Air tankers drop on the Sherpa Fire

The Sherpa Fire has burned about 1,200 acres in Santa Barbara County in southern California.

And, let’s not forget the ground-based firefighters:

Interview with 10 Tanker Chief Pilot

Weather Nation posted this interview with Kevin Hopf, Chief Pilot for 10 Tanker Air Carrier, the operator of three DC-10 air tankers that can carry 11,600 gallons of retardant.

Three DC-10 air tankers are on contract

DC-10 air tanker

Above: file photo of Tanker 910 at Rapid City. Photo by Bill Gabbert.

There are now three DC-10 Very Large Air Tankers on contract. The first two are on exclusive use contracts and have been working for a number of weeks. Rick Hatton of 10 Tanker Air Carrier confirmed that a third, T-910, was just added on a Call When Needed contract.

Currently T-910 is based at Merced, T-911 is in Phoenix, and T-912 is at McClellan. T-911 has been working the Tenderfoot fire in Arizona and T-912 has been on the Pony fire in Northern California.

Video from DC-10 training in New Mexico

The Albuquerque Journal ran a story today and uploaded a video about last week’s training for the flight crews of the DC-10 air tankers based at the city’s airport.

The gentleman in the video holding the radio is Rick Hatton, President and CEO of 10 Tanker Air Carrier. It was shot by Dean Hanson of the Albuquerque Journal.

Below is an excerpt from the article:

LAGUNA PUEBLO – Flying low over scrub and dusty truck trails, the big DC-10 jet dropped a load of water onto a Laguna Pueblo cattle pasture, banked left, grabbed some altitude and disappeared, obscured by the wet cloud left hanging in its wake.

Whoosh!

Five seconds after the plane dropped its load from 200 feet up, the sound of water displacing air murmured over the pale grass, stunted brush and cowpies toward seven observers on the ground.

“You get the temperature down and the humidity up,” Rick Hatton, one of the observers, said as the rumble of the DC-10’s engines receded in the distance. “You get out there early, get it done, get it out, so the fire never gets a name, never gets in the newspaper.”

…

Hatton, who flew F-4 Phantom jet fighter-bombers for the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, said the company’s DC-10s make things safer for the flight crews as well because they can get more done on fewer flights.

Rick Hatton John Gould
John Gould, (left) 10 Tanker’s Business Development Manager, and Rick Hatton, President and CEO. Photo by Bill Gabbert, from the May, 2014 Large Fire Conference in Missoula.

DC-10 air tanker conducts spring training then is activated a month early

T-912 plus USFS lead plane

Above: Tanker 912, a DC-10, follows a U.S. Forest Service lead plane and makes a water drop during training Wednesday, April 6, 2016. 10 Tanker photo.

10 Tanker Air Carrier has been conducting annual training and for their DC-10 crews this week near Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Wednesday evening, April 6, they started their first contract a month earlier than planned and moved Tanker 912 to the air tanker base in Roswell, New Mexico to standby for the fires in Oklahoma.

We read a news report yesterday saying a very large air tanker was available for the Oklahoma blazes, but thought it must have been an error. Apparently not.

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.