national contract) operated her as an air tanker. That is, I wanted to included a B-17 who saw service as an air tanker under a name you might recognize. So, I contacted my aviation historian friend, Tom Janney, who told me about the B-17 air tanker, "T-17'". Thanks Tom!

Her military service including photo mapping, rescue operations and nuclear testing. After completing her military service she was put in storage before being purchased by Aero Union (or a predecessor?) and converted to service as an airtanker some time around 1960. She flew as an air tanker through the 1977 fire season (or there about) before being donated to the Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force. For a more complete history of this aircraft please see the the AWCAF page on Sentimental Journey. (link no longer available as of September 4, 2017). I did find a nice wikipedia page on the Sentimental Journey that you might be interested in.

Note 1: The Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force lists the Bureau (serial) number of "Sentimental Journey" as 44-85314 on their information page for Sentimental Journey (this is a dead link when I checked on September 4, 2017). However, checking a couple of other sources of warbirds information including Joe Baugher's page on US Army-Airforce Aircraft Serial Numbers listed the Bureau (serial) number as 44-83514. On December 29, 2021 I went to the FAA Aircraft Inquiry main search page and after entering the serial number (Bureau (serial) number of 44-83514) I was able to see her registration. Unfortunately I can not provide a direct link to my results, so you will have to trust me.

B-17G Flying Fortress - "Nine O Nine", Collings Foundation Bureau # 44-43575

In writing about three B-17s that served as air tankers or firebombers, I am starting with the B-17 that is now known as "Nine O Nine" owned by the Collings Foundation because I saw her late last summer when she was here in NJ on tour along with Collings B-24 ("Witchcraft") and the Collings P-51.

In 1965 she was purchased by Aircraft Specialty Company in 1965, and was modified to serve as an tanker, flying until sometime in the early to mid1980s. She saved a lot of lives on the ground as you flew fires in support of the wildland firefighters on the ground.

The Collings Foundation purchased her in 1986 and restored her to a configuration similar to that of B-17 bombers that flew during World War II.


Revised October 7, 2019

On the morning of Wednesday, October 2nd, the Collings Foundation B-17, "909" crashed at Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, Connecticut while on a stop on the 2019 Wings of Freedom Tour. Seven died, seven injured including one on the ground.


Direct link to video on Youtube from Savannah66

I wrote about a an article honor 909 and those who died and were injured on October 7, 2019

B-17 service as an air tanker

I first got interested in the B-17 about a year ago when in the course of my reading, wonderings on the internet and discussions with tanker pilot friends that the B-17 was used as an air tanker for many years up until the early to mid-1980s. I understand from my good friend and aviation historian, Tom Janney, that there were upwards of 20+ B-17s in service as air tankers at various times. I then purchased a videobook called Fire Bombers in Action, by Frederick A. Johnsen last year (a great addition to my library!) who writes of historical and current airtankers, including the B-17, including a listing of tanker call signs and registrations in his Appendices. Johnsen lists 22 B-17s in his listing of tanker call signs and registrations (p.123).

I am starting this series on the B-17's service as an airtanker with three posts on three different B-17 tankers (7/27, 7/29, and 8/1).

I will conclude the series with a post or two where I will write about what I have learned about the B-17's service as a tanker through researching this series. I hope to be able to provide some more specific information from tanker pilots who flew the B-17, but that may have to wait for some time in the future. At the time of this writing, I am still working on this specific article(s).

I'd like to offer the following acknowledgements and thanks to the people, book, and websites that have made this series possible:

*Tom Janney (aviation historian),

* Philip Wallick, Photographer, see his website, aircraft military dot com.  At the time I wrote this article in August 2011, I accessed his aforementioned website which is no longer when I last checked on September 4, 2017. He did a great 1 hour video "Fire Bomber" on historic tankers (1985?) that includes awesome footage of many historic firebombers including but not limited to the F7f, A-26, B-17, TBM Avenger. As I understand it, it is only available on VHS tape, and I purchased a copy on or about June 2011 (edited on September 4, 2017).

• Fire Bombers in Action, by Frederick A. Johnsen (copyright 2010), published by Specialty Press.
• Warbird Registry, a wonderful site with information on many, many different types of warbirds including the B-17. You could spend hours on this site, I know I have, mostly on various warbirds that later saw service as air tankers.
• Collings Foundation (Owner of the B-17 now known as "Nine O Nine") I have had the privilege of chatting with a couple of their volunteers, all of whom were very helpful. 
• Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force (AWCAF) (owner of the B-17 now known as "Sentimental Journey")
• "The Movie" Memphis Belle B-17, This was a great site when I accessed it in 2011, sadly the site is no longer available so I removed the link.

From the Monument Fire in AZ

Some great footage from the Monument Fire, including tankers and helos, in AZ. Enjoy!

Flying Single Engine Air Tankers

I've had a couple of conversations with some pilot friends of mine here in the mid-Atlantic who have asked me about what is involved in flying a Single Engine Air Tanker (SEAT). Well, here is great video that a friend of mind told me about. Brought to you by the folk at the Colorado Fire Camp -Wildland Firefighting Training. For other videos they have posted see their youtube channel, which may be found here.

P-3 drop at Wallow Fire (AZ)

Updated on August 3, 2015: The US Forest Service terminated its contract with Aero-Union for their Lockheed P-3's, going out of business a month later. (see my articles of July 30, 2011, August 17, 2011, and January 18, 2012). 

A look at Honey Prairie Fire Ops

Helo operations





dozer



tractor and plow

Some wildfires in the southeastern US

I thought I'd post some information about some recent wildfire activity in the southeastern U.S.

