South Park Fire (Burlington Cnty NJ): update 2

I believe that the fire currently involves about 600 acres and is at 30 to 50% containment, see the Asbury Park Press and the Courier Post articles below. At this point, it is hoped that the fire can be contained at about 1,000 acres. The video that I embedded above of the South Park Fire is from the The Courier Post Online. Twenty-five houses are threatened. The Atlantic City Press is reporting that voluntary evacuations are in place, and I also heard these voluntary evacuations mentioned on a local noon broadcast (no link available), neither place said that the evacuations were mandatory.

The Asbury Park Press is reporting that evacuations are not in place for this six hundred acre fire, perhaps the Asbury Park Press is saying that mandatory evacuations have not been ordered. In addition, the Asbury Park Press is reporting that the investigators believe that the fire may have been "intentionally set." The Asbury Park Press article may be found here and includes a map of the fire area including the location of the command post and helipad.

Wildlandfire dot com has started an initial attack thread on the South Park Fire on their hotlist forums that may be found here.

My friends at Downstown Aero sent me three pictures taken from Charlie-1 (Air Tractor 602) about 7 AM this morning. They are posted below with the permission of Downstown Aero Crop Services. As of a couple of hours ago, both Bravo-1 and Charlie-1 (both are Air Tractor 602's) were working spot fires at the South Park Fire.

South Park Fire (Burlington Cnty NJ): update 1 and video

Winds Fueling Brush Fire In Tabernacle: MyFoxPHILLY.com

Here is a video report on the South Park Fire from MyFoxPhilly. My friends at Downstown Aero tell me that there is an observation helo (Delta 2) flying. One Air Tractor 602, Charlie-1, made a drop around 7 AM this morning. Last I heard is that Charlie-1 is at Coyle Field on standby with Bravo-1 (Air Tractor 602). As I understand it, air ops may stop when the winds reach 40 mph.

South Park Fire- 500-1,000 acres - Burlington Cnty NJ

This just in. There is a major fire burning near Tabernacle/Woodland Twshp NJ. The fire was reported around 4 AM with early reports of 500 acres. A report at 7 AM from the NJ Forest Fire Service Section B10 has the fire at 1,000 acres with homes threatened. Air support is supposed to start at dawn, but high winds could ground aircraft. Here is an early report on the fire from ABC6 in Philadelphia, and a slightly later report from Fox29 in Philadelphia. There is a Red Flag Warning out for today with winds that could gust as high as 45 mph. I'll follow the fire as best I can and will provide updates later.

Wildfires in Camden County NJ: final update

Yesterday I reported here and here on what turned out to be two wildfires, one small and one large, in a wildlife management area in Camden County, NJ. First, a correction to yesterday's first article. There were two helos on the fire, one was doing observations and the second did have a bucket. I don't know how long the Air Tractor 602, Charlie-1 worked the fire, but based on what my friends at Downstown Aero told me last night I believe it was longer than two hours. Don't know how much longer, perhaps into the afternoon?

When I got home last night, I found a situation report on the wildland fire hotlists reporting that the larger fire known as the Winslow Fire was at 90% containment at about 8 PM last night with an expected size of about 375 acres. For more information see an Atlantic City Press article, this article from the Asbury Park Press, and this article from the Courier Post The Courier Post article does have a link to the video, shot yesterday, that I embedded here. Kudos to all those who fought this fire on the ground (NJFFS and local firefighters) and those in the air (Downstown and the helo pilot).

RED FLAG WARNINGS are up for NJ, and adjoining areas of PA, NY, DE, and MD from 10 AM today through 8 PM tonight. A fire weather watch for the same areas is up for tomorrow, Easter Sunday.

Wildfires in Camden County NJ: update #2

A smaller fire known as the Piney Hollow Fire (25 acres) is at 100% containment. The larger fire, the Winslow Complex Incident, located at the Atlantic City Expressway (exit 31) was 50 percent contained as about 2 PM EDT. NJ Forest Fire Service officials expect this fire to burn about 375 acres, including any back buring operations.

For more information on the fire:

Situation Report (4/6/12 @1400 hrs) from Wildlandfire Hotlist
Atlantic City Press article (4/6/2012)
6ABC Philly report
slide show - Fox Philly


April 6, 2012 @ 4 PM EDT

updated July 18, 2013: video that I had embedded here is no longer available. :-(

RED FLAG for April 6 and wildfire activity in NJ

Most of NJ and portions of eastern PA are under a RED FLAG warning today, April 6, from 11 AM through 8 PM. Thanks to my friends at the NJFFS Section B10 webpage, I am hearing reports of two wildfires totaling approximately 160 acres in southern NJ (Section C6 - Winslow Township). I understand from my friends at Downstown Aero (who just called me) that one SEAT -- an Air Tractor 602 is working the fire along with an observation helo and a helo with a bucket.

The ABC affiliate in Philadelphia was showing a live stream a little while ago. That stream has ended, at least for now, but the video that I just embedded above may be raw video taken at that time by the ABC6 helo. ABC 6 has a report on the fire and a link to some photos.

AT-602 used on small fire in Ocean County NJ

The folk at Downstown Air sent me the video that I have embedded here from the CBS station in Philadelphia. There was a small wildfire in the Forked River Section of Ocean County NJ this afternoon. The fire burned near some homes and a marina, but there were no evacuations. Bravo 1 (Air Tractor 602) made at least one drop on the fire. You will see a couple of shots of this magnificent aircraft. Having seen her up close and personal about a month ago (go here), it is special to see her in a video doing one of the things that she does best, fighting fires in support of the firefighters on the ground. Bravo-1 flies out of Coyle Field in Burlington County, NJ. According to the report that I just saw on the NJ Forest Fire Service Section B10, the fire was contained at 5:30 PM, having burned 6 acres of marsh and 1/2 an acre of forest. In addition, the Lacey Patch reports on the fire.

CL-215 Water Scoopers in MN

This is a nice short video where the pilot shows off one of two CL-215 Water Scoopers used by the MN DNR for aerial firefighting. The Water Scoopers are based at Brainerd DNR Air Tanker Base on the Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport. There is a short article on the two scoopers that may be found here, that includes the video that I embedded above and a couple of photos. I'd like to thank Michael Archer who included a link to this article in his April 4 Firebomber Publications Blog.

Air Attack - TX Spring 2011 Wildfires

Conair AT 802s back from Australia

Conair, located in Abbotsford, British Columbia in Canada sent two of their Air Tractor 802's to Australia for their spring and summer fire season. The two 802's are now back in Abbotsford BC. A friend of mine sent me a link to an article by ABC in Australia posted as the two pilots ferrying the 802's back to BC were starting their journey back home. The two 802's flew together on their trip back. The article includes a link to a nice audio interview of the two ferry pilots, Scott Gunter and Ray Dyson. Here is a direct link to the audio interview.

