U.S.S. Midway (pt. 2)

I continue with the last set of photos that I took at the U.S.S. Midway while I was in San Diego a few weeks ago.

The aircraft in these photos are (hopefully in order):

F-14 Tomcat
F-4 Phantom II
F9F Panther Fighter
The Midway Phantom
H-34 Seabat
SH-3 Sea King
CH-46 Sea Knight
UH-1 Huey Gunship
HUP Retriever
E-2 Hawkeye Airborne Early Warning

U.S.S. Midway (Pt 1)

The U.S.S. Midway is docked in San Diego as a permanent museum, a mile or so from the hotel where I stayed while I was in San Diego. I was having knee trouble that day, in fact I had been having knee trouble for a couple of days, so I had to cut my visit too short. But I did take about an hour to walk around and visit the airplanes. I am posting these photos in two parts, with Part 2 posting on July 18.

The planes you will see in the photos in part 1 are (hopefully in order):

F4U Corsair
Midways most Famous Landing
SBD Dauntless
TBM Avenger
SNJ Pilot Trainer
A-1 Sky Raider Attack
RA-5 Vigilante Recon
A-4 Skyhawk Attack
EKA-3 Skywarrior

CAL FIRE Ramona Air Attack Base up close and personal

The top item on my to do list while I was in the San Diego area a few weeks ago was to visit the Ramona Air Attack Base. I drove inland (east) for about an hour to get to Ramona, a very pleasant drive. The coast where I was staying was cloudy, but when I got to Ramona, the cloud deck had lifted and it was a beautiful southern CA day, sunny with temps about 70. I found the viewing area and sat for about 5 minutes looking at the field. The two S2-Ts and the OV-10 Air Attack were sitting on the ramp.

I wanted to get closer, and I heard from a few reliable sources that they will give visitors like me a tour if they are not busy. And the were not busy. So, I went to the main gate with my cell phone and dialed the number on the sign telling them who I was, asking if I could come in and take some photos for my blog. The base manager came out and let me in, a very nice woman. She was so kind and welcoming. She let me take all the photos I wanted. The result are the photos that I am sharing with you here.

Air Attack 330 (OV-10)

Air Attack 330 (OV-10)

Air Attack 330 (OV-10)

T-70 (Grumman S2-T)

T-70 (Grumman S2-T)

S2-T tanker belly -- retardant doors are closed

S2-T tanker retardant loading valve

T-71 (Grumman S2-T)

T-70 (Grumman S2-T)

One of the S2-T tankers at Ramona AAB

One of the S2-T tankers at Ramona AAB

T-71 (Grumman S2-T)

T-71 (Grumman S2-T)

Thunderstorm clouds aka cumulonimbus from the air

When I was flying across the U.S. on United a few weeks back I had the opportunity to see not one, but two cumulonimbus (thunder storm) clouds from the air. I am certain that we were at a safe distance from both of these cloud formations, flying at an altitude of 36,000 ft.

What happened was either the captain or the first-officer made an announcement that they were asking us to stay seated with our seat belts fastened as we passed between two areas of thunderstorms. It is hard to tell distance in the air, at least it is for this novice. But I am certain that we were at a safe distance of at least 25 km from each area of thunderstorms. They were quite impressive and a little scary as we could not see the tops of either cumulonimbus. In a matter of minutes we were clear of the worst of the cumulonimbus, and there was little if any turbulence. Or at least little turbulence that I felt. None the less, I was glad to be clear of them.

As many of you know, cumulus clouds often, but not always develop into much more dangerous cumulonimbus clouds.

The National Weather Service's JetStream - Online School for Weather has an excellent lesson on thunderstorms where those of you who are so inclined can go and learn more about thunderstorms. For some great photos of cumulonimbus, there are some nice photos on the S'COOL On-Line cloud chart of cumulonimbus clouds.