North Carolina

Siimmons Road, 5,632 acres, 70% contained as of July 13.

Juniper Road, 31,310 acres, 85% contained as of July 13.

Georgia

Sweat Farm Again-Satilla Summer Fires, 19,169 acres, 82% contained as of July 13.

Race Pond_Satilla Summer Fires, 20,934 acres, 82% contained as of July 13.

And for an update on the Honey Prairie Fire that has been burning since April 31. As of July 13, it has burned 297,952 acres and is 70% contained.

Florida

There has been some progress in the wildfire situation in Florida (asides from the Honey Prairie Fire, that I wrote about here and here. Inciweb's listing for Florida (current and inactive listings for the last couple months) may be found here. You might want to check out the webpage for the Florida Dept. of Forestry -Wildfire info.

CAL FIre budget cuts

I'm a little late with this, but late last week Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today wrote here about budget cuts by CAL FIRE. You will want to read the entire article yourself, but to summarize he reports on reduction in seasonal firefighters, decrease engine crews from four person to three persons, and the cancellation of the contract for the DC-10 airtanker.

I am always saddened to read of any cuts involving the loss the jobs.

But while I understand that the DC-10 tanker is not used for initial attack. Rather it is used for extended attack and I believe that the operator (10 Tanker Corp) require some lead time to get the DC-10 ready (24 hours), I am still saddened. I understand from Bill's article that the two DC-10s will be on a call when needed (CWN) contract with CAL FIRE but at a higher costs if the DC-10 is called up by CAL FIRE.

I hope that this is not a foreshadowing of more bad news to come in California.

More on Air France 447

When I posted about the May 27 note from the BEA in France on July 6, I neglected to say that the official reports from the BEA are in French. In most cases they have an english translation and often a translation in Portuguese. My high school French is many years ago, so I am not much of a help in reading the French versions of these reports. I understand from acquaintances who speak and read French (but are not translators), that there will be sometimes when French does not translate well into English. Is that the case in here, I don't know.

But I am going to provide you with a link to the BEA's May 27 notes in French. The earlier reports and press releases from the BEA, in French are found here. Those of you are comfortable reading French may find these documents useful.

Also, a friend of mine sent me a link to an article in the June 6 edition of Aviation Week on the latest updates in the crash of Air France 447, the article may be found here. The one thing missing from theversion of the June 6 Aviation Week found on their website is a text box with some of the data from the flight data recorders. I was able to get my hands a paper version of this article from my local library. Those of you who are interested, may be able to look at a copy at your local library (if they subscribe).

As I read the paper version of this article, I had the May 27 BEA report up on my computer, so I could see that flight recorder data presented in the text box in the June 6 article was based on the the data reported in the BEA report.

I found the article to be interesting and helpful as I again reread the latest report from the BEA after reading the Aviation Week article. Perhaps you will be interested in reading this article.  However, some of you might find the article (and I say "might) find the article to be a little technical. As for me, I found that between the knowledge that I have gained in passing the FAA private pilot exam, my own reading, and conversations with pilots that I was able to make sense of most of the technical aspects in the article. 

I'm not in a position to offer any educated comments on the June 6 Aviation Week article on the latest update in the investigation of the crash of Air France 447. However, I am thinking that at a later time I may write about what I have learned from following the investigation of the crash of Air France 447.

In the meantime, I continue to offer my prayers . . .

Last flight of Shuttle

I was busy with other things on Friday, and missed the shuttle launch. But I did find this video of the launch from NASA TV. Embedding is disabled, so you will have to watch this on youtube.

Enjoy.

Regular readers will know that I haven't posted since last Wednesday. Just having a couple of lazy summer days. I'll be back later today with a couple of posts that have been in my pipeline.

Air France 447 - update on investigation (5/27/11)

Some of you know that I have made a couple of posts about the investigation into the fatal crash of Air France flight # 447 off of the coast of Brazil on June 1, 2009. You may find a preview of a Nova (PBS) investigation and link to the Nova site for the full episode here. I wrote a brief article on May 16, 2011 about the recovery of the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder.

On May 27, 2011, the BEA (France), who have been investigating the crash released a "note" with some early facts based on their analysis of the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, the english version may be downloaded here (with a link to a pdf file). The BEA has a page indexing their press releases, briefings, reports, etc on the crash of AF 447 that may be found at this location.

I meant to mention this May 27th BEA note a month ago, and failed to do so. I do so now and refer you to the note that I linked to above without comment. I have certainly learned a lot in following this crash. I am not in a position to say more than that, at least at this time. Doing so could do more harm than good.

Perhaps all I can do is to continue to use this space to refer you to updates from the BEA in France as they become available.

My thoughts and prayers continue for the families, friends, colleagues of those who died in the crash. I also offer my thoughts and prayers for the people of Brazil and France as well as all those who participated in the recovery operations this past spring.

Happy Fourth of July everyone!

Las Conchas Update #3

Skyranger tracks fire and aerial attack: krqe.com

I found a link to the video embedded above, on this wildland fire hotlist thread devoted to the Las Conchas fire. Seems that KRQE has a Skyranger pilot/report up in the air reporting on the fire. There is some nice footage of both tankers and helos working the fire.

According to the latest update from inciweb (sometime last night), the fire has burned 93,678 acres and is at 3 percent containment.

