Wildfire Today

News and opinion about wildland fire

Wildfire Today

Tag: CV-580

USFS “shores up” air tanker fleet

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , 23 Comments on USFS “shores up” air tanker fleet

In the aftermath of Sunday’s tragic air tanker accidents in which two pilots working for Neptune Aviation were killed, and a second air tanker made an emergency landing on disabled landing gear, the U.S. Forest Service announced today that they have “shored up” the air tanker fleet by temporarily adding some aircraft. They are arranging for two CV-580 air tankers to become available on a temporary basis. One is under contract with the state of Alaska and the other is being borrowed from the Canadian Interagency Fire Centre. The CV-580s can carry 2,100 gallons of retardant, about the same as the P2Vs that currently comprise eight of the nine air tankers on exclusive use contracts with the USFS, but they are speedier, cruising 115 mph faster than the P2Vs.

CAL FIRE reached out to the USFS and allowed the federal agency to arrange to bring on two CAL FIRE air tankers, presumably S-2Ts, one month earlier than they would have come on duty otherwise. These two aircraft will be used in California. An S-2T carries 1,200 gallons of retardant.

The USFS is also bringing on five large Type 1 helicopters earlier than previously scheduled.

When I saw the headline on the USFS news release announcing they were “shoring up” the air tanker fleet, I wondered if they were finally announcing that they have awarded multiple contracts for “new generation” air tankers. The solicitation for the next-gen air tankers closed in February, but as usual, the U.S. Forest Service office of Fire and Aviation Management has difficulty making decisions. There was also the possibility that they were going to announce exclusive use contracts or call when needed activations for the very large air tankers, such as the DC-10’s or the 747, but that did not happen either.

This “shoring up” tactic is smoke and mirrors — a band-aid on a serious case of analysis-paralysis cancer in the agency. It is simply a distraction from the real issue.

We have tried to find out the details of the USFS’ solicitation for a sixth air tanker study, which closed April 20, but calls to Kellan Logan, the USFS contracting officer in charge of the solicitation, have not been returned.

UPDATE AT 9:13 a.m. MT, June 7:

We heard from Mr. Logan today about the sixth air tanker study, which has been awarded.

USFS Chief issues statement about air tanker availability

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , 14 Comments on USFS Chief issues statement about air tanker availability
CL-215 and CL-415
CL-215 and CL-415 Medium Type 3 air tankers scoop water from Snowbank Lake while working on the Pagami Creek fire recently in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota. Photo by Kristi Marshall for the Superior National Forest

(This article was updated on September 14 to reflect that there are now eight Convair CV-580 air tankers working temporarily in lower 48 States.)

The U. S. Forest Service is apparently feeling the heat from the public and politicians about the agency’s management, or lack thereof, of the large air tanker fleet, which through neglect has dwindled from the 44 we had in 2002 to the 11 large air tankers currently on exclusive use contracts. The decline began with the crash of two very old military surplus air tankers in 2002, which prompted the permanent grounding of similar antiques. But in the nine years since those crashes, nothing significant has been accomplished to rebuild the fleet.

This morning there were 11 air tankers on exclusive use contracts, plus 12 hired temporarily on a day basis (including one DC-10) and six or seven military C-130 MAFFS on a temporary assignment. There were no federal large air tankers in the states of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, or Washington. I wonder if the firefighters on the ground in those states know they will get no large air tanker support for the initial attack of fires?

Here is a statement that was issued around September 8, 2011 by the U. S. Forest Service. Our comments are embedded in red.

==================

Statement from US Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell on Aircraft Support for Texas, Other Wildfires Throughout the Country

The Forest Service is working hard right now with our federal, state and local partners to combat fires in Texas, California and several other states. I want to assure the public that the Forest Service has ample aircraft strategically placed around the country to support on-the-ground teams combating this year’s wildfires. Our current available airplane fleet includes: “Ample aircraft”? One of the many USFS air tanker studies shows that we should work toward a goal of 32 large air tankers on exclusive use contracts. Now we have 11. 

  • 17 Large Air Tankers which have a capacity of delivering an average of over 2000 gals. of water or retardant per trip. We have 11 “Large” air tankers on exclusive use contracts. Within the last few weeks the USFS brought in on a temporary day by day basis eight “Large” Type 2 Convair CV-580 air tankers, three from the state of Alaska and five from the Canadian government.
  • 1 DC-10 Very Large Airtanker with a capacity of 12,000 gals. This was hired on a day by day Call When Needed contract. The USFS refuses to award any exclusive use contracts for Very Large Air Tankers, such as the DC-10s or the 747, which can carry 11,800 and 20,000 gallons, respectively.
  • 8 military aircraft specially outfitted to fight fires with an average capacity of 3000 gals. Six have been activated. Four are in Texas and two are in Idaho. CAL FIRE may have activated a seventh one for state responsibility fires in California.
  • 3 CL- 215 scooper aircraft which can deliver an average of 1300 gals. of water per trip.These are on a Department in Interior CWN contract. They are trying to get two more through an international agreement with Canada.
  • More than 100 wildland fire response helicopters, including exclusive use contracts for:
    • 2 dozen Type-1 heavy helicopters
    • Over 40 Type-2 medium helicopters on national contracts
    • Over 50 Type-3 light helicopters on local or regional contracts
    • Additional helicopters are available through call-when-needed contracts

All of these assets support the more than 16,000 federal firefighters (10,500 are Forest Service), and 1000 Forest Service firefighting engines.