Finally, I thought you might enjoy a video called Day of the Cumulonimbus. You will have to follow the link to watch the video as the person who posted the video to youtube did not enable embedding. The video is about five minutes long and I think that you will enjoy it.

Listening in on cockpit communications on a recent airline flight

I had occasion to go to southern California for a few days awhile back, flying on United. I have written before on this blog about some of my scenic flights thanks to some wonderful pilots at one of the local general aviation airports. I had a different sort of experience on this particular flight across the U.S. I had the opportunity to listen in on the cockpit crew communications with Air Traffic Control (ATC) as we flew across country.

On my flight, as is the case with many other flights I have taken, there are a number of audio channels available to the passengers to listen to during the flight through supplied headsets. Or you can, as I did, use your own ear phones. On certain United flights, one of these channels is devoted to cockpit communications. The caveat here is that it depends on available technology in the aircraft and the Captain has the option to not turn on the cockpit communication channel.

Before going any further, not every airline offers a cockpit communication channel for their passengers. I'm not exactly a frequent commercial airline flier. For all I know United is the airline that has this capability.

It is not my intention to write about the ins and outs of these communications between commercial airline cockpit crews and Air Traffic Control. Rather, the point that I want to make is that listening in on these communications was an excellent learning opportunity. So,I'll try to keep it simple, but I do want say that there were different types of controllers that the cockpit crew talked to. To that end, for purposes of this article only, I'll break out the sequence of controllers that the cockpit crew talked to as:

departing airport tower --> departure --> enroute --> approach --> arriving airport tower

I plugged in my earphones and listened to the cockpit communication channel for most of the flight. By the time the captain turned on the cockpit communication channel, they were no longer talking to the departing airport tower. I may have heard a couple of minutes of communications with departure controllers. For most of the 5 hours plus that I listened to cockpit communications, the cockpit crew was talking to a large number of different enroute controllers at different Centers as we flew across the U.S.

I heard communications between my cockpit crew and enroute controllers, but I also heard communications between other airliners and enroute controllers. I knew from local weather forecasts that there was line of thunderstorms to our west as we took off that afternoon. It was a long line of thunderstorms, so I was not surprised when one of the pilot's told the passengers that we had take a slightly longer route that day. We flew south before flying west.

Back to the cockpit communications, for the first hour or so of our flight, much of the communications that I heard was about this line of thunderstorms. Sometimes the controller would tell an airliner to make a diversion to avoid the thunderstorms. At other times a pilot would ask the controller for permission to divert from their assigned course in order to avoid a thunderstorm, in most cases the controller granted permission.

I could identify our flight because the airline and flight number is always the first thing you hear, whether it be from the crew or the controller. Having spent some time listening to similar communications using internet streaming available through websites such as live ATC, so it was easier for me to follow along. My time in ground school helped also as I was familiar with most of the terminology.

As I said, I had a great time listening to these communications and I learned a lot. I made a point to thank the co-pilot when I exited the jet at the end of the flight. Just so you know, my return flight was also on United and the cockpit communication channel was not available.

Next up: thunderstorm clouds aka cumulonimbus from the air

Upcoming posts

Over the next couple of weeks I am going to be writing a series of about six articles out of a recent trip I took to the San Diego CA area.

July 9: reflections on a commercial flight across the U.S.

July 11: cumulonimbus clouds from the air

July 13: a visit to Ramona AAB (CAL FIRE)

July 16: U.S.S. Midway (1 of 2)

July 18: U.S.S. Midway (2 of 2)
July 20: San Diego Air and Space Museum

Enjoy!

A tribute to the 145 Airlift Wing of the NC ANG and MAFFS 7

A tribute to the 145th Airlift Wing and the 156th Airlift Squadron; NC citizen soldiers fighting fires.

Air France 447: Final Report is out

The French authorities have released a very detailed final report of the crash of flight 447. You may recall that this flight went down off the coast of South America about three years ago. For those of you who might want to start with a short summary, there is a five-age summary found in the press briefing here. The full report with about 11 appendices plus may be found on this webpage.