Las Conchas Fire - update # 2

The video embedded above shows back burns conducted yesterday (June 29) outside of Los Alamos National Labs. According to a press release dated June 29 found on inciweb:

Firefighters began setting "back burns" on the west side of New Mexico State Route 501 around mid-morning. Those operations were declared complete by evening. The burns were intended to remove available fuel from the Las Conchas Fire, which has consumed more than 60,000 acres on two sides of the 37-square-mile LANL site but only one acre of the Lab itself.

To see the rest of this press release go to this inciweb page.

As of late in the evening on June 29, the fire had grown to some 80,000 acres and is still at 3 percent containment. As for aircraft working the fire, inciweb reported that five helicopters are working the fire.

An ABC newsreport on yesterday's back burn operations may be found here and Los Alamos National Labs has posted some photos relating to the Las Conchas fire here, including a couple of photos of an Erickson AirCrane.  Finally, Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today reports on yesterday's back burn operations here; Bill's latest update (posted as I wrote this) on the fire may found here.

Las Conchas Fire

Like many of you, I have seen various news reports on the Las Conchas Fire that started June 26 near Los Alamos, NM. It has burned at least 60,000 acres and is at 3 percent containment. Evacuations are in place for residents and business in the town of Los Alamos, and  Los Alamos Labs is closed to non-essential workers. You might want to check out the latest Inciweb report and Bill Gabbert's ( Wildfire Today ) latest article on the fire may be found here.

I'd like to thank a friend who sent me a link to a nice collection of photos from the Las Conchas Fire, that may be found on this smugmug page.

Report on Rifle Range Fire - contained

Here is a news report about the Rifle Range Fire from ABC6 Action News out of Philadelphia. I believe that this report was reported sometime Monday, June 27 while the fire was still burning. Perhaps the news helo was one of the helos that Johnny saw over the fire? The fire was contained at 171 acres Tuesday morning (June 28), see this wildland fire hotlist thread for more information. I'd like to thank my friends at the NJFFS section B10 website for their fire reports, for their wonderful website, and for posting a couple of my pictures that I shot from the air on the 27th.



ABC6 Action News also has a slide show of photos from the fire These are of better quality than the ones I took. :-)

Rifle Range Fire (Wharton St. Forest, NJ) - seeing the fire from above

I went on a flying yesterday, another "scenic airplane flight", but more accurately it was a photography flight. My idea for this flight was to go to the NJ Pine Barrens, and see from the air that which until now I had only seen from the ground. I had an idea of a route, staying away from restricted air space where military operations take place in the Pine Barrens,. About an hour before the flight I found out that the Rifle Range Fire (about 100 acres at the time) was burning near Atison in the Wharton State Forest in the NJ Pine Barrens, see a post dated 6/27 in this wildland fire hotlist thread

As you can see from the photos at the end of this article, we flew near the fire. Before I get to writing more about the fire, which I will do tomorrow, I want to talk about what we (the pilot and I did) to stay safe in the air, and not get in the way of the any air operations over the fire.

Fortunately, I had enough information about the location of the fire, that I was able to plot the approximate location on my aviation chart of the area. I located the fire from the nearest navigation aide (14 nm off of the 263 degree radial of the Coyle (CYN) VOR. I had already checked the Notices to Airmen (NOTAM) to see if there were any that would affect our flight (there were not).

So, I  checked (TFRs) at National Interagency Fire Center Temporary Flight Restrictions , there were no fire TFRs listed in New Jersey at the time. In fact there were no other TFRs near our flight path. I knew that the New Jersey Forest Fire Service may have had two helicopters in the air over the fire (one working the fire with a bucket along with a possible second helo for observation. I located water bodies on the aviation chart near the fire where a helo and bucket could dip.

I drove to the airport and did my pre-flight on the plane we would be using. The pilot, Johnny, came and I told him about the fire. Johnny said that he saw smoke from that fire on an earlier flight. We agreed to get flight following from approach control (McGuire Approach/Departure) who controls the air space we would be flying through. Flight following means that we will be getting traffic advisories. We will know about any military aircraft in the area and aircraft doing fire operations.

When we were about 25 nm out of the fire area, we got flight following, Johnny told the controller that we were on a photo flight near the Hammonton Airport (an airport near the fire). Johnny asked about the wildfire, andt he controller did not know about it. However, a few minutes later, the controller told Johnny about the fire, giving us a location, and Johnny told the controller what we were doing, that we were on a flight to take photos of the fire. As soon as I was done, perhaps five minutes, ten minutes at the most, we left the area continuing with flight following.

The traffic advisories came in. I knew that I was in safe hands with Johnny flying the plane. Johnny had suggested early in the flight that I could open the window in the cockpit to take pictures. So, when we got close enough to the fire for good photos, I stuck my camera out the window and took some shots. While I was doing this, I had my head set off, so I did not hear the traffic advisories that Johnny got telling us about the two helos that were over the fire. Johnny told me later that he thought from the colors, that one might be a news helo. Johnny got a couple of other traffic advisories while I was taking photos.

The point that I am trying to make here is that Johnny and I did not just fly towards the fire. To do that would be unwise and possibly unsafe. We checked with the appropriate agencies for flight restrictions over the fire (none that we knew of), got flight following, and were looking out for other traffic being especially mindful of air operations over and near the fire.

Updated 6/28/11 at 10:50 AM EDT. I believe that one of the helos we say may have been a NJFFS helo doing observation work.

Be safe out there everyone.

