Spring fire season begins in NJ And PA

New Jersey

Yesterday was the first day that the NJ Forest Fire Service SEATs were on contract for our spring fire season. I was out and about doing some personal chores yesterday afternoon so was not home listening to online scanner feed from the NJ Forest Fire Service (NJFFS Division B online scanner feed,  NJFFS Division C online scanner feed). It was a nice early spring day and I saw evidence that the top layers of the soil had or were drying out after the rains last weekend. As I was driving around, I tuned into WCBS AM (880) and heard a short report, all of perhaps 30 seconds, that there were a few brush fires burning around the region (northern NJ, NYC and adjoining counties including Long Island) and eastern CT). I heard nothing more than that. I wondered if any of the NJFFS SEATs had dropped on a fire in support of the firefighters on the ground. 

I got my answer when I went to Section B10 webpage earlier this afternoon and learned of a nine acre fire that burned in Sussex County NJ off of U.S. Route 206, an area that I've driven by a few times. NJFFS Alpha 3 (Ag Cat) and Delta 6 (helicopter and bucket) worked the fire. In addition, there was a smaller fire elsewhere in Sussex County that took less than 30 minutes to contain according to this report from the NJ Herald.

New Jersey Herald

direct link to video and report from NJ Herald

Pennsylvania

Spring fire season is, or soon will be underway in Pennsylvania, my neighboring State to the west. Here four stories that I heard about courtesy of Wildfire News of the Day:

A trash fire got out of control, burning a couple of acres in Ormsby, PA on April 1 reported by The Bradford Era on April 2, 2014.

A 2.5 acre wildfire  in Blacklick Twsp., PA on March 31 required a few municipal fire companies before the fire was brought under control, from the Indiana Gazette.

I wrote here about Air Tractor 802's Single Engine Air-Tankers that are now on contract in Pennsylvania. I learned from  this article from the Daily American that there is a helitanker at the Somerset County Airport in Pennsylvania.

Finally, there was a nice article in the Bradford Era on April 1 saying that the spring wildfire season in Pennsylvania may be short in some parts of the State because the snow hung around through most of March in the northwestern part of the State. I also learned about the ways the snow melts and how it can affect wildfire danger.

Prescribed burns -- US Fish and Wildlife Private Lands, Iowa

direct link to video

Prescribed Burns - USFS

Over the next three or four posts, I am going to posting about prescribed burns.

This is a video from the United States Forest Service on how they do prescribed burns in the Mark Twain National Forest. I like this video because they talk about the importance of prescribed burns. The specifics of preparing for and conducting prescribed burns in your area may differ from what is shown in this video. And the vegetation may well be different.



direct link to video

Historic footage of the Grumman S2A and TBM Avengers (CDF) and B-26 (Lynch)

Historic footage of the S2A (California Div. of Forestry), TBM Avenger (California Div. of Forestry), and B-26 tankers (Lynch).



direct link to video

Brush fire in NJ Meadowlands (Hudson County)

The nor'easter that is over the atlantic and moving towards Canada may not have any measurable snow in northern New Jersey, but it has left some rather impressive winds. As you can see from the following special weather statement issued by the National Weather Service in New York, NY there is enhanced fire danger in northeastern NJ, New York City and adjoining counties and southern CT. New York City and adjoining counties and southern CT.

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
1100 AM EDT WED MAR 26 2014

NORTHERN FAIRFIELD-NORTHERN NEW HAVEN-NORTHERN MIDDLESEX- NORTHERN NEW LONDON-SOUTHERN FAIRFIELD-SOUTHERN NEW HAVEN- SOUTHERN MIDDLESEX-SOUTHERN NEW LONDON-WESTERN PASSAIC- EASTERN PASSAIC-HUDSON-WESTERN BERGEN-EASTERN BERGEN- WESTERN ESSEX-EASTERN ESSEX-WESTERN UNION-EASTERN UNION-ORANGE- PUTNAM-ROCKLAND-NORTHERN WESTCHESTER-SOUTHERN WESTCHESTER- NEW YORK (MANHATTAN)-BRONX-RICHMOND (STATEN ISLAND)- KINGS (BROOKLYN)-NORTHWESTERN SUFFOLK-NORTHEASTERN SUFFOLK- SOUTHWESTERN SUFFOLK-SOUTHEASTERN SUFFOLK-NORTHERN QUEENS- NORTHERN NASSAU-SOUTHERN QUEENS-SOUTHERN NASSAU- 1100 AM EDT WED MAR 26 2014

...WEATHER CONDITIONS TO PROMOTE RAPID SPREAD OF BRUSH FIRE ACTIVITY...

IN THE WAKE OF THE STRONG COASTAL STORM MOVING AWAY TO THE NORTHEAST...STRONG NORTHWESTERLY WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH WILL OCCUR. THE AIR MASS WILL ALSO BECOME QUITE DRY WITH SUNSHINE DEVELOPING...WITH RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES DROPPING BETWEEN 20 AND 30 PERCENT.

THE STORM DID NOT CAUSE WETTING PRECIPITATION. THE MONTH OF MARCH HAS BEEN VERY DRY...WITH DEPARTURES OF OVER TWO INCHES IN MOST LOCATIONS. THESE CONDITIONS HAVE LEFT FINE DEAD FUELS VERY DRY AND SUSCEPTIBLE TO BURN AND SPREAD.

ANY FIRE THAT WOULD IGNITE WILL SPREAD RAPIDLY WITH THESE CONDITIONS PERSISTING THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING.
IF RESIDENTS SHOULD SPOT A FIRE...PLEASE REPORT IT TO THE AUTHORITIES IMMEDIATELY.

With this enhanced fire danger in mind, and knowing that it is spring wildfire season in NJ, I was wondering if there was any wildfires in northeastern NJ. I was not terribly surprised to read that there is a brush fire burning in the NJ Meadowlands in Hudson County NJ. I don't have a lot of details at the moment. As you can see from this article (with a map) from the Jersey Journal multiple fire departments responded. According to a CBS2 (NYC) report, rail service on New Jersey Transit was suspended and is now restored. PATH service was (light rail) between Newark and Jersey City was also suspended and is now restored. By the way the picture on the CBS2 report is on I-280 looking east. I-280 does run near portions of the Meadowlands before it terminates at the New Jersey Turnpike.

To the best of my knowledge the Meadowlands is not in a primary response area of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service but they do provide assistance under mutual aid. I saw a picture of what appears to be a New Jersey Forest Fire Service truck in one of the photos from the Jersey Journal so it seems like at least one of the crew from NJ Forest Fire Service Division A was on scene.

As I lived in a town adjoining the Meadowlands for 16 years and would frequently see brush fires in the Meadowlands outside the window of my apartment, I can attest to the fact that the fire departments in municipalities adjoining the Meadowlands know how to handle these blazes.  I'll update this article later with updates on this brush fire.

