Tanker 910 at Rapid City

Tanker 910
Tanker 910 lands at Rapid City, April 23, 2013.
Tanker 910 lands at Rapid City

One of the DC-10’s, Tanker 910, visited Rapid City today. On the way back from scheduled maintenance in Michigan, they still have two more stops scheduled for Wednesday, April 24, before they head home to California. These times are approximate and subject to change.

  • Billings, Montana, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
  • Missoula, Montana, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

These photos were taken by Bill Gabbert. Click on them to enlarge.

DC-10 air tanker

 

Tanker 910

Tanker 910 Tanker 910

 

<a href="https://wildfiretoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Tanker-910-RAP-0456.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-28078" alt="Tanker 910" src="https://wildfiretoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Tanker-910-RAP-002-cropped-smaller.jpg" width="800" height="223" /></a>
Down in the “basement” of the DC-10, below where the passengers used to sit, is the hydraulic mechanism that operates the doors on the retardant tanks.

<a href="https://wildfiretoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Tanker-910-RAP-0456.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-28078" alt="Tanker 910" src="https://wildfiretoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Tanker-910-RAP-002-cropped-smaller.jpg" width="800" height="223" /></a>

Tanker 910 flight crew
The Crew on Tanker 910. L to R: Flight Engineer Brad Pace, Captain Kevin Hopf, and Captain Jack Maxey

 

 A couple of these photos are available to purchase.

Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire. Google+

9 thoughts on “Tanker 910 at Rapid City”

  1. Nice shots Bill. Glad you got to see T910 up close & personal and also meet her crew……….That’s Brad, Kevin & Jack from L to R 😉

  2. I would hate to land another tanker next to that thing. I can hear it now in an Australian accent, “That’s not a tanker mate, THIS is a tanker!”

  4. such an awesome plane have enjoyed many yrs working with both airtankers in calif.
    and the crews are truly awesome to be around

  5. such an awesome plane have enjoyed many yrs working with both airtankers in calif.
    and the crews are truly awesome to be around. looking forward to another season with you guys

  6. The Black Hills (Rapid City) would be a great location for Tanker 910 to be station this summer. Don’t let the snow fool you. Mother Nature is just waiting.

  7. Beeeautiful ship

    Ever wonder why these DC10 are so “expensive” per hour?

    I don’t!! Used to work on them…Like the DC4 through 7 series…built old 1960’s truck tough…. a great ship

    Why did so many airlines operate them in the past? Now it has a chance to pay it forward to the ground firefighter…

    But wait…where are the Exclusive Use and CWN contracts??

    Only expensive to contracting office chair borne number crunchers

    About as expensive as PROPER forest management

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