More on Fire Danger in NJ and eastern PA

Here is a nice news report from ABC 6 Action News in Philadelphia on March 27 about the high risk of wild fires (aka brush fires in NJ). There were Red Flag warnings on March 26 and March 27, yesterday saw elevated fire danger in NJ. There is a short article from the New Jersey News Room dot com on this years spring fire season in NJ. I found links for both the video that I embedded here as well as the news article on this WildlandFire hotlist thread (posted Mar 29). I know of several smaller wild or brush fires that the NJ Forest Fire Service worked this past week. Thank-you for the work you do in observing and then bringing these fires under control.

Lower North Forks Fire, CO

The Lower North Fork Fire has burned approximately 4,500 acres in Jefferson County, CO and is uncontained. At least two people have died, 23 houses have been destroyed and some 900 other residences have been evacuated since the fire began.  Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today reported yesterday that the Colorado State Forest Service released a statement yesterday afternoon saying that the fire may have been caused by a controlled burn done last week.

Winds prevented Air operations on Monday, March 26. Yesterday, two P-2 tankers (T-44 and T-45) and one SEAT (Air Tractor 802) worked the fire along with some helos with buckets.

 More info on the Lower Forks Fire:
9News report on fire plus links
9News photo gallery - air ops
Denver Post on fire
Wildfire Today (3/28/12) on Lower North Forks Fire
Wildlandfire hotlist thread on Lower North Forks Fire

NASA rockets study upper level jet stream

The short video that I embedded here shows the launch of five ATREX rockets, suborbital rockets, to study the upper level jet stream. The rockets were launched 80 seconds apart from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia early in the morning of March 27, 2012.

For more information:

NASA - about the study,  (brief description about the study, diagram of atmosphere, about the rockets

NASA - ATREX mission (info on launch, links to photos, etc.

NASA - successful launch of ATREX (includes slide show)

Red Flag Warnings continue in NJ

Red flag warnings continue in NJ for a second day in a row. Today's Red Flag Warnings will last until 4 PM. Regarding wildfire activity yesterday, I suspect but am not certain that most of the wildfire activity were smaller fires. The largest fire that I heard about was on the order of 20 to 30 acres. For an article on some of yesterday's wildfire activity in northern NJ, there is an article from the Asbury Park Press that you may want to read.

Red Flag Warning in NJ

Like other regions in North America, New Jersey has seen a mild winter with dry conditions leading to increased wildfire danger. The National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning for all of New Jersey, portions of eastern PA, DE, and portions of South East NY. Below is the Red Flag Warning issued by the Mt. Holly Office of the National Weather Service. Here are related articles: NJ dot com and Lehigh Valley Live dot com.

The Red Flag Warning for the region served by the Mt. Holly Office of the NWS expires at 9 PM tonight with elevated fire danger expected tomorrow. I can testify to the strong winds blowing.

I'll post updates as conditions warrant.


Red Flag Warning
URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
323 PM EDT MON MAR 26 2012

NJZ001-007>010-012>027-270100-
/O.CON.KPHI.FW.W.0002.000000T0000Z-120327T0100Z/
/O.CON.KPHI.FW.A.0002.120327T1200Z-120327T2000Z/
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-
323 PM EDT MON MAR 26 2012

...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM EDT THIS
EVENING...

...FIRE WEATHER WATCH IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY MORNING
THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY HAS ISSUED A FIRE
WEATHER WATCH...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH
TUESDAY AFTERNOON.

* AFFECTED AREA...NORTHWEST, CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY

* WINDS...NORTHWEST 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH. THE
STRONGEST WIND GUSTS WILL OCCUR DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON.

* TIMING...THROUGH 9 PM. MOST VULNERABLE TIME IS LATE THIS
AFTERNOON.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AROUND 20 PERCENT.

* IMPACTS...BECAUSE OF THE METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS, THE
POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR RAPID SPREAD IF UNCONTROLLED FIRES DEVELOP.
THE FIRE DANGER WILL BE ELEVATED DUE TO THE STRONG WIND GUSTS,
RECENT LACK OF PRECIPITATION, LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES, AND DRY
FUELS.

* TUESDAY...WINDS WILL ONCE AGAIN BE GUSTY, ESPECIALLY IN THE
MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON. IF HUMIDITY LEVELS DROP BEFORE THE
WINDS START TO DECREASE, THEN RED FLAG CONDITIONS MIGHT BE
REACHED.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

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

A FIRE WEATHER WATCH MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS
ARE FORECAST TO OCCUR. LISTEN FOR LATER FORECASTS AND POSSIBLE
RED FLAG WARNINGS.

CAL FIRE writes USFS Chief Tidwell

When I reported yesterday about recent news affecting aerial wildland firefighting I forgot one thing. That is, I forgot to mention that Ken Pimlott, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) wrote a letter to Chief Tidwell, Chief of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) with his reservations about the USFS's current air tanker strategy. For some of you, this may be old news, but it is important, so I will spend a little time here on Pimlott's letter. I first read about this letter in the Firebomber Publication Blog on March 15 where I was able to download a copy of the letter. A few days later, I saw that Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today reported on this letter on Tues. March 20, 2012, also including a copy of this letter in his article.

Speaking of the size of the federal tanker fleet and its affect on CAL FIRE, Ken Pimlott (CAL FIRE) says:

The reduction in the number of federal air tankers from 43 in 2000 to 11 in 2011, has resulted in significant impacts . . . placing an increasing burden on CAL FIRE aircraft to respond to fires on National Forest Lands. Initial and extended attack fires on federal lands are increasing the flight hours on CAL FIRE's air tankers and reducing their availability for response to new fires.

Bill Gabbert has a nice short commentary about Pimlott's letter in his article of Tues. March 20, 2012. In addition, you might want to read this commentary from the Press-Enterprise on how the reduction in the federal tanker fleet could affect California, you will find the P-E article (dated 3/23/12) here.

News in the tanker and helo biz

It is a little past time to catch up on some news items in the business of aerial wildland fire fighting. So, I'll highlight some of the items that have run across in my wonderings on the internet the last couple of weeks.

1. The chief of the US Forest Service, Chief Tom Tidwell, testified before Congress on the USFS 2013 budget. Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today writes about Chief Tidwell's testimony on March 7. In a follow-up article a couple of days later, Bill spends a little more time writing on the 30 helicopters that will be on national contract this year, go here to read his March 9 article.

2. Here are a couple of articles, at least one of which a friend of mine sent me in e-mail, that Mike Archer of the Firebomber Publications Blog wrote about. On March 12, Mike referenced a March 12 editorial in the Press Enterprise on the current fleet of air tankers on national contract, the editorial may be found here. Three days later, on March 15, MIke included a link to another article on the state of the tanker biz from Mountain-News, that may be accessed from this webpage.

3. Walt Darran, since deceased (may he rest in peace) was the chairman of the Associated Aerial Firefighters safety committee at the time I wrote this article. He had written a nice commentary on the future of air tankers in March 2012. Unfortunately, I can not find Walt's commentary. I am familiar with all the good work that Walt did as a pilot and after he retired and feel it appropriate to reference this commentary.

