New South Wales may be using DC-10 air tanker in a somewhat uncommon manner

DC-10 practice drop 10-1-2015 photo by NSW RFS

Photo: DC-10 practice drop October 1, 2015.  NSW RFS.

There is a report that New South Wales, which has a DC-10 under contract during their down under summer, is using the aircraft in a manner that is not typically seen. Neil Bibby writes in Asia Pacific Fire Magazine that fire managers are splitting loads more often and into smaller increments — fewer gallons per drop. The aircraft almost always carries 11,600 gallons, three to four times more than a conventional “next generation” air tanker in the United States. It can be dropped all at once or it can make multiple passes dispensing a fraction of it’s capacity each time.

Below is an excerpt from the AFP magazine:

…Todays Next Generation Airtankers carry between 3000 and 11,600 US gallons, but curiously the number of splits on the average mission has remained relatively static. In fact it is safe to say that the majority of airtanker runs made today are either single drop or two drop loads. To be sure it is not uncommon to see a load split into three drops, but anything more is relatively rare.

Now enter a week-long period in late 2015 when 18 DC-10 loads of retardant were dropped on fires in NSW, and those 18 loads were split into more than 60 separate drops. While that average is only 3.3 drops per load, the reality is that many of those loads were split into six, or even seven, drops. Since then, reports indicate the practice continued as the NSW season progressed.

So why the difference, and what does it matter? The difference, I believe, is both cultural and tactical. Culturally, firefighters in Australia have developed tactics that work well with repeated Sky Crane drops of 2000 gallons, and obviously six drops from a DC-10 fits into those tactics quite well. Tactically, Australian firefighters “build” less indirect line with retardant, and rely instead on tactical application of the suppressant directly on, or close to, the fire line. This tactic usually means shorter runs to follow an uneven line.

The reason this matters comes back to the basic questions of cost efficiency and operational effectiveness. The DC-10, and the amount of retardant it carries, has become regarded as a good example of the benefits of economy of scale. The more suppressant you can carry to the fire line in a single load, the cheaper it becomes…

Videos of a DC-10 fighting bushfires in Australia

Known in the United States as Tanker 910, the aircraft is one of four large air tankers from North America currently under contract in Australia for their 2015/2016 bushfire season. Down under they call it the Southern Belle.

If I’m interpreting correctly the data at the top-right in this first video by the NSW RFS, the tanker is about 15 to 20 km from the camera. Shot at the Buddah Creek Fire near Hawkesbury, it was uploaded to YouTube on December 10.

The next video shows the DC 10 dropping on the Maddens Plain Fire December 11,  2015. NSW RFS video by Kallie Rayner.

More information about the bushfires in New South Wales is at Wildfire Today.

Forest Service awards contracts for seven additional air tankers

Conair RJ85 first flight
The first flight of Conair’s BAe Avro RJ85 air tanker in September, 2013 built for Aero-Flite. Conair photo by Jeff Bough.

Today the U.S. Forest Service announced contract awards for seven additional large and very large air tankers. The aircraft being added to the exclusive use contracted fleet are four BAe-146s operated by Neptune Aviation, two RJ85s flown by Aero-FLite, and one DC-10 operated by 10 Tanker Air Carrier.

The contract solicitation, issued November 26, 2015, is for what the USFS calls “next generation” air tankers, which must be turbine or turbofan (jet) powered, can cruise at 300 knots (345 mph), and have a retardant capacity of at least 3,000 gallons. The DC-10 carries 11,600 gallons, while the others can hold up to about 3,000 gallons.

This brings the total number of next-gen air tankers on exclusive use contracts to 14. There are also seven “legacy” air tankers on exclusive use contracts, all operated by Neptune. Six are Korean War vintage P2Vs which usually carry about 2,100 gallons and are powered by two 18-cylinder radial engines. There is also one BAe-146 on the legacy contract.

These new next-gen awards, which begin this year, are for a five-year period with options for five additional years, with at least 160 days of mandatory availability every year.

The daily rates for Neptune’s BAe-146s, which is paid even if the aircraft is not used that day, varies during the possible 10-year period from $29,000 to $32,640 each day, while the hourly flight rate is from $8,000 to $9,274.