4:20 PM Update I'm not quite certain if the brushfire in the NJ Meadowlands in under control, I'm hearing conflicting reports. Two news outlets, CBS2 (NYC) and the Jersey Journal are reporting brush fires in other parts of the region [northern New Jersey, Long Island, and Rockland County (NY)]. The Riverhead News-Review provides a little more detail on brush fires in eastern Long Island.

March 27, 8:55 PM Yesterday's brush fire(s), apparently there were two, in the Meadowlands in Hudson County NJ were both brought under control by early evening on the 26th. See this article from the Jersey Journal for more information. In my various wonderings on the internet and elsewhere I have the impression (and could be wrong) that there were other brush fires on March 26th in northern New Jersey asides from the two in the Meadowlands. I have no specific information nor do I have anything to link to. I can attest to the strong winds yesterday (gusting in the 30 to 40 mph range). Small brush fires are not always covered by local media, but I'll keep my eyes open.

Smokey Bear Hotshots

When tankers and helicopters drop retardant or water/foam on a wildfire they are doing so to support the wildland firefighters on the ground. There are many types of wildland firefighting crews. The video that I am embedding below shows one type of wildland firefighting crew, a hotshot crew. Hotshots or type 1 crews are highly experienced wildland firefighters, to read a little more about hotshot crews, read this page about hotshots from the U.S. Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management website.

This is a video showing the 2013 season of the Smokey Bear Hotshot Crew. The Smokey Bear Hotshot Crew is based at Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico. You might want to read a little more about the history of the Smokey Bear Hotshots and how they got there name by going to the Smokey Bear Hotshot webpage on the Lincoln National Forest. They also have a page of photos on Flickr (go here for that page).

Allow just under 10 minutes to watch the video, some of it is time lapse videography. Towards the later half of the video you will see a couple of airtankers including what looks to me like a Single Engine Airtanker dropping retardant on a fire in support of the Smokey Bear hotshots and other firefighters on the ground as well as a helicopter and bucket.



direct link to video

Stay safe everyone!

Spring Fire Season is almost upon us here in New Jersey

As some of you no doubt know, it has been an interesting winter here in New Jersey and elsewhere in the northeast and the mid-atlantic regions of the United States. And spring is or was upon us yesterday. And with spring comes the spring fire season here in New Jersey. I suppose you get what you wish for, and I was hoping for wet winter, with rain and not snow. But we got snow instead. But even with all of our snowfall, I know that it doesn't take all that long for the ground to dry out and lead to wildfire danger. I can look around my region and see the leaf litter, and can see that the top part of the soil drying out. And then there are always the trees which can catch fire in the form of crown fires. Point being that I have learned never to be complacent or think that a wildfire can not happen. It can always happen.

As you can see from the current New Jersey Forest Fire Service 2014 Contract Aircraft Schedule, also posted in red near the top right side of my blog, our aircraft (single engine air tankers aka SEATs) begin to go on contract starting on March 28th. We have one SEAT in each division, down from as much as ten SEATs covering the State a few years ago (see this article I wrote a couple of years ago. Three SEATs are not enough.

New Jersey Forest Fire Service -- 2014 Contract Aircraft (Revised March 12, 2014)

Division A - Aeroflex

Alpha-3, 300 gallon Ag Cat -- March 29 to May 4 (37 days)

Division B -- Miller Air

Bravo-3, 300 gallon Ag Cat -- April 3 to April 17 (15 days)

Bravo-1, 600 gallon Air Tractor 602 -- April 18 to May 11 (24 days)

Division C -- Downstown

Charlie-2, 400 gallon Turbine Ag Cat -- March 28 to April 19 (23 days)

Charlie-1, 600 gallon Air Tractor 602 -- April 20 to May 12 (23 days)

1 is the designator for the 602 Air Tractor (600 gallons)

2 is the designator for the 400 gallon turbine powered Ag cat.

3 is the designator for the 300 gallon Ag Cat.

4 is the designator (if needed) for a second 300 gallon Ag Cat.

Mid-Atlantic: Brush Fire, Rx Burn, and SEATs

Some news from New York City, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania as we prepare to enter the spring fire season in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S.

Brush Fire in Queens - Howard Beach

On Saturday evening March 15, 2014 a brush burned in a marsh near Howard Beach in Queens, the fire was brought under control in two to three hours.

direct link to video

For more on this fire check out a NewsDay article and a NY Daily News article

Prescribed or Controlled burning in New Jersey

New Jersey Forest Fire Service Firefighters have been conducting prescribed or controlled burns around the State. An article with an embedded video of a Prescribed burn at Monmouth Battlefield State Park in New Jersey from Newsworks may be found here. There is a short article on prescribed burns that were done the weekend of March 15 and 16th on NJ dot com; the article discusses some legislation pending in the NJ legislature that will mean more prescribed burns if the bill is passed and signed into law as written.

SEATS in Pennsylvania

Finally, two Air Tractor 802's (SEATs)  will go on contract for the spring fire season in Pennsylvania starting March 29 through early May. The SEATs will be based at the Mid State Airport in PA. For more information please read this article from the Gant Daily.

A very brief introduction to winter maintenance

Regular maintenance is important to any aircraft operation whether it be the owner of small plane, a tour operation, charter operation, airline. military, rescue or aerial firefighting. 

Aircraft used in aerial firefighting may only be active for the period when they are paid by the contracting agency to be available for aerial firefighting duties. Sometimes these aircraft are only used part of the year. At other times, and depending on the business the operator is in and the type of aircraft they fly, the contractor will be flying their aircraft through out the year.

As many of you know, when an aircraft hasn't been flown in awhile, it doesn't come out of the hanger ready to fly, maintenance is performed. Many operators have what is sometimes known as a winter maintenance period when maintenance that requires a lot of time is performed by their maintenance staff. Of course, aircraft are maintained year round, not just in the winter or off season. Maintenance checks are preformed through out the year. I am in the process of putting together some articles focusing on winter maintenance. I am not quite sure when these articles will be ready, could be at least a couple of weeks, if not longer.

In the meantime here is an article that peaked my interest in winter maintenance, a press release from the American Helicopter Services and Aerial Firefighting Association that may be found here. You will learn a little about winter maintenance performed by Columbia Helicopters and Neptune Aviation in what has turned out to be an earlier fire season out west.

A-26 Tankers in Canada: Reflections (part 13 of 13)

To the A-26 tankers who flew in Canada:

I wish I could met one of your kind when you were flying fires in Canada. You were capable of flying at a high rate of speed so that you were able to cover vast distances from base to fire and back for reload fairly quickly. I hear that you were fun to fly. 

