Canada, thanks for the loan of your tankers

As I have been reading about various wildfires this week, I have noted that the tankers that our friends in Canada have loaned us have been busy. For example, as I was reading some articles that Michael Archer referenced in today's post in today's article in firebombers publications, I read this article about a wildfire burning southwest of Boise, Idaho. Two air tankers from Canada, at least one is CV-580 from Saskatchewan, are working this fire. As I understand, there are three other Canadian tankers helping us out here in the lower 48. I'm not quite sure where they are today. Doesn't matter. The point is that they are helping us out. Or perhaps taking a necessary day off. So, for my friends in Canada, thank-you again. You are good neighbors. The best.

USFS contracts for 7 new air tankers

I saw two "news items" yesterday relating to federal contracts for air tankers.

1. Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today reported here that Pres. Obama signed a bill (S.3261), speaking of S.3261, Bill says that the legislation 

could shorten the time required to issue new contracts for air tankers. The bill waives a requirement that the U.S. Forest Service give Congress 30 days notice before they award a contract for an air tanker.

Bill Gabbert included a direct link in his article where you can go and download a copy of the bill, I am including that link here for your convenience, a copy of S.3261 may be found here. For those of you who are interested in such things, I myself found a copy of this legislation by going to  the legislation and records page of the U.S. Senate where there is a box where you can search for bills. doing This search from the U.S. Senate webpage may give you much more information than you want or need, but I was able to come up with the same copy of S.3261 that Bill linked to through the U.S. Senate website.

Right around the same time that I saw Bill Gabbert's article on S.3261 being signed into law, I also read Michael Archer's Firebomber Publications Blog entry for June 13 where he included an article on Obama signing S.3261 into law from ABC 7 News in Denver CO.

2. I was out and about in the early afternoon for a couple of hours, and when I came back to my office, I saw that Bill Gabbert reporting here that the USFS announced that they will be contracting for 7 additional tankers.  As I understand it, three new tankers will go on contract in 2012, with four new tankers going on contract in 2013. Thanks to someone who commented on Bill's blog, I was able to locate the press release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) with the USFS announcement of seven new air tankers from the USDA newsroom, go here. This press release says in part:

Under the contracts, the four companies will provide three next generation airtankers in 2012 and four next generation airtankers in 2013 as follows:
    •    Neptune Aviation Services, Inc. will provide 2 BAe-146s in 2012;
    •    Minden Air Corporation will provide 1 BAe-146 in 2012 and 1 BAe-146 in 2013;
    •    Aero Air, LLC will provide 2 MD87s in 2013; and
    •    Aero Flite, Inc. of Kingman, Arizona will provide 1 Avro RJ85 in 2013.

The contracts allow these companies to provide additional next generation airtankers in 2013, 2014, and 2015 contingent on funding and other circumstances.

The contracts are for a base period of five years, with five one-year options for contracts awarded for 2012 and four one-year options for contracts awarded for 2013.

All of the next generation airtankers are turbine powered, can carry a minimum of 2,400 gallons of retardant, and have a cruise speed of at least 300 knots when fully loaded. The companies that are providing them are required to comply with stringent safety requirements in their contracts.
The U.S. Forest Service is working with Neptune Aviation Services, Inc. and Minden Air Corporation to bring the three BAe-146s into service by late summer. Both companies currently hold exclusive use contracts with the U.S. Forest Service to provide airtankers for wildfire suppression.

I know that Neptune currently has one BAe-146, tanker 40, on a contract with the USFS. I am pretty certain that the two new BAe-146's that Neptune Aviation will supply this year do not include tanker 40. So I appreciated reading this article from the Missoulian reporting that Neptune will be providing two additional BAe-146 tankers that they hope to have available for duty by August 1.

Bill Gabbert included descriptions of each of the new aircraft that the USFS will be contracting for in 2012 and 2013 in yesterday's article that you will want to read.

DC-10 tanker 911 drops on Little Bear Fire

DC-10 tanker bombs Little Bear Fire: krqe.com

Great video of DC-10 Tanker 911 dropping on the Little Bear Fire in NM. 

Little Bear Fire (NM) and High Park Fire (CO)

Two wildfires currently burning out west, the Little Bear Fire (NM) and the High Park Fire (CO). I believe that the two videos that I embedded in last night's post involved the High Point Fire in CO.

As I write this, the High Park fire in CO has burned about 43,433 acres, with an unknown number of structure damage. Evacuation orders are in place along with some pre-evacuation alerts. There is about 5% containment. The cause of the fire was a lightening strike. There are a number of aerial resources working the fire including SEATs, Type 1 helitankers, type 2, 3 and 4 helps, 3 Blackhawk helos, and some type 2 tankers. I understand that the DC-10 tanker, T-911, has been activated and may be available to work this fire.

inciweb - High Park Fire
Lorimer County Co emergency info page on High Park Fire
Wildland Fire Hotlist thread on High Park Fire.

The Little Bear Fire (NM) has burned 36,242 acres and is at 30% containment. Evacuation orders are in place. Aerial resources working the fire include but are not necessarily limited to 8 type 1 helos.

Inciweb on Little Bear Fire
New Mexico Fire Information
Wildland Fire Hotlist thread on Little Bear Fire.