Edited Aug 20, 8:07 PM

NJFFS to Honey Prairie Fire Complex

According to a report (June 23, 4:30 PM) on the Wildline Fire Hotlist, the NJ Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) has filled an order from the Eastern Area Coordination Center for five engines/brush trucks to be sent to the Honey Prairie Fire Complex (GA). A total of 15 NJFFS personnel make up the team, three per truck. These NJFFS crews will be their for about two weeks, and if necessary another 15-person crew will relieve the crew in two weeks. The crew is expected to arrive sometime this afternoon.

According to the latest report from inciweb, the Honey Prairie Complex Fire has burned 280,527 acres and is 60% contained. A reminder that incident information is subject to updates as conditions warrant and these figures may have changed by the time you access their page.

Two Fl firefighters die in burnover

Some of you no doubt have already heard of the deaths Monday night of two Florida Division of Forestry firefighters in a burnover while fighting the Blue Ribbon fire in Hamilton County, FL. The deceased are Josh Burch (31) and Brett Fulton (52). Robert Marvin and Stephen Carpenter were injured. I want to take this opportunity to offer my condolences to the friends, family, and co-workers of Josh and Brett.

I pray that Robert and Stephen recover quickly.

Bill Gabbert reports on the burnover here. The Daytona Beach News Journal has a report on that may be found here.

For those of you who are wildland firefighers whether you work on the ground or in the air, stay safe out there!

P-3 at Monument Fire in AZ

A friend of mine told me about this video this morning, and I thought that you might enjoy it as well. The video was shot from the cockpit of a P-3 Orion at the Monument Fire in Arizona on Tuesday, June 14. The video was posted by towpilot2003 to youtube recently. I was especially interested that towpilot2003 reported that

We stopped this portion of the fire using only aircraft as the ground troops couldn't keep up with it's incredible pace ( see http://youtu.be/lQT21UBGsVk ).

Wow. For me this speaks to the important role that aircraft (tankers and helos) play in wildland firefighting - being able to fly to have a shot at keeping up with the fast pace at which the fire was moving. There is nothing more that I can add to what towpilot2003 shared.

Some of you may have seen this video already, as Bill Gabbert of wildfire today wrote about it here.

Keep up the good work everyone and stay safe out there.

Mannis Duck Pond Fire (June 10-11) Warton State Forest NJ

A line of thunderstorms moved through NJ Thursday night June 9 (and possibly another line on June 10). From what I understand these thunderstorms did not necessarily produce a lot of rain. However, fire towers in the NJ Pine Barrens spotted a small fire in a remote section of the Warton State Forest in the Pine Barrens about 2 PM on Friday, June 10. It appears that this fire may have been caused by lightening. From what I understand, the fire was about five to eight acres when the first crews with trucks arrived. Burnout operations were conducted by NJ Forest Fire Service crews.

Burnout operations were completed by about 11 PM and the fire was declared under control at 6 AM on June 11. The fire, dubbed the Mannis Duck Pond fire burned 152 acres (including burn out operations).

For more information on this fire, see the Wildand Fire Hotlist on Mannis Duck Pond Fire.

The map that I included here was done by Trevor Raynor of the NJ Forest Fire Service and was obtained from NJ Incident Management Team Map of Mannis Duck Pond Fire

Wildfires in FL (summer) - update #2

I spent a little time this morning looking around on the internet to see what photographs or videos I can find on the current wildifire activity in Florida. Recall that I wrote about these wildfires here where I included some links that you can go to for more information.

Among other things, I was interested in aircraft being used to work the fires in Florida (and Georgia). I think but am not sure that a couple of P-3 tanker's may have been assigned to either Florida or Georgia to work either the Honey Prairie Complex Fire and/or the wildfires in Florida. I was hoping to find some photographs or videos showing tanker's working the fire. However, I found no photos or videos. Which doesn't mean that there are not photos or videos around, it just means I haven't found any. If I find any, I'll let you know.

However, I did find a photo library from the Orlando Sentinel showing pictures of the wildfires in Florida, including several nice shots of a helo and bucket working one of the fires, go here to see the photos.

I checked the National Weather Service (NWS) and as far as I know, there were no red flag warnings issued for Florida or Georgia for today (June 20, 2011). To see the current fire weather warning map (revised frequently), go here. Please be advised than when you check out the fire weather page, the red flag warnings will be different than they were at the time I write this article.

Update - Honey Prairie Complex Fire (GA)

I last posted about the Honey Prairie Fire (GA), burning in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, June 6. At that time the fire was 80 percent contained and had burned just over 166,00 acres. The situation has changed since that time, and it is past time for an update. I just checked out the most recent inciweb report (posted on June 16) for the Honey Prairie Complex Fires (9 fires) to see that acreage burned (for these 9 fires) is up to 196,369 acres at 49 percent containment. The Honey Prairie Fire on its own has burned over 193,000 acres and is also at 49% containment. For the latest inciweb report go here. The map below comes from inciweb, and I believe it reflects fire information as of June 13.

The Georgia Forestry Commission has a webpage with links for more information on the Honey Prairie Complex Fires along with a facebook page and a twitter page.

For information from the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, you might want to check out their webpage or their facebook page.

Update: June 18, 2011 at 1:46 PM
Almost forgot, the Southern Area Coordination Center issues a morning report, the latest report may be found here. Significant fires in the southern region are summarized, along with crew assignments, weather, etc.

Wildfires in Florida (Summer) update #1

The wildfires in Florida have also been in the news recently, I want to spend a little time on these fires. Of course, the fires in the southwest in AZ and NM, including the Wallow Fire continue to burn (up to at least 500,00 acres), check out Wildfire Today where Bill Gabbert continues to do a great job writing about those fires (among other things).

