This year will likely be the farewell tour for P2V air tankers

Miss South Dakota

Above: A P2V air tanker on final approach at Redding, California, August 7, 2014. Photo by Bill Gabbert.

(Updated at 8:50 a.m. MST January 12, 2016)

The U.S. Forest Service expects to issue a new round of Exclusive Use and Call When Needed air tanker contracts in the “near future”. Jennifer Jones, a spokesperson for the agency, said they plan to solicit proposals for Next Generation 3.0 Exclusive Use and 2.0 Call When Needed air tankers. Next Generation 3.0 is intended for operations in 2018 and Call When Needed 2.0 is for this fire season.

It is very unusual for the USFS to begin a contracting process more than a year before the expected mandatory availability period (MAP). In recent years they have attempted to award the contracts only a few months before the aircraft are needed to begin work. The first Next Gen contract, V1.0, was awarded 550 days after being advertised.

In 2015 we wrote:

The USFS should get their [stuff] together and advertise the solicitation, not the Request for Information, at least one year before the mandatory availability period. Top quality air tankers, crews, and maintenance personnel can’t be magically produced out of thin air.

So this Next Gen 3.0 being advertised about 14 months before the expected MAP is a huge step in the right direction — but only if it takes much less than 550 days to make the awards.

The current “Legacy” Exclusive Use contract issued in March, 2013 under which seven air tankers operated by Neptune Aviation are working includes six P2Vs and one BAe-146. It expires at the end of this year. Dan Snyder, President of the company, told us that as far as he knows there are no plans for the USFS to issue any more contracts for which the Korean War vintage aircraft could qualify — the P2Vs can’t meet the specifications for Next Gen air tankers.

So this year will likely be the farewell tour for the P2Vs. Take pictures while you still can.

The last CWN and Exclusive Use contracts allowed very large air tankers such as the DC-10 to qualify. If that continues to be the case in this next round of contracts there could be a 747 and possibly more DC-10s in the sky. Currently two DC-10s are on Exclusive Use contracts and third on CWN worked for much of the 2016 fire season. Last week the 747 SuperTanker received interim approval from the Interagency Airtanker Board.

And speaking of Neptune, Mr. Snyder said that by the time the Next Gen 3.0 contract is in effect next year they will have a total of nine BAe-146s fully converted and available. The ninth one arrived at their facility in Missoula on November 20, 2016.

In addition to their air tanker business, Neptune Aviation has the contract for maintenance of the C-23B Sherpas the USFS received from the U.S. Army which includes modifying them to be eligible to be certificated as civilian SD3-60’s. Their work was at first done in Ogden, Utah, but has been relocated to Missoula.  Field Aviation in Oklahoma City received a contract for installing glass cockpits.

Neptune has completed the work on three Sherpas and has started on a fourth. They “woke up” or serviced an additional seven that were in long term storage to make them flyable again.  A timetable for converting those seven will be determined by the USFS, who expects to use the Sherpas to haul smokejumpers, personnel, and cargo.

Neptune completes their part of the conversion process on two USFS Sherpas

C-23B at Neptune

Photo above: C-23Bs being worked on by Neptune Aviation. Neptune photo.

Neptune Aviation has finished their portion of the process of converting two of the U.S. Forest Service C-23B Sherpa aircraft to civilian SD3-60 certificates. The contract Neptune received last year could involve converting another 13 of the former U.S. Army Sherpas. The USFS expects to use them to haul smokejumpers, personnel, and cargo.

Neptune’s project began at the USFS facility in Ogden, Utah where the first two aircraft were done, but is in the final stages of being moved to the company’s facilities in Missoula, Montana for the remaining aircraft.

Field Aviation in Oklahoma City began the process in October, 2015 of converting the analog cockpits in the Sherpas to glass flight decks using the Garmin G950 system.

USFS Sherpas to get glass flight decks

The analog instrumentation on the Sherpa aircraft the U.S. Forest Service obtained from the Army will be converted to glass flight decks using the Garmin G950 system. The work is being done by Field Aviation in Oklahoma City who started on the first one in October of last year.

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More details about Neptune’s Sherpa maintenance contract

KGVO radio, in the video above, interviewed Kevin Condit of Neptune Aviation about the contract the company received June 30, 2015 for maintenance on the C-23B Sherpa aircraft the U.S. Forest Service recently acquired. Up to 15 Sherpas were authorized to be transferred from the U.S. Army the the USFS by legislation signed in December of 2013. The agency expects to use them to haul smokejumpers, personnel, and cargo.

The specifications of the contract list a number of tasks that will be performed, including inspection, maintenance, preventive maintenance, rebuilding, and alteration of the Sherpas. Individual orders may include inspection, repair, painting, overhaul, rebuilding, testing, and servicing of airframes, engines, rotors, appliances, or component parts.