The Forest Service takes the safety of our employees and contractors seriously and we insist on maintaining stringent airworthiness standards that were developed after two airtankers crashed in 2002, resulting in the loss of both crews. The Forest Service does not take shortcuts on safety. No responsible person is saying waiting more than nine years to make a decision about how to rebuild the air tanker fleet is taking a “shortcut”.

Conair introduces new air tanker delivery system

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 3 Comments on Conair introduces new air tanker delivery system
Filling an L-188 Electra
A Conair ground crewperson attaches a hose to the tank of a Lockheed L-188 Electra airtanker at their base in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Photo: Andy Clark.

Conair, a Canadian company that currently has 12 large air tankers and 3 Canadair CL-215’s, has introduced a new system for delivering water or fire retardant from the tank of a Lockheed L-188 Electra. The constant-flow system, developed in cooperation with British Columbia’s Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, has the following features:

  • 12,490 Litre (3,300 US Gallon) capacity Retardant Delivery System;
  • Efficient lower volume, higher coverage level application of retardants for improved lightning strike fire containment and effectiveness;
  • Increased capability for higher coverage level application of retardants through dense forest canopies;
  • Increased capability and efficiency for more uniform line building qualities;
  • Incorporates new retardant delivery system data tracking capability allowing real time access to all aspects of the drop events – information is transmitted via satellite downlink.

Here is a video, uploaded July 26, 2011, that I believe is a demonstration of the new system. The formatting is very strange, but check out the length of the drop. It must be a very light coverage level.

Conair, according to their web site, has 10 Convair CV-580 air tankers, a twin-engine aircraft, but they only have one four-piston-engine L-188 Electra, which was produced from 1957 until 1961.

The air frame of the L-188 was used as the basis for the Lockheed P-3 Orion. Six of Aero Union’s P-3 air tankers were shut down a few days ago when the U.S. Forest Service cancelled their contract due to the company’s inadequate participation in a continued airworthiness program, which included a Fatigue and Damage Tolerance Evaluation and structural inspection program. This leaves 11 large air tankers on federal exclusive use contracts in the United States, compared to the 44 that were on contract in 2002 and the 19 that were on contract earlier this summer. But not to worry. Tom Harbour, director of the Forest Service’s Fire and Aviation Management program said, “This contract termination notwithstanding, we possess the aircraft support needed for this year’s fire season.”

Three Convair CV-580 air tankers are currently in Boise jumping through the contracting hoops. If everything is approved, this would bring the total number of large air tankers on exclusive use contracts up to 14. If the predicted wildfire potential for August through November turns out to be correct, 14 may be adequate. If the fire occurrence in August and September turns out to be average, all bets are off.

 

Thanks go out to Ken

Australians lease 5 air tankers from Canadian company

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , , ,
CV-580
Conair’s fleet of CV-580 air tankers

The Country Fire Authority (CFA) in the Australian state of Victoria is leasing five air tankers and one “bird dog” aircraft from a Canadian company for the down under summer fire season. Two CV-580 air tankers, three single engine Air Tractor 802’s, and a Turbo Commander 690 bird dog are being provided by Conair in what the CFA is considering a trial of the larger air tankers.

CV-580 capacity
Capacity of the CV-580

The CV-580 has been used in Canada for a decade, but this is believed to be the first time they have seen action in Australia. The aircraft can carry up to 2,100 U.S. gallons and has a top speed of 310 mph.

A group of Canadian pilots and mechanics flew across the Pacific with the planes in early December, stopping to refuel at several islands along the way. The aircraft will be based at Avalon, Victoria (map) for the fire season.

The Canadian air tankers will join the three Erickson Air-Crane helicopters, Elvis, Elsie, and Marty, which are also leased for the next several months.

This video shows the CFA testing the CV-580’s at the Avalon Airfield in early February, 2011.

The video below, posted on YouTube in 2007, shows CV-580’s in action, dropping on numerous fires in British Columbia.

In what we called the “Siege of ’08”, four CV-580’s were sent from Canada to assist with the hundreds of wildfires that were started by a massive lighting barrage in northern California.

A CV-580 operated by Conair crashed in central British Columbia on July 31, 2010, killing the two pilots.

While we’re on the subject of air tankers, the richard-seaman.com web site has dozens of excellent photos of mostly amphibious aircraft that were taken at an air show in 2006, the Gidroaviasalon (“hydro-aviation exhibition”) held at the Beriev test center near Gelendzhik on the Russian Black Sea. Here is a very impressive photo of the two Russian-made amphibious air tankers flying in formation. The upper one is the Be-200, and the other is the A-42 Albatross. The site also has several other photos of these two air tankers operating at the air show.

a-42 Be-200
A-42 “Albatross” (lower aircraft) and the Be-200 (upper aircraft). Photo: Richard-Seaman.com