• What stories you could tell:
• Stories of flying with other members of your group and your birddog from base to fire, 
• Stories of fun on the ramp and being washed at the end of the day, 
• Stories from the crews at the bases who filled your belly with retardant,
• Stories from dispatchers 
• Stories from other ground and ramp crews at the various bases where you flew,
• Stories of being loved by your mech who kept you running at peak efficiency, 
• Stories of flying the fires to help the crews on the ground fight wildfires, 
• Stories about your pilots who flew you, 
• and stories the wildland firefighting crews on the ground on the fires you flew.

You served long and well flying fires in Canada, in some cases serving as a tanker in the U.S, and before that your military service. You were and are loved by all those who came in contact with you during your years of service as an airtanker in Canada.

How many wildfires did you fly over your many years of service? How many gallons of retardant did you drop? A lot, the numbers don't matter. What matters is that you flew fires and dropped retardant.

Thank-you for you for your long service in Canada. I wish that I had known you then, but I've been privileged to know you through a couple of pilots who flew you, through the videos that I have seen and the material that I read on the internet. Perhaps one day I'll get to meet one of your kind in a museum. Or even better, to see one of your kind flying. 

I love you too. Someday we will both be flying in favorable tail winds and we can fly together.

________________

Note: To see a list of all the articles in this series go here.

Tanker Notes - updates on status for the 2014 season

With many thanks to Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation, I can provide a somewhat overdue article on the status of heavy tankers as we move towards Spring 2014. Bill does a fine job of keeping up with and reporting on the current status of aviation resources used in aerial firefighting in  Fire Aviation, and other wildland firefighting news in Wildfire Today. Some of you may already follow Bill's blogs and are already up to speed. With the exception of a couple of articles from Missoulian, all the articles that I link to are from Bill Gabbert's Fire Aviation.

Neptune Aviation Legacy contract

On February 12, Fire Aviation reported on the status of Neptune Aviation's Legacy contract under which Neptune Aviation will supply six Lockheed P-2V tankers and one BAe-146 jet tanker this coming fire season.

US Forest Service to acquire C-130's

Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation has written many articles reporting on the transfer of seven C-130H aircraft to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) for conversion to air tankers (Fire Aviation 12/20/13).  See for example Bill's article on the passage of the Defense Bill clearing the way for these transfers and the transfer of up to 15 C-23B +S Sherpas to the Smoke Jumping Division. You might also want to read his article on January 4 that two of the C-130's may not need major maintenance an article on January 11 about wing box replacement, and an article on January 14 about the management of the C-130 tankers.

The Missoulian reports on USFS's acquisition of the seven C-130s in an article by Rob Chaney on January 7.

A history of the Sole Source Air Tanker Award 

I reported on January 8, 2014 that The Sole Source Contract awarded Neptune Aviation is under protest. I understand that a decision by the GAO is still due by March 28, 2014. Yesterday, March 11, Bill Gabbert wrote an excellent article reviewing the history and developments behind the sole source air tanker award to Neptune Aviation. I commend this fine piece of reporting to you.

I had been wondering about the status of the Next Generation Tanker Contract and was glad to see that Bill provides an update in his March 11th article on the Sole Source Tanker Award. Recall that only two of the seven tankers under the Next Generation Contract flew in 2013, the DC-10 tanker and Coulson's C-130Q tanker. 

The other five missed their contractual start dates and in September the USFS issued “cure notices” to the three companies. The USFS contracting officer established new mandatory availability period (MAP) dates of March 30, 2014 (Minden), May 3 and 7, 2014 (Aero Air), and May 20 and 28, 2014 (Aero Flite). Fire Aviation, March 11, 2014, A sole source air tanker award, and how it developed.

You might also want to read this January 7th article by Rob Chaney in the Missoulian about the protest of the sole source contract.

Lead Planes

Speaking of jets, on February 27, Bill reported that the Bureau of Land Management has awarded the first contract for a jet-powered lead plane (A Citation CJ) in 2014. Bill reports on the USFS lead planes and ATGS platforms in an article he posted on February 28.

Bush Firefighting in Australia - engine crew with support from AirCrane

I hope you this video of the Mt. Macedon CFA brigade from Australia fighting brush fires on Feb. 23, 2014. You will also see what I think is an Air Crane dropping on the same fire, perhaps in support of the crews on the ground. What I like about this video and one of the reasons why I am sharing this with you is because it shows that air tankers and helos work in the air to support crews on the ground (whether they be in engines or on foot). I also enjoyed seeing this brigade in action doing what they do best.

Enjoy!



Direct link to video

CL-415 super scooper in action

I am taking a day off today to have some fun and play a little. I was looking around for a tanker video to share with you I found the following video through my friends at the New Jersey Forest Fire Service Section B-10's fire videos of the week page. Each week they share four new wildland firefighting videos. Depending on when you read this and access the NJFFS Section B-10 webpage, you may see a new set of videos. If so, they will be worth watching.

This is a nice video, a little under five minutes of a pair of CL-415's working fires and scooping water along with some cool cockpit shots.



Direct link to video

Scenic flight to Lancaster

It has been quite awhile since I have written about a scenic flight on this blog. This is partly because I haven't been on such a flight in five months. Various things such as end of the year holidays, a cold and then sinus problems that did not clear up until mid-January and finally bad winter weather kept me from flying. So, I went on a scenic flight to KLNS, Lancaster Airport in Pennsylvania with a great pilot whom I have flown with many time before. She and I always have a great time. Upon landing at KLNS we visited the pilot shop where I picked up some aviation charts. The weather was on the cold side, but the Cessna 172P was heated. Winds were light, some clouds at 5,000 ft. Snow still on the ground. I have included a few photos from the flight.

It was wonderful to be in the air again. I was home. I am hoping to go on another scenic flight in about three weeks. And if not, I'll fly in my own way as I have been doing for the last five months preceding today's flight.

Flying west over the Delaware River near Frenchtown, NJ

Over eastern Pennsylvania

Over eastern Pennsylvania

Taking off from KLNS on way home

On approach to home airport, windsock

 

Home again

Erickson Air Crane - Transmission Tower Construction in NJ

Every so often one of my friends will tell me that thought of me when they saw a helicopter working on electric transmission lines So when I found this video from my friends at Erickson AirCrane on Youtube the other day I just had to post it. Enjoy.



direct link to video

A-26 Tankers in Canada - last article to come

I have one more article to write about A-26 Tankers in Canada, something I am calling a reflections piece. I admit that I have yet to write this. Often when I work on series such as the one on A-26 Tankers in Canada I write a reflections piece that I post as the last article in the series. I sometimes like to wait until after I have finished the bulk of the series to write this piece. As sometimes happens, I am a little behind, and I don't want to rush into writing my reflections. I hope to get something out in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, stay safe out there.

