One of the DC-10 air tankers made a demonstration water drop at the air show at March Field in California last weekend.

A C-130J MAFFS from the 146th Airlift Wing during recertification, March 7, 2012. Photo by Senior Airman Nic Carzis.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) is negotiating an agreement with the California Air National Guard to enable Channel Island National Guard base (map) in Ventura County near Oxnard to be used as a reload base for air tankers working on wildfires. For years the base, the home of the 146th Airlift Wing, has been capable of reloading two C-130s stationed at the base outfitted with Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems (MAFFS) which can be slipped into the cargo hold enabling them to drop 3,000 gallons of fire retardant on fires, but other state or federal air tankers have not been allowed to use the base. John Winder, the CAL FIRE Assistant Deputy Director of Fire Protection Operations, told Wildfire Today that the goal of the agreement is for any military, state, or federal air tanker to be able to use the base for reloading. The U.S. Forest Service would also have to approve the use of the base before their contracted air tankers could use it since the federal agency has different requirements for reload bases than CAL FIRE.

The reload facility would be call-when-needed, most likely operated by CAL FIRE personnel who could have it up and running a few hours after being notified.

According to Mr. Winder, the Channel Islands base is one of only six locations in California where MAFFS air tankers can reload, with the others being Chico, Fresno, San Bernardino, Victorville, and Paso Robles. Not every base has runways, taxiways, and ramps that are capable of handling an aircraft the size and weight of a C-130.

The California Air National Guard C-130s can be activated for use on wildfires within the state fairly easily with approval from the Governor. To be used outside the state requires a more complex federal-level approval governed by an agreement specifying that the aircraft be able to respond within 48 hours, but they usually are mobilized within 36 hours. Both the state and federal approvals require some level of previous commitment of standard non-military air tankers on going fires.
Thanks go out to Johnny

Polishing one of the new CL-415 air tankers in Manitoba. (screen grab from ChrisD204 video)

The Canadian province of Manitoba is adding four new scooper air tankers to their fleet. The Bombardier CL-415 tankers can carry about 1,620 gallons of water and cruises at 207 mph. According to the Canadians, a typical mission for a CL-415 on a large fire in Manitoba would last four hours and includes 80 drops, totaling 129,000 gallons.

During an announcement about the new aircraft, Water Stewardship Minister Gord Mackintosh said:

With the new planes they are faster, the carry more water, and they drop double the number of bombs in an hour, in other words, they drop about 20 water bombs in an hour versus 12 with the old planes.

Gotta love the repeated references to the “bombs”.

The “old planes” Minister Mackintosh is referring to are the older CL-215s, which according to an article at the Winnipeg Free Press can make 12 drops per hour, flies at 160 mph, carries 1,412 gallons, totaling 67,776 gallons on a typical 4-hour mission.

For comparison, the large air tankers working the Fourmile Canyon fire west of Boulder, Colorado in September, 2010, where the retardant reload base was unusually close — 15 miles away — were dropping approximately 4,000 gallons per hour. The U.S. Forest Service’s fleet of 10 air tankers does not have any water scoopers or CL-215/415s on exclusive use contracts. The Department of Interior has had two for the last few years. The USFS currently has a Request for Proposal out for scooper air tankers, and may contract for some later this year. While water sources in the United States may not be as prolific as in much of Canada, it’s hard to continue to ignore an air tanker option that can deliver 32 times the number of gallons per hour onto a fire (4,000 vs. 129,000 gallons), comparing the best case scenarios for both scoopers and conventional large air tankers, such as a P2-V.

Earlier this year the crews that fly the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems (MAFFS) air tankers based in California and Wyoming conducted their annual training to be sure they are prepared to drop fire retardant on wildfires if all of the privately operated air tankers are committed. This week the Air Force Reserve unit at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs did the same, dropping water on the Base and in the Pike National Forest. In addition to the two C-130 MAFFS units in Colorado, three other bases in the United States have two aircraft each that are designated as MAFFS-deployable, stationed in California, Wyoming, and South Carolina.

Below are some photos that we received today of the Wyoming Air National Guard MAFFS crews that were taken during their training at Cheyenne and Camp Guernsey last week.

Two C-130 MAFFS aircraft follow a lead plane during training for the WYOMING Air National Guard at Camp Guernsey, April 20, 2012. Photo by Master Sgt. Paul Mann

Crews prepare to load the new MAFFS II unit into a C-130 at Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Crews load the replacement paratroop door through which the retardant will pass when it exits the C-130 in 2011 before deployment to assist with wildfires in Texas.

Crews install the replacement door for the MAFFS II in 2011 before deployment to assist with wildfires in Texas. Photo by Master Sgt. Paul Mann.

Two days before Neptune Aviation’s second P2V air tanker in two years had a hydraulic system failure and made an emergency landing, the company issued a press release saying they intend to phase out the 50 to 60 year old warbirds by 2021 and switch over to 11 jet-powered BAe-146 air tankers converted by Tronos, a Canadian company. Currently Neptune is leasing a BAe-146 from Tronos, and due to some inconsistenices during qualification testing for the Interagency Air Tanker Board last summer, was only granted temporary “interim” approval for the aircraft to serve as an air tanker for federal agencies.

Here is the text from Neptune’s press release:

===============================================================

“Missoula, MT, April 21, 2012

Neptune Aviation Services has tapped seven pilots for training on the new-generation air tanker currently fly the company’s nine remaining 1950s vintage P2V Neptune air tankers, originally built for the US Navy as maritime patrol aircraft. Neptune Aviation Services expects to phase out the last ones by 2021, with11 BAe 146s, slated for delivery to the operator prior to that time.

“Selection for the initial cadre was based upon the capability of the pilots to upgrade to the BAe 146′s advanced cockpit,” said Dan Snyder, Neptune Aviation Services President. “However, as the P2Vs are retired, all of our other pilots will be given the opportunity to transition to the BAe 146.” Currently, there are 31 pilots employed by the company specifically for its air tanker operation.

Pilot training, Snyder explained, includes 10 days of ground school in Missoula, staffed by former BAe 146 airline pilots and training instructors who have been retained on contract. From there, the trainees will undergo approximately 25 hours of simulator-based flight instruction at the Oxford Training Academy in Manchester, UK. An additional six hours of instruction, including the check ride, is to be done in the airplane.

The modified BAe 146s have been undergoing passenger to tanker conversions by Prince Edward Island (Canada)-based Tronos Jet, which is equipping each of the four-engine jets with a 3,000 gallon capacity internal tank. The fire retardant within the tank will be dropped through belly-positioned doors.

One modified aircraft has been operated by Neptune Aviation Services since October 2011, under US Forest Service (USFS) interim approval, and flown by two of the company’s supervisory pilots The company expects to take delivery of two more converted tankers by the start of the 2012 fire season.

“Given our experience with the tanker to date, we have learned its strengths and weaknesses and made appropriate changes, including some critical improvements to the tanking system,” Snyder reported. He pointed out that the BAe 146 was chosen after more than a decade of research to identify the best P2V replacement.

“The BAe 146 was selected because it is turbine driven, it can carry the fire retardant quantity the USFS requires, and it has favorable performance characteristics. For example, it can fly slowly enough to interface with other aircraft, including lead planes and helicopters, in the fire traffic area, and it can operate out of all existing US Forest Service bases. It also has favorable acquisition costs and economics, in terms of operations and maintenance.”

According to Snyder, all of the aircraft being acquired, through purchase or lease, have been retired from airline service, and are relatively low cycle. “The airframes are generally at their mid-life point,” he said. “We are anticipating at least 20 years of service.” “