After running CL-215 amphibious water scooping air tankers for years, the state of Minnesota is selling the two they have and will be converting to single-engine Air Tractor 802F Fire Boss scoopers. The CL-215s served the agency well, but Aero Flite, now owned by Conair, is no longer interested in maintaining and operating the piston engine aircraft for the state. A newer model, the CL-415, has the more reliable turbine engines. The 215’s will be sold at auction, and four turbine-engine-powered AT-802Fs will be hired on contract.
An Air Tractor 802 Fireboss crashed and and sank August 14 while scooping water on Chantslar Lake in British Columbia, Canada about 30 kilometers west of Puntzi Mountain. Jeff Berry of Conair said the pilot was able to exit the Single Engine Air Tanker, but was held overnight in a hospital in William’s Lake and released Friday morning.
The Fireboss was brand new. Recovery operations are underway at the lake.
Yesterday we stopped by the air tanker base at Chester, California where Terry Grecian, the manager, was kind enough to allow us out on the ramp to talk with one of the pilots.
Since it rained heavily a couple of days ago it has been less hectic at Chester. Earlier in the week they had Single Engine Air Tankers, Large Air Tankers, and several helicopters working out of the airport. On Wednesday there were just two SEATs and one Type 2 helicopter parked there.
Pilot Fred Celest and air tanker 873 at Chester, Calif. Photo by Bill Gabbert.
Fred Celest is the pilot for Tanker 873, an Air Tractor 802-F. He has previously flown crop dusters, private jets and P2V air tankers. He likes flying air tankers better than corporate jets, he said, because with air tankers he travels less. While talking with him we detected a bit of an accent, and it turns out that he is French and German, but is a United States citizen.
Mr. Celest felt it was important to point out that the 800-gallon aircraft has a 1,650 HP Garrett-14 engine. The air tanker is under contract through New Frontier Aviation out of Fort Benton, Montana. The company also operates 550-gallon M-18 Dromader SEATs.
Air Spray has received a new Single Engine Air Tanker (SEAT) and will be getting a second one in a few weeks. The Air Tractor 802 holds 800 gallons of fire retardant and can get into narrow canyons that are more of a challenge for the larger 3,000 to 4,000 gallon “next generation” air tankers.
Air Spray has a contract for one of them with the State of Oregon and will be seeking employment for the other one.
Air Spray mobile retardant base. Photo by Air Spray.
They have a mobile retardant base installed on a large trailer which will be heading to Oregon with the AT 802.
Air Spray mobile retardant base. Photo by Air Spray.
Their effort to convert two BAe-146 jet-powered airliners into air tankers is going slower than they expected. When we visited their project at the Chico, California airport in March and talked with Ravi Saip (Director of Maintenance/General Manager) and Paul Lane (Vice President and Chief Financial Officer) they said they hoped to have most of the work done by the end of the summer, then they would begin the testing, tweaking, improving, and certification phases. In an article in the Chico ER, Mr. Saip was quoted as saying they now expect one of the BAe-146s to be ready for the 2015 fire season, and “They took longer to modify than we expected”. Other air tanker companies converting BAe-146s have found that much of the aircraft’s infrastructure in the belly has to be worked around and/or relocated in order to install an internal tank and door system as they are doing.
Ravi Saip and Paul Lane of Air Spray, March 21, 2014, in front of one of their Lockheed Electras at Chico, California, which is under a CWN contract with CAL FIRE. It will be in Chico again beginning in August, 2014. Photo by Bill Gabbert.
From Waypoint Airmed & Rescue, dated May 26, 2014:
A pilot was killed when the AT802 plane she was flying crashed into a hillside during a firefighting mission in Almeria, Spain, at around 14:20 hrs on 25 May. The 40-year-old woman, named in reports as Sonia Morales Martínez, was part of an INFOCA team tackling a wildfire in the Sierra de Los Filabres in the Serón area. INFOCA released a statement of condolence to the pilot’s family, noting that she had extensive experience in aerial firefighting including over 5,000 hours’ flight time on this model of plane. She also served as a flight instructor.
Witnesses reported seeing unusual movements in the plane’s tail before it fell to the ground and burst into flames. It is believed that the pilot was killed on impact.
A Spanish language article about the accident can be found at ABCandalucia.
Our sincere condolences go out to the friends, co-workers,and family of Ms. Martinez.
The National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group announced today that the Department of the Interior is funding 33 exclusive use Single Engine Air Tankers (SEATs) in 2014 as national shared resources. Historically, SEATs have been funded as primarily a local or regional resource with assigned home bases. The 2014 exclusive use SEAT fleet will not have assigned home bases. They will be treated as national shared resources similar to Large Air Tankers (LATs). Geographic area Coordination Centers (GACCs) can preposition SEATs using the same mechanisms and rationale used for other national resources.
There are three start dates — May 26th, June 5th and June 12th. Based on the number of DOI National Exclusive Use SEATs allocated to their GACC, Bureau of Land Management State Aviation Managers and Bureau of Indian Affairs Regional Aviation Managers will coordinate with fire staff and the Geographic Area Coordinating Group to determine the initial starting location of DOI Exclusive Use SEAT’s.
As National assets, DOI National Exclusive Use SEATs will be moved to areas of greatest need. Within Geographic Areas, Fire Staff on an interagency basis will provide direction to the Dispatch system on the mob/demob of SEATs to meet existing or forecasted fire loads within their jurisdiction. GACCs can preposition SEATs using the same mechanisms and rationale used with LATs.
Below are some of the provisions of the contracts:
These are one year Exclusive Use contracts with 4 option years.
There are no designated bases under these contracts.
Notice to Proceeds will be issued giving the contractor direction on where to report to at the beginning of the contract.
The Mandatory Availability Period will be 100 days with three different start dates — May 26th/June 5th/June 12th.
The aircraft will be AT-802s with an Interagency Airtanker Board approved gate system.
The Level I Pilots will be on a fixed 6/1 work schedule set at the start of the contract.
No relief pilot is required.
Companies can exchange pilots.
The contracts allow for the government to order an additional service truck at a daily flat rate of $500 when needed to augment the existing truck or to utilize the second one at a remote base.
The AT-802 holds 800 gallons of retardant. This compares to the 2,000 to 3,500 Large Air Tankers can carry, or the 11,600 gallons the DC-10 holds. But, SEATs are a very useful tool in the aerial firefighting tool box — a tool box that should have a variety of types and sizes of aircraft with different capabilities and niches.
As the western fire season gets under way, there are nine LATs available on exclusive use contracts, and one Very Large Air Tanker, a DC-10. It is possible that an additional five “next generation” LATs may eventually meet the requirements of the contracts that were issued to them a year ago and could be added to the fleet.
Wayne Wynick, the Assistant District Forester for Pennsylvania’s Moshannon State Forest, talks about the Air Tractor 802 single engine air tankers that will be based in Centre County through May.
