At least a couple of Erickson Aero Tankers’ MD-87’s have been taking to the skies again after a long hiatus. Terry Cook took this photo yesterday June 16 as Tanker 103 was departing Missoula on the way to a fire.

You can see the external tank, or pod, that was installed below the retardant tank doors, lowering the release point by 46 inches to mitigate the problem of retardant being ingested into the engines.

July 13 we posted a video of T-105, another Erickson MD-87, dropping on the Whittier Fire.

Thanks Terry!