The first drops from the 737 air tanker

air tanker 137 737 fire

Above: One of the first test drops by a 737 air tanker, Coulson’s T-137. Photo by Jeremy Ulloa.

On July 13 the 737 that Coulson Aviation has been converting into an air tanker made its first drops. In this case it was a series of water drops by Tanker 137 while flying out of San Bernardino, California.

Britt Coulson said, “The 4,000 USG RADS-XXL/2 performed perfectly as did the airplane. Our flight crew couldn’t have been happier with the handling characteristics and our split tank worked as designed with no CG shift during the drop.”

Next week they will finish flight testing with the FAA, and will soon begin static tests of the tank system. They are working with the Forest Service to schedule the grid test.

Mr. Coulson expects Tanker 137 will be ready to fight fire in August.

air tanker 137 737 fire
T-137. Photo by Jeremy Ulloa.
air tanker 137 737 fire
One of the first test drops by a 737 air tanker, Coulson’s T-137. Photo by Britt Coulson..

737 air tanker undergoing FAA testing

(Originally published at 3:47 p.m. MDT June 17, 2018)

One of Coulson’s recently converted 737’s, Tanker 137, is in San Bernardino for certification testing by the FAA.

****

(UPDATED at 1:38 p.m. MDT June 21, 2018)

Coulson may have seen Donn’s question about the loading ports. Here is what they posted on Facebook June 20:

Firefighting aircraft on Twitter

Isaac notified us about these videos and photos. Thanks Isaac!