Tanker 132 begins contract in Australia


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Above: Air Tanker 132 makes a practice drop in New South Wales. Photo by Sgt. Brett Sherriff, Royal Australian Air Force.

Coulson’s Air Tanker 132 started its contract with New South Wales on September 6, helping to provide air support for wildland firefighters in Australia. This is the second year in a row that the L-382G, a variant of the C-130 platform, has worked down under during their summer bushfire season.

air tanker 132 c-130
Air Tanker 132 is reintroduced to the media in New South Wales, Australia.

The aircraft will be based at the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base at Richmond (map) . Known as “Thor” in Australia, the 4,000-gallon air tanker will be operated under contract to the NSW Government. In November it will be joined at Richmond by a very large air tanker, with the two aircraft being part of a two-year trial by the NSW Rural Fire Service.

Last year one of 10 Tanker Air Carrier’s DC-10 very large air tankers worked in NSW alongside Thor. Rick Hatton, President and CEO of the company said they will again have a DC-10 in Richmond to start their contract on November 1. The end date is flexible depending the bushfire conditions, but he expects to have it there through February, 2017.

On launching from RAAF Base Richmond the tankers can reach any part of the state within an hour.

RAAF Base Richmond will provide aircraft parking and security, access to fuel and refuelling facilities, equipment storage, use of resources including water, aircrew office space, meals, and accommodation for up to 20 people. 

air tanker 132 c-130
Air Tanker 132 makes a practice drop in New South Wales. Photo by Sgt. Brett Sherriff, Royal Australian Air Force.

bushfire season outlook Australia 2016-2017

Contract awarded to install retardant tanks in Forest Service HC-130H air tankers

This article first appeared on Fire Aviation.

HC-130H paint design
This is the US Forest Service approved paint design that will be used on the seven HC-130H air tankers acquired from the Coast Guard.

After a solicitation process that dragged on for almost two years, the U.S. Air Force has awarded the contract to build and install retardant delivery systems for up to seven of the seven HC-130H aircraft that are being transferred from the Coast Guard to the U.S. Forest Service. 

The Coulson Group announced today that they received the contract. In one sense this is not unexpected because the company has installed and successfully operated two similar systems in C-130s — Tanker 131 and Tanker 132. In another sense, it is a surprise after the Government Accountability Office denied the company’s protest of the terms of the request for proposals in August of 2015.

C-130 retardant tank unload
Coulson’s retardant tank being removed or installed in one of their air tankers, T-131, in 2013. Coulson photo.

“We are excited to have the opportunity to work with the United States Air Force to provide them with state of the art retardant aerial delivery systems (RADS) for their fleet of C-130s,” says Wayne Coulson, CEO and President of Coulson Aviation.

The 3,800-gallon retardant system will be gravity-based with retardant tanks that can be quickly removed, making it possible for the air tankers to also haul cargo or passengers.

One of the seven HC-130H aircraft began working out of McClellan Air Field near Sacramento last summer. Since it did not have a permanent retardant tank it borrowed one of the Forest Service’s eight Modular Airborne FireFighting Systems (MAFFS) that can be inserted into the cargo hold of a military C-130 to provide a surge capacity of air tankers during a time of heavy wildfire activity. The MAFFS pump the 3,000 gallons of retardant out of a pipe through the door using compressed air, rather than letting it drop out of the belly with the assistance of gravity as is done with conventional air tankers.

The Air Force is responsible for the retrofitting and performing the heavy maintenance that must be completed before the seven HC-130Hs are finally turned over to the USFS over the next three years. This contract is for the installation of one trial “kit”, one verification kit, and three production kits. There is an option for the installation of two additional production kits.

Coulson Aviation has 25 years of experience in aerial fire suppression and they operate both Type 1 helicopters and large fixed wing air tankers. Coulson is one of the few companies to hold multi-country aerial firefighting contracts, including Canada, the United States, and Australia.

A design concept for a C-130 with floats

Tigerfish Aviation has design sketches for a retractable float system that they say can be retrofitted for a variety of aircraft, including military transports. They have an illustration of a C-130J outfitted with floats. We’re not sure how serious Tigerfish is with this idea, but it’s interesting to picture a C-130 air tanker landing on a lake, or scooping water to refill the tank.