Happy fourth of July (a day late)

I hope that everyone in America had a wonderful and safe Fourth of July holiday yesterday.

Power coming back after 6/29 Derecho

I can't speak for other areas that were affected by the June 29-30 Derecho that impacted a large swath of the mid-atlantic including South Jersey, but New Jersey utilities, helped by out of state crews, are making progress. If I recall, there were more than 200,000 outages last Saturday. I saw this report on MyFox29 out of Philadelphia that the number of outages is down to 16,000 as of early in the morning on July 5.

My friends at Downstown lost power at the airport (28N) which was restored later in the day on July 2. They only lost one day of flying. You see, their fuel trucks were full of fuel, so even without electricity they were able to keep flying, conducting various aerial application runs. It seems that they only lost one day, last Saturday. They were caught up by the time the July 4th holiday rolled around.

C-130 MAFFS crash -- fatalities identified

obtained from http://www.145aw.ang.af.mil/photos/mediagallery.asp?galleryID=9184 on 3 July, 2012

The 145th Airlift Wing of the North Carolina Air National Guard issued a press release a short time ago with the names of those who died in the July 1 crash of a C-130 MAFFS that was working the White Draw Fire near Edgemont S.D.

The names of the two crew members who remain hospitalized in critical condition are being withheld. My prayers for your recovery continue.

Those who died are:

Lt. Col. Paul K. Mikeal (pronounced like "Michael"), 42, of Mooresville, N.C.
Maj. Joseph M. McCormick, 36, of Belmont, N.C.
Maj. Ryan S. David (pronounced da-veed), 35, of Boone, N.C.
Senior Master Sgt. Robert S. Cannon, 50, of Charlotte, N.C.

May you and your C-130 fly in favorable tail winds in clear skies. My prayers continue for you family, friends, comrades from current and past military outfits, and all who love you.

A brief bio of each of the deceased are in the press release from the 145th Airlift Wing of the No Carolina ANG.

I know that photo above is one of the C-130 MAFFS of the 145th Airlift Wing of the North Carolina Air National Guard. I am not certain if it is the accident C-130.

C-130 MAFFS resume flying today

After a one day stand down following the crash of a MAFFS C-130 on July 1, the C-130 MAFFS have resumed operations today. For more information:

U.S. Northern Command July 3, press release

C-130 MAFFS crashed fighting White Draw Fire (SD)

It is with deep sadness that I have to write on another tanker crash, with fatalities. At about 6:30 PM on July 1, a C-130 MAFFS (Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System) from the North Carolina Air National Guard's 145th Airlift Wing crashed while fighting the White Draw Fire near the town of Edgemont, SD.

According to today's report on the crash from the United States Northern Command, there were survivors. No further details are being provided about the status of those injured nor have the names of those who died been released from official sources pending notification of the families. The crash is under investigation. The report from the U.S. Northern Command goes onto to say that

as a prudent measure, the MAFFS-equipped C-130s are on an operational hold at the present time.

The 145th Airlift Wing is based at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport.

My thoughts and prayers go out to those injured, and for your family and friends.

For those who died, I extend my prayers to your family, friends, and all who love you.

Finally, I offer my thoughts and prayers to the North Carolina Air National Guard's 145 Airlift Wing.

For those of you who are interested in reading about MAFFS, the U.S. Northern Command provided a link to a MAFFS Fact Sheet.

Derecho hits Mid-Atlantic including south Jersey

View more videos at: http://nbcphiladelphia.com.

The winds associated with these thunderstorms were not tornadoes, rather they were straight line winds. The storm lasted about 30 minutes. I saw local storm reports on the NWS Mt. Holly webpage of winds gusting in excess of 60 mph. See this report from the Press of Atlantic City for more on the storms and its impact on southern NJ.

