The 16″ x 20″ prints of Tanker 07 dropping on the Red Canyon Fire are sold out, but stepping up to take its place is another unusually low price on a print.
Still looking for that special gift? How about a 20″ x 16″ stretched canvas print of Tanker 161, an RJ-85, dropping on the Crow Peak Fire June 27 near Spearfish, SD.
This special lower than usual price of $64 expires at the end of the day on Friday December 23. And only 10 are available at this price.
The image will be printed on a premium glossy canvas and then stretched on a wooden frame of 1.5″ x 1.5″ stretcher bars. All stretched canvases ship within one business day and arrive “ready to hang” with pre-attached hanging wire, mounting hooks, and nails.
Above: Air Tanker 163, an RJ85, drops on the Gopher Fire near Escondido, California August 8, 2016. Photo by Michael Burge.
Michael Burge shot these photos of an RJ85 air tanker and an Air-Crane helicopter August 8, 2016 on the Gopher Fire which burned 35 acres near a residential area off Interstate 15 near Escondido, California at Lawrence Welk Drive and Gopher Canyon. The interstate was closed in both directions for a while as firefighters worked to stop the blaze.
On Monday at 4:56 p.m. we shot this photo of Tanker 161, an RJ85, dropping on the Crow Peak Fire southwest of Spearfish, South Dakota. From a distance we saw several air tanker drops by P2V and RJ85 tankers, but only got decent photos of Tanker 161.
At one point on Monday there were four air tankers working out of Rapid City Tanker Base. By the end of the day one had been sent to a fire near Billings, one was relocated somewhere else, and another was down for maintenance.
Above: a 47-second video showing the aircraft at the Redmond Tanker Base on June 13, 2016.
Clouds were hovering just above the ridges bordering the valley around the Redmond, Oregon airport when I was there on Monday, June 13. There was a chance of rain across the entire Pacific Northwest and there were no orders for the four large air tankers staged at the Redmond Air Tanker Base.
Eric Graff, who has been the base manager for the last 12 years, said they had been busy in recent days sending tankers to fires in Oregon and northern California. They had pumped 165,000 gallons of fire retardant into tankers so far this fire season.
Base Manager Eric Graff (left) and timekeeper Cynthia Buehner at the Redmond Air Tanker Base.
Working with Mr. Graff on Monday was Cynthia Buehner, in her third season as timekeeper for the base, and summer seasonal, Marissa Kraweczak, whose previous experience before this year was on the Zigzag Hotshots.
Also at the base was the normal contingent of pilots and mechanics for the four tankers that were on the ramp — three Aeroflite RJ85s, and one Neptune Aviation P2V. One lead plane was also on scene.
Aeroflite’s Pilatus PC12 (right) and a lead plane (left) at Redmond, Oregon. Photo by Bill Gabbert.
I asked Mr. Graff if dispatchers proactively tried to group aircraft from the same company together at a tanker base, and he said no, it was not intentional. Aeroflite recognized that they had three of their tankers and crews at Redmond and called a meeting, with executives flying in on the company’s Pilatus PC12. The state of Colorado recently purchased two PC12s to use as intelligence gathering and communications platforms, calling them “multi-mission aircraft”.
Other fire-related operations at the Redmond Airport include the Redmond Smokejumpers, the Northwest Fire Training Center, the Redmond Hotshots, and the Regional Air Group which supplies pilots for the jumpers and lead planes.
Tanker 163 at Redmond, June 13, 2016. Photo by Bill Gabbert.Tanker 44 at Redmond, June 13, 2016. Photo by Bill Gabbert.Tanker 162 at Redmond, June 13, 2016. Photo by Bill Gabbert.Tanker 161 at Redmond, June 13, 2016. Photo by Bill Gabbert.Tanker 44, in the foreground, and Tanker 161 at Redmond, June 13, 2016. Photo by Bill Gabbert.
Conair pilots will use an RJ85 flight simulator that will display forest fires on the ground.
