A couple of weeks ago the Coulson Group arranged to take some airborne photos of their three C-130 air tankers, including the one that just became operational at the end of April. Fire Aviation has more of the pictures.
While Coulson’s three C-130-type air tankers were all together in Reno last month for carding by the U.S. Forest Service and pilot training the company took the opportunity to grab some photos of the aircraft while they were flying in formation.
They are all variants of Lockheed’s C-130 platform — Tanker 131 is a C-130Q while Tankers 132 and 133 are L-382G’s. Tanker 133, the newest addition to the fleet, just became operational a couple of weeks ago.
Scroll down to see how Dan Megna got the photos.
To take the photos Coulson rented an OV-10 that conveniently has a small compartment in the rear. Professional photographer Dan Megna sat in that tiny space to get the shots.
Coulson Aviation distributed this photo today of their three C-130-type air tankers lined up at Reno for “USFS carding”. As we reported on April 10, they introduced their third tanker this month, another L-382G. They also have a C-130Q. The tanker numbers when used in the USA are 131, 132, and 133.
At the end of this month the company will be conducting their annual pilot training.
And, on another subject, can you find the two air tankers in the photo below that was taken by the RAAF at the Avalon Air Show in Australia around March 4?
Avalon Air Show. RAAF photo.Here is a gallery of photos from the Modular Airborne FireFighting System annual training and recertification at Boise in April, 2017. We will add more photos as the training continues. It was last updated on April 20, 2017.
If there is a caption, it will be at the upper-left.
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Above: MAFFS parked on the ramp at Boise, April 20, 2017, for their annual training.
This is the second year in a row that all four military bases that operate C-130 aircraft with Modular Airborne FireFighting Systems (MAFFS) have assembled in one place to conduct their annual training and certification. Today, Thursday, was all indoor ground school, held in the theater at the Idaho National Guard facility at Gowen Field in Boise.
On Friday their plans are to fly the aircraft and make water drops in the Boise National Forest.
Rusty, a lead plane pilot, leads MAFFS airmen in a classroom setting, April 20, 2017.Each of the four bases sent two MAFFS-equipped C-130’s plus at least one additional C-130 with support equipment. The MAFFS bases are at Reno, Colorado Springs, Cheyenne, and Channel Islands (in southern California). Reno, last year and this year, has had just one MAFFS unit available, since the U.S. Forest Service HC-130H has been using one of the eight that are available, but this week Reno will be training with two. The USFS HC-130H is parked across the runway from the National Guard side of the airport at the National Interagency Fire Center. We’ll check, but it may have hauled the MAFFS up to Boise so that Reno could use it.
We will have much more about the MAFFS training later this week, with more photos and hopefully, interviews.
Above: A MAFFS II recently acquired by the Colombian Air Force is installed in one of their C-130H aircraft.
In the video below, Bradford Beck, the President and COO of United Aeronautical, describes the Modular Airborne FireFighting System (MAFFS II) that his company recently manufactured and sold to the Colombian Air Force. It was recorded in Villavicencio, Colombia.
More information and a photo gallery about the Colombian MAFFS.
Fasten your seatbelts! Incredible video of #NSWRFS #aviation in action at Wuuluman bush fire near Wellington. #avgeek pic.twitter.com/Cg7XDVI5Rp
— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) January 15, 2017
“Our job is to keep small fires small.”
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The air tanker will begin an 84-day contract in Victoria on December 15.
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Airmen of the North Carolina Air National Guard load the Modular Airborne FireFighting System into a C-130 belonging to the Nevada Air National Guard. Photo September 7, 2016 by 1st Lt Monica Ebert.Earlier this month in Charlotte the 145th Airlift Wing of the North Carolina Air National Guard finalized the transfer of their Modular Airborne FireFighting System (MAFFS) mission to the Nevada Air National Guard’s 152nd Airlift Wing. On September 7 the equipment was loaded into a C-130 from Nevada Air National Guard and arrived at Reno the next day.
The previous week the Nevada Airlift Wing had completed its first training activation operating the U.S. Forest Service’s MAFFS. The other MAFFS units are at Cheyenne, Colorado Springs, and Channel Islands in California.
Airmen of the North Carolina Air National Guard load the door to the Modular Airborne FireFighting System into a C-130 belonging to the Nevada Air National Guard. Photo September 7, 2016 by 1st Lt Monica Ebert.The USFS has 8 MAFFS units that can be slipped into a C-130 in just a few hours, converting it to a 3,000-gallon air tanker. Usually two of the units are at each of the four bases, but one is now being temporarily used in an HC-130H that was transferred from the Coast Guard to the USFS.
Airmen of the North Carolina Air National Guard load the Modular Airborne FireFighting System into a C-130 belonging to the Nevada Air National Guard. Photo September 7, 2016 by 1st Lt Monica Ebert.
The first 152nd C-130 equipped with U.S. Forest Service’s Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System arrived September 8, 2016, at the Nevada Air National Guard Base in Reno. The unit completed its first fire fighting mission as co-pilots augmented with the Air Expeditionary Group the previous week. The 152nd was selected to become the new MAFFS unit in April.