As I understand it from reading some information and radar images from the National Weather Service's Mt. Holly NJ Facebook Page early in the evening of June 30, the storms that hit southern NJ and points south (DE, Washington DC, VA, WV) are known as Derechos.  NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has a very thorough FAQ on Derechos, there is a lot of information with many links. You could spend quite a bit of time on the Derecho FAQ page. I'll look later to see if I can find a good video explanation of derechos and if I find one, I'll post it later.

In the meantime, I just found a short article on the derecho that hit south Jersey. And, here is a timeline of the widespread wind damage from the derecho from The Weather Channel including radar imagery.

Press of Atlantic City photo gallery

Note: some features of the NWS Mt. Holly Facebook page is freely available. If you are reading this today or tomorrow, you should be able to see the radar images that I speak of here on their wall (freely available). 

Colorado wildfires: update # 4

As of about 8 PM on June 29 when I last accessed inciweb's Waldo Fire Page, the fire had burned 17,053 acres and was 25% contained with 347 houses being destroyed. Some evacuation orders have been lifted as of yesterday, but I understand that some evacuation orders may still be in place. The Waldo Fire is burning in El Paso County CO near the Pike National Forest.

I'd like to thank a good friend of mine who sent me a link to a photo gallery of some 75 photos from a Denver Post blog. I should warn you that you will see pictures of burning houses. Starting about photograph 50 or so, you will begin to see some photos of tanker ops in the form of the MAFFs C-130a, other air tankers, and some helitankers. Go here for the photo gallery

report on Waldo Fire from Denver Channel, second body found

As of about 8 PM on June 29, the High Park Fire had burned 87,284 acres and is 85% contained. See this inciweb page.

Note at the time I wrote this on the evening of June 29, there has been high demand for the inciweb servers so the inciweb web site may be unresponsive.

Federal Disaster declared for CO wildfires

brief updates on other CO wildfires

Eagle Fire near Aspen CO

Thanks to Michael Archer's Firebombers Publications Blog on June 29, 2012 for the other media references.

Last but by no means least, Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today wrote about Pres. Obama's visit to CO to take a look at the Waldo Canyon Fire and MAFFS deployment

A view of the western wildfires in the U.S. from space

I was a bit behind in my work of writing this blog today and was wondering what to post. I was saved, so to speak, by today's edition of Firebomber Publications by Michael Archer. One of the articles that Michael included is this article referring to a video made by astronauts on the International Space Station of the wildfires currently burning in the western region of the U.S. I found the video on Space.com. Enjoy.

Wood Hollow Fire (Utah)

The report from Fox 13 in Salt Lake City that goes with the video may be found here.

As I write this on June 27 at about 4:45 PM EDT, the Wood Hollow Fire (UT) has burned about 46,190 acres, one civilian is dead, dozens of homes have been burned and evacuations are in place. It is 15% contained.

Updated on June 28, 2012 at 10:45 AM EDT to include one video report from Fox 13 in Salt Lake City. ABC News 4 in Salt Lake City also had decent coverage, but I was only able to embed their play list, which I thought might be a little confusing for some so I decided not to use their embed code. However, if you are so inclined you might want to check out the ABC News 4 coverage.

Colorado wildfires update #3

I've been listening to live feed from the Tower at Rocky Mountain Municipal Airport (KBJC) aka Jeffco which houses a tanker base. Listening to these feeds is part of an ongoing exercise to increase my knowledge of aviation radio communications. So, I thought I'd have a little fun and listen to the feed from KBJC. I have been hearing some communications between the Tower at KBJC and the tanker(s) loading out of KBJC. Given that there continues to be a lot of major wildfire activity involving air tankers and helos and that I am listening to the KBJC Tower feed from Live ATC, it feels like a no brainer for me to provide this update about two fires currently burning in Colorado.

I know enough from listening to ATC feed that at least one of the tankers currently loading out of KBJC is T-174, from Saskatchewan. Was hearing reference to T-175 (also from Saskatchewan) earlier today, but not recently. Thanks to my friends from Canada for helping us out! I understand that there are other tankers and helos working theColorado fires asides from the two that I have mentioned, some reloading out of other tanker bases. As I said, I only noted references on the Live ATC feed from KBJC to T-174 and T-175, there may have been others that I did not pick up on.