A-26 Tankers in Canada: Air Spray's A-26 fleet in 1994 (part 12 of 13)

I'd like to thank a friend of mine who told about a great article written by W.M. "Turbo" Tarling

in 1994, called Invaders from Red Deer.  Yes, as you might have guessed, the article is about Air Spray's A-26 Tankers in 1994. Turbo retired from the Canadian Air Force when he reached mandatory retirement age in 1982 with 11,645 flying hours in 50 different types of aircraft (go here for info on Turbo's flying time). After he retired he spent 17 seasons flying for Air Spray in Alberta where he flew the Douglas A-26. Turbo has a webpage with some articles, photo galleries and other information.

What I like about Invaders from Red Deer is that Turbo paints a portrait of a moment in time -- 1994 -- in Red Deer Alberta. After taking you through the history of Red Deer Industrial Airport, formerly RCAF Station Penfield. He then brings you up to 1994 where he introduces you to Air Spray's fleet that included 18 Douglas A-26 Invaders. He walks you through winter maintenance of Air Spray's aircraft, pilot refresher training, history and terminology of the A-26, walk around the A-26 outside and inside, flying the A-26 tanker, firefighting, and a photo gallery. 

The article is long, and well worth reading. I especially enjoyed Turbo's descriptions of flying the A-26. I felt like I was in the cockpit with him, as a quiet observer taking it all in. So, buckle up and enjoy the ride as you read Invaders from Red Deer.

Note: I wrote an article about Air Spray on February 10 where I wrote about a fire in one of Air Spray's hangers in 2000 that destroyed some A-26 tankers. The last year that Air Spray flew A-26 tankers was in 2004. Two photos of Air Spray A-26's may be found here and I shared some videos of Air Spray's A-26 tankers by MrFlyerboy101 on Feb. 17, Feb. 19, Feb. 21, and Feb. 26.

Updated on December 20, 2020: Unfortunately the links to "Turbo" Tarling's 1994 article, Invaders from Red Deer are now expired. A retired tanker pilot with whom I am no longer in contact in Canada told about Turbo's article at the time I was writing these articles on the Douglas A-26 Invader. If memory serves all the information in this article was on a webpage. I regret that at the time I wrote this post that I did not write a little about Turbo in this post and cite a couple of passages from his article. More recently, knowing that sometimes links go dead, I will write a little more in my post so that it may make sense if one or more links go dead. 

A-26 Tankers in Canada: flying fires in an A-26 (part 11 of 13)

I can't not share one more video from MrFlyerboy101, this one includes historic footage shot from the cockpit of an A-26 tanker flying fires in Alberta Canada. Enjoy!



Direct link to video

A-26 Tankers in Canada: flying the A-26 (training video) (part 10 of 13)

In this article and the next articles I will be focusing on sharing videos (today and on the 26th) and an article (on Feb. 28th) relating to flying the A-26. Today I will be sharing a 1945 era training video on flying the A-26 that I first shared on March 1, 2013. Recall that a friend of mine who used to fly an A-26 tanker in Canada shared the video with me saying that he agreed with the techniques presented in the video. Since that time at least one other former A-26 pilot told me that he too agreed with these techniques.



direct link to video

A-26 Tankers in Canada: enroute (part 9 of 13)

I close out the this part my series on A-26 tankers in Canada with a third video from MrFlyerBoy101 showing a group of Air Spray A-26 tankers and their birddog enroute to Ft. McMurray. Allow 14 minutes for the video (it might take a couple of minutes to load and the sound is a little funky, but you should be able to hear the pilots talking to each other over the radio.) 

Added on October 21, 2016: The video that I had originally shared here is no longer available so I have removed the code.

I will continue this series next week with four more articles. I will post a revised scheduled later this evening or tomorrow. 

A-26 Tankers in Canada: take-off (part 8 of 13)

Here is another video from MrFlyerBoy101 showing a group of Air Spray A-26 Tankers (1,3,14,12) and their Birddog taking off. The video ends with T-12 landing. Allow about five minutes for the video. According to the information supplied by MrFlyerBoy101accompanying the video, the personnel in the aircraft you will see are: Gordon Sherman (T-1), Arnie Schreder (T-3), Butch Foster (T-12), Ted Stenton (T-14) and Dave Poole (Rooster) in the Birdog.

direct link to video

A-26 Tankers in Canada: on the ramp (part 7 of 13)

Here is a video from MrFlyerBoy101 of some of Air Spray's A-26 tankers on the ramp at Smithers in British Columbia with a bit of fun thrown in.

direct link to video

A-26 Tankers in Canada: Air Spray A-26 Tankers 31 and 36 (part 6 of 13)

I'd like to thank Peter Mitchell who flew A-26 tankers (and other tankers) for both Air Spray and Conair some years back for two photos that he wanted me to share with you: photos of T-31 and T-36.

The Warbirds Registry has a page on the history of T-31 (serial # 44-35893) and T-36 (serial # 44-35456). Of note, Air Spray purchased both of these A-26 tankers from Conair. Air Spray bought the
A-26 (serial # 44-35456) that was to become T-36 from Conair in 1983. Before that she flew as Conair
T-26 from 1972 to 1983.

Air Spray T-36

A-26 (Serial # 44-35893) flew for Conair as T-31 from 1974 through 1982. Sometime in 1982, Conair sold her to Air Spray, where she kept her T-31 designation. She flew for another twenty years (give or take).

Air Spray T-31

A-26 Tankers in Canada: Conair A-26 Tanker 28 (part 5 of 13)

Conair T-28 "Blue Canoe"

I have always liked Conair's T-28 because she started out in a blue and white paint scheme as you can see in the photo. One of my tanker pilot friends from Canada referred to her with some affection as the "Blue Canoe." I'm not quite sure when, but sometime before 1983 she was repainted in the Conair paint scheme as shown in a 1983 photo of Conair's livery of Tankers in the History of Aviation in the BC Forest Service: Part 2 Air Tanker Operations (2011, p. 18).

Conair acquired her in April 1974, selling her in November 1988. Assuming that she was flying through the summer of 1988 she would have flown for 14 or 15 seasons depending on how long it took to convert her to tanker configuration. For more information about her history, see the Warbirds Registry page on T-28 (Serial # 44-34520).

Thanks to Maureen Wilson for the photograph of T-28.