Air attack in CO

Thanks to our friends in Canada for coming south to help us out. You are the best.

I understand from reading Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today that the USFS has activated a call when needed contract for one of the DC-10 tankers, and Canada has loaned us three more CV-580 tankers.

Whitewater Baldy Complex

A couple of weeks ago, I flew from New Jersey to California on a commercial flight. As we flew over New Mexico, the co-pilot announced that if we looked out the left side of the plane, we would see the largest fire burning in the U.S. I knew that he was talking about the Whitewater Baldy Fire. Now I was flying in a passenger jet with six seats across and one aisle at 36,000 feet. I was sitting on the right side of the plane on the aisle. Window shades were raised and heads craned as everyone tried to look at the fire. It was a little difficult at first to see anything. After I minute or two, I started looking out another window and I could of sworn that I saw what looked like a very distinct smoke plume.

I'd like to say that I know with certainty that I saw a smoke plume for the Whitewater Baldy Complex Wildfire. But I have to be honest and say that it is quite possible that I did not see a smoke plume for the Whitewater Baldy Complex, However, thinking about the size of this fire, which at the time of this writing is just over 278,00 acres at 37% containment, got me thinking about the size of this fire. Just thinking that I might have seen this fire from 36,000 feet impressed me. I have no doubt that the pilots flying the passenger jet saw the fire.

 I was curious to see a satellite image of the fire, so I found this photo of the fire from the NASA earth observatory on May 29, 2012.

 I am fairly certain that by now many of you have heard about this fire through various media sources. So, I'll end here. Except to say that I hope that the Whitewater Baldy Complex wildfire is not a sign of things to come.

T-55: video of landing

direct link to video 

The other day I came across a great video of the landing of T-55. You may recall that she lost her left main landing gear. It turns out that my original post was incorrect, she did not make a belly landing. Rather she landed on her right gear and her nose gear, in a cross wind. Great job by the crew!

Updated on June 19, 2014: the video report from Fox News that I embedded on June 8, 2012 is no longer available, fortunately I found another video of the landing that I am sharing here.

About the Osbourne Fire Finder

A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article about how Downstown's SEATs are dispatched to wildfires. As you may recall an integral part of NJ Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) dispatch centers on their NJFFS fire towers. I'd like to thank a good friend of mine who sent me the link to the youtube video on how the Osbourne Fire Finder works. I learned something and I think you will too.

Boise pilot remembers those who died in T-11 crash

My good buddy, Tom Janney, remembers those who died in the T-11 crash and offers some words on what it is like to fly tankers over wildfires. You also hear some words by the staff of the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. I regret that I am unable to embed the video here, but please, please do go this report from KIVI TV in Boise Idaho where you can read a short article and watch the video of Tom's interview. Tom, I'm so proud to know you and call you a friend!

Visit to Downstown: Cranberries

The pilot from Downstown who flew me home after my visit took me on an aerial tour of portions of the NJ Pine Barrens including flying over some cranberry bogs. My friends at Downstown told me that New Jersey's cranberry bogs are within five to ten miles of Chatsworth, NJ.

Downstown's agricultural operations include various aerial application operations in the cranberry bogs. They started fertilizer applications about about two to three weeks ago not long after Bravo-1 finished her service for the NJ Forest Fire Service on May 9. My friends at Downstown tell me that they may apply as many as seven rounds of fertilizer, only dry fertilizer is applied, during the season. The cranberry season ends after the harvest in October/November. Downstown applies the last round of fertilizer after the end of the harvest, usually by Election Day (first Tuesday in November). Four rounds of fungicide are applied during June and July. There is not a lot of insect activity in the cranberry bogs, Downstown only applies insecticide two times (this differs from other crops such as corn where insecticide spraying is dominant).

I understand that Downstown has two to three Ag-Cats working the bogs six days a week, and the AT-602's work the bogs once or twice a week during the busy season. The busy season lasts from mid-May through July. Aerial applications are either dry fertilizer applications or liquid applications.

I know that I have driven by cranberry bogs during day trips to the Pine Barrens. I have no idea if I drove by the cranberry bog you see in the photos below.

The body of water in the photo below is one of the reservoirs used to flood the cranberries for harvest.

In the photos below you get a good idea of the flat terrain of the Pine Barrens.

Downstown uses the small, private air strip you see in the photo below.
 

And here are some more photos of cranberry bogs.

I took the last photo as we were leaving the bogs, here again is long shot of the Pine Barrens.

Will keep going on planned articles

I had a couple of articles in the pipeline when the news broke about the loss of T-11 and her crew as well as the belly landing of T-55. I am going to continue with these two article, one of which will be posted shortly.

I will continue to follow any news related to the tragic loss of T-11 as well as T-55's belly landing and will post relevant updates here. To that end here are a couple more articles, one from The Missoulian and another from KSCG in southern Utah.

T-55 lands without left main gear, all ok

There was a second incident involving a P-2V tanker today. Minden's T-55 made a belly landing landed at Reno Nevada after her left main gear did not descend. Bill Gabbert reports on the T-55 incident here with links to a Reno NV News 4 report with photos of the aircraft. Correction (June 8, 2012): T-55 did not make a belly landing, she landed on her right gear and nose gear, go to my June 8 post for the video.