I posted on the High Park Fire last Friday.

The High Park Fire continues to burn, and is at about 65 percent containment as I write this. It has burned 87,284 acres to date.

I've been hearing about the Waldo Fire, started on Saturday, June 23. The fire has burned 15,517 acres and is 5 % contained. Houses have been burned and evacuation orders are in place. In addition, I understand that this fire is burning near the Air Force Academy.

Edited on July 27, 2017: The videos that I embedded here are no longer available. Sorry.

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today continues to provide excellent coverage of these wildfires, and other wildfire activity. There are numerous posts, that you can check out including but not limited to:

• information on the Flagstaff and Waldo Fires
• 6/26/12 smoke maps
• Montana wildfire - homes burned and evacuations

RIP Linc Alexander

Some of you already know that Linc Alexander died on May 24 of natural causes. I write this article in memory of Linc.

In early 2009, I began my journey into blogging about aerial wildland firefighting, thanks in large part to a couple of friends who mentored me in the early days of this journey. Within a few weeks, I was hooked.

In the course of this on going journey into the world of aerial wildland firefighting, I have had the privilege of meeting a variety of wonderful people who are involved in  a variety of different aspects of the business of aerial wildland firefighting.

A couple of months into this journey, I first heard the name Linc Alexander. I believe that this was on an earlier version of the Associated Aerial Firefighter's message boards that is no longer available on the web (the new AAF website may be found here). What I learned about Linc in those message posts in the spring/summer of 2009 was that he was one of the early tanker pilots, flying in both Canada and in California for thirty-seven years. Moreover, I learned that he wrote a book in the mid 1960s called Pilot's Notes for Fire Bombing. People told me that this book was considered the bible of aerial wildland firefighting, read by many or most tanker pilots. He wrote a follow-up book, Air Attack on Forest Fires, in 1972.

A little time passed and one of my friends told me Linc was working on a new book based on his years flying tankers. Seems that various folk in the tanker biz had been helping Linc out with his book. I was told that the book would be out in several months. I had heard so much about Linc and his books by this time, and I was looking forward to reading this new book.

I don't quite recall how I heard about Linc's book, Firebomber into Hell, when it was published  in the summer of 2010.  I wrote to Linc about his book shortly after I heard that it had been published, telling him a little bit about myself and this blog. I ordered an autographed copy.

Linc and I corresponded over e-mail throughout the fall of 2010. He was a true gentlemen, and was very supportive of my work on this blog. I told him early on in our correspondence that it was likely that I would never get a pilot's certificate. It did not seem to matter to him. I'll never forget what I wrote in my copy of Firebomber into Hell:

It doesn't matter how you fly and certificate or not, enjoy every second of it. You don't have to be a part of the "club" to be a respected aviator and Fire Bomber buff.

He was very generous with this time when I interviewed him over e-mail about his book, go here to see these interviews (scroll to the bottom to see the first post). I throughly enjoyed these interviews. I knew that if I had questions for Linc that I could send him in an e-mail. I did so, a couple of times. Then I heard that he was writing a new book, so I held off on writing him. He was still working on this new book on firebombing when he died.

Linc, we didn't really know each other all that well. But you touched my life in our short correspondence. I am better for having known you, and I thank-you. One of your buddies gave me a copy of Pilot's Notes for Fire Bombing, I've read it, and I need to reread it. Sorry for not writing sooner, but to be honest my mind was on the families of the Tanker 11 pilots, I know you understand. I miss you. I know that you are flying in favorable tail winds. 

There is a nice webpage about Linc, including some of his pictures, and more about Firebomber into Hell.