A-26 Tankers in Canada: Operators -- Air Spray (part 4 of 13)

Air Spray whose corporate offices are in Edmonton, Alberta was founded in 1967, see Air Spray's history page.  Air Spray's founder, Don Hamilton, started the company with one A-26 and a Cessna 310 (birddog) aircraft.  Air Spray acquired one A-26 that was converted for firefighting in 1970 and paired with a Cessna 310 Bird Dog aircraft. Air Spray eventually had 18 A-26 tankers flying them the A-26 into the 2000s. Air Spray finally retired all of their remaining A-26 tankers after the end of the 2004 fire season (see an article by Ruud Leeuw on his 2006 visit to Air Spray's maintenance hanger in Red Deer Alberta, scroll down a bit past some photos of a couple of Lockheed L188 Electras where he writes about Air Spray's A-26 Invaders). Before I go on, some of you will recall that the Douglas A-26 Invader went through a couple of changes in her designation, being designated the B-26 from 1948 through 1962, I write about the changes in her military designation here.

In the course of reading up on Air Spray, I came across a nice article from the November/December 2009 edition of Wings on Air Spray called Position Report: Vintage planes dousing flames (A position report on Air Spray) by Frederick K. Larkin. Wings is an aviation magazine focusing on Canadian aviation.  learned a little more about the history of Air Spray thanks to Larkin's article. That is, David Harrington started the company that was to become Air Spray in 1954, focusing on crop dusting before moving into aerial fire fighting in the early 1960s. If you are interested in this early period in Air Spray's history and find yourself in Edmonton, Alberta with some time on your hands, the Provincial Archives of Alberta Canada has what is known as a fond (documents) from Mary Harrington, David's wife. According to Larkin, the company Harrington founded became Air Spray Ltd. in 1967. Harrington acquired a Douglas B-26 in 1969 (recall that the B-26 was later redesignated the A-26). That is when Don Hamilton, who later became CEO of Air Spray entered the picture. Hamilton acquired a 50 percent interest in this B-26 that was converted to firefighting configuration in 1970. Sometime later, Hamilton acquired the remaining interest in Air Spray becoming the sole owner of Air Spray.

I had heard about the 2000 hanger fire at Air Spray's maintenance hangar In Red Deer as I was doing research for these articles. On October 16, 2000 a fire started in one of Air Spray's maintenance hangers in Red Deer when sparks from an electrical cord that was being unplugged ignited some fuel. The hanger went up in flames and six aircraft were destroyed, including four A-26 Invaders (For more information see a short description of this fire from the Aviation Safety Network.

In my next couple of articles I'll focus on three tankers, one from Conair (Tanker 28), and two from Air Spray (Tankers 31 and 36).

Updated on February 11, 2014: As sometimes happens when I write series like this people contact me with additional information which I do my best to incorporate into the series that I am working on. I'd like to thank one of my tanker pilot friends from Canada who sent me some more information about Air Spray last night, some of which I incorporated into this article, and another piece he sent me will be incorporated into an article later in this series. As sometimes happens when I write series like this people contact me with additional information which I do my best to incorporate into the series that I am working on.

A-26 Tankers in Canada: Operators -- Conair (part 3 of 13)

Conair, based in Abbotsford, British Columbia flew A-26 tankers for 16 years from 1970 to 1985 (History of Aviation in the  BC Forest Service Part 2: Air Tanker Operations, 2011, pp. 12, 18).

Around the time that the British Columbia Forest Service (BCFS)  celebrated their 100th anniversary, Gord Bell wrote a wonderful three part paper on the History of Aviation in the  BC Forest Service: A pictorial account for the BCFS Centennial. According the author's information (in the appendix of all three parts), Bell worked for the BCFS for 35 years and spent 25 years working with aviation programs for the BCFS. Part 2 is devoted to airtanker operations and provides some history of Conair, some great pictures and a discussion of Conair's A-26 tanker operations. 

When I first read Linc Alexander's Firebombers into Hell in the fall of 2010 I had been writing about aerial wildland firefighting for about 20 months. Before reading Linc's book, I knew little about the Canadian companies that flew tankers. That changed when I read Linc's book, and Linc's book provided me with my first introduction to Conair. Linc's first season for Conair was in 1974, flying the A-26 tanker. He was to continue flying A-26 tankers for Conair for a total of four years (Alexander, 2010, 248-55). 

I read more about Conair when I read Allan MacNutt's book, Altimeter Rising. Allan was chief pilot at Conair for two years from 1975 through 1977 (Mac Nutt, 2000, 202-5, 245). By the time I read Allan's book I was somewhat more familiar with Conair having done more reading about Conair after they first loaned the US Forest Service some of their tankers after the US Forest Service terminated its contract with Aero Union (go here for more information).

I want to share some information about a Douglas A-26 Invader that saw service with Conair: tankers 22. Tanker 22 is preserved in her Conair colors by the BCAM. I have grown to love the A-26 and I think it is great that tanker 22 is preserved in her Conair colors in homage to all the good work that she and her kin did first in military service and later in service as a tanker. One of these days perhaps I'll get to British Columbia and I'll go to the BCAM and see her up close and personal in all her splendor. 

Finally, some of you may recall that I referenced the napoleon130 A-26 Invader tanker website in my acknowledgements when I first wrote about A-26 Tanker last summer.  The napoleon130 A-26 Invader tanker website has a page devoted to Conair, including but not limited to information on tankers 22 and 28.

I'd like to thank a few pilots who used to fly A-26 tankers for Conair for taking the time to correspond with me about your experience with this incredible airplane. Your help was invaluable.

Note: More information on Linc Alexander's Firebombers into Hell and Allan MacNutt's Altimeter Rising may be found in this acknowledgements post from an earlier series on the A-26.

A-26 Tankers in Canada: Operators -- Kenting (part 2 of 13)

I learned about three companies in Canada that flew A-26 tankers from the 1970s through the 2000s: Kenting, Conair, and Airs Spray (see List of Douglas A-26 Invader operators). Before I begin, let me say that there may well be other companies or individual operators that flew A-26 tankers in Canada during this time period that I am unaware of. 

I first came across Kenting Aviation when I read Firebombers into Hell by Linc Alexander (214-17, 227-33, 235-245). He spent a couple of years working for Kenting Aviation, based in Ontario, acquiring two A-26 Tankers in the early 1970s. He wrote about one fire season where he was based first in Fort McMurray Alberta and then in High Level Alberta. High Level, according to Linc is the northern most tanker base in Alberta. Much of the time he was in High Level it rained (Alexander, 2010, 235-45). Kenting sold both of their A-26 tankers to Conair at the end of the 1973 fire season (see the article I wrote on August 7 for more information).

A-26 Tankers in Canada: Introduction (part 1 of 13)

Several months ago I wrote a series about the Douglas A-26 Invader (several posts begin here and a little later I wrote some more beginning here. At long last, I am starting a series about the A-26 service as an airtanker in Canada. I am still working on the last couple of posts in this series, but as you can see from the tentative outline below, I have some time to work out this out. I will be writing about three Canadian operators of A-26 tankers and their tankers. 