Here is an excerpt from the company’s website:

Drag reduction has been one of the key development aims in the design of transport aircraft. Seaplanes are inheritably of high drag due to their boat-like shape and exposed floats

Tigerfish has sought to reduce the drag of floatplanes by retracting and morphing the floats into a streamline shape below the fuselage. This reduces the drag by

  • Concealing the boat-like shapes from the airstream.
  • Reducing the surface area exposed to the airstream.
retractable floats
From Tigerfish Aviation
retractable floats
From Tigerfish Aviation

This is not the first time floats on a C-130 has been proposed. FoxTrotAlpha had an article in July of 2015.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Leo.

HC-130H news: Tanker 118 to be replaced by Tanker 116 at McClellan this year

T-110 HC-130H air tanker

Above: Tanker 118, an HC-130H, at McClellan Airfield. Photo by Jon Wright, July 25, 2015.

The induction, modification, and maintenance program for the seven Coast Guard HC-130H aircraft into the U.S. Forest Service’s government-owned air tanker fleet is requiring some shuffling of the planes. In 2015 Tanker 118 (Coast Guard #1721) operated as an air tanker out of McClellan Airfield. It did not have a conventional gravity-based retardant tank installed yet so it was temporarily outfitted with one of the eight Modular Airborne FireFighting Systems (MAFFS) that are normally only used by military C-130s conscripted into an air tanker role during periods of high wildfire activity.

T-118 will be going through programmed depot maintenance (PDM) at the Coast Guard facility at Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Replacing it during the 2016 fire season will be Tanker 116 (Coast Guard #1708) after its PDM is complete at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia. Like its predecessor, it will use a MAFFS unit, rather than a gravity tank, and will be based at McClellan Airfield at the facility the USFS likes to call “Forest Service Air Station McClellan”.

One of the obvious differences between T-118 last year and T-116 this year will be the freshly applied USFS approved livery. The HC-130Hs are being painted as they go through PDM.

C-130 paint design Forest Service
The paint design that has been approved by the Forest Service for the seven C-130s that are being transferred from the Coast Guard to the Forest Service.

The plan is for all seven of the HC-130Hs to have a gravity-based retardant delivery system. Most of the maintenance and retrofitting of the aircraft, including arranging for the installation of the retardant system, is being done by the Air Force on their own schedule. There is no indication, however, that their September 17, 2014 solicitation for the retardant tanks has been awarded, after 18 months.

Jennifer Jones, a spokesperson for the USFS, told us the schedule calls for the programmed depot maintenance and the installation of the retardant systems to occur on the seven aircraft between 2016 and 2020. The delivery of the first HC-130H with a new retardant delivery system is expected in late 2017 or early 2018 with incremental delivery of the remaining aircraft through 2019.

North American firefighting aircraft in Australia beginning to head back home

As the bushfire season winds down in Australia the large and very large air tankers are beginning to migrate back north to North America to prepare for the fire season back home. The DC-10, Tanker 910, arrived at Albuquerque at 8 p.m. Friday night after flying over 8,500 miles from Melbourne, stopping in Pago Pago and Honolulu on the way.

Two of the DC-10s will be on exclusive use contracts with the U.S. Forest Service this summer; one starts in late April and another in early May.

Tanker 910 DC-10 fire
The photo, supplied by 10 Tanker, shows Tanker 910, a DC-10, at Albuquerque Friday night after returning from a deployment in Australia. It could be a little blurry because the crew and aircraft may have been exhausted after flying for over 8,500 miles from Melbourne.

Conair’s Tanker 162 (an RJ85) and Coulson’s two C-130s (T-131 and T-132) are expected to depart around March 1. Britt Coulson said their two S-61 helicopters (photos) have both been extended for another week and a half and may get extensions beyond that if it continues to be hot.

One of our readers alerted us to the photo below that was taken February 28 when Tanker 910 stopped in Hawaii on the way back from Melbourne.

Air tankers in Victoria

air tanker 162 at avalon, vic

Above: Conair’s Tanker 162, an RJ85 at Avalon Airport, Victoria, Australia.

The Country Fire Authority currently has one very large and three large air tankers on contract during their summer bushfire season working out of Avalon Airport near Melbourne, Australia (map). The down under fire season will likely be winding down soon and the aircraft will migrate back to North America.

In recent weeks the air tankers were deployed across the Bass Strait to Tasmania. This may have been the first time large aerial firefighting assets were used in the state. The Fire Service felt it was necessary to warn the residents to “not be alarmed” when they saw the air tankers “flying a bit low over the coast”.

air tanker 910 DC-10
10 Tanker’s T-910, a DC-10, at Avalon, Victoria.
air tanker 131 at Avalon
Coulson’s Tanker 131, a C-130 (known as T-390 in Victoria) at Avalon, Victoria.
air tanker 132 at Avalon
Coulson’s Tanker 132, a C-130, at Avalon, Victoria.
Bird Dogs Avalon
Bird Dogs at Avalon Airport, Victoria.
fire Retardant plant Avalon
The fire retardant mixing plant at Avalon, Victoria.