An RJ85 at La Grande, OR, July, 2015. Photo by Josh Annas.
Conair has converted several Avro RJ85 airlines into air tankers by adding an external fire retardant tank holding 3,000 gallons. In order to train in a flight simulator the pilots went to Switzerland.
The RJ85 is a variant of the BAe-146, with an 8-foot longer fuselage and more efficient engines. Until air tanker companies in the United States and Canada started converting the two models a few years ago, none have been operated in North America for quite some time, so there was no need for simulators.
Neptune has sent their BAe-146 pilots to train with simulators in the United Kingdom while Minden, when they were working on a BAe-146, had their personnel travel to Australia. But starting in 2017 Conair pilots will be able to train near their own facilities in Abbotsford, British Columbia.
On February 19, Conair announced that they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with CAE to develop a Wildfire Training and Simulation Centre in Abbotsford.
Under the terms of the MOU, CAE will build an Avro RJ85 full-flight simulator qualified to Level D, the highest qualification for flight simulators. Conair will procure long-term pilot training services from CAE to train their pilots who fly the RJ85.
In addition to the training program for RJ85 aerial firefighting pilots, CAE expects the Wildfire Training and Simulation Centre to be part of a distributed simulation network that connects wildfire training and coordination centers throughout Canada for purposes of conducting simulation-based mission rehearsal for wildfire response.
“Conair is pleased to be partnering with CAE to establish a world-class training centre, which will be another great example of the aerospace and wildfire innovations being developed here in British Columbia,” said Barry Marsden, Chief Executive Officer of Conair. “We are a leading provider of aerial fire control products and services, and as a leader we need our people to be highly skilled and trained. The new Wildfire Training and Simulation Centre will contribute to the preparation and readiness of our pilots and other professionals.”
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.
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.
Above: a Q400 drops retardant. The image is from the Conair video below.
The Conair Group is currently converting at least one additional RJ85 airliner into an air tanker at their facility in Abbotsford, British Columbia and also plans to make enhancements to the Q400. The company already operates approximately four RJ85s, and two Q400s have been used in France for over 10 years.
The Q400 can carry up to 2,642 US gallons and can be reconfigured into a cargo role in a few hours.
Conair Group Inc. is currently producing its fifth and sixth next-generation RJ85 air-tanker, supplementing the five it currently has in operation in the U.S. and Australia.
The next-generation RJ85 will supplement B.C.’s current fleet of air-tankers on a pilot basis this summer. The addition of the aircraft ahead of the 2016 wildfire season will allow the BC Wildfire Service to evaluate its cost and effectiveness and help inform future procurement decisions.
Conair Group Inc. has also signed a memorandum of understanding with CAE to build a Level D simulator training program for RJ85 pilots in B.C. Companies like Conair Group Inc. currently have to send pilots to Zurich, Switzerland to receive similar training, and this facility will reduce costs and increase access to more world-class, mission-based rehearsal scenarios.
In addition to the various initiatives with the RJ85, Conair Group Inc. has started to make enhancements to the Bombardier Q400 cargo combination aircraft. Two Q400s have been built for the Government of France and the planned conversions will increase the aircraft’s versatility for the global market.
Steve Thomson, Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations –
“Wildfire management will always rely on a fleet of dependable aircraft to assist the men and women on the ground who extinguish the fires. The pilot program with Conair will provide us meaningful information as we look ahead to future procurement decisions.”
The video below shows water and retardant drops by the RJ85 and the Q400.
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”.
10 Tanker’s T-910, a DC-10, at Avalon, Victoria.Coulson’s Tanker 131, a C-130 (known as T-390 in Victoria) at Avalon, Victoria.Coulson’s Tanker 132, a C-130, at Avalon, Victoria.Bird Dogs at Avalon Airport, Victoria.The fire retardant mixing plant at Avalon, Victoria.
Photos provided by the Country Fire Authority, Victoria.