Feb 5, 2014 A-26 Tankers in Canada: Operators -- Kenting (part 2 of 13)

Feb 7, 2014 A-26 Tankers in Canada: Operators -- Conair (part 3 of 13)

Feb 10, 2014 A-26 Tankers in Canada: Operators -- Air Spray (part 4 of 13)

Feb 12, 2014 A-26 Tankers in Canada: Conair A-26 Tanker 28 (part 5 of 13)

Feb 14, 2014 A-26 Tankers in Canada: Air Spray A-26 Tankers 31 and 36 (part 6 of 13)

Feb 17, 2014 A-26 Tankers in Canada: on the ramp (part 7 of 13)

Feb 19, 2014 A-26 Tankers in Canada: take-off (part 8 of 13 )

Feb 21, 2014 A-26 Tankers in Canada: enroute (part 9 of 13)
Feb 24, 2014 A-26 Tankers in Canada: flying the A-26 (training video (part 10 of 13)
Feb 26, 2014 A-26 Tankers in Canada: flying fires in an A-26 (part 11 of 13)
Feb 28, 2014 A-26 Tankers in Canada: Air Spray's A-26 fleet in 1994 (part 12 of 13)
March 14, 3024 A-26 Tankers in Canada: Reflections (part 13 of 13)

snow removal in Japan's snow canyon

I am getting ready to start a series of articles on the A-26 Tanker tomorrow. I took a snow day. Literally. Clearing out almost eight inches of heavy, wet snow from my driveway. More to come. Anyway, I came across this video recently of some really heavy duty snow removal in Japan's snow canyon. Enjoy!



direct link to video

WW II aircraft: P38 and Coursair

A friend brought a nice video of the Red Bull P38 and a Coursair showing their stuff at last year's Paris airshow. I thought that you might enjoy this 12 minute video so I'm sharing it here.

Before watching the video, be sure to read the description of the video on youtube, you will need to go to the "about tab" and click on more to read a description of both of these wonderful WW II aircraft.

January wildfires in Oregon

Southern California is not the only west coast State that has seen wildfires in January. Oregon saw some wildfires last week, I'm not sure about Washington. The Oregon Dept. of Forestry (ODF) has a Facebook Page, and I am 99 percent certain that you do not need a Facebook account to see the page, but you will need a Facebook account to access other features. Anyway, I went to the ODF Facebook page to check up on the status of the wildfires that I had heard about last week, and I saw in post that they made on Jan. 28th that the wildfires that were

reported at the end of last week are under control, in mop-up, and final reports are being issued --all fires will continue to be monitored in the upcoming months (ODF, Facebook post on 28 January, 2014)

I am sharing a video report (posted on Jan. 24, 2014) from Fox 12 Oregon on the wildfires that were burning last week in coastal Oregon. 

KPTV - FOX 12

direct link to video

As always, I'm never certain how long this embed will work, so if you are arriving at this page sometime after I posted this and the embed code doesn't work, you'll know why.

Drought emergency and enhanced fire wildfire danger in California

While we in the eastern and midwestern regions of the United States have been in and out of some pretty frigid weather and at least in NJ and environs have had our share of snow and rain this winter, California is in the midst of a very severe drought. Drought often equates to higher wildfire danger, and California has seen an increase in the number of wildfires in January.

Stay safe everyone!


direct link to video


direct link to video

In honor of a special lady -- Martin Mars

I just got back from an eye check-up which means that my pupils are dilated and I am having hard time doing computer work, so I'm taking a few hours off from work. I came across a nice 8+ minute video the other day of the engine start up of the Martin Mars known as the Hawaii Mars. She is one special lady and did a lot of good work for many, many years fighting wildfires in support of firefighters on the ground. I love watching her, and I thought that you might enjoy watching her as well.



direct link to video

Blackhawk working a Colorado Fire - onboard camera

I am dug out from yesterdays snowstorm, got eight inches at my house. A long day, and I'm a little tired. Time for a video! It is possible that I have shared this really cool video of a Blackhawk Helo and bucket working a wildfire in Colorado -- taken from an onboard camera. If this is the case, it is worth seeing again.


direct link to video on youtube

Colby Fire - So. CA #2

Last Friday, I wrote here about the Colby Fire. I want to provide an update. As I write this, the inciweb page on the Colby Fire is reporting that the fire has burned 1,952 acres and is at 84 percent containment. No evacuations are currently in place.

If you are following Bill Gabbert's Wildfire Today or Fire Aviation then you have probably seen the photos that of the CL-415 that he posted yesterday and the videos of the CL-415 that he posted on Fire Aviation last Friday. If you haven't already done so, I hope that you go and look at these photos and videos of the CL-415.

I came across a nice video of about 7.5 minutes posted on youtube by Bruce Woodall of a couple of helos working the Colby Fire. The focus of the video is on the helos dipping. I don't know about you, but I like watching helos dipping.



direct link to video

Colby Fire - Southern California

When I got up this morning I saw a short clip on one of national news about the Colby Fire that is still burning in the foothills of the Angeles National Forest in Southern California. The fire started early Thursday morning, has burned over 1,700 acres and is at 30 percent containment. Evacuations are still in place, but some residents have been allowed to return to their homes. I understand that tankers and helos are working the fire including CAL Fire S-2T's, Minden's T-48, and some CL-415 tankers from Quebec (thanks Canada!) on extended contract. Five homes have been destroyed and other structures, including some residences have been damaged. Three injuries have been reported.

CBS in LA has been covering this fire, and here is a link to one of their video reports, and for a written story (including the same video), links to a radio report and a photo gallery, go here. The LA Times has a story here about three men being held in connection with the fire. Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today has done is usual excellent job covering the Colby fire here, and he just posted a photo gallery earlier today.

And I don't want to forget the wildland fire hotlist thread dedicated to the Colby Fire.

For more coverage of the Colby Fire, you may want to check out these articles:

smoke advisories issued
inmate firefighters working the colby fire

Wildfires burning in Chile and Australia

CHILE

I have been hearing about the bad wildfires that have been and continue to burn in Chile. This is a video report from January 6, 2014 showing some fire footage and health alerts in 

Santiago because of the smoke conditions.

direct link to video

And here is another update (dated January 15) talking about the current situation in Chile where more sixteen wildfires continued to burn and eight of fifteen regions in Chile have areas of varying sizes burning. On the 13th, Chilean officials asked for international help including but not limited aircraft, go here to read that story

AUSTRALIA

As I understand it, wildfires continue to burn over many regions in Australia. The BBC News has a short video (with footage of helos working fires) that may be found here. The Telegraph has a nice photo montage of the bush fire season and the accompanying heat wave that may is located on this webpage.

