The 747 air tanker made two free drops on the Railbelt complex in Alaska on Friday. Evergreen, who built and operates the “Supertanker”, made the drops at no cost to Fairbanks Area Forestry in an effort to demonstrate the capabilities of the aircraft. They made two drops, dispensing a total of 20,000 gallons of retardant.
This was the first time the aircraft has dropped on a live fire in North America. Last week they made a similar demonstration drop on a fire in Spain, which was the first time they had dropped on an actual fire.
In spite of the 747 drops, the Railbelt complex grew by 67,000 acres on Friday, for a new total of 443,447 burned acres.
Smokejumpers, hand crews, and hot shot crews are protecting 226 cabins that are threatened along the Tanana, Teklanika, Toklat and Kantishna Rivers. On Friday smokejumpers delivered an all terrain vehicle by paracargo to a crew at Totek Lake.
Smoke from fires in Alaska on Friday caused two Northwest Airlines flights scheduled to land in Fairbanks to be diverted to Anchorage.
Evergreen continues their road trip, uh, air trip, with the 20,000-gallon 747 air tanker they call a “Supertanker”. On July 10 they were in Sacramento. Last week they were in France, Germany, and Spain where they made their first ever drop on a real fire during a demonstration in Spain. And on Tuesday they were in Edmonton, Canada and Fairbanks, Alaska.
The company will donate the services of the 747 today, making a drop on the Railbelt Complex of fires, which has burned 340,000 acres 12 miles northwest of Nenana, Alaska. This will be the first drop on a real fire in the United States for the aircraft.
Sam White of Evergreen points out the four nozzles that dispense retardant. Photos by Eric EngmanThe pressurized retardant tanks on the 747 Supertanker. The retardant is forced out by compressed air, much like on the MAFF C-130 air tankers.
And speaking of very large air tankers (VLAT), in a cost-saving move, CalFire recently downgraded their exclusive use agreement for one of the DC-10 air tankers (tanker 910) to a Call When Needed (CWN) agreement, meaning they will only pay for the air tanker when and if they use it. They still have CWN agreements for the second DC-10 operated by 10 Tanker Air Carrier, Tanker 911 and the 747 air tanker.
The U.S. Forest Service issued a solicitation for VLAT’s on June 25. We have not heard if they have awarded any contracts through this process.
Evergreen's 747 "Supertanker" releases about 20,000 gallons of water at the Edmonton International Airport on Tuesday. Photo: Bruce Edwards, Edmonton Journal
Evergreen is actively marketing their 20,000 gallon 747 air tanker. On Tuesday they put on another demonstration, this time at the Edmonton International Airport in Canada, making a drop along runway 02/20.
Evergreen is hoping to obtain an exclusive contract for the aircraft at $3 million a month. This will be a tough sell in Canada, where their strategy is small and nimble air tankers. In addition, the 747 could not be accommodated at any of the 14 air tanker bases in Alberta.
The 747 air tanker operated by Evergreen has signed a Call When Needed (CWN) contract with CalFire, confirming what one of our readers said in a comment on Wildfire Today on June 10.
According to a story in the Press-Enterprise:
Cal Fire will pay Evergreen International Aviation Inc. of McMinnville, Ore., $29,500 an hour, plus the cost of fuel, with a minimum of four hours per day guaranteed any day the plane is used. The contract calls for paying for a minimum of 10 days at a cost of $1.183 million, regardless of whether the plane is used.
The 747 carries about 20,000 gallons of retardant which is six to seven times more than a conventional large air tanker.
The U. S. Forest Service issued a solicitation for “Very Large Airtankers (VLAT)” on June 25, specifying that the minimum acceptable payload would be 11,000 gallons of mixed retardant. The solicitation is scheduled to be archived on July 10 and may not be available after that date. FBODaily may have some information available after July 10.
It is our understanding that CalFire has an exclusive use contract with one of the 12,000 gallon DC-10 air tankers operated by 10 Tanker Air Carrier, Tanker 910, and has a CWN contract with their second DC-10, Tanker 911.
The 747 air tanker operated by Evergreen has received approval from the Interagency Air Tanker Board. This approval is required before an air tanker can be under contract for federal land management agencies. The aircraft also has a Supplemental Type Certificate from the FAA for the modifications that were done to convert it into an air tanker.
The 747 can carry more than 20,000 of retardant and can fly at 600 mph. As far as we know, Evergreen does not have any contracts with any fire or land management agencies yet that would enable its use on fires.
Wildfire Today reported on March 17 that the California Legislative Analyst’s Office recommended that CalFire eliminate funding for the DC-10 “super tanker” due to budget problems in the state. The DC-10 is operated by 10 Tanker Air Carrier out of Victorville, California and can carry 12,000 gallons.
Wildfire Today has learned Evergreen’s 747 “Supertanker” still does not have an air tanker contract with any wildland fire agency. The aircraft is sitting at Marana, Arizona after undergoing some modifications and tests. One change they recently made was to replace the internal retardant tanks, requiring additional testing. The new retardant tanks hold 20,500 gallons.
The system operates much like the military C-130 air tankers, in that it uses tanks with compressed air to pump the retardant out of the retardant tanks. The retardant flows out of nozzles, rather than doors like are used on gravity-based tank systems. Like the military C-130’s, the air tanks must be pressurized from ground-based air compressors when the aircraft lands to reload with retardant.
Evergreen now has three important approvals which are necessary in order to seek a contract so the 747 can be used on fires: FAA’s Supplemental Type Certificate, Interagency Tanker Board approval, and an FAA Operating Certificate.
The aircraft will go through more drop testing with the U.S. Forest Service in late February or March. There is still a chance that it could be signed up with either the USFS or CalFire in time to be used on fires in the summer of 2009.
We’ve seen some internet posts and letters to the editor that claim a fleet of Supertankers would solve our wildland fire problem. One, for example, supposedly written by a retired firefighter from Hesperia, CA says that if we had seven Supertankers, we could:
“…stop all runaway wildfires in one or two days each, and we could eliminate at least 80% of California’s forest fire agencies…..”
That is ridiculous, of course. This would be just another tool in the firefighter’s tool box, which in certain specific conditions could very useful. But in very rugged terrain or strong winds, its use would be of limited, if any, value. In very strong winds, no air tanker can be effective. Air tankers, to have a long-lasting effect on a fire, must have ground forces to follow up and construct fireline. Air tankers don’t put out fires–firefighters do.
HERE is a link to a pretty good 2-minute video made by KABC-TV in 2007 about the 747 Supertanker.