Revised on October 12, 2015 to remove a dead link.

Canadian Air Tankers

Believe it or not, I hoped to write about something else today. But life got in the way. Nothing major, just some details that I had to take care of that were a little time consuming. I am sharing this video with you that I found yesterday, thanks to some friends in NJ. You will get to know some of the air tankers used in by our friends in Canada.

Enjoy.

Ag Cat in action

DC-7 revisited

I ran across the video from the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) a few days ago thanks to a friend. EAA has an extensive collection of videos that you may look at on their video site. One of these videos is about Sully and Skiles obtaining their second in command rating for the DC-7 (in the EAA learning to fly channel), a direct link to the video may be found here.

Some of you may recall that I had the privilege of corresponding with Captain Larry Kraus, pilot in command of Butler Aircraft's DC-7 tanker 62 a couple of years ago. I learned a lot about DC-7 tankers and the tanker biz from this correspondence which I wrote about on this blog. See for example, this article, the first of many where I introduce the DC-7 and Butler's DC-7s. Those of you who may want to read more about the DC-7 tankers may want to start by reading articles with the DC-7 label (the newest article is listed first and if you go to the bottom of the page and click older articles you will see the earliest article).

Enjoy and Happy St. Patrick's day everyone!

SEATs up close and (sort of) personal (2 of 2)

When I first starting blogging about aerial wildland firefighting over three years ago, one of my first articles was about the Grumman AgCats contracted for by the NJ Forest Fire Service. I got these photos using my cell phone last week as I walking by a hanger at Downstown on the way to my car. I hope to return to Downstown in a few weeks and spend more quality time with both the Grumman Ag Cats and the Air Tractor 602s.  When I do, I'll bring my digital camera with me and get more photos for you.

SEATs up close and (sort of) personal (1 of 2)

When I was at Downstown Airport last week, two Air Tractor 602s. After introducing myself to my host from Downstown and the NJ Forest Fire official who was leading the meeting, I  parked my coat on a chair and went over to introduce myself to the 602s.

What magnificent aircraft they are. I did not have to worry about hitting my head on the wing. I did this once with the Cessna trainer. I walked under the wing with the flaps extended . . .

I was impressed by the wing span, 56 feet according to the specs. Wow. As a comparison, the wing span of the Cessna Skyhawk 172P trainer that have been in on my scenic flights has a wing span of 36 feet. The engine of the 602 was over my head, I'm about 5'8" tall.

I wanted to linger more with each aircraft. I took the photos you see below with my cell phone. Not the greatest photos, but you get the idea. When the meeting started and I sat down, I looked ahead at our leader with the aircraft in the background. It was something special to spend a couple of hours in this hanger observing the NJFFS Aviation Safety Meeting under the watchful eye of these two splendid aircraft. It was as if they were saying, this is what we do, you are here because of me.

It was easy to close my eyes and see these splendid aircraft doing one of the things they do best, fighting fires for the NJFFS. But there are other things they do well like crop dusting.

I'll write a little about Downstown's Grumman AgCats in my next post, with some photos.

Reflections from Observing a NJ Forest Fire Service Aviation Safety Meeting

The other day I has privileged to be invited to sit in as a guest at the NJ Forest Fire Service's (NJFFS) air safety meeting held at Vineland-Downstown Airport in Vineland, NJ.The meeting that I sat in was held in the morning for ground fire fighters, pilots, tanker base personnel, fire observers, and the contractor. I did not attend the pilots recurrency training that was held in the afternoon.

Downstown Aero Crop Service based at Vineland-Downstown Airport (28N) has been providing contract fixed-wing aircraft (SEATs) to the NJ Forest Fire Service since 1967.  Four single engine airtankers (SEATs) will be on duty during the 2012 spring fire season, with each of the three Divisions in the NJ Forest Fire Service having one SEAT. Division A (northern NJ) is the sole exception where two SEATs will be on call for a two week period in April. As of March 6, 2012 the schedule is as follows:

Division A: Aeroflex
Alpha 2 300 AgCat March 26-May 4 (40 days)
Alpha 3 300 AgCat April 7-April 21 (14 days)

Division B: Coyle
Bravo 1 602 Air Tractor March 31 - May 7 (38 days)

Division C: Downstown
Charlie 1 602 Air Tractor March 30 - May 6 (38 days)

SEATs sometimes cross into another Division, when that happens an AgCat will placed in service so that no Division is left unprotected.

Readers of this blog will know that safety is very big deal in wildland fire fighting, whether it be on the ground or in the air. Annual training, sometimes known as recurrency training is important for both ground firefighters and aerial firefighters. I'd like to take a few moments to share some of my impressions and reflections with you.

I was struck by the commitment of everyone in the room (actually a hanger) to safety. Its hard to explain, but I felt like safety was "in the air" in the hanger that morning. Safety, the firefighters on the ground and the pilots working together so that they are safe. All the firefighters being safe while they are doing their jobs of putting out wildland fires and keeping NJ safe.

Communications. Safety is about communications. Going over the radio frequencies used by all divisions in the NJFFS including air to ground. Everyone working the fire knows the frequency being used. Air to ground, the frequencies that the ground firefighters use to talk to the pilots. Thinking before engaging the mic on the radio, using standard terminology that is clear and concise. The importance of listening first to be sure that no one else is using the same frequency. Get a new frequency if the one being used is congested and being sure that all know what the new frequency is. Ground fire fighters give references to the pilots based on the direction that the aircraft is traveling.

Everyone, firefighters on the ground, base personnel, and pilots work together to be sure that aircraft operations are safe. The pilot has ultimate responsibility for the safety of the aircraft. Aviation safety starts with a safe aircraft, that is operated in safe manner.

Review of airports that aircraft can use for refueling. In particular airports with jet fuel A used by the Airtractor 602. You can't get more basic then having fuel for the aircraft and knowing where available fuel is.

The life of a heavy tanker, her crew and support personnel

If you want to read about all that is involved in flying a heavy firefighting air tanker, then there is a nice article that you will want to read. You will learn a little about Minden's T-55, captain and pic Greg Hock. T-55 was based at a temporary tanker base in Abilene TX when the article was written. You will learn a little about life on a tanker base as well as what is like when the tanker is making a drop on a fire.

There are periods of inactivity between fires when the pic and co-pilot have to stay on call. When the call comes, the pic and co-pilot arrive within 15 minutes. The tanker (T-55 in this case) is loaded with retardant and off she goes.

The article also introduces you to some of the many other support personnel that are necessary for aerial wildland fire support operations. A variety of personnel are necessary including aircraft maintenance personnel (including A&P mechanics), those involved in mixing and loading the retardant into the tanker, base and ramp personnel and others.