As you can see from the map that I have posted (from the Florida Division of Forestry, as of June 17, 2011 there were 443 active wildfires. Of these 56 wildfires are over 100 acres. You may go here to download the latest active wildfire map from the FL Div of Forestry. An interactive mapping program with many layers, including but not limited to fires currently burning in FL may be here.

The Florida Div of Forestry also posts a State Wildfire Update with information on significant wildfires The latest update is dated June 17 at 8 AM, I have pulled out some information on larger significant fires from the latest update below:

Impassable Bay Fire (Baker County) at 7,818 acres and 15% containment,
Santa Fe 11 Fire (Bradford County) 6,500 acres at 60% containment,
Bad Land Fire (Levy County) 3,175 acres at 80% containment,
Maytown Road Fire (Volusia County) 1,230 acres at 50% containment,
Espanola Fire (Flagler County) 5,047 acres at 40% containment,
Big Cypress Oil Pad Fire Complex (Collier County) 9,530 acres at 0% containment,
Trail 3 Fire (Palm Beach County) 6,528 acres at 90% containment.

Those of you wanting more information might want to check out he main webpage for the FL Division of Forestry here. I should say that they have a link for daily (wildfire) reports which I am unable to access, perhaps because it requires Microsoft IE v6, which I don't have.

Inciweb has information on a few wildfires currently burning in FL, all seem to be in the Big Cypress National Preserve. I found this information here on June 18. Note that the information on this page may well have changed when you access the page as active fire information on InciWeb is updated frequently.

I'll be checking out FL media outlets for news on these fires over the next day or so and will report back here in a couple of days with an update on the wildfires in FL.

Update: June 18, 2011 at 1:46 PM
Almost forgot, the Southern Area Coordination Center issues a morning report, the latest report may be found here. Significant fires in the southern region are summarized, along with crew assignments, weather, etc.

A lot has been going on

There has been a lot going on the last several days when I was otherwise engaged. I am only now beginning to catch up with things such as the fires that continue to burn in Arizona and New Mexico. I expect that I'll have some reflections on these fires in a couple of days, so stay tuned.

A friend wrote me last week about a fire in the Pine Barrens that I'll write about in a day or so. The fire seemed to have been started by lightening, and was about 130 acres or so when it was contained.

RIP Liberty Belle (B-17, 44-85734) - crew and passengers ok!!

Direct link to video

Many of you no doubt already know that on Monday June 13 the B-17 Flying Fortress, Liberty Belle, made an emergency landing just outside of Auroa IL. Thanks to skilled piloting there were no fatalities. All seven occupants, including the crew, got out safely. Sadly, what started as a smaller fire in the left wing necessitating the emergency landing turned into a larger fire (after the occupants were safely off the plane). Some of you may have seen pictures and videos of what is left of the Liberty Belle after the fire, much of the fuselage between the wings and the tail section was destroyed by the fire.

The NTSB is investigating the incident.

I am only now posting about the loss of the Liberty Belle Flying Fortress. I am not ashamed to say that I wept when I finally saw the pictures and videos the other day. After spending many weeks learning about, and then writing about the B-17, my love for the Forts continues to grow.

I have never seen the Liberty Belle up close and personal, but I want to remember her flying proudly as shown in the video that I have embedded here. So, I am not posting links to the many photos and videos taken during and after the fire that consumed her after her emergency landing.

The Liberty Belle Flying Fortress (44-86734) was lovingly restored over a fifteen year period by the Liberty Foundation. It was only after the restoration that she flew as the Liberty Belle. The original "Liberty Belle" flew in the 390th Bomb Group in WW II. She completed 64 combat missions before being salvaged in early 1945. To read more about her story you might want to see the Liberty Belle History page, here.

The Chief Pilot of the Liberty Foundation, Ray Fowler, made a statement on the home page of the Liberty Foundation webpage on June 14 about the loss of the Liberty Belle. At the time I write this (on June 17), the statement may be found here. I am including an excerpt from Ray's statement:

Let me go on the record by thanking the flight crew for their professionalism. Their actions were nothing short of heroic and their quick thinking, actions and experience led to a “successful” outcome to this serious in-flight emergency. John and Bud (and Cullen) did a remarkable job under extreme circumstances and performed spectacularly. While the leading news stories have repeatedly reported the “crash” of our B-17, fact is they made a successful forced landing and the aircraft was ultimately consumed by fire. Airplanes are replaceable but people are not and while the aircraft’s loss is tragic, it was a successful result.

This leads me into discussing the exceptional safety record of the Boeing B-17 and to hopefully squash the naysayers who preach we should not be flying these types of aircraft. Since we first flew the “Liberty Belle” in December of 2004, we have flown over 20,000 passengers throughout the country and if you count our historic trip to Europe in 2008, worldwide. Of the other touring B-17s, some of which that have been touring for over 20 years, they have safely flown hundreds of thousands of people. (obtained from http://www.libertyfoundation.org/index.html on 6/17/11)

Cullen, a volunteer with the Liberty Foundation took off in his T-6 just after the Liberty Belle, flying chase (to support the B-17). He did a lot of radio work and other things in support of the crew of the Liberty Belle and Air Traffic Control while the incident was under way.

Again at the time I write this, the Liberty Foundation has a photo page and a page with videos.

In closing, while I grieve what may be the loss of the Liberty Belle, I want to commend the pilots, John Hess (left seat) and Bud Sittig (right seat) for bringing her down in a wheels down emergency landing. To John and Budd and the passengers, you watched her burn after you got out. I can't begin to imagine what that was like. Cullen, great job! To all involved in the Liberty Foundation, words escape me.