The work will be done primarily at Ogden, Utah, but may also be required at Missoula, Montana; Redmond, Oregon; Redding, California; and Tucson, Arizona.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Chris and Jared.

Not all Forest Service aircraft are FAA type certified

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. The aircraft will be maintained and operated according to Coast Guard guidelines, rather than Federal Aviation Administration procedures.

After the Governor of Montana wrote a strongly worded letter to the Secretary of Agriculture complaining about what he called “nonsensical restrictions” that prohibit the use of the state’s five UH-1H helicopters on U.S. Forest Service protected lands, we started looking into the root of the problem. The former military helicopters are actually owned by the USFS, and are leased to the state under the provisions of the Federal Excess Personal Property (FEPP) program which require that the helicopters be maintained in full compliance with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations. But the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) apparently does not hold FAA Airworthiness Certificates for the helicopters.

However, the USFS does not maintain all of their government owned aircraft in strict compliance with FAA regulations.

When we asked the USFS why the agency does not allow the non-certificated Montana aircraft to be used on USFS lands, Public Affairs Specialist Jennifer Jones, told us:

The Forest Service and the State of Montana Department have different standards and regulations to which each must adhere. Federal agencies, including the Forest Service, follow federal operational aviation safety standards that prescribe minimum specifications for the types of aircraft. These performance specifications provide an industry recognized margin of safety.

The USFS and the rules governing the loan of FEEP aircraft require the Montana helicopters to be maintained and modified according to FAA standards. Since these requirements are not met, the helicopters can’t be used on USFS fires.

Even though the USFS requires compliance with FAA procedures for their contracted air tankers and helicopters — and the state of Montana’s aircraft — the following USFS aircraft are not FAA certified, nor will they be:

  • Tanker 118, the HC-130H acquired from the Coast Guard that has been dropping retardant on fires this summer using a Modular Airborne FireFighting System (MAFFS). Neither the aircraft or the MAFFS have ever been certificated by the FAA.
  • The other six HC-130H aircraft that are being transferred from the Coast Guard to the USFS.
  • Four C-23A Sherpas used for smokejumping and hauling cargo.
  • Two AH-1 Cobra helicopters.
  • The eight MAFFS units used in military C-130s for fighting wildfires, and the modifications made to the C-130s so that they can use the MAFFS.

After the seven HC-130H aircraft are finished with their heavy maintenance and air tanker retrofitting, they will be owned by the USFS and maintained and operated by contractors. But they will not be brought under the FAA umbrella, according to Mrs. Jones:

The U.S. Forest Service’s firefighting mission is a Public Use mission in government owned aircraft. The Forest Service maintains airworthiness on Tanker 118 in accordance with Coast Guard maintenance standards, and the Coast Guard maintains engineering authority.

The Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve C-130s used to drop retardant with the MAFFS are maintained, modified, and operated according to military procedures.

Below is an excerpt from the USFS solicitation for the Next-generation V. 2.0 air tankers, issued November 26, 2014. From Section C:

Aircraft shall conform to an approved type design, be maintained and operated in accordance with Type Certificate (TC) requirements and applicable Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs). The aircraft shall be maintained in accordance with an FAA approved inspection program and must include an FAA approved Supplemental Structural Inspection Document (SSID), Structural Inspection Document (SID), or Instruction for Continued Airworthiness (ICA) for the airframe structure, as applicable with an ICA and Airworthiness Limitations Section (ALS) approved by the manufacturer (or equivalent) and the FAA for the airtanker role.

The USFS is not the only federal agency operating former military aircraft that bypasses the FAA. Others include the Coast Guard, NASA, and NOAA.

We asked a person in the commercial air tanker industry (who did not want their name disclosed) about the USFS not following FAA procedures:

The FAA governs the largest fleet of commercial aircraft in the world and are looked upon by foreign agencies as the golden standard. They can certify an A380 to pack 700 people but cannot certify a restricted category airtanker? The USFS is hiring a ton of ex-military people who all stick together with their other Air Force buddies and think the military is the be-all-end-all.

I think it would be fair to argue that the FAA knows much more about airtankers than the Air Force or the Coast Guard. The USCG maintenance program is not setup for an airtanker mission profile, nor is the USAF. I talked to the FAA guy who was on all the calls with the USFS about this program and he was in disbelief when they finally made the decision not to have any FAA involvement.

Forest Service awards contracts for conversion and maintenance of C-23B aircraft

C-23B Forest Service
C-23B. USFS photo.

(Originally published August 5, 2015; updated August 8, 2015)

Over the last year the U.S. Forest Service has awarded or solicited for at least five contracts for conversion and maintenance of the 15 C-23B aircraft that were authorized to be transferred from the U.S. Army to the USFS by legislation signed in December of 2013. The C-23B is the military version of the Shorts 360 (also known as a Sherpa and SD3-60). The USFS plans to use these aircraft to replace all of the USFS owned and contracted aircraft used for smokejumping except for two agency-owned DeHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otters that will be retained for backcountry operations.