Michael Archer of The Firebomber Publications Blog aka Wildfire News of the Day, included the article in his March 4, 2012 entry. The article itself was written for the March 4 edition of the Abilene TX Reporter News. I'd also like to another friend who made me aware of the article around the time that I found it on the Fire Publications Blog.

As always, I'm never quite certain how long links from the online edition of print media are freely available. So, if you come here and the link no longer works, that is why. October 6, 2016, I just realized that the link to the March 4, 2012 is no longer available and perhaps it hasn't been for a long time. Unfortunately, I did not save a copy of the article so I can not provide more of a summary for you. As some of you no doubt know, on June 3, 2012 T-55 landed in Minden NV with only two of three gear (see my my June 4 2012 article) . Both pilots survived. To the best of my knowledge, T-55 has not returned to service. 

CFIT: VFR pilot into instrument conditions

Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFIT) "accounts for 17 percent of all general aviation fatalities ... ." (FAA Advisory Circular 61-134, p.1). One type of CFIT accident involves visual flight rules (VFR) only pilots, i.e pilots without an instrument flight rules (IFR) rating, flying in marginal visibility or in instrument conditions.

The practice of attempting to maintain visual flight in marginal visibility or in instrument conditions is referred to as scud running. "CFIT occurs when an airworthy aircraft is flown, under the control of a qualified pilot, into terrain (water or obstacles) with inadequate awareness on the part of the pilot of the impending collision" (FAA Advisory Circular 61-134, p.3).

Many pilots scud run, some live. Some don't.

It is Sunday afternoon, time to go home after a pleasant weekend away visiting friends not far from the mountains. You are worried about the weather, there has been talk of a rain storm coming from the west. You have to fly west to go home, perhaps a 175 nautical mile (NM) flight. You might be able to make it in under 1.5 hours in your Cessna Cutlass.

You get a weather briefing, the bottom of the cloud deck is currently at 3,000 ft  above ground level (AGL), but conditions are forecast to get worse with lower ceilings at about 1,200 feet expected at your home airport in about 1.5 to 2 hours. The mountains between you and home climb anywhere from 2 to 4,000 feet above the elevation of the airport where you landed on Friday,.  But you have flown this route before and know where there is a highway that travels at a lower elevation through the mountains.

You and your son get your things together and drive to the nearby airport. You fueled the plane after landing Friday morning. You are set to go. You take off heading west and level off at 2,500 ft AGL. You find the highway west after a few minutes of flying. Some of the taller mountain tops are shrouded in clouds.  You had a GPS installed in the Cutlass recently. There are still a few features that you need to figure out.

You fly along at 2,500 ft AGL for about 20 minutes, glancing down to check your GPS every so often. You continue to follow the highway.

But then things start to get worse.

Ceilings are lower than forecast, so as the bottom of the cloud deck gets lower, you fly lower and descend to 2000 ft. AGL. As you fly along, the cloud deck continues to get lower and you fly lower and lower until you are just under 1,000 ft AGL flying perhaps a couple hundred feet under the clouds. Several minutes pass and it starts to rain, you aren't worried about the rain because your outside air temperature gauge says that the temps are about 45 degrees F. You are now at about 600 ft above the highway and your eyes are glued outside the cockpit looking ahead at the road below. You are OK because you know where the highway is. On a couple of occasions you have followed the highway west flying VFR, and have also driven west along the same road.

You are losing sight of the highway. Where is it? You fly lower. Oh, is that it down there? You don't know. You keep flying. You don't see that the Terrain Avoidance Warning System (TAWS) in the GPS is flashing, first yellow and then red. When you see the mountain it is too late. You pull back on the yoke and take your son's hand. Too late!

__________________________

The above scenario is fictional. There are many real fatal accidents in the NTSB database where the pilot attempts to maintain visual flight in instrument conditions resulting in a controlled flight into terrain. I've read some of them.

The AOPA Air Safety Institute's video, 178 Seconds to Live depicts a similar scenario to the fictional scenario that I have described above. There is no GPS, but you will get an idea of what you might see from the cockpit when a VFR only pilot ends up in instrument conditions. I was not able to get the embed code to work, but you should be able to watch the video from the link I provided. Added on December 18, 2014, I have updated the link to the 178 Seconds to Live video from the AOPA Air Safety Institute. A heads up that I was unable to get the video to play in my Firefox browser but it worked in Safari and Chrome. For those you who are interested in seeing the video (I recommend it), there is a similar video that I found from the Civial Aviation Safety Authority in Australia (go here) on YouTube.

I'd like to thank the staff of the Air Safety Institute who assisted me as I was researching this article. I'd also like to thank my pilot friends and my friends at my home airport.

Aviation Weather: Terminal Aerodrome Forecasts (TAF)

I wrote about an aviation weather product known as a METARs the other day. Today I am going to focus on the Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) that uses the same coding that the METAR uses.

TAFs are issued four times a day by the National Weather Service. As its name suggests, the TAF is a weather forecast of particular interest to aviation interests. A TAF is written for a specific airport, usually a larger airport, extending out to five statute miles from the center of the airport. They are updated four times a day, covering a 30 hour time period. When the forecaster determines that the forecast is no longer valid, an amended TAF will be issue superseding  the earlier forecast. A 30 hour TAF is often broken down into specific time periods reflecting a forecast of changing weather conditions.

Before going on a scenic flight, I try to check for TAFs for airports that are near or the route of the flight. Depending on where we are going, there might be two TAF for two airports. For example, late last summer, I flew to the NJ shore on one of my scenic rides. Two of the larger airports along the route had TAFs, Trenton (KTTN) and McGuire Air Force Base in Wrightstown NJ (KWRI), so I looked at TAFs for KTTN and KWRI. An added benefitis that when a TAF is issued for a specific airport, there is usually a METAR. So I will know the hourly weather report as well as a forecast.

You can get a TAF and a METAR for airports in the U.S. by going to one webpage from the National Weather Service (NWS) Aviation Digital Data Service (ADDS): go here to get a TAF. Enter the four digit code (will start with the letter "K") for your nearest international airport in the little box, select TAF, highlight the translate button and then select get TAF. If you aren't sure what the four letter code is for the nearest international airport in your State, you might find your code in this list of Class B airports in the US or this list of Class C airports.

At 1 PM EST (6 PM UTC) on March 2, I went to the NWS ADDS TAF page and got the latest TAF for Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark NJ (KEWR), note that if you try this you will probably get a different TAF. If you want to translate universal or greenwich mean time (UTC) into your time, go here, look for United Kingdom - England - London to get UTC time.

You will see in the TAF below the forecast passage of low pressure system through Newark later today into tomorrow with a low cloud deck and rain. Also note the forecasted change in wind direction and speed.