T-11 crash

It is with great sadness that I must write about the crash of Neptune T-11 (a P-2V) while fighting the White Rock Fire. T-11 went down in a remote area near Hamblin Valley Utah, There were no survivors. The Iron Mountain Sheriff's Office has identified the victims: pilot Todd Neal Tompkins and co-pilot Ron Edwin Chambless.

I'd like to express my condolences to the family, friends, co-workers and all who loved Todd And Ron. May you fly in favorable tail winds.

A report on the crash may be found here.


Added on Monday, June 4 at 11:49 EDT. I just spoke with my friends at Downstown who offer their prayers to the family, friends, co-workers and all who loved Todd and Ron.

On October 21, 2016 I removed a dead link to a June 4th 2012 video report from CNN.

Visit to Downstown: Maintenance and Rebuild Shops

In addition to rebuilding Ag-Cats, Downstown does the airframe work on the Air Tractor 602's, and partners with Dallas Airmotive out of Millville NJ for the turbine work.

Downstown's maintenance staff include Air Frame and Powertrain mechanics (A&P) and A&P's with inspection authorization (IA). They do annual inspections of their AT-602s, Ag Cats, and Cessna 182s. In addition, I am told that they do annual inspections of  2 turbine AT-402s for a customer on the east coast, usually in December or January. Remember that they do not do major propeller and engine overhals. Engines are sent to Aero Engines in Los Angeles and propellers are sent to South Coast Propeller in Alabama

I took a few photos of Downstown's maintenance shops for you:

Downstown: assembly - maintenance shop

Downstown: tear down and prep shop with paint curtains to the right

Close-up of paint curtains at Downstown

Downstown: Ag Cat parts on upper level awaiting tear down and rebuild

Downstown: small parts and tool room

Downstown: small parts and tool room

Visit to Downstown: Rebuild Ag Cats

When I visited Downstown at the end of April, I learned that they rebuild Ag Cats from the firewall back. This includes all sheet metal, painting and the like. In addition the take care of "minor" engine maintenance such as magnetos, carburetors, cylinder changes, etc. They do not do major engine or propeller over hauls. Engines are sent to Aero Engines in Los Angeles for major work. Propellers are sent to South Coast Propeller Works in Alabama when a major overhaul is needed.

As I understand it, Downstown ships at least one engine a year to Aero Engines who ships the engine back to Downstown when it is ready.

Ag Cat Airframe ready for rebuild at Downstown (May 2012)

My friends at Downstown thought that you'd like to see the above photo of an Ag Cat airframe that they have just started rebuilding. It was brought into their shop a couple of weeks ago for rebuilding. As you can see in the photo, it was stripped down to just the frame. It will be built-up, inspected then re-painted. They already have an engine for it from Aero Engines. I am told that it takes 3 mechanics working full time 3 to 4 months to do a rebuild. But during the summer the mechanics only work on in when the weather is not suitable for flying. Downstown's mechanics will get moving again on this rebuild in September when flying begins to slow down. This aircraft won't be ready until at least January 2013. When the rebuild is done it will be an A model 600 hp Ag Cat. They do a similar rebuild on all of their Ag Cats every 7 to 10 years.

Here are some more photos of an Ag-Cat that was sitting on the ramp the day of my visit. This Ag Cat, including the engine placard for her Pratt & Whitney R-1340 radial engine, was also being rebuilt. As you can see from the photos, it was pretty far along in the rebuild process.

What's been up and what is up next

Regular readers of this blog will know that I have been writing a series of articles based on my recent visit to Downstown Aero Crop Services. I have also been involved with another project that will keep me occupied for the next ten days or so. You may have noticed that I have not written a lot about all the wildfire activity going on elsewhere in the U.S. and Canada. However, I have been paying attention to wildfire activity. For example I know of the Banner Fire in San Diego County that has burned 5,321 acres and is at 90% containment today with full containment expected later today.

I also know of the Whitewater-Baldy Fire, and have read Bill Gabbert's recent report on this fire. At the time of this writing, I know that they Whitewater-Baldy Fire has burned over 122,000 acres in New Mexico.

The T.R.E. fire that many were reporting on last week has been contained, see this InciWeb page for more info. The Gladiator Fire (AZ) has burned 16,240 acres and is at 45% containment as I write this.

For those of you who come to this blog looking for information on wildfires currently burning in the U.S. and Canada, I have just added a page to my blog with the tentative title of Looking for Wildfire Info?.

As for multi-engine tanker activity, I know that these tankers have been involved in most of these fires. As have helos.

I will be continuing with me series of articles based on my visit to Downstown through next week. Be assured that I will be revisiting Downstown's operations from time to time in the future.

Visit to Downstown: Reflections on SEAT operations

I want to pause for a moment in the series that I have been writing based on my visit to Downstown Aero Crop Services the end of April to offer some reflections.

I am thrilled to have gotten a peak into SEAT operations in NJ. The folk at Downstown have been very generous with their time, including but not limited to flying me down for my visit in late April.

I really enjoyed seeing their operations and meeting some of the Ag Cats and one of the Air Tractors. Regular readers of this blog know how much I love airplanes. You'll be reading more about their operations next week, so I won't give any more away. But there is more.