High Park Fire: update # 2

As I write this on June 22, the High Park Fire approximately 15 miles west of Fort. Collins, CO. The fire has burned 68,440 acres to date and is 60% contained. Evacuation orders remain in place. To date,191 homes have been lost. The fire started on June 9 from a lightning strike early in the morning.



A tribute to firefighters



Video shot at 1:30 AM on Sunday, June 10.



I believe the helitanker that you are seeing in the above video is Erickson Aircrane #737.

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today has posted some great photos of the fire taken by the Colorado and Kansas National Guard here and here. To see all the photos of the High Park Fire taken by the Colorado and Kansas National Guard go to this flicker page

Visit to Downstown

I am a little overdue in sharing some of my reflections after writing my recent series on Downstown Aero Crop Services. Some of you may recall that I wrote an article on June 4 where I included some aerial photos of a flight over one of the cranberry bogs where Downstown does aerial applications, I have since made some revisions to that article.

In saying that I have learned a lot in writing about Downstown, I am quite aware that there is so much more that I don't know about what I will call ag aviation operations. Whatever I know only touches the surface.

I can say that my respect for Downstown and the other ag aviation operators has increased. I have a lot of respect for all involved in ag aviation, pilots, ground crews, managers, etc.

If you want to know some more about the wide array of services that Downstown offers, check out this page on the Downstown website.

I think that I'll leave it at that. What I know about Ag aviation only touches the surface. When I was corresponding with Larry Kraus, captain of Butler's T-62, he frequently said the following about the business of dropping retardant from tankers: see I told you that flying tankers is complicated. I've been thinking about my conversations with Larry as I have been just starting to learn about ag aviation. What he told me applies to what ag aviation operators such as Downstown do, it is complicated.

I hope to able to write more about Downstown Aero Crop Services over the coming months. An opportunity to learn a little more about ag aviation operations.

Tanker Ops on High Park Fire (CO) from Jeffco AAB

A great video shot at Jeffco AAB in Broomfield CO on June 14 during the High Park Fire. Including some footage of CV-580's from Conair, our friends in Canada.

Santa Maria Airtanker Base (CA) is baaaccck!

In April of 2009, a few weeks after I started writing about aerial wild land firefighting in my blog, I remember reading somewhere that the Santa Maria Airtanker Base, 55 miles north of Santa Barbara CA was downgraded from a full service air attack base to a call when needed air attack base. I suppose that you can say that piece of news stayed with me, I did not forget. It did not take me long to find some articles that Bill Gabbert of wildfire today wrote about the situation, two of these include an article written on  April 10, 2009 and another on May 13, 2009. I do recall making a mental note of the article that Bill wrote last November with the good news that the Santa Maria Airtanker base would reopen.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, where I saw this report from KCOA on June 8 saying that the Santa Maria Air Tanker Base is up and running. Further, that a couple of air tankers and a helo had reloaded (or flown out of) Santa Maria Air Tanker Base for an early June fire in Ventura County.

A friend of mine told me about the Ozena Fire late Saturday night that was then burning in or near the Los Padres National Forest. I found an article in the Ventura County Star written late Saturday night (June 16) when the wildfire was still burning. The article speaks of a helicopter being used early on. I understand that air support for the Ozena fire was loading out of the Santa Maria Air Tanker Base on Saturday. That makes sense to me because it is so close to Los Padres.

According to an article from the Ventura County Star on the afternoon of June 17, the fire was fully contained earlier on June 17. Also see this report from KTLA. Both articles mention that the fire was fought from the air and from the ground. I am uncertain about exactly what aerial resources were used. Perhaps it doesn't matter that I don't know exactly what aerial resources where used to fight the Ozena fire on June 16, what matters is that the Santa Maria Tanker Base is up and running.

This is one time when my distance is a little frustrating. If I lived closer, which I don't as I live on the east coast, I would be at the Santa Maria viewing area with camera in hand to take photos. But I am here, so I can't do that for you. I will try, as best I can to keep an eye out for tanker and helo operations out of Santa Maria during the coming fire season. And when I do, I'll report back here.

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