The daily rate for Aero-Flite’s Rj85 are from $28,581 to $35,546, and their flight rate is $7,559 to $9,862 per hour. The daily rate for the DC-10, a Very Large Air Tanker, are from $34,000 to $35,000, and the hourly rate is $13,600.

These rates do not include the cost of fuel, which will be paid by the government.

Most of the contracts the U.S. Forest Service has attempted to issue in recent years for large and very large air tankers have been protested, which suspends the activation of the contract until the Government Accountability Office adjudicates the dispute. This contract has already been protested by Coulson Aviation and Erickson Aero Tanker even before the closing date of the solicitation. However, the GAO decided in July to deny the protests. But that does not mean that there will not be additional protests now that the contracts have been awarded.

More information:

Details of the rates awarded under the new contract.

North American air tankers to be under contract in NSW during Australia’s summer

T-132 Thor
T-132, or ‘Thor’, an L-382 Hercules contracted to the NSW Government to assist in fighting bushfires dispenses water during a demonstration over the Rickaby’s drop zone near RAAF Base Richmond. Australia Department of Defence photo by CPL David Said .

A year ago during Australia’s 2014-2015 summer two large air tankers from North America were under contract in Victoria, Australia, Coulson’s Tanker 131, a C-130Q, and Conair’s Tanker 162, an RJ-85. The two aircraft dropped more than a million liters of fire retardant across the state, completing 81 drops across Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. Victoria will have two large air tankers under contract again this summer, beginning in November unless they are needed earlier.

Australia’s Minister of Defence, ABC News, and ASD News reported that this year the New South Wales Rural Fire Service is “trialling” two air tankers, a DC-10 and Coulson’s Tanker 132 (an L-382G which is a civilian stretched version of a C-130).

T-132 is already in Australia and earlier this week performed a practice or demonstration water drop near Richmond air base in northwest Sydney where it will be based until early December. The aircraft is under contract with the RFS for two fire seasons.

Coulson says the L-382 has their latest Coulson SMART 4,400-gallon retardant tank system. The DC-10 carries 11,600 gallons (44,000 liters).

ABC reports that the DC-10 Very Large Air Tanker (VLAT) will be under contract with the RFS beginning in October. The agency has not announced which company will supply the DC-10, however there is only one that operates DC-10 air tankers.

RAAF Base Richmond will be used to provide airfield support services to the air tankers in NWS from September 1 until January 20, 2016.

According to the Department of Defence:

Defence is providing a number of services including aircraft parking and security, access to fuel and refueling facilities, equipment storage, use of resources including water, aircrew office space, and meals and accommodation for up to 20 people, as required. Facilitating the aircraft at RAAF Base Richmond is intended to maximize aircraft utility and provide access to all areas of NSW in the event of a bushfire emergency.

Portions of Australia have the potential to face an above normal bushfire season.

Australia Bushfire Outlook

 

Below is an an outlook for the 2015-2016 bushfire season in Australia, from the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC and the AFAC:

“Large areas of southern Australia, especially along the east and west coasts extending inland, face above normal fire potential for the 2015-2016 fire season, despite many fires in some parts of the country over the last 12 months. The above normal forecast is mostly due to a strengthening El Nino over the Pacific Ocean, currently tracking as one of the strongest on record, but is made more complex this year by the influence of warmer sea temperatures in the Indian Ocean.

There have also been significantly below average rainfalls over the last decade across almost all of eastern Australia, the west coast and Tasmania. Such underlying dry conditions mean that any surface moisture from recent rains will quickly decline once temperatures begin to warm. 2014 was Australia’s third warmest year since records began and, when combined with such long term rainfall deficiencies, an early start to the bushfire season is likely in many areas.

The Southern Australia Seasonal Bushfire Outlook is used by fire authorities to make strategic decisions on resource planning and prescribed fire management for the upcoming fire season.”

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

10 Tanker’s upgraded DC-10 is almost ready to fight fire

T-910
This aircraft replaced the original DC-10, Tanker 910. 10 Tanker Air Carrier photo.

On April 18, 10 Tanker Air Carrier wrote on their Facebook page:

Last week our “new” 910 finished the conversion and came out of the hanger. Yesterday she made her first flight. She’ll head back to Albuquerque this week for Forest Service checks, and be ready for the fire season. What a beautiful addition to the fleet!

T-910
The “new” version of Tanker 910. 10 Tanker Air Carrier photo.