The day I visited we had lunch in Downstown's dispatch center, The SEAT operations manager, a second manager from Downstown, Chief Pilot, Aircraft Dispatcher, and Aircraft Loader. We had a nice time. I had just met them, but I felt like them I had known them longer. Not only did we chat about SEAT operations, conversations I drew on in some of the articles that I have already written, but we talked about baseball and other things.

More importantly, I was struck by what I'll call a "brotherhood" or camaraderie. Clearly these guys, who happen to work together are friends. And somehow these words seem inadequate. I learned later over e-mails with my friends at Downstown that the Downstown pilots and many of the NJ Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) Incident Commanders, NJFFS Fire Tower Observers, and other NJFFS personnel know each other by their voice. But it is more than that, many are on a "first name basis", and are friends, socializing and otherwise spending time together with each others families. I am certain that this friendship extends beyond the Downstown pilots to the SEAT Operations Manager, and the rest of the ground crew at Downstown.

I've been reflecting on the friendship between the guys at Downstown and the NJFFS firefighters and support staff. I only have a small peak at their world and their friendships. A peak into their world is only a peak into their world. A peak into their world is not the same as being there. But this peak into Downstown's SEAT operations has given me something I haven't had before. Something that I can share with you.

Visit to Downstown: SEAT operations on larger fires

In the case of a larger fire, for example a fire burning in trees, or even a crown fire, the SEAT will fly indirect attack. In indirect attack, the SEAT drops outside the flames. And often in indirect attack, the SEATs will start their drops on the flank (side) of the fire as opposed to the head of a fire.

One example of a larger fire where Charlie 1 flew indirect attack was the recent Tabernacle Fire. This fire began over night and by daylight the fire had burned 500 to 600 acres. Charlie 1 (AT 602) arrived at the fire about 6:30 AM, flying around the fire for at least an hour sizing up the fire, providing observations, and helping to direct ground operations. Her pilot held the load before dropping while he was providing these observations. After the ground troops were in place and they knew what they had Charlie 1's pilot dropped her load on the fire.

In closing out this article, I must say that I am struck by the roll that the SEATs in NJ play in providing aerial observations and fire size-up whether they be small fires or large fires. I have to be honest and say that I had not known about the role the SEATs play in observations before I started to work on these articles. And my respect for the SEAT pilots have increased. In the air five minutes after receiving a dispatch order, Flying the plane, circling the fire and making observations sometimes for an hour or more providing observations, making the drop, more communications.

Next up on May 25, some reflections on my visit with Downstown and SEAT operations in NJ

Visit with Downstown: direct initial attack

Fairly early on in my conversations with my friends at Downstown, they told me that they fly a lot of direct initial attack when their SEATs fly fires. Our conversations about direct initial attack continued and when I conceived of writing these articles on SEAT operations based on my visit to Downstown, I knew that I wanted to write an article about direct initial attack. What I write here is based on these conversations with my friends at Downstown.

You may recall that when I wrote about dispatch operations that I said that ground and aerial resources are dispatched to a wildfire at the same time. This dispatch happens immediately, often when the wildfires are quite small. Perhaps the fire is a small unpermitted open burn, or a smoldering campfire. When the SEAT arrives at the fire, they will drop on top of the flames, this is direct attack. More over, they often drop on the head of the fire. Keep in mind that when flying direct attack, the fires are small in size, I'll get to larger fires in a later article.

Moving on to initial attack. While ground and aerial resources are dispatched immediately and at the same time, the SEAT often arrives at the fire before the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) ground resources. In this scenario, the SEAT is the first resource at the fire, i.e. they are the initial attack. Combine direct attack on a small fire with initial attack and you have direct initial attack. Sometimes direct initial attack by the SEAT involves only one run. One very important run.

The SEAT pilot having arrived at the fire first is then a position to provide aerial observations and size-up the fire to the Incident Commander (IC) who may still be traveling to the fire. The pilot knows most of the ICs  and tower observers and they know him, so he can identify the IC by their voice. After providing any fire size-up and other observations to the IC as the situation warrants, the pilot will make the drop on the fire. If the fire is small, this will be direct initial attack. Direct initial attack is crucial here in NJ because of the wildland urban interface.

Direct initial attack. SEAT(s) working in support of the troops on the ground to knock the fire out while it is still small. During those two weeks in April of extreme fire weather and Red Flag Warnings our SEATs did a lot of direct initial attack work. Some of these fires I heard about from my friends at Downstown. Other small fires I knew of from listening to the online scanner feed for Division B. Many of these fires  were under a couple of acres, knocked out in a couple of hours. Direct initial attack.

I remember one fire from a couple of years ago in the Pine Barrens during the spring wildfire season. I knew enough at the time to know from listening to the online scanner feed that the fire could of grown into a large fire. I also recall hearing the SEAT(s) working the fire. Between the SEAT(s) and the ground troops the fire was knocked out while it was small. Knocked out in an afternoon. Don't recall the size, perhaps 5 to 10 acres.

Next up on May 23: SEAT operations on larger fires

Visit to Downstown - AT602 cockpit "drop" controls

The AT-602 is used for both "water bombing" on wildfires as well as agricultural operations such as crop dusting and insect control. Here I am focusing on cockpit controls used when the 602 is used for aerial wild land firefighting.