Winter wildfires in Southern California

The other day, I wrote here about Red Flag Warnings in Southern California, and I'd like to provide an update on what's been going on. I am able to provide these updates because of the very fine work that Michael Archer does in his Wildfire News of the Day (WNOTD), which I get by e-mail (info on how to do this on his blog. I am referencing Archer's January 14th and January 15th editions.

• San Diego County had extra engines and airtankers on ready
• Four to six acre fire near Vandenberg Air Force Base
• Helo works one-half acre fire near Prundale
• Photos and report on Pacific Coast Highway Fire
• CL-415 works Pacific Coast Highway Fire
• Wildfire in Carbazon contained, had prompted evactuations
• Soda Fire in Sequoia National Forest

In addition, don't forget about the WildlandFire Hotlist California and Hawaii forums where I am sure you can find information about most of the fires that I wrote about above. Since I'm not sure if I can match each individual wildfire hotlist thread to the articles abov, I'm not even going to try. Hotlist threads:

• Brown Fire
• PCH Fire
• Soda Fire
• Kimball Island
• Mission
• Malki
• Jalama
• Doe

Reading about River Ice Jams

From time to time I am going to take a slight diversion from the normal things that I write about here and tell you what I've been up to, even if it is not related to arial wildlland firefighting. I've been busy the last couple of days on a project that is almost completed, reading up on river ice formation. I got interested in this because of the ice jam on the Delaware in Trenton NJ last week and because I make ice observations for the National Weather Service. While these types of ice jams do not occur all that frequently in New Jersey, I wanted to do a bit of reading so that I can do a better job with my river ice observations the next time we face the risk of ice jam flooding in NJ. If any of you should be so inclined, and want to read a little more about ice jams and ice jam flooding, I'd suggest that you go to the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory Ice Jam page

and take  a look at their technical information, it is a little on the technical side, but I was able to learn something from reading some of these documents. I also came across another nice document, also from CRREL titled Introduction to River Ice Jams and Mitigation during my wonderings on the internet this afternoon.

I'll be back shortly with an update on what's been happening wildfire wise in California.

Fire danger in California and Texas

If you live in Southern California, chances are you know that Red Flag Warnings are up through Wednesday, January 15 for portions of Southern California including (but perhaps not limited to) Los Angeles, Ventura, and Orange and Counties. I'm not sure if San Diego County is under a Red Flag Warning, and if they are not, they are under a high wind advisory. CAL FIRE has an advisory for the current Red Flag Warnings and Fire Watches here as well as a News Release (1/11/2014) about strong winds and high fire danger

Or perhaps you follow Wildfire Today where Bill Gabbert has reported on the red flag warnings in Southern California on January 12 and again today. Some of you may subscribe to Michael Archer's Wildfire News of the Day as I do and I saw that he referenced a few articles in today's WNOTD. If you don't subscribe to WNOTD, I recommend it, just go to his blog (includes an abbreviated edition of WNOTD) and follow the link in the current entry. 

For example in today's edition of WNOTD, Archer referenced these articles on the fire danger in Southern California:

USA Today on Santa Anna winds

Orange County CA on alert

Restrictions in Los Padres National Forest due to elevated fire danger

High wind watch in San Diego County

The Storm Prediction Center of the National Weather Service (NWS) has web page devoted to fire weather outlooks where you can get information, in addition to going to the main page for the NWS, weather dot gov and using the map to navigate to the portion of the country you are interested in.

Back to California where in addition to Red Flag Warnings in the southern portion of the state, there are also Red Flag Warnings in the mountains outside of San Francisco today into early Tuesday (Jan 14). Stay safe everyone! I know that you've already had some wildfire activity, check out CAL FIRE's incident page or the California page on inciweb

Finally, I don't want to leave out areas of Texas that are also under Red Flag Warnings today. And portions of Oklahoma were under Red Flag Warnings yesterday.

Stay safe everyone! Thanks for all you do to keep us safe!

Update on icing in NJ Rivers including Delaware

Last Thursday I wrote here about an ice jam in the Delaware River in Trenton NJ/Morrisville PA. To the best of my knowledge that particular ice jam had weakened by last Friday.

I was busy on Friday and Saturday making river ice observations on a River near my house for the National Weather Service. I had seen some larger ice chunks covering half the channel near a bridge abutment and another smaller area of large ice chunks near a bend in the River. With the anticipation of a warm up with what may have been a heavy rainfall last Saturday I have to admit that I was a little concerned about ice jams. Fortunately, the rainfall was lighter than predicted and when I went out early Sunday morning to look at my river, the large chunks were gone with no apparent flooding.

So if you were wondering what happened to me last Friday and Saturday, now you know. I'll be back later today with another post.

Ice Jam on Delaware River near Trenton NJ/Morrisville PA

direct link to video and report from 6ABC in Philadelphia

We in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania shared the frigid temps that many in the eastern half of the U.S. experienced earlier this week. And I suspect other areas are sharing in the woes of ice jams on rivers. The Delaware River that forms the border between NJ and Pennsylvania has an ice jam near a bridge in the Trenton NJ/Morrisville PA area of the river. I knew from reading discussions from the National Weather Service (NWS) Office in Mt. Holly NJ that a Coast Guard Vessel was on the Delaware opening up a channel south of the ice jam. I looked around for a video to share with you where you can see the Coast Guard Cutter on the Delaware and found the video from 6ABC in Philadelphia.

More information including video reports and photo galleries may be found at:

NJ dot com (story and photo gallery)
Philly dot com (picture of Cutter)
10NBC in Philadelphia (also links to aerial footage of ice jam - must see)

The NWS at Mt. Holly has raised both flood warning and flash flood warnings for Mercer County NJ and Bucks County PA:

FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MT HOLLY, NEW JERSEY
449 PM EST THU JAN 9 2014

...THE FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE FOLLOWING RIVERS IN NEW JERSEY...
PENNSYLVANIA...

  DELAWARE RIVER AT TRENTON AFFECTING MERCER AND BUCKS COUNTIES

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

SAFETY MESSAGE...DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THROUGH FLOODED AREAS. THE WATER MAY BE
DEEPER THAN YOU THINK.