I know that the Liberty Belle is flying in favorable tail winds in the great beyond, that she was and will continue to be loved. Her work and the work of the Liberty Foundation will go on.

Tanker Ops at Jeffco tanker base in CO

Forgive me if this is a rerun, I thought that you might enjoy this video of operations at the Jeffco tanker base in Colorado.

Hemet-Ryan Air Attack Base - May 28

Here is some nice footage shot by Nick Mitchell at Hemet-Ryan Air Attack Base on May 28.

Cessna 182

As I was writing about the Cessna Cutlass a few days ago, I remembered that I forgot to write about the Cessna 182 (aka Cessna Sky Lane) that was in for her annual inspection at the same time that I was visiting with State Line Aviation in December 2010 to watch the annual of one of the Cessna 172P trainers. Some of you may recall that I wrote a nine part series a couple of months ago based on what I learned from watching an annual service of a Cessna 172P last December; go here to read this series and scroll down to April 29 to begin at the first post.

Back to the 182, the Cessna 182 that I saw at State Line Aviation one day last December had some sort of controllable pitch propeller (I think that it was a constant speed propeller) and a mechanism known as a propeller governor. She also had cowl flaps. I know from my reading about aircraft systems (chapter 6) of the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge that cowl flaps are opened and closed by the pilot through a control in the cockpit, to facilitate engine cooling. For those who are so inclined, I found a short article cowl flaps here, it is written for simulator pilots, but I thought that some of you might enjoy it.

I was interested in the 182 because it was one of the first times that I been up close and personal with a single-engine plane that was more complicated than the Cessna 172P I had been in on my scenic airplane flights. Furthermore, I had heard about cowl flaps and prop governors through aviation books, wonderings on the internet, and e-mails over the past two years but had never seen any up close. I was very happy to be able to look at the 182 up close and personal and get a few (but not enough) photos.

The original intent of this post was to try to talk about some of the differences between the Cessna 172P trainer that I had flown in for my scenic flights and the Cessna 182 (differences in the types of propellers). After receiving some correspondence through this blog in July of 2012, I decided to keep things simple. So, I have deleted all of the text from the earlier version of this post, but I am leaving the photos of the 182 from the original post. I have revised the text and have added some links.

I believe that these were the only photos that I have of this particular 182, sorry. I got so intrigued by looking at the cowl flaps and the prop governor in the 182 that day that I forgot to take a longer shot of the182. And of course, I was very focused on my photos of the annual of the Cessna 172P!

More on observing flight maneuvers

I want to continue where I left off last Friday when I reviewed aerodynamic stalls in preparation for writing about some flight maneuvers that I was observed during a scenic ride I took a few weeks ago.

Mike (pilot/CFI) flew to a practice area near the airport where we demonstrated these flight maneuvers.

 Mike told me what he was and doing and why, I took some notes on the flight. In addition, I had some notes from ground school and other scenic rides that I will refer to in this article.

Before starting each maneuver, it is important that one be at a safe altitude. There is also something called "clearing turns" that are done before each maneuver is started. The purpose of the clearing turns is to look for any other traffic before starting the maneuver. Depending on the maneuver, there will be additional items on "the checklist" that are completed prior to starting the maneuver. Unless otherwise noted, the maneuvers that I observed are required knowledge for those seeking a private pilot certificate.

Mike started with steep turns, a 360 degree turn (a complete circle) in a bank angle more than 45 degrees (but less than 60 degrees). As I understand it, constant altitude and airspeed is maintained during the steep turn. Mike demonstrated two steep turns, one at the Cessna 172P's normal cruise speed of about 99 knots and the second at about 85 knots. I was very interested to see that in the steep turn at the slower speed, Mike had to increase back pressure on the yoke in order to maintain constant altitude.

I have seen stalls demonstrated on earlier scen ic rides where the pilot comes to a near stall and then recovers. Recovering from stalls is an important skill for all pilots, and a life-saving skill.

I was especially interested in the two power-off stalls that Mike flew. If memory serves, power-on stalls are done in what is known in "take-off configuration" as the airplane is climbing to altitude (with power).  As I understand it, power-off stalls are done with power set at idle in what is known as the landing configuration. Mike did one power-off stall where he prolonged the stall enough that we lost 400 feet in altitude before he recovered by putting the nose down and increasing power.

The next to last maneuver was the chandelle. Chandelle's are required for CFI's and the commercial rating. Those seeking a private pilot certificate do not have to learn the chandelle. According to the Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3A) (p. 9-4), the objective of the chandelle

is to develop the pilot's coordination, orientation, planning, and accuracy of control during maximum performance flight. A chandelle is a maximum performance climbing turn beginning from approximately straight-and-level flight, and ending at the completetion of a precise 180 degree turn in a wings-level, nose high altitude at the minimum controllable airspeed.

See this wikipedia article on chandelles for more information and some graphics.

I observed two chandelles, one entered from the left and the other entered from the right. In my notes from that flight, I noted that the bank angle on the chandelles that I experienced was no more than 30 degrees. Our altitude when the chandelles were completed was 5,500 ft.

After completing the chandelles, Mike flew a steep spiral (another maneuver required for CFIs and the commercial rating, but not for private pilots). As the name implies, Mike descended to about 2,500 ft in a spiral. For more on the steep spiral including a graphic, check out this link.

We were in the air for just over three-quarters of an hour. I was thrilled to observe these maneuvers and came away with renewed appreciation for the skills involved in flying an airplane. And just as thrilled that I did not get sick to my stomach.