Before going any further, I am reminded of a phrase that a tanker pilot friend of mine told me a couple of years ago, "there is nothing simple in the tanker business, see I told you it is complicated." And the same can be applied to SEAT operations, or for agricultural operations for that matter.

Ok, the AT 602, Charlie 1 is loaded and she and her pilot are flying to the fire.  Once Charlie 1 is at the fire and is almost ready to drop on the fire, there are a couple of things that happen.

1. The pilot arms the system using arm switch in the hydraulic gate control panel (see photo below).

Downstown Aero Crop Services - AT 602 "Charlie 1"

2. After the system is armed, the pilot sets the quantity and coverage level for the drop in the Del Norte Gate Control Computer (see photo below). My friends at Downstown tell me that the Del Norte Gate Control Computer is used with the Transland Gate System because it gives better control of the gates opening in smaller increments, more so then the Transland Gate Control Computer.

Downstown Aero Crop Services - AT 602 "Charlie 1"

3. Finally, the pilot is at the drop location, and pushes the drop switch on the stick (see photo below). The gates under the fuselage open releasing the water/foam.

Downstown Aero Crop Services - AT 602 "Charlie 1"

What I am not including here is an attention to other important details in making a drop run on the fire, including but not limited to altitude above the fire and speed.

An another note, there are switches that the pilot can use to make an "emergency salvo." By emergency salvo, I am referring a situation when it is necessary to dump the load of water quickly in the event of an emergency in order to lighten the load of the plane. For example, in the event of mechanical or hydraulic problems, getting rid of 600 gallons of water (at 8 pounds per gallon) means lightening the weight of the plane by 4,800 pounds. This could make the difference in getting back on the ground safely.

Next up on May 21: Flying Fires in NJ -- Direct Initial Attack

Visit to Downstown: SEAT Loading

I continue with my series on SEAT operations at Downstown, writing today about SEAT loading operations. The AT-602 you see in the photos below is Carlie sitting on the ramp at Downstown on April 25, 2012. At the time, the date of my visit to Downstown, she was still on contract with the NJ Forest Fire Service during the spring wildfire season. She sits on the ramp with a partial load (in this case about 370 gallons) of water in her hopper. As I understand it, and if memory serves, the reason that she was sitting on the ramp with a partial load as opposed to a full load of 600 gallons of water was to take some weight off of the tires.

As soon as the Downstown Dispatch Center Downstown Dispatch Center receives the order for a SEAT, Charlie 1 is loaded, filling her hopper to capacity (600 gallons). The loader takes the hose and fills the hopper to capacity. About five minutes later Charlie 1 takes off to fly to the fire.

Downstown AT-602 "Charlie-1"

Downstown AT-602 "Charlie-1"

Downstown AT-602 "Charlie-1"

Loading Area at Downstown

Loading Area at Downstown

My friends at Downstown sent me the photo that you aww below of one of their mobile nurse units. In this example of SEAT loading operations, the mobile nurse unit is used when a SEAT is temporarily working from another airport (without their own loading facilities) close to a wildfire. The annotations are mine, based on my conversations with my friends at Downstown.

One of Downstown's mobile nurse units

Next up on May 18: a quick look at cockpit "drop" controls in an AT 602

Wildfire activity: Arizona and Canada

Wildfire season is underway in portions of the U.S. and in Canada. I'm going to start with the wildfires in Arizona because of a report I saw while watching the weather channel yesterday. I have also noted a few wildfires burning in Canada, our friends to our north.

As some of you may know, there are a few wildfires burning in Arizona. Not being quite sure of the number of fires in Arizona, I went to Bill Gabbert's Blog Wildfire Today to see what he had to say. I found an article on these Arizona fires that he updated earlier this morning, May 15. He mentioned four fires: the Gladiator Fire, Sunflower Fire, Bull Flat Fire, and the Elwood Fire. He includes a couple of maps showing the location of the fires, includes a smoke map and some information on each fire. Bill reports that there were several large air tankers working these fire, as much of eight of the eleven on national contract. Bill is doing a good job, as he always does, on reporting on these fires, so you might want to refer back to his blog, Wildfire Today for updates.

Other sources of information include theinciweb national incident website inciweb, where I found an incident report for the Sunflower Fire. and the Gladiator Fire. Other sources of information include the Arizona Emergency Network (thanks for the reference, Bill), and the Southwest Coordination Center.

In addition, it is always worth checking the southwest initial attack hotlist forums where I found a threads on the Gladiator Fire, Sunflower Fire, Elwood Fire, and Bull Flat Fire.

Michael Archer of the Firebomber Publication Blog had a couple of articles about the current situation in Arizona on May 14.

I don't want to leave out my friends in Canada where I understand there are a few fires currently burning in Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba, and British Columbia. Michael reported on these fires as well in his post of May 14. Another source of information on the recent wildfires in Canada is the international hotlist thread from wildlandfire where I found links to articles about wildfires in New Brunswick, Alberta, another article about Alberta, and British Columbia. I understand that Canadian Airtankers have worked some of these fires.

Stay safe out there everyone!

Tomorrow, May 16, I plan to post another article in the series of articles I've been doing based on my recent visit to Downstown, this one on loading operations at Downstown.