&&

NJC021-PAC017-100749-
/O.CON.KPHI.FL.W.0001.000000T0000Z-140110T0900Z/
/TREN4.1.ER.140108T2251Z.140109T0030Z.140110T0300Z.NO/
449 PM EST THU JAN 9 2014

THE FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR
  THE DELAWARE RIVER AT TRENTON.
* AT 4:15 PM THURSDAY THE STAGE WAS 19.0 FEET.
* FLOOD STAGE IS 20.0 FEET.
* MINOR FLOODING IS ONCE AGAIN POSSIBLE THIS EVENING.
* IMPACT...AT 20.5 FEET...ROUTE 32 SOUTH AT EAST COLLEGE AVENUE IN YARDLEY
  BOROUGH BEGINS TO FLOOD.

$$

                   FLD     OBSERVED           FORECAST
 LOCATION          STG    STG    DAY TIME     CREST

DELAWARE RIVER
  TRENTON          20.0   18.99  THU 4 PM     20.5    THU 7 PM

&&

FLOOD WATCH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
1219 PM EST THU JAN 9 2014

NJZ015-019-PAZ071-106-100130-
/O.EXT.KPHI.FF.A.0001.000000T0000Z-140110T1300Z/
/00000.0.IJ.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
MERCER-NORTHWESTERN BURLINGTON-PHILADELPHIA-LOWER BUCKS-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...TRENTON...MOORESTOWN...MOUNT HOLLY...
PHILADELPHIA...MORRISVILLE...DOYLESTOWN
1219 PM EST THU JAN 9 2014

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH NOW IN EFFECT THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING...

THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS NOW IN EFFECT FOR

* PORTIONS OF NEW JERSEY AND SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA...INCLUDING
  THE FOLLOWING AREAS...IN NEW JERSEY...MERCER AND NORTHWESTERN
  BURLINGTON. IN SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA...LOWER BUCKS AND
  PHILADELPHIA.

* THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING

* AN ICE JAM CONTINUES ON THE DELAWARE RIVER NEAR TRENTON. THIS
  HAS RESULTED IN FLOODING UPSTREAM TO THE NORTH OF THE ICE JAM.
  WHEN THIS ICE JAM BREAKS, THERE MAY BE ENOUGH WATER BEHIND THE
  JAM TO CAUSE FLASH FLOODING DOWNSTREAM.

* ICE JAMS ARE UNPREDICTABLE, BUT AS TEMPERATURES WARM, ARE MORE
  LIKELY TO BREAK UP. HIGH TEMPERATURES THIS AFTERNOON WILL BE
  NEAR FREEZING. HIGH ON FRIDAY WILL BE IN THE LOWER 40S AND HIGHS
  ON SATURDAY WILL BE NEAR 60.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS MAY DEVELOP THAT LEAD
TO FLASH FLOODING. FLASH FLOODING IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION.

YOU SHOULD MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION
SHOULD FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS BE ISSUED. PLEASE EVACUATE IF TOLD TO
DO SO BY EMERGENCY RESPONDERS.

&&

$$

KRUZDLO

Neptune Aviation Sole Source Contract under protest

I wrote about the the sole source contract that was awarded to Neptune Aviation on Dec. 12, 2013, on Monday, January 6. What I did not learn until today is that a four companies have protested this award. On December 23, protests were filed by Coulson Aviation USA, Minden Air, AeroAir, and 10 Tanker Air Carrier with the General Accountability Office. According to Fire Aviation the four companies

are protesting the non-competitive contract that the U.S. Forest Service gave to Neptune Aviation for two BAe-146 air tankers on December 12.

According to an article published about the protest in today's today's Missoulian (written by Ron Chaney) a decision by the GAO is due by March 28, 2014.

Neptune Aviation and Next Gen Contract

I admit that I am rather late in writing that on December 12, 2013 Neptune Aviation was awarded a sole-source to provide two 3,000 gallon BAe-146  jet tankers effective 2014. It is a four year contract with the option for five one-year extensions. My understanding is that the tank systems on the jets under this contract are not the same tank systems used by T-40 and T-41 in 2013. These "new" jets have reconfigured tanks. For more information see a Dec. 13, 2103 article in the Missouian and this Dec. 12. 2103 article on Fire Aviation.

For details and more documentation on the contract go to this page on the General Services Administration website.

Updated on January 8, 2014. I just found out that Neptune Aviation's contract is under protest, I wrote about it here. 

Miracle emergency landing on NYC expressway

A single engine airplane (Piper PA-28) with what may have been engine trouble made an emergency landing on a busy NYC expressway yesterday afternoon. Thanks to an alert DOT crew doing pothole repair who stopped traffic and the skill of the pilot, there were no fatalities. I can't seem to get the embed code from FoxNewsNYC or CBS2NYC to work, but I've provided links to both reports and video here. If you check out the video from FoxNewsNY, you'll see a video clip of the plane being towed off the expressway.

link to report and video on FoxNewsNYC

link to video on CBS2 NYC

link to report with video and radio audio clips on CBS2 NYC

Campbell Fire in Lassan National Forest CA

I heard about the Campbell Fire, currently burning in the Ishi Wilderness in the Lassan National Forest, yesterday. Thanks to a friend who gave me a heads up. There is a page on inciweb devoted to the Campbell Fire. According to the latest report on inciweb available to me, the fire has burned 220 acres in rugged terrain and is currently 35% contained. I understand from reading the Campbell Fire thread on Wildlandfire Hotlist that CAL FIRE tankers 80 and 81 out of Hollister were working the fire yesterday along with some helos and air attack Bravo 55. Structures are not threatened. The hope is that the fire will be contained at about 12:00 AM on Sunday, January 5.

I found a short article from KRCR 7 ABC on the fire

As a friend of mine told me a few years, it is always fire season in California. Stay safe everyone.

Ground crews and helos working wildfires in Australia

Over the almost five years that I have been writing about aerial wildland firefighting on this blog, I have often said that tankers and helos who fly wildfires do so to support the wildland firefighters on the ground. As I write this it is summer down under in Australia and fire season. The two videos that I am embedding here are of wildfire activity in Australia. Both videos, by ApexImagery, show firefighters on the ground and in the air, I'll get to that in a moment. According to the description on the first video (Toolleen Grass Fire), the footage is of a wildfire in Victoria, Australia. I believe but am not certain that the second video (Sedgwick Fire) is of wildfire footage in Victoria, Australia. 

You will see helos working fires in both videos. In the first video (below) you will see footage of a grass fire near Toolleen in Victoria Australia. At about 28 seconds and then again at about 1 minute 47 seconds you will footage of a helo dropping water from their belly tank near were an engine crew is working the grass fire with their hoses. 

direct link to video

In the second video (allow just under six minutes) you will see some footage of the wildland firefighters on the ground including shots of guys talking on radio and another shot of what looks like a hand drawn map of the fire. Point being that I know enough to know that there is a lot of radio communications going on between various wildland firefighters on the ground and also with those crews providing aerial support. So, as you watch these sections on the video, think about the importance of radio communications in all aspects of any kind of firefighting.  

In addition, you will some nice footage of an Erickson Air Crane working the fire, including a couple of shots of what could be the 'Crane filling her belly tank. In these shots (1:55 and 2:49), it looks like the 'Crane is disappearing behind some trees, but I think that she may be filling her belly tank from a water body. At about 4:16 you will the 'Crane dropping on the fire.

direct link to video