All these maneuvers are discussed in detail in the Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3A) with pictures. In addition, these maneuvers are covered in an excellent publication by ASA (Aviation Supplies and Academics, Inc.) called Visualized Flight Maneuvers Handbook. I have the edition for high winged aircraft. I understand that there is one for low winged aircraft as well. I have a hard copy that is small enough to fit in a flight bag, I do not know if you can purchase an electronic file.

A few wildland fire resources on the net.

I've got some other projects and family obligations that will be keeping me busy and may keep me away from the internet for the next several days. Hopefully, I'll be able to post on my regular schedule, but if not, don't worry.

In the meantime, if you want to keep up with current wildfire news, including the fires in Arizona and other developing news affecting the wildland fire community, please check out:

• Wildfire Today
• Wildland Fire hotlist (check out your geographical area of interest, media reports are in the shift briefing section
• inciweb
• NIFC Geographic Area Coordinating Center (click on the map for your region of interest).
• Associated Aerial Firefighters Forums

Andover-Aeroflex Airport

I'll get back to the maneuvers that I was referring to last Friday in my next post (Wed. June 8). But first I want to spend a little time writing about another scenic airplane flight that I took with Mike (pilot/CFI) yesterday. This time, we flew in a Cessna Cutlass (aka Cessna 172RG), an airplane with a constant speed propeller and retractable landing gear.

Retractable landing gear is what the name implies, the landing gear retracts into the fuselage. Simply, after the plane has achieved a certain speed and is safely off the ground, the pilot operates a lever to retract the landing gear. Mike's habit is to have the person sitting in the right seat (me) check to confirm that the gear is up on the right side of the airplane while he checks the left side of the airplane. The constant speed propeller requires a couple more gauges. Oh, and there was a Garmin GPS in the plane, another first for me.

The Cruise speed of the Cutlass (120 kts) is a little faster than in the C-172 trainers that I have ridden in. So, we made good time to our destination, an airport in northern NJ (12N), Andover-Aeroflex. Aeroflex is a public airport, and also serves as the tanker base for the northern division of the NJ Forest Fire Service. The airplanes were off contract by early May.

We flew in on runway 3. As you can see from the google earth images, the approach to runway 3 is over a lake. Literally. Mike did a good job on the final approach, keeping the airplane at a safe elevation over the lake. The only interesting part was the flock of Geese sitting at the end of the Lake right at the end of runway 3. Mike raised the nose just a tad to keep a respectable elevation over the flock of Geese. The Geese did not budge, thankfully. They just hung out and watched this noisy airplane fly right over them.

I've attached a couple of images of Andover-Aeroflex from Google Earth, a photo I took while we were taxiing to depart showing some of the hangers, and a couple of photos I took of the Cutlass' cockpit.

Arizona Wildfires and update on Honey Prairie Complex Fire (GA)

No doubt that some of you have heard of the Wallow fire that has burned on the order of 200,000 acres in eastern Arizona near the border with New Mexico.

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today has done his usual excellent job of reporting on this fire. I don't believe in reinventing the wheel, and since I have some other projects on my plate right now I am going to suggest that you check out his site for the latest. An article that Bill posted today may be found here. He has some maps and other information posted.

I do understand from Bill's reporting that helicopters are working the fire. I have no definitive word at the moment about tankers working the fire, but given the size of the fire, I'd suspect that some tankers (including SEATs) are working the fire.

Other pages that you might want to check out:

inci web on the Willow Fire
inci web on the Horseshoe Two Fire
wildfire today hotlist thread on Wallow Fire

I reported awhile back on the Honey Prairie Complex Fire in Georgia. When I was on inci web just now, I saw that they are reporting that the fire is 80% contained. The fire has burned over 166,000 acres. Check out this inciweb page for more information

more enhanced fire weather advisories in NJ

We have another day of enhanced fire weather advisories here in NJ and adjoining regions. I have not heard of any significant wildfire activity that occurred yesterday or is occurring now. Which doesn't mean that there is not significant fire activity, it only means that I have not heard of any.

I suspect that there may well have been smaller wildfires that were contained in initial attack, but have no specific knowledge of same other than a small (two acre fire now under control) reported on the NJFFS Section B10 webpage today.

Observing certain flight maneuvers

There are various maneuvers that student pilots have to learn. Learning various maneuvers, the specific maneuvers required vary depending on the rating, is an important part of pilot training. Or for training for a commercial rating or to be a certified flight instructor (CFI).

Specific maneuvers teach certain skills, and the student has to be proficient in the required maneuvers as they may be required to demonstrate these maneuvers as a part of their testing to get their pilot certificate or for later ratings.

I recently went on a scenic flight with Mike, a pilot/CFI where Mike demonstrated certain maneuvers, two were more advanced maneuvers that private pilots do not learn but are required for commercial pilots and CFI's. Mike and I had talked prior to this flight about the maneuvers that he would show me, so I was able to read up on these maneuvers prior to our flight.

Before writing about these maneuvers, I need to talk about stalls.I first wrote about aircraft lift and stalls over two years ago. Since that time, I have been to aviation ground school and passed the FAA private pilot written exam. So, I have a better idea of what a stall is. In thinking about how to provide a reference for stalls, I liked what TL Stein told me in this article from March 2009  so rather then reinvent the wheel, I am referencing that article:

stall speed for an aircraft is the speed where the forward speed of the aircraft is not producing enough air flow over the wings to produce life or support the airplane at its altitude. When a pilot is landing an aircraft, the plane is just over stall speed. ... the faster the air moves over the wing, the more lift is created Air speed is in direct relation to life. Lift enables flight. Lose lift and the aircraft sinks. When the forward airspeed no longer produces enough low pressure over the top of the wing to sustain flight . . . this is stall.