No Open Burning in NJ

I want to pause before I move onto the next article on loading operations at Downstown in my visit to Downstown series of articles to write about New Jersey's law banning open unpermitted burning.

Simply, there is no open unpermitted burning allowed in New Jersey. Agricultural operations may apply for a permit for open burning. As I understand it, the typical homeowner is not allowed to apply for a burn permit. The NJ Forest Fire Service has a webpage on burn permits where you can go for more information.

Open burning is different from campfires. Campfires in fire rings or in fireplaces in parks, wilderness, forests, and recreation areas are allowed unless there are restrictions in place. For example, in early April when it is so dry here in NJ, and we had several days of Red Flag warnings or elevated fire danger there were stage 3 restrictions in place. As I write this, there are no restrictions in place. More information on NJ Forest Fire Service restrictions may be found here.

Next up on May 16: loading operations at Downstown.

Visit to Downstown: Dispatch

I'd like to thank my friends at Downstown for the photo of their dispatch center and permission to share it with you.  The radios include radios used to communicate with airplanes on the frequencies that are used in aviation, these are sometimes referred to as AM radios because the frequencies are at the lower end of the band. There are a different set of frequencies, on the higher end of the spectrum that are used by the NJ Forest Fire Service to communicate with their ground forces as well as for air to ground communications, these radios are sometimes referred to as FM radios.

Downstown Aero Crop Services Dispatch Center

The map that you see on the wall to the right of the radios is a map of NJ Forest Fire Service Division C (southern NJ). The NJ Forest Fire Service Division C towers are in the middle of the large circles you see, where these large circles are similar to compass roses. In this case, the compass rose shows the degrees from 0 to 360 degrees so that a location can be marked on the map as seen from the tower.

I am pretty certain that the spring wildfire season in New Jersey is from March 15 to May 15, the last SEAT went off contract (i.e. no more mandatory availability) on May 9. New Jersey's fire towers are staffed and operational during the spring fire season and at other times of high fire danger. The fire tower observer can see 360 degrees. S/he uses a special piece of equipment known as an Alidade or an Osborne Fire Finder to plot the position of the smoke/fire.. As I understand it these are plotting devices with a telescope mounted on a plane table located in the middle of the fire tower. All 360 degrees are imprinted on the plane table. The observer sites the smoke/fire using this plotting device calculating the distance and position of the fire.  Go here to see some photos of NJ Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) fire towers on the NJFFS Section B-10 website.

Let's look an hypothetical example to see how this might work.The observer in tower A might see a smoke/fire at 240 degrees and five miles from Tower A. The observer then reports the fire or smoke over a NJFFS radio frequency. When possible, a second tower in the area, tower B, will then look for the fire/smoke using the information that the tower A observer has reported. These two observations are used to locate the exact position (triangulate) of the fire.

Once the position of the fire/smoke is confirmed, the tower observer is ready to dispatch ground crews and equipment, and aerial resources (SEAT). Sometimes the tower observer will make a call to the incident commander (IC) before dispatching a SEAT to see if there is a burn permit in the area where they observed the smoke. Other times the tower may get a call from county 911 saying the local fire departments have been dispatched to a wildfire before the tower observer has seen the smoke.

Moving on, the tower observer in NJFFS Division C is ready to dispatch ground and aerial resources to the fire dispatching a SEAT along with ground resources. The Downstown dispatcher receives the order for a SEAT and are given coordinates by the tower observer. SEAT base personnel at Downstown then locate the fire on the map in the dispatch center using these coordinates. An added benefit is when the SEAT pilot has years of experience flying in the Division where they may know the location of the fire just be hearing the dispatch order over the radio.

Five minutes after the Downstown SEAT base gets the word over the radio to deploy the SEAT, the SEAT will be in the air and on the way to the fire.

When all the NJFFS contracted SEATs are off contract (no more mandatory availability), SEAT dispatch happens differently. SEATs are not dispatched until the State declares a wildfire emergency. Once a wild fire emergency is declared, the dispatch order for SEATs comes from the NJFFS office in Trenton NJ. After the SEATs go off contract, Downstown continues with their other agricultural aerial work. My friends at Downstown tell me that while their pilots are out on spraying missions during the summer months when the towers are not up they may spot wildfires on the ground, assisting NJFFS in directing ground crews to the fire.

I'd like to thank my friends at Downstown for their assistance with this article. While written with NJFFS Division C as a reference point, I hope that what I have written here applies to dispatching SEATs in NJFFS Division A and B.

Next up on May 14: SEAT loading operations

Bravo 1 (AT-602) at Coyle Field on April 25, 2012

A couple of weeks when my friends at Downstown were flying me back to my home airport after my visit to their base at Downstown Airport the pilot took me a tour of some of portions of the NJ Pine Barrens including some cranberry bogs which I'll write about in a few weeks when I write about Downstown's agricultural spraying operations.

About a third to half way through the flight, the pilot flew over Coyle Field, circling the field so I could take a photo of Bravo-1, the Air Tractor 602 that was on contract in New Jersey Forest Fire Service Division B (central NJ) from April 2 through May 9, 2012. I have to say that I was thrilled to able to see her as we flew over Coyle, sitting on her ramp, her pilot and other ground support personnel close by.

