Tracking the Martin Mars

The 7,200-gallon Martin Mars flying boat air tanker has been pretty busy for the last 10 days, working on several fires in southern California. On Thursday the aircraft made five or six drops on the Bluff fire near Banning.

The map below shows the tracks of the ship as its location was updated every two minutes. The location was also recorded with a larger icon when it filled the tank by “scooping” at Diamond Valley Lake and when it opened and closed the drop doors over the fire.

Courtesy of Coulson Flying TankersThe elapsed time between takeoff and landing at Lake Elsinore was three hours and seven minutes.

I am making some guesses here, but if it was carrying only 5,500 gallons and made 5 drops, it delivered about 9,000 gallons an hour for about 27,000 gallons total over the 3 hour period.

The Bluff fire burned 125 acres before it was stopped by firefighters, four air tankers, and three helicopters. It destroyed one outbuilding but no homes.

Cockpit cam on an air tanker and Sky Crane

Firegeezer has some cool video that was shot by cameras installed in a CL-415 Super Scooper and an Erickson Sky Crane Aircrane helicopter. Check it out HERE. Be sure and click the “Full screen view” button.

The narrator says the CL-415 mixes “flame retardant” into the water. It injects Class A foam into the water, not “flame retardant”. 

Firegeezer also has a link to a video about some military tanks that have been converted to fire trucks. The simulated “radio traffic” is fun to listen to. And the tanks could be fun to play with.

 

Video of Martin Mars dropping on Mt. Wilson

Here is video of the 7,200-gallon Martin Mars air tanker dropping on Mt. Wilson, on the Station fire near Los Angeles.

As we reported yesterday, the Martin Mars dropped three times on Mt. Wilson, dropping Thermo-Gel each time, for a total of 14,000 gallons.

Lone Ranger told us about THIS link which has the history of this 64-year old aircraft.

Martin Mars drops 64,000 gallons on two fires

The Martin Mars 7,200-gallon air tanker, air tanker 223, has been somewhat busy over the last few days, but not as busy as the company would like, apparently. Someone on Twitter who calls themselves “HawaiiMars” and knows a lot about the company complains each day that they do not have an assignment. For example:

  • Sept. 1 at 12:22 a.m. (referring to August 31): “The Mars sat on the Lake all day and didn’t fly one mission, suprising with all the fires burning”
  • Sept. 1 at 12:26 p.m.: “Mars still sitting on Lake Elsinore not flying”
  • Sept. 1 at 1:16 p.m.: “Mars still not flying”
  • Sept. 1 at 3:22 p.m.: “Fires Still Burning, Mars still Sitting On The Lake”

But in spite of the whining, since August 15 they have worked on the La Brea, Cottonwood, Oak Glen, and Station fires. In 4.5 hours on the initial attack of the Oak Glen fire on August 30 they made 9 drops for a total of 50,000 gallons. That is a shitload of water from one air tanker in 4.5 hours. Most likely they mixed Class A foam concentrate or Thermo-Gel with the water.

Yesterday on the Station fire they made three drops of Thermo-Gel for a total of 14,000 gallons.

Apparently they have only been able to carry about 4,600 to 5,500 gallons the last few days, due to the altitude of the fires and the density-altitude. Mt. Wilson is at 5,700 feet.

Martin Mars "sitting" at Lake Elsinore, 2008. Photo: bamboowomen.com

The aircraft is versatile, in that it can drop plain water scooped from a lake, water with Class A foam, or water mixed with gel concentrate like it dropped on Mt. Wilson on Tuesday. If a lake is close that they can use for scooping, the aircraft can put a lot of liquid on a fire in a hurry. Today “HawaiiMars” claimed:

“The Hawaii is one of the least expensive tankers, our Daily Cost Per Gallon averages less then $2.00 per gallon delievered”

747 air tanker makes first drop on live fire in lower 48 states

Evergreen’s 747 “Supertanker” made its first drop on a live fire in the lower 48 states today. Flying out of McClellan near Sacramento it made at least two drops on the Station fire. It split its 20,000 gallon capacity into two separate drops of about 10,000 gallons each, without having to make the 55-minute one-way return trip to McClellan to reload.

The Fox TV station out of Los Angeles got two of the drops on tape. Click on the image below to play the video. (UPDATE: the video is no longer available)

The plane may also have dropped earlier in the day on a fire near Yucaipa, southeast of Los Angeles.

As Wildfire Today reported on July 30, the 747 made its first drop on a live fire in Spain in mid-July. The second fire it dropped on was the Railbelt Complex in Alaska on July 31. If it also dropped on the Yucaipa fire earlier today, then the Station fire was the fourth fire it has dropped on.

Here are a couple of screen grabs from today’s video.

Below is the photo of the 747 on the Railbelt Complex in Alaska on July 31 that we published on August 1.

One of the best fire photos ever

A P3 Orion drops on the Station fire Aug. 30 near Acton, California. Photo: Dan Steinberg

This photo is one of the best fire photos I have ever seen. When I first saw it, I thought it was a great photo with plenty going on–the two fire vehicles, massive nearby flames, the house, and the firefighters–and then noticed the air tanker making a drop between the house and the intense flames. Holy Crap! What a photo!

This one is pretty impressive too, of the Station fire near Los Angeles:

Photo: Nick Ut