Tag: McClellan AFB

Photos of five air tankers at McClellan, August 5, 2017

Above: Tanker 105 at McClellan Air Field, August 5, 2017. It is a good view of the external tank, or pod, that was fabricated and installed below the retardant tank doors, which lowered the release point by 46 inches. The intent was to keep the flow of the retardant away from the engines. Photo by John Vogel.

(Originally published at 6:04 p.m. MDT August 5, 2017)

John Vogel shot these excellent photos on August 5 of air tankers at McClellan Air Field near Sacramento.

Thanks John!

Rare photo of the three DC-10 air tankers together

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All three of the DC-10 air tankers were in the same place at the same time Saturday, October 1, which is a rare occurrence. Tankers 910, 911, and 912 were all parked at McClellan Air Field. This happened at least one other time that we are aware of, August 30, 2014 at Castle Airport near Merced, California.

The trio will be split up again in the near future when Tanker 910 begins preparing for its contract in Australia where it will begin in less than four weeks. Tankers 911 and 912 will continue their work for CAL FIRE and the U.S. Forest Service for the remainder of the season.

One of Coulson’s C-130’s, Tanker 132, started its contract in Australia on September 6.

10 Tanker Air Carrier photo, used with permission.

Australia California DC-10 McClellan AFB T-910 T-911 T-912

Interesting aircraft seen at McClellan Airfield

A DC-3 and a C-27J were parked in a hanger.

C-27J DC-3 McClellan AFB

747 SuperTanker departing McClellan Air Field

As the sun was rising in Sacramento this morning I took these shots of Tanker 944, a 747-400, as it departed from McClellan Air Field en route to Marana, Arizona. It had been on static display during the Aerial Firefighting conference.

If you want a high resolution professional quality print of Tanker 944…

747 McClellan AFB T-944

P3 air tanker makes a pass over McClellan Air Field

It has been years since most people have seen a P3 air tanker, on the ground OR in the air. Today one of the P3s that has been stored at McClellan Air Field for several years made a demonstration pass over the airport as part of the Aerial Firefighting conference. Check out the video below.

MAFFS LLC owns the six remaining P3’s that were formerly operated by Aero Union. Two years ago at the Aerial Firefighting Conference at McClellan I took a photo of Ronald Guy of United Aeronautical shaking hands with Joe McBryan of Buffalo Airways shortly after Mr. McBryan purchased Tanker 22. Yesterday Mr. McBryan told me that I might get a chance to take another similar photo. He is negotiating with MAFFS LLC, the company now marketing the P3s, to buy more — perhaps more than one, Mr. McBryan said.

The P3 they purchased in 2014 is currently being worked on in Florida. Buffalo Airways expects it to live on an as air tanker.

California McClellan AFB P3

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

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.

C-130 HC-130H McClellan AFB

Tanker 118 in the air over McClellan

Air Tanker 118 saw activity Saturday on the Lowell Fire near Gold Run, California 46 miles northeast of Sacramento. This aircraft is one of seven that are in the process of being refurbished and converted into air tankers after being transferred from the Coast Guard to the U.S. Forest Service. Yesterday’s mission may have been the first time the HC-130H has dropped on a fire.

The conversion process is not quite complete on T-118. It still needs a permanent internal gravity-based retardant tank and a paint job. Until the tank is installed, it will continue to use a Modular Airborne FireFighting System (MAFFS) slip-in unit that used compressed air to force the retardant out of the 3,000-gallon tank, turning the thickened retardant into a mist.

The photos were taken Saturday at McClellan Airport by Jon Wright. Thanks Jon!

The Union has a photo of T-118 dropping retardant over the Reynolds Fire on Saturday, July 25.

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

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Dave and Jon.

HC-130H McClellan AFB T-118

“We don’t know what we don’t know”

The U.S. Forest Service says “We don’t know what we don’t know” about managing a new government-owned air tanker program.

HC-130H McClellan AFB

USFS advertises for C-130 flight crew

C-130 paint design — The paint design for the seven USFS C-130H air tankers, according to information supplied by the USFS.

The U.S. Forest Service has issued the solicitation for a flight crew to operate the C-130H air tanker that they expect to have available at McClellan at Sacramento, Calilfornia beginning in mid-May. They intend to fill the following jobs initially for a nine month period with options to extend the term of the contract for an additional two years.

1 C-130H Qualified Contractor Aircrew Project Manager
2 MAFFS II Qualified Instructor Pilots,
1 US Coast Guard Qualified Flight Engineer Instructor, or US Air Force Qualified FE Instructor
2 MAFFS II Qualified Load Master Instructors

The requirements for the two pilots:

Must be current and qualified as a MAFFS Instructor within the last two years
from the closing date of the solicitation.
C-130J pilots must have been previously qualified as instructors in the C-
130H, and must be a MAFFS IPs (AC/IP) with the following minimum experience:
- (A) 1,500 hours flight time in a C-130H aircraft,
- (B) 30 drops on fire,
- (C) 4 seasons conducting MAFFS II Missions,
- (D) 6 Deployments (Fire Deployments)
- (E) Instructor status in respective crew position.
- (F) 100 instructor hours.

The closing date for the solicitation is April 10 — about a month before the C-130H arrives at McClellan.

A few weeks ago the USFS changed their plans about how many of the seven C-130H aircraft that are in the process of being retrofitted and transferred from the Coast Guard, will be operational this year as air tankers. On February 4 their intent was to have two of the C-130Hs this summer, both outfitted temporarily with the MAFFS pressurized internal retardant tanks, rather than a conventional gravity-based retardant tank. One would be used on fires within 500 nautical miles (575 statute miles) of McClellan, California, and the other aircraft would have been used as a training platform until it departed for programmed depot-level maintenance in the Fall of CY 2015.

Their revised plan is to have only one C-130H operational this summer and it would still be used only on fires within 500 nautical miles of McClellan. Aircraft 1721 is scheduled for delivery to Warner Robins Air Force Base for “MAFFS panel installation” around March 13, and should arrive at McClellan by mid-May. There appear to be no other changes to the schedule. The last of the seven C-130Hs are expected to be delivered, with internal gravity-based retardant tanks, in FY 2019. More details are in our February 9 and March 11 articles.

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

C-130 McClellan AFB

McClellan sets record for retardant pumped in one day

On September 16 the air tanker base at McClellan Airfield near Sacramento set a record for the amount of retardant the base has loaded onto air tankers in one day, putting 187,761 gallons into the aircraft, according to William Appleton, Operations Manager for McClellan Jet Services. For most of the day the base loaded from one reload pit, Mr. Appleton said.

All of the retardant was used on the King Fire 43 miles east of McClellan near Placerville, California.

Two DC-10s, Tankers 911 and 912, each made eight trips to the King Fire, and smaller air tankers took a total of seven loads. 10 Tanker Air Carrier which operates the DC-10s that usually carry 11,600 gallons, said that was “by far the busiest day our company has ever had.”

DC-10 McClellan AFB