Last year 10 Tanker Air Carrier retired one of their three DC-10 air tankers, Tanker 910, the first DC-10 air tanker.

The aircraft was converted in 2004, and began working in California under a CAL FIRE contract in 2006. Since that time Tanker 910 dropped on over 500 fire missions in California, and over 750 across the country. It has been joined by two other converted DC-10s, with the third one being introduced to the fleet on August 30.

The “new” Tanker 910 is a newer air frame that will carry the same “T-910” designation as the plane that retired last fall. The work on the replacement began in early September, 2014.

“The new T-910, like T-912, is one of the last DC-10s built, and will standardize our fleet on the DC-10 -30 model,” Rick Hatton, President and CEO of 10 Tanker, said in January. He said the DC-10-30 is certified to fly at gross weights up to 590,000 pounds. On a typical firefighting mission with three hours of fuel the aircraft would lift off weighing approximately 390,000 pounds. The company says this allows a margin of nearly 200,000 pounds below the previously certified weight, which greatly enhances performance, maneuverability, and safety.

Mr. Hatton said three of their DC-10 airtankers will be available for the 2015 fire season — T-911, T-912, and the “new” T-910.

Projected federal air tanker fleet for the United States

Now that we have summarized the evolution of the federal large air tanker fleet over the course of 2014, it’s time to look at what is in store for 2015. There could be between 14 and 21 large air tankers on exclusive use contracts this year. Jennifer Jones, a Public Affairs Specialist with the U. S. Forest Service in Boise, told us that the list should include these aircraft:

  • 1 DC-10, 10 Tanker Air Carrier
  • 1 C-130Q, Coulson
  • 2 RJ-85s, Aero-Flite
  • 2 MD-87s, Erickson Aero Air
  • 1 BAe-146, Neptune
  • 6 P2Vs, Neptune
  • 1 C-130H, U.S. Forest  Service

In 2014 a DC-10 and three more BAe-146s were brought into service as “additional equipment” on a 1-year temporary basis under exclusive use contracts awarded in 2013. Due to a change in Department of the Interior procurement policies, this will not be done again in 2015.

The USFS expects to award another “next generation” contract for up to 7 more air tankers in 2015. We will be watching to see how long it takes the agency to advertise and award the contracts. Last time it took 555 days.

The USFS will also have one CL-415 water scooping air tanker on contract this year. And, eight military C-130s equipped with Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems (MAFFS) are expected to be available if needed.

Last year the Department of the Interior funded 33 exclusive use Single Engine Air Tankers (SEATs) as national shared resources. Randall Eardley, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management, said their contracts are not firmed up yet for 2015, but they expect to have about the same number of SEATs as last year.

Replacement for Tanker 910, a DC-10, is about 50% complete

The Castle Airport Fire Department in California gave a final farewell to T-910 as it taxied out for the final time November 15. Photo via 10 Tanker Air Carrier.

The aircraft that is replacing Tanker 910, one of the three DC-10 air tankers, is about 50 percent through the process of being converting from an airliner into an 11,600-gallon air tanker.

10 Tanker Air Carrier announced today that it is scheduled to begin test flights in March of this year.

“The new T-910, like T-912, is one of the last DC-10s built, and will standardize our fleet on the DC-10 -30 model,” said Rick Hatton, President and CEO of 10 Tanker. He said the DC-10-30 is certified to fly at gross weights up to 590,000 pounds. On a typical firefighting mission with three hours of fuel the aircraft would lift off weighing approximately 390,000 pounds. The company says this allows a margin of nearly 200,000 pounds below the previously certified weight, which greatly enhances performance, maneuverability, and safety.

Mr. Hatton said three of their DC-10 airtankers will be available for the 2015 fire season — T-911, T-912, and the “new” T-910.

Fire Aviation first wrote about the retirement of T-910 in November.

A DC-10 engine on the highway

DC-10 engine

10 Tanker Air Carrier describes their photo, taken in the Albuquerque area:

“Today we loaded one of our General Electric CF6 engines on a trailer and trucked it across town to Central New Mexico Community College School of Applied Technologies. We donated the engine with the hope that it will enhance their large aircraft maintenance program…… and continue to send us good employees! No denying its large, and looks even larger driving down the road! BTW…….this is an engine for a DC10-10, and all of our airplanes will now be DC10-30’s.”