Forecast for: KEWR (NEWARK , NJ, US)

TAF (coded): KEWR 021723Z 0218/0324 14008KT P6SM BKN015 OVC025
Forecast period: 1800 to 2200 UTC 02 March 2012
Forecast type: FROM: standard forecast or significant change
Winds: from the SE (140 degrees) at 9 MPH (8 knots; 4.2 m/s)
Visibility: 6 or more miles (10+ km)
Ceiling: 1500 feet AGL
Clouds: broken clouds at 1500 feet AGL
overcast cloud deck at 2500 feet AGL
Weather: no significant weather forecast for this period

TAF (coded): FM022200 13010KT P6SM BKN015 OVC025
Forecast period: 2200 UTC 02 March 2012 to 0200 UTC 03 March 2012
Forecast type: FROM: standard forecast or significant change
Winds: from the SE (130 degrees) at 12 MPH (10 knots; 5.2 m/s)
Visibility: 6 or more miles (10+ km)
Ceiling: 1500 feet AGL
Clouds: broken clouds at 1500 feet AGL
overcast cloud deck at 2500 feet AGL
Weather: no significant weather forecast for this period

TAF (coded): FM030200 11014KT 4SM -RA BKN009 OVC015
Forecast period: 0200 to 0400 UTC 03 March 2012
Forecast type: FROM: standard forecast or significant change
Winds: from the ESE (110 degrees) at 16 MPH (14 knots; 7.3 m/s)
Visibility: 4 miles (6 km)
Ceiling: 900 feet AGL Clouds: broken clouds at 900 feet AGL
overcast cloud deck at 1500 feet AGL
Weather: -RA  (light rain)

TAF (coded): FM030400 08010KT 1SM -RA BR OVC004
Forecast period: 0400 to 1000 UTC 03 March 2012
Forecast type: FROM: standard forecast or significant change
Winds: from the E (80 degrees) at 12 MPH (10 knots; 5.2 m/s)
Visibility: 1.00 miles (1.61 km)
Ceiling: 400 feet AGL
Clouds: overcast cloud deck at 400 feet AGL
Weather: -RA BR  (light rain, mist)

TAF (coded): FM031000 VRB06KT 1SM -RA BR OVC004
Forecast period: 1000 to 1400 UTC 03 March 2012
Forecast type: FROM: standard forecast or significant change
Winds: variable direction winds at 7 MPH (6 knots; 3.1 m/s)
Visibility: 1.00 miles (1.61 km)
Ceiling: 400 feet AGL
Clouds: overcast cloud deck at 400 feet AGL
Weather: -RA BR  (light rain, mist)

TAF (coded): FM031400 28012KT P6SM BKN012 BKN050
Forecast period: 1400 to 1700 UTC 03 March 2012
Forecast type: FROM: standard forecast or significant change
Winds: from the W (280 degrees) at 14 MPH (12 knots; 6.2 m/s)
Visibility: 6 or more miles (10+ km)
Ceiling: 1200 feet AGL
Clouds: broken clouds at 1200 feet AGL
broken clouds at 5000 feet AGL
Weather: no significant weather forecast for this period

TAF (coded): FM031700 28013G20KT P6SM BKN050
Forecast period: 1700 to 2000 UTC 03 March 2012
Forecast type: FROM: standard forecast or significant change
Winds: from the W (280 degrees) at 15 MPH (13 knots; 6.8 m/s)
gusting to 23 MPH (20 knots; 10.4 m/s)
Visibility: 6 or more miles (10+ km)
Ceiling: 5000 feet AGL
Clouds: broken clouds at 5000 feet AGL
Weather: no significant weather forecast for this period

TAF (coded): FM032000 26015G25KT P6SM SCT250
Forecast period: 2000 UTC 03 March 2012 to 0000 UTC 04 March 2012
Forecast type: FROM: standard forecast or significant change
Winds: from the W (260 degrees) at 17 MPH (15 knots; 7.8 m/s)
gusting to 29 MPH (25 knots; 13.0 m/s)
Visibility: 6 or more miles (10+ km)
Clouds: scattered clouds at 25000 feet AGL
Weather: no significant weather forecast for this period

For now, this wraps up my articles on aviation weather products. I will be revisiting aviation weather topics from time to time.

June 13, 2014: Someone asked me why the weather products are coded. I don't really know the answer to this question at this time. I just know that when I was learning about various aviation weather reports that I learned about the codes. Fortunately, in the link to the NWS digital aviation weather service that I provided above you can select a button to get a translated TAF. I'll try to find an answer to this question and when I do, I'll post another update.

June 27, 2014: I posted a response to the question of why TAF and METAR weather products are coded in an article that I posted on June 27, 2014 called "Why are METARs and TAFs coded?".

References
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Flight Standards Service. Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (2008), pp 12-10 to 12-11 obtained from this page on the FAA website where individual chapters may be downloaded. Chapter 12 is devoted to Aviation Weather Services.

U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration. Aviation Weather Services, Advisory Circular AC 00-45G (2011) obtained from the FAA, pp. 7-19 to 7-35.

Aviation Weather: Meteorological Aviation Routine Report (METAR)

I promised you last Friday that I would write about one of the aviation weather products this week. There is one type of surface weather report that some of you may have seen on some weather sites on the internet, the METAR. METAR stands for Meteorological Aviation Routine Report. METARs, used worldwide, are coded reports with each country making modifications for use in their specific country.

Routine METARs are done on an hourly basis, usually at airports. Some METARs are done automatically (without the benefit of humans) and will include the code "AUTO". Other METARs are done for special weather reports and are labeled "SPECI". METAR's are but one of the sources of aviation weather information used by pilots as a part of their pre-flight planning and while enroute. I access METARs over the internet, which I'll get to in a moment, and most of the METARs that I have accessed are those done on an hourly basis.

Ok, I mentioned that METAR reports are coded, and I'll include an example in a moment along with a translation. You may have seen a METAR, perhaps on Intellicast Weather or Weather Underground, hopefully these links will take you directly to pages for Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, NJ where you can see the coded METAR. On Weather Underground, look for the METAR under current data on the left side of the page, they provide a nice METAR faq where you can go to learn about how to decode the METAR. The METAR on the intellicast website should be in the box labeled current conditions near the top left side of the page.

Here is a coded METAR and translation which I got using the form found on the  the NWS Aviation digital data website (note 1):

METAR (code) text: KEWR 291951Z 06008KT 2SM RA BR BKN010 OVC020 06/03 A3001 RMK AO2 SLP161 CIG 009V011 P0010 T00560033

TRANSLATION (note 2,3):
Conditions at: KEWR (NEWARK , NJ, US) observed 1951 UTC 29 February 2012
Temperature: 5.6°C (42°F)
Dewpoint: 3.3°C (38°F) [RH = 85%]
Pressure (altimeter): 30.01 inches Hg (1016.3 mb)
[Sea-level pressure: 1016.1 mb]
Winds: from the ENE (60 degrees) at 9 MPH (8 knots; 4.2 m/s)
Visibility: 2.00 miles (3.22 km)
Ceiling: 1000 feet AGL
Clouds: broken clouds at 1000 feet AGL
overcast cloud deck at 2000 feet AGL
Weather: RA BR  (rain, mist)

The coding in METARs take some getting used, and are covered in the FAA Private Pilot Exam. I like METARs and will look for METARs before I go on a scenic flight. Checking out the METARs are also an easy way to see weather conditions around my region.