Good-bye Bravo-1. You are the last SEAT to go off contract here in NJ. You and your friends, the other SEATs, did good work flying fires during the spring fire season in NJ. You will be missed, but I know that you will soon be off to other adventures doing agricultural spraying operations. And either you or Charlie-1, the other AT-602, will be available to fly should the State declare a wildfire emergency.

Visit to Downstown - Availability of SEATs in NJ

As you may recall, I wrote about my here about my recent visit to Downstown Airport in Vineland NJ, the home base of Downstown Aero Crop Services.

As I was reflecting on the upcoming articles that I will be writing on SEAT operations at Downstown, I found myself considering that all but one of these articles -- today's article -- will post after the "spring fire season" here in NJ has ended, and with it the end of the period of what I will call mandatory availability. By mandatory availability, I am referring to a period of time, varying by region, where at least one SEAT is on the ramp ready to take-off in five minutes to make a drop on a wildfire. As I write this, the SEATs in Division A (north Jersey) and Division C (central Jersey) are finished for the season. Bravo 1 in Division B will be finished at the end of the day today, May 9.

However, while SEAT operations here in NJ for the spring fire season are wrapping up here in NJ, SEAT operations are still ongoing or have yet to begin elsewhere in the U.S. A point to remember for those of us in NJ is that Downstown continues to make four Ag Cats and one Air Tractor 602 available for emergency wild fire conditions outside of the period of mandatory availability during the spring fire season. It is my understanding that these SEATs will be flying within one hour after Downstown is notified by the NJ Forest Fire Service that emergency wild fire conditions exist.

In coming articles in this series, I will be writing about topics including but not necessarily limited to dispatch, loading the SEAT, what happens in the cockpit during a run. While there are likely to be some differences between SEAT bases, all bases are going to have a dispatch center, and a loading pit. Some are going to have full maintenance shops as Downstown does and some are not, but most will have an area where repairs can be made to the SEAT between runs.

Stay tuned. Next up on May 11: dispatch

A quick visit to the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum Ramp

When we landed at Reading Airport yesterday (our destination on my scenic flight), we taxiied to one of the FBOs, which happened to be next door to the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum (MAAM). I suspect that the pilot may have known that the MAAM was next to that particular FBO when he chose that one. Anyway, we parked the Cessna, and as I was preparing to get out of the plane, I looked out the window and saw the MAAM Lockheed P2V-7 (SP-2H) Neptune in full military configuration sitting on the MAAM ramp. My jaw dropped. So, we got out and I took the photos that you see here, including photos of their Eastern Airlines Martin 4-0-4 'Silver Falcon' and their Vickers-Armstrong V745D "Viscount" turbo prop  (no separate link on the MAAM page, but she is featured on the MAAM ramp webpage

 I am embarrassed to say that in being drawn to the P-2, I did not go and pay homage to their Douglas R4-D6 "Skytrain", the naval version of the Douglas DC-3 passenger plane. So, I am suitably embarrassed at my oversight. My loss, but there will be another opportunity to see her, as I hope to fly to Reading again. So, to the grand ole dam on the MAAM ramp, please forgive my rudeness in not going up to greet you.

Lockheed P2-V7 on Mid-Atlantic Air Museum Ramp

Lockheed P2-V7 on Mid-Atlantic Air Museum Ramp

Lockheed P2-V7 on Mid-Atlantic Air Museum Ramp

Lockheed P2-V7 on Mid-Atlantic Air Museum Ramp

Vickers-Armstrong V745D "Viscount" on Mid-Atlantic Air Museum Ramp

Eastern Airlines Martin 4-0-4 'Silver Falcon' on Mid-Atlantic Air Museum Ramp

Scenic flights revisited - radio communications

Regular readers of this blog know that I am not able to pursue air flight training which means that I will not obtain a pilot's certificate. A couple of years ago I did go to ground school at my local airport and then took and passed the FAA private pilot written exam.

It has been awhile since I have written about these scenic rides. In fact, for various reasons until today, it has been a couple of months since I have been on a scenic ride. One exception was when my friends at Downstown picked me up and flew to and from Downstown Airport a couple of weeks ago. I'll talk about that flight in a later post, but today I'll talk a little about today's scenic flight.

I've used these scenic rides to continue with my own studies on aviation. For the most part, I focus on things that I can do unobtrusively from the right seat such as assisting the pilot with navigation if requested, observing the pilot pre-flight the airplane, observing the pilot as s/her flies noting the instruments and flight controls, recognizing ground reference points near my home airport, and the ongoing exercise of looking for traffic.

Since I am not in flight training and am not a student pilot, most of my experience with radio communications has involved listening to the pilot communicating on the radio. Every so often, the pilot might ask me to help out by changing the navigation and communication radios under their direction. I hoped for an opportunity to actually do some radio communications on a scenic flight and have been doing some studying on my own. A couple of days before today's flight, I knew that if all went well, that I'd have such an opportunity today. I bought some notes with me that I reviewed with the pilot prior to the flight, reviewing the different communications that would be required. I had a decent idea of what I would be doing when.

We flew to a small controlled airport in Pennsylvania, Reading Airport. I had handled radio work taking off and landing at this airport on a couple of earlier flights, doing so again reinforced what I had already done. I had the radio frequencies written down on the pad on my knee board, along with the sectional folded to the area of our flight, and some notes on the required radio communications.

