Final flights for the P2V air tanker retirees

Seven of the air tankers will be on permanent public display

P2V air tanker 10 gate guard missoula airport
Tanker 10 is the Gate Guard at Missoula International Airport.

Now that Neptune Aviation’s fleet of P2Vs have retired from active firefighting, the aircraft destined for museums have all flown for the last time and arrived at their final resting places.

Kevin Condit, the Marketing Manager at Neptune, updated us on their locations, along with links to news stories with more information.

In addition to Tanker 10, the gate guard at Missoula Airport, here are the other locations, last flight dates, and links:

Tanker 05
Location: Glendive, Montana (Glendive Airport)
Final flight: August 6, 2018
KXGN
Ranger Review

Tanker 07
Location: Paso Robles, California (Estrella Warbird Museum)
Final Flight: August 8, 2018
Estrella Warbirds Museum
Paso Robles Press

Tanker 45
Location: Belleville, Michigan (Yankee Air Museum)
Final Flight: September 5, 2018
Yankee Air Museum

Tanker 43
Location: San Diego, California (San Diego Air & Space Museum)
Final Flight: September 7, 2018
San Diego Air and Space Museum

Tanker 06
Location: Klamath Falls, Oregon (Tanker 61 Memorial)
Final Flight: September 9, 2018
Herald News
Herald News, second article

Mr. Condit said T-14 and T-44 are tucked away at Neptune’s hangar in New Mexico. Optimistically they might fly one of them in 2019 at one or more airshows but no details have been worked out yet.

Neptune plans on rebuilding the P2V version of Tanker 12 (as opposed to the current BAe-146 version) for a static display at the National Museum of Forest Service History near the Missoula International Airport. The aircraft has not flown for years after having been relegated to “boneyard” status, stripped of parts to keep the others flying. It will be rebuilt and restored to be a part of the outdoor exhibit at the museum. The timing for the rebuild is 2019-2020.

The two P2Vs that will be at or near the Missoula Airport, T-10 and T-12, will be only about a mile apart, but Mr. Condit said neither was airworthy, and Neptune preferred to see them preserved rather than scrapped. In 2012 Neptune discovered a 24-inch crack in a wing spar and skin on T-10, causing the FAA to issue an Emergency Airworthiness Directive requiring all P2V airplanes to be inspected within 24 hours of receiving the directive.

Video of air tankers departing Redmond

This video uploaded to YouTube on June 8 shows several different air tankers taking off at Redmond, Oregon to work on the Two Bulls Fire three miles west of Bend, Oregon. The aircraft seen in the video include MD-87s (T-101 and 105), a P2V (probably T-06), and a BAe-146. At first the video looks like a still photograph, but the first aircraft can be seen about 12 seconds in.

It is interesting seeing the different routes taken after takeoff, the speed of the aircraft, and the altitude at the end of the runway.

MD-87s work Two Bulls Fire in Oregon

air Tankers 105, 06, and 101
Tankers 105, 06, and 101 (L to R) at Redmond, Oregon June 8, 2014. They all made several drops on the Two Bulls Fire. Photo by Jeff Ingelse. (Click the photo to see a larger version.)

The two MD-87 air tankers that just entered service both worked the Two Bulls Fire west of Bend, Oregon today. June 8 was the first day on duty for T-105; its sister T-101’s first day was June 4. Earlier we had a photo of T-101 taken shortly after it reported for duty.

Jeff Ingelse took the photo above and said all three ships, including T-06, the P2V, flew several loads of retardant to the fire today. Thanks Jeff!