Notes:
(1) This page is used to access both METARs and TAFs (Terminal Aerodrome Forecasts), a forecast for a five mile radius around the airport mentioned in the TAF. I'll cover those in a later article. Most of your major international airports in the US will have TAF reports for their terminal (5 mile radius) area.

(2) UTC stands for coordinated time universal or universal time. You may see UTC time referred to by the letter "Z" in coded reports such as the METAR above. UTC is also Greenwich Mean Time (obtained at the observatory in Greenwich England (near London). UTC time is used for all aviation weather information products, and takes a little getting used. If you want to know what UTC time is in your time zone, go to this website.

(3) The National Weather Service has a guide that may be found here that aids in translating the coding used in METARs and TAFs.

References:

U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Flight Standards Service. Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (2008), pp 12-6 to 12-8 obtained from this page on the FAA website where individual chapters may be downloaded. Chapter 12 is devoted to Aviation Weather Services.

U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration. Aviation Weather Services, Advisory Circular AC 00-45G (2011) obtained from the FAA, pp. 3-1 to 3-31.

Reflections on tanker availability

We are due to the enter the wildfire season with 11 heavy tankers, including Neptune's T-40 (BAe-146). As for the whereabouts of T-40, Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today reported in an article he posted yesterday (scroll to the bottom of the article).

Having heard nothing to the contrary, I assume that eight of Neptune's P-2s and Minden's two P-2's are ready to go when their respective contracted mandatory availability period starts. You may recall that Neptune Aviation found a wing crack in one of their Lockheed P-2V tankers and the FAA issued an Emergency Air Directive calling for inspections of all Lockheed P-2V tankers. As I understand it, Neptune's tanker with the cracked wing is undergoing repairs, with the rest of Neptune's P-2's (8) and Minden's two P-2s ready to go. That brings us to ten heavy tankers. Recall that the USFS terminated their contract with Aero Union last summer, grounding Aero Union's Lockheed P-3's.

Some of you might be wondering about the very large airtankers (the DC-10 tankers and Evergreen's Boeing 747 supertanker to be specific). Good question. Last year, the US Forest Service did not have exclusive use contracts for the DC-10 tankers or the 747 tanker. Instead, the USFS offered call when needed (CWN) contracts. Evergreen did not sign, Tanker 10 company (DC-10 tankers) did sign, see two articles by Bill Gabbert here for more information. What about this year? You'd think that given that we have fewer heavy tankers this year as compared with last year at this time (eight Aero Union P-3s and 11 P-2s, T-40 was not on contract until later in 2011) that the USFS will sign exclusive use contracts for the 747 super tanker (20,000 gallons of retardant) and the two DC-10 tankers (12,000 gallons of retardant). Not only do exclusive use contracts mean that these tankers are on call and available during the contract period, but exclusive use contracts offer make it financially worthwhile for the respective companies. CWN contracts only pay when the tankers see action, meaning that if they are not activated, the contractors are not paid. As far as I know the USFS has not offered exclusive use contracts for either tanker.

Coulson's Martin Mars is also a very large airtanker (VLAT). I don't quite recall if Coulson's Martin Mars tanker saw action in America last year, but I do believe that she flew in Mexico. And she has flown fires in California in past years, for example in 2009.

I know that we still have the single engine airtankers (SEATs) and a variety of helicopters including helitankers such as the Erickson AirCrane on various national contracts. All are valuable aerial firefighting resources, as are the various aerial firefighting resources that individual states contract for.

In addition, there are the MAFFs, and perhaps Canada will loan us some of their Convair 580s and CL-215/415 water scoopers later in the fire season as they did last summer, see another article by Bill Gabbert from last September on air tankers that were available last year.

And we do await news of the USFS RFP for next generation turbine tankers as reported here, but I have no idea whether the awarding of this contract will lead to more heavy tankers on contract during the 2012 fire season.

I don't know about you, but I will miss Aero Union's P-3s this fire season.

Reflections on aviation weather

I am sitting here on a windy day with sustained winds about 20 mph +/- and winds gusting to about 40 mph. For the record, I did not even think about going on a scenic flight today because it is way too windy for that. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and I will be able to go on a scenic flight this weekend.

In the last two years that I have been going on my scenic flights, weather has taken on a whole new meaning for me. A whole new world opened up for me. I was thinking about winds and temperatures at altitude, they are not the same as on the ground. I learned about different aviation weather reports and forecasts, and reports of other significant meteorological events of importance to pilots.

An important part of the pre-flight planning that pilots go through before going on a flight is being knowledgeable about current and forecast weather conditions along their flight route including their point of departure and their destination. When I was in ground school we spent a couple of sessions on weather and as all as the sources of aviation weather information that pilots and others use both for pre-flight planning as well as obtaining weather information enroute.

My intention was and still is, to find a way to write about some of these sources of aviation weather information that I have been using for the last couple of years. But this is proving to be a difficult task because many of these aviation weather products are written in a form of code in the form of specific abbreviations. These "codes" were a little daunting when I first encountered them, but slowly I got used to them. A couple of my aviation books have tables deciphering these codes that I still refer to from time to time.

Last night I had intended to start posting about some of the different types of aviation weather information that are freely available. I spent a couple of hours on this earlier today. However I quickly realized that it was getting way to complicated and even my eyes were starting to roll. So, I decided to regroup and spend a little more time on this, and perhaps come up with some good free sources on the internet that those of you who are interested can look at.

So for those of you came today looking for something from me on some of the specific types of aviation weather information, I'm sorry to disappoint. But having spent a couple of hours on this task this morning, I hope that I might be able to have something for you in a week or so, depending.

Airtankers in Action: CA 2008

I continue to do some background work for upcoming articles. One of which will be an article on certain types of weather related advisories that pilots use called air and sigmets.

In the meantime stay safe and warm everyone. And enjoy this video, footage from Fire Pilots of tankers in action over CA wildfires (2008).

Reflections on not flying yesterday

When I last posted, I was planning on going a scenic flight yesterday. The flight did not happen and I did not do the dead reckoning calculations that I wrote about the other day. The long and the short if it is that it was too windy. But please bear with me while I elaborate a little on my thought process.

When I read the forecast for Tuesday late Sunday I knew that there was a chance of windy conditions that might make a flight in a Cessna trainer inadvisable. Then again, the forecast was only saying there was a chance. A chance of winds and an even smaller chance of rain showers.

Leave aside the winds for a moment. Temps in the high 30s and low 40s on the ground translated to temps at or below freezing aloft. Trust me on this, I read the winds and temps aloft grids. Temps at or below freezing aloft and the chance of rain. Means freezing rain aloft. Freezing rain and airplanes equal icing. Sometimes the outcome is not good.