One advantage to not being in flight training was that I could focus my attention only on the radios. My respect for student pilots increased as student pilots learn to fly and work the radios at the same time.

Radio communications in aviation, and general aviation is no exception, require certain lingo and phraseology depending on where you are and what phase of the flight you are in. I started off with the radio check at the beginning of the flight, going on the radio during key points in our take-off. All this under the watchful eye and ears of the pilot. I tuned the radios to the VOR radio navigation that we used for navigation, got the weather report for Reading Airport. The flight was short. The pilot and I reviewed (again) the required radio work at Reading.

I listened to the weather (ATIS) at Reading one more time, noting the cloud ceiling, winds, temperatures, runway in use. Weather is very important, and part of the radio communication with the tower at a controlled airport is telling them that we have listened to the weather by saying "we are with you with info lima." Where info lima is the identifier for the particular weather report we heard from ATIS at Reading.

The pilot took the radio as we approached Reading because the controller at Reading approach was having a heard time hearing us. He quickly switched to the other communication radio, resolving the problem.

I talked to ground control when we got to Reading noting the taxiways we were to use to go to the FBO where we had coffee. I handled the radio as we prepared to taxi, took-off, and flew back to our home airport. The pilot directed me to listen to the ATIS weather at KABE to get an idea of the winds at our home airport (about 10 to 15 minutes east of KABE). And all this was under the watchful eye and ears of the very capable pilot who was flying the plane.

As the flight went on, and I kept doing more radio work, my confidence increased. After we landed, I was complimented on my radio work. Radio work is a very big deal, and something that can be a tad intimidating. But that passes with time and experience.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow sharing some of what we saw while we are on the ground at Reading.

August 15, 2012 update: The flight that I wrote about on May 7 was during the week at a time when there was little other traffic. My next opportunity to work on radio communications came on a scenic flight a few weeks later on an extremely busy Saturday morning. I had done the same preparations for this flight as I did for the flight in May. Lets just say that I had a more difficult time with radio communications on that flight, and was glad for the knowledge and graciousness of the pilot.

In hindsight, I should not be surprised that I had a difficult time on that last flight. I do not have the advantage of going on these scenic flights every week, nor am I in flight training. I do not know when the opportunity will arise again to do some radio communications on one of my scenic flights, so I am grateful for the chances that I had.

Updates: French Creek Fire (PA) and Honey Prairie Fire are out

I want to take a time out and update you on news regarding the French Creek (PA) and the Honey Prairie Fires.

About three weeks ago, I wrote about the wildfire that was then burning in the French Creek Park in Berks County in eastern Pennsylvania here. Michael Archer of the Firebomber Publications Blog posted an article from the The Mercury (Pottstown PA) on April 24 reporting that the 741 acre wildfire was extinguished on Monday, April 23. The rains that fell in eastern PA helped firefighters extinguish this fire.

For the last several months, I have reported from time to time about the Honey Prairie Complex Fires in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. My last update was on Feb. 17, 2012.  On April 17, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued this press release saying that the Honey Prairie Fire, which burned some 309,200 acres since April 28, 2011, was declared out. At the time I write this, an archive of past maps and press releases about the Honey Prairie Fire may be found here.

Visit to Downstown: introduction

For about three weeks, from late March into mid April, I had been trying to arrange for a flight to Downstown Airport in Vineland NJ , home of Downstown Aero Services. The idea was that it was going to be another one of my scenic flights. I had it all worked out, pilot (someone who has taken me on many scenic flights), plane, and a possible route to Downstown. I had built in  some ground time so that we could see the SEAT operations during the spring fire season. Everything worked out except the weather and some known scheduling difficulties. The flight kept getting pushed back and the end of spring fire season seemed to be getting closer and closer.

Last Wednesday, my friends at Downstown were very generous in sending one of their Cessna 182s to fly me to Downstown and back to my home airport. The flight was a tad bumpy but the pilot and I had a great time. I got to see south Jersey from the air, always a thrill. Downstown Airport has turf runways, and this was my first time experiencing landing and taking off from a turf runway. I'll share a little more on the return flight in later posts.

 When I got to the airport, I was met by the SEAT operations manager. I took some photos, including the photos that you see below. I enjoyed seeing Charlie 1, the Air Tractor 602 that is on contract to the NJ Forest Fire Service through May 9. I'll be sharing more photos of her in later posts. It was nice to see Charlie 1 outside her new hanger where we first met almost two months ago (here).

I met the Ag Cats up close and personal including one that was being rebuilt, and meeting Alpha 2 who had gone off contract a few days before. At lunch I met other personnel at Downstown including Charlie 1's pilot (and chief pilot at Downstown), the dispatcher, and the loader. Another manager from Downstown was there as well. After lunch, I was shown more shops. Then the flight home. I will be writing more about my time at Downstown in coming articles using some of the photos that I took on my visit. I am still working on the number, timing, and content of these articles as I write this.

So stay tuned.

Downstown AT-602 - Charlie 1

Downstown AT-602 - Charlie 1 - cockpit

Downstown AT-602 - Charlie 1

Downstown AT-602 - Charlie 1

Downstown AT-602 - Charlie 1