Photos provided by the Country Fire Authority, Victoria.

A bagpiping tribute to the large air tankers at Avalon

Bagpiper at Avalon air tanker base

It must have been a slow day at the air tanker base at the Avalon Airport (map) near Melbourne, New South Wales, Australia. Yes, in the screen grab above that is Phos-Chek loader Henry Ring playing a bagpipe while standing in the door of Conair’s RJ85.

Several large air tankers from North America have been on contract with the states of New South Wales and Victoria during their 2015/2016 summer bushfire season and have been staged at Avalon recently. In the video, uploaded to YouTube by Steve Forbes, you’ll see the inside and outside of the RJ85, one of 10 Tanker’s DC-10s, and at least one of the two Coulson C-130s, plus some bird dogs or lead planes.

The RJ-85 has a unique way of waving at the camera.

Mr. Forbes described the video:

In 2015/16 many air and ground personnel including aviation industry professionals, fire agency staff & volunteers and contract ground crews worked hard everyday of the Australian summer making sure the Large (and very large) Air tankers could be at the ready to protect the Australian communities. This is a tribute to these crews.

I hope you like the sound of a bagpipe.

Large air tankers assisting with bushfires in Tasmania

DC-10 Tasmania fire
A DC-10 air tanker working a fire in Tasmania February 12, 2016. Tasmania Fire Service photo.

Bushfires that have been raging across northwest Tasmania for several weeks are still causing great concern in the island state south of Australia.

Three air tankers from North America that have been working in Australia during their summer bushfire season have been recently deployed to Tasmania, including a DC-10, Avro RJ85, and a C-130. This may be the first time large aerial firefighting assets have been used in the state. The Fire Service felt it was necessary to warn the residents to “not be alarmed” when they saw the air tankers “flying a bit low over the coast”.

In recent days some of the air tankers have departed from Avalon, near Melborne, and returned there after dropping retardant. Last month a portable retardant base was set up in northeast Tasmania at Launceston.

The video below shows the DC-10 dropping retardant out ahead of a fire in Tasmania. It is courtesy of Wayne Rigg of the Country Fire Authority.

c-130 air tanker Tasmania
A C-130 air tanker working a fire in Tasmania February 12, 2016. Tasmania Fire Service photo.
air tanker Tasmania
An air tanker working a fire in Tasmania February 12, 2016. Tasmania Fire Service photo.
large air tankers in Australia
The National Aerial Firefighting Centre created this poster illustrating the North American Air Tankers that are working in Australia during their 2015/2016 bushfire season.

Coulson’s Air Tanker 132, an L-382G, first began helping the Tasmanians January 26 and was reloading at the temporary fire retardant base installed in Launceston.

T-132 in Tasmania

More information about the bushfires in Tasmania is at Wildfire Today.

“Thor” builds retardant line in Australia

Known in the United States as Air Tanker 132 and down under as “Thor”, it is seen in this video posted by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service building retardant line out ahead of the Terraborra North Fire in the Hawkesbury local government area.

The video was published December 13, 2015.

Tanker 131 en route to Australia

T-131 C-130Q
Tanker 131, a C-130Q. Photo November 23 in Edmonton by Matt Ralph.

Air Tanker 131 (N130FF), Coulson’s C-130Q, arrived in Hawaii on Thursday after completing the first leg of its trip to Victoria, Australia. It is under contract with Emergency Management Victoria for their summer bushfire season, along with Conair’s Tanker 162, an RJ85, (N355AC).

Two other air tankers are already down under working for New South Wales, T-910 (N612AX) a DC-10 operated by 10 Tanker Air Carrier, and Coulson’s Tanker 132, an L-382G (N405LC) which is a civilian stretched version of a C-130.

Tanker 131 just received a new retardant tank and a redesigned “Next Gen Smart Controller” to operate the retardant delivery system.

air tanker 131 retardant tank
The new retardant tank for Tanker 131 is on the right. The original tank is on the left. Photo by Matt Ralph.

The newer tank holds about 500 gallons more than the original tank and should enable an average retardant load of 4,200 USG and a maximum capacity of about 4,500 USG, according to Britt Counson. Tanker 132, an L-382G, also has the new version of the tank system.