Slight chance of showers equating to freezing rain at alitude. No thank-you.

The winds, that was interesting. Interesting because there was a chance that the forecast for the winds would not hold. The gusty winds could make a cross wind landing interesting. Perhaps not impossible but interesting. And the winds aloft would be stronger than on the ground. Winds at 12 kts on the ground gusting to 20. Winds aloft at the time of my flight forecast to be anywhere from 33 to 40 kts. And an equal chance that the winds would not be as forecast. What to do?

My scenic flight could wait. Even if my flight was that important, nothing is so important that it justifies flying when it is not safe to fly. I was prepared to cancel the scenic ride. Better to be safe than sorry. I am the passenger in this flight, I can decide to cancel. No reason for me to pressure the pilot.

I talked to someone at the airport a couple of hours later. He canceled the flight because if the forecast held, it would be too windy for the Cessna trainers. The forecast held, winds started to pick up an hour before they were forecast to pick-up.

And in case you are wondering, there may have been light rain showers yesterday. But the winds were gusting to 20 kts from the south. Which put the winds blowing directly across the main runway at the airport.

I'm glad that I was on the ground.

Scenic flights and other projects

It has been a while since I have written about my scenic flights here. On average it seems like I go on one scenic flight every three to five weeks. It is important for me to fly, to continue my aviation journeys in the ways that I can.

For example, I hope to go on scenic flight tomorrow, if the weather cooperates. And hopefully the weather will. But if the weather looks like it will be marginal visual flight rule (MVFR) weather or worse and not good for a visual flight rules flight then I won't go. I decided that I am going to plan a course using dead reckoning. I had to learn dead reckoning when I was studying for the FAA private pilot written exam two years ago. I figure that the number crunching will be a good exercise, perhaps the pilot will want to use my dead reckoning and perhaps he won't. But I'll get the practice crunching the numbers.

Dead reckoning according the Pilot/Controller Glossary in the 2012 FAR/AIM (note 1):

"Dead reckoning as applied to flying, is the navigation of an airplane solely by means of computations based on airspeed, course, heading, wind direction, and speed, ground speed, and elapsed time."

Most of my previous scenic flights over the last two years have been done where the pilot has used VOR navigation.

I also have a couple of other aviation related projects that I am working on. One involves reading and studying more about weather. Briefly, I'm reading a meteorology text called Meteorology Today by David Ahrens. I like this text, so far I am able to follow along (more or less) reading and studying on my own. Self study of a college level meteorology text may not be everyone's cup of tea.

If not there is another book on weather written for the general population called The Weather Book: An Easy-to_understand Guide to the USA's Weather by Jack Williams. Williams wrote the book based on his work for USA Today on their weather page, he is also a pilot.

Finally, I am always interested in issues affecting aviation safety, and am doing some background reading and research on aviation safety related topics for future blog posts.

And all this is in addition to writing on aerial wildland firefighting as we enter the late winter and spring fire season here in America.
________________________________

Note 1: 2012 FAR/AIM (Federal Aviation Regulations Aeronautical Information Manual). U.S. Department of Transportation: From titles 14 and 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Updated and published by Aviation Supplies and Academics, Inc. (ASA): New Castle, Washington.

Honey Prairie Fire Update - Feb 16

While I was out and about, so to speak, checking news on the web earlier today, I saw a reference on the Fire Publications Blog to an article updating the Honey Prairie Fire. What interested me is the report that no smoke had been observed for three weeks. So, I went to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge's Honey Prairie Fire Status Page to find out the latest, and found a press release dated Feb. 16, 2012 (pdf file). Here is an excerpt from this press release:

"No smoke has been seen in three weeks along the two mile perimeter where the Honey Prairie fire crept underground burning peat and roots in a hardwood swamp on the west side of the refuge. It is still too early to call the fire out since it is possible it could flare back up. According to refuge manager Curt McCasland, “We recently responded to a small fire on the east side of the refuge. Firefighters found a burning pile left over from an area burned in July.” He added, 'Given the ability of fire to smolder through the winter in the wood/debris pile, we will need to continue to monitor the fire perimeter and look for other areas where this may still be occurring.'"

Finally, I checked InciWeb for the latest status on the fire, here. As of today, Feb. 17 2012, the last inci web update was on Dec. 15, 2011 with the fire at 76% containment.

For the Tuskegee Airmen

I saw the movie Red Tails, a movie based on the story of the Tuskegee Airmen the first Black fighter squadron, last week. It was in its third week showing at the movie theaters, so I don't know if it still showing in a theater near you. If not, you might have to wait for the DVD to come out. Anyway, watching the movie gave me some motivation to go out and found some information about this famed WWII fighter squadron. There is a nice US Air Force tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen that I found on archive.org, I can no longer embed the video, but you may go to archive.org to watch the video. According to the information on archive.org, the video is in the public domain and available for download Plan on about 15 minutes to watch the video.

Take a few moments to listen to some of their stories which I found on the Tuskegee Airmen National Museum Webpage, more videos may be found there. Note the movie referred to by Claude C. Davis in the second video may be The Tuskegee Airmen (HBO, 1995):

More details on the wing crack in a P-2 tanker

Some of you might be interested in reading the article that Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today wrote last Saturday following up on the crack found in one of Neptune Aviation's P-2's. Bill reports on (and provides a link to) a news release from the American Helicopter and Aerial Firefighting Association where Dan Snyder of Neptune Aviation provides a little more detail on the process that Neptune went through after they discovered the wing skin crack.

USFS announces large air tanker replacement strategy

No doubt some of you already know that last Friday (Feb. 10, 2012) announced its strategy for replacing large airtankers. Perhaps you too follow Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today and have already read the article he wrote about the USFS strategy on Feb. 10, 2012. Those of you who haven't read Bill's article may want to do so.

According to the USFS news release announcing their strategy to replace large airtankers for wildfire efforts,

"Recommendations for the next generation of airtankers include:

• Capabilities of carrying a minimum of 1,800 gallons of mixed retardant with more than 3,000 gallons preferred.
• A minimum cruise speed of 345 mph for quick fire response over long distance.
• Powering by turbine engines, which are more reliable, more fuel efficient, and require less maintenance than older aircraft piston engines.
• Capabilities of operating from most federal airtanker bases.
• Forest Service contract structural integrity program requirements must be met."

I know of two media reports on the USFS strategy, one from the Washington Post on Feb. 11 that I learned about from Bill Gabbert's article written earlier today. I'd like to thank some friends who made me aware of an article in the Missoulian on Feb. 11.

We will have to wait and see how the USFS implements this new strategy. You may recall that the USFS has an RFP for turbine tankers with submission date of Feb. 15, 2012. That is in two days. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for news and will report back, so stay tuned.