There is a nice animation on aircraft stall that may be found here.

With that as background, I will turn to writing about some maneuvers that Mike demonstrated for me, chandelles, steep turns, and power-off and power-on stalls in an article that I will post next Wednesday, June 8. These and other maneuvers required for the private pilot, CFI and commercial pilots ratings are covered in detail in an excellent publication by ASA (Aviation Supplies and Academics, Inc.) called Visualized Flight Maneuvers Handbook. I have the edition for high winged aircraft. I understand that there is one for low winged aircraft as well. I have a hard copy that is small enough to fit in a flight bag, I do not know if you can purchase an electronic file. I got my copy through my local airport.

Enhanced Fire Weather in NJ for June 2

For much of April into late May, it has been a tad wet here in NJ. We had a few days of drier weather in early May was followed by at least a week of daily rain events (through May 23). I may be mistaken, but as I recall, there have been no red flag warnings or enhanced fire weather advisories for any portion of NJ since late March or early April.

While some areas of NJ have had isolated showers or thunderstorms over the last seven to ten days or so, we have begun to dry out so to speak.

In my little corner of NJ, we had a thunderstorm early Sunday morning followed by a shower yesterday. I figured that at some point the conditions would again be favorable for fires, and the weather service would issue either an enhanced fire weather advisory or a red flag warning.

No red flag warnings, but I did note the following enhanced fire advisory in the hazardous weather outlook issued by the Mt. Holly Office of the National Weather Service at 3:28 AM EDT this morning:

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL DELAWARE...NORTHERN
DELAWARE...SOUTHERN DELAWARE...NORTHEAST MARYLAND...CENTRAL NEW
JERSEY...NORTHERN NEW JERSEY...NORTHWEST NEW JERSEY...SOUTHERN NEW
JERSEY...EAST CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA...NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA AND
SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.

ENHANCED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL OCCUR TODAY...WITH GUSTY
NORTHWEST WINDS...LOWERING HUMIDITIES...AND DRYING FINE FUELS.

followed by the special weather statement at 8:06 AM:

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
806 AM EDT THU JUN 2 2011

DEZ001>004-MDZ008-012-015-019-020-NJZ001-007>010-012>027-PAZ054-
055-060>062-067>071-022300-
NEW CASTLE-KENT-INLAND SUSSEX-DELAWARE BEACHES-CECIL-KENT MD-
QUEEN ANNES-TALBOT-CAROLINE-SUSSEX-WARREN-MORRIS-HUNTERDON-
SOMERSET-MIDDLESEX-WESTERN MONMOUTH-EASTERN MONMOUTH-MERCER-SALEM-
GLOUCESTER-CAMDEN-NORTHWESTERN BURLINGTON-OCEAN-CUMBERLAND-
ATLANTIC-CAPE MAY-ATLANTIC COASTAL CAPE MAY-COASTAL ATLANTIC-
COASTAL OCEAN-SOUTHEASTERN BURLINGTON-CARBON-MONROE-BERKS-LEHIGH-
NORTHAMPTON-CHESTER-MONTGOMERY-BUCKS-DELAWARE-PHILADELPHIA-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...WILMINGTON...DOVER...GEORGETOWN...
REHOBOTH BEACH...ELKTON...CHESTERTOWN...CENTREVILLE...EASTON...
DENTON...NEWTON...WASHINGTON...MORRISTOWN...FLEMINGTON...
SOMERVILLE...NEW BRUNSWICK...FREEHOLD...SANDY HOOK...TRENTON...
PENNSVILLE...GLASSBORO...CAMDEN...CHERRY HILL...MOORESTOWN...
MOUNT HOLLY...JACKSON...MILLVILLE...HAMMONTON...
CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE...OCEAN CITY...ATLANTIC CITY...
LONG BEACH ISLAND...WHARTON STATE FOREST...JIM THORPE...
STROUDSBURG...READING...ALLENTOWN...BETHLEHEM...WEST CHESTER...
NORRISTOWN...DOYLESTOWN...MEDIA...PHILADELPHIA
806 AM EDT THU JUN 2 2011

...ENHANCED FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS...

A DRIER AND GUSTY WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE OVER THE
AREA THIS MORNING AND PERSIST INTO THE AFTERNOON. RELATIVE
HUMIDITY LEVELS AND FUEL MOISTURE LEVELS WILL DECREASE THROUGH THE
DAY ALSO. THESE CONDITIONS INCREASE CONCERNS FOR WILDFIRE GROWTH
ACROSS THE AREA TODAY. CONSIDER POSTPONING ANY ACTIVITY THAT
INVOLVES OUTSIDE BURNING TODAY.

Don't know what will happen today. If I hear of anything in the way of wildfires here in NJ, which I may or may not depending, I'll follow-up here.

SEATs in action - hydromuching

Speaking of SEATs, I ran across this nice two part video on SEATs on youtube the other day. I thought that they looked familiar, but it wasn't tell I was well into watching part 1 that the lightbulb went off and I remembered when I had seen them. It was when I was writing a series of articles about sixteen months ago on hydromulching and I included these videos in the series. They are well worth watching again. The video shows five SEATs doing hydromulching operations as a part of post-fire recovery after the Angora Fire.