These contracts include:

  • Development installation, and certification of an integrated flight deck and avionics system on 4 to 15 of the aircraft. Awarded July 29, 2015 to Field Aerospace.
  • Paint up to 15 of the aircraft. Awarded August 19, 2014 to Straube’s Aircraft Services.
  • Aviation maintenance services to support USFS fleet aircraft in Boise, Idaho. This also includes other aircraft: Aero Commander AC 500B, Beechcraft King Air Series, Bell 206BIII, Bell AH-1 Cobra, Cessna Citation 550 Bravo, Cessna C-185, Cessna TU206, DeHaviland DHC-2 Beaver, DeHaviland DHC-6 Twin Otter, Piper PA18-150, and Shorts C-23A Sherpa. Awarded December 15, 2014 to Turbo Air, Inc.
  • Avionics maintenance services to support for USFS fleet aircraft within a 150 nautical mile radius of Redmond, OR, Ogden, UT, and Missoula, MT. This also includes support for Aero Commander AC 500B, Beechcraft King Air Series, Bell 206BIII, Bell AH-1 Cobra, Cessna Citation 550 Bravo, Cessna C-185, Cessna TU206, DeHaviland DHC-2 Beaver, DeHaviland DHC-6 Twin Otter, Piper PA18-150, and Shorts C-23A Sherpa. There is no indication on fbo.gov that this has been awarded.
  • Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Support Services to include subscriptions to technical publications, maintenance technical support, engineering data, engineering technical support, and maintenance support. On July 9, 2015 a sole source award was given to Shorts Brothers, doing business as Bombardier Aerospace.
  • Maintenance services Contractor Logistics Services (CLS) in support of smokejumper operations, primarily in Ogden, Utah. Awarded to Neptune Aviation, June 30, 2015.

The agency will use a Government Owned-Mixed Operations (GO/MO) model for the C-23B fleet. Some will be operated by Forest Service pilots and others will be operated by private industry under contract. The aircraft will also be maintained under a GO/MO model with contractor and agency maintenance

USFS smokejumper aircraft replacement

C-23B Forest Service
C-23B. USFS photo.

The information below is from the U.S. Forest Service, and addresses the use of the 15 C-23B aircraft that were authorized to be transferred from the U.S. Army to the USFS by legislation signed in December of 2013. Unsurprisingly, the agency still has not made “final decisions” on what exactly they will do with the aircraft a year and a half later. I think we’ll coin a new phrase: Paralysis by Lack of Analysis.

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“Final decisions have not yet been made, but initial indications are that ten of the C-23B+/SD3-60s will be used to replace all of the Forest Service owned and contracted aircraft used for smokejumping except two agency-owned DeHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otters that will be retained for backcountry operations. Consequently, the future Forest Service smokejumper fleet will consist of two aircraft models – the C-23B+/SD3-60s and the De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otters.

The Forest Service currently owns a total of 7 aircraft to transport smokejumpers, including 4 Short Brothers C-23As; 2 De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otters; and 1 Douglas DC-3 TP turbine aircraft. The agency currently contracts for a total of 5 aircraft to transport smokejumpers, including 2 Dornier D0228s; 2 De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otters; and 1 Casa 212 for smokejumper operations.

Decisions regarding exact placement of individual aircraft will be made by each Forest Service Region according to their operational needs. The current planning is to replace existing aircraft on a one-for-one basis except for DC-3’s which could possibly be replaced on 2 to 1 ratio for additional lift capability.

Operations and Maintenance

The Forest Service will own all of the Shorts C-23B+/SD3-60 Sherpa aircraft. The agency has chosen a Government Owned-Mixed Operations (GOMO) model for this fleet. This means that some will be operated by Forest Service pilots and others will be operated by private industry under contract. The aircraft will also be maintained under a GOMO model with contractor and agency maintenance. The GOMO model will enable the Forest Service to retain a qualified pool of experts in the smokejumper mission who can help ensure that contract pilots operate the government owned aircraft safely and effectively.
The Forest Service is working to minimize the impacts of this transition on agency and contractor employed pilots as much as possible. Existing Forest Service pilots will be retained as active crewmembers in order to maintain a high level of mission standardization, oversight, and quality assurance for the program. Forest Service pilots will be blended with contractors in most missions. Agency and contract pilots will serve as second-in-command until they achieve agency captain rating for the C-23B+/SD3-60 aircraft.

The Forest Service will issue contract solicitations for operation and maintenance services sometime in Fiscal Year 2015, which began October 1, 2014, to be ready for operations in Fiscal Year 2016, which begins October 1, 2015.”