Reduction in NJFFS contract fixed wing aircraft

Some of you who have checked my blog within the last two weeks may have already seen the NJ Forest Fire Service (NJFFS)  2012 Spring Fixed Wing Contract Schedule. I'll repeat it here for purposes of simplicity.

Division A North
Alpha 2 - AgCat 300 based at Aeroflex Airport - 3/26-5/4
Alpha 3 - AgCat 300 based at Aeroflex Aorport- 4/7-4/21
Division B Central
Bravo 1 - Air Tractor 602 based at Coyle Field 3/31-5/7
Division C South
Charlie 1 - Air Tractor 602 based at Downstown Airport 3/30-5/6

If you have been following my blog for a year or more, then you might be thinking that there are fewer SEATs on contract this year. And you will be right.  I can only speak for NJFFS fixed wing (SEATs) contract aircraft going back to 2009, the year that I started writing about aerial wildland firefighting on this blog.

If you check out the links at the end of this article, you will see that for the 2009 through 2011 fire season there were two SEATs on contract in each of the three NJFFS Divisions for periods ranging from 33 to 44 days, give or take. There may have been a seventh on a short term contract, e.g. an AgCat was on a five day contract in Division C in 2011.

I don't have information to link to on contract aircraft prior to 2009. But there is an article from 1999 on Downstown Air in the September 1999 edition of Ag Air Update. In 2009 this article was still available on the archives of Ag Air Update. This article has been removed from the Ag Air Update website so it is no longer available on the internet, but I did take some notes. Downstown has provided fixed wings (SEATs) to the NJ Forest Fire Service under contract going back to 1969. In addition to reading that the NJFFS first contracted with Downstown in 1969, the article made reference to Downstown contracting with the NJFFS for nine AgCat bi-planes (eight of their own plus one they leased) and a Dromader that floating between bases as needed.

So the 1999 article on Downstown tells me that there were as many as ten fixed wings under contract with the NJ Forest Fire Service in the late 1990s.  I don't know about the number of SEATs on contract in New Jersey between 1999 and 2008, but I can speak to the last three years (2009-11). That is during each of the last three years there were six fixed-wing (SEAT) aircraft under contract during the spring fire season with a possible seventh on a short term contract. Look at the coming fire season where we will have one fixed-wing (SEAT) in each division during the spring fire season with a fourth on a fourteen day contract in Division A.

Six or seven fixed-wings on a NJFFS contract down to three or four on a NJFFS contract in 2012.

Three or four SEATs are not enough.

NJFFS 2009 SEAT contracts
NJFFS 2010 SEAT contracts
NJFFS 2011 SEAT contracts

Revised March 20, 2014

Lockheed P-2V tanker inspections - update

I reported yesterday on the crack in the wing skin on one of Neptune Aviation's tankers and the FAA EAD. I just read an article from The Missoulian The Missoulian reporting on the crack in the wing skin on one of Neptune's tankers, the FAA Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD), and the required inspections. That article, written today (2/9/2012), may be found here.

Updated Feb. 10, 2012: Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today reported yesterday (Feb. 9, 2012) that Neptunes and Minden's P-2's passed the FAA mandated inspections. The Neptune P-2 with the cracked wing skin is being repaired.

Lockheed P-2s to undergo inspections under FAA EAD

A few hours ago I got word that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued what is known as an Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) (go here to download a copy) requiring inspections of all Lockheed P2V aircraft including but not limited to the 9 P-2 tankers owned by Neptune Aviation and the 2 P-2 tankers owned by Minden Air. Apparently Neptune found a 24 inch crack on the wing skin of one of their tankers.

The EAD calls for inspections of all the P-2s within one day after the operators received the EAD. The operators then have ten days to report back to the FAA on the results of the inspections, whether the results be favorable or unfavorable.

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today reports here on the inspections.

At this time, we will have to wait and see how all this shakes out.

Dromader crash in So. Africa pilot ok

I heard from a couple of sources, including this wildland fire hotlist thread that a Dromader (SEAT) loaded with fuel and water crashed soon after take-off in South Africa. Reports are that the pilot, who was airlifted to a hospital, is ok. The Dromader was one of the aircraft fighting a fire known as the Veldfires near Stanford, South Africa. More information may be found here.

Honey Prairie Fire still burning after 9 months

It has been awhile since I have written about the Honey Prairie Fire, you may recall that I first wrote about that fire in May 2011, with updates in June 2011, and reported that the NJ Forest Fire Service sent a crew to help out with the fire last June, see this article. I embedded some videos from youtube showing fire ops at the fire in July 2011. My last update was in late-Sept. 2011 when the fire had burned over 308,00 acres and was at 76% containment.

I was curious about what was happening with the fire, so I went and checked inciweb today. According the last update on inciweb (Dec 15, 2011), available here, the Honey Prairie Fire has burned over 309,000 acres since it started from a lightening strike in late April 2011. The fire is remains at 76% containment, and as of mid-December  2011,12 firefighters were assigned to the fire. Quoting from the Dec. 15, 2011 inciweb update:

The Honey Prairie Continues to burn deep down into the dry peat on the west side of the refuge. .... There is no visible flame but is still smoking. ... The water table needs to come up high enough to extinguish the fire. The US Drought Monitor indicates that the area remains in severe drought. In the last 30 days, a weather station near the fire recorded 2.6 inches of rainfall.

As you can see from the graphic below, the drought is still persisting in much of Georgia. Note to that drought persists in Texas where massive wildfires burned last summer. Droughts are developing in southern CA and portions of the southwest. I'll write a little more about droughts on Wednesday.

obtained from http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/expert_assessment/seasonal_drought.html on Feb. 6, 2012

More info on the Honey Prairie Fire on the web:
Inciweb page on the Honey Prairie Fire
USFWS - Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge -- Honey Prairie Complex Fires
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge on Facebook (public)

DC-6 Conair T-50 take-off

Florida wildfires

Flordia holds a special place in my heart so my thoughts always turn to Florida at this time of year because winter often means wildfires. Action newsJax reports here about the increased fire danger so far this year. According to the Florida Forest Fire Service Wildfire Information Page from Jan 1, 2012 through Jan 29, 2012 there have been 402 state wildfires (5510 acres burned) and 16 federal wildfires (3,757 acres burned).

Many of you have probably heard about the 10 deaths from automobile crashes attributed to fog and smoke, Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today reported on this here, and here is an article from the Palm Beach Daily News on the automobile crashes highlighting the wildfire threat in Florida.

I embedded a map from the folk at ERSI. This should be a customized link to the map embedded above which I obtained about 6:45 PM today (Feb. 1, 2012). As I write this, there are three larger fires in Florida, and another in Oklahoma. To be honest, I am not quite sure if the image I embedded is static or changes over time. So, perhaps you are seeing something different from what I am writing about. In any event, it is a nice resource. Clicking on the fire icon should give you information about the fire.
The Florida Forest Fire Service has their own fire mapping system that may be accessed here.

I'll be checking in on wildfire activity in Florida from time to time, so stay tuned.