T-131 Archives - Page 3 of 6

C-130Q en route to Australia

Bill Gabbert10. December 201610. December 2016Fixed wingAustralia, C-130, C-130Q, Coulson, T-131, Victoria

The air tanker will begin an 84-day contract in Victoria on December 15.

Above: Tanker 131’s route from Santa Maria, California to Hawaii.

Coulson’s Air Tanker 131, a C-130Q, is en route to Australia to begin a firefighting contract for the state of Victoria. It departed from Phoenix on December 8 and is expected to arrive in Avalon, Victoria on December 12 after flying for a total of 27 hours. These dates and the ones below are U.S. time.

Tanker 131 itinerary — Tanker 131’s itinerary. From Coulson.

In Australia it is designated as Tanker 390 and is named “Hercules”. On the way to Avalon it scheduled stops at Santa Maria (California), Kahului (Hawaii), Pago Pago, and Norfolk Island. Britt Coulson said Friday night that it had just landed at Pago Pago (NSTU).

The 84-day contract for T-131 begins December 15th.

Tanker 131 concluded its 2016 fire season in the United States on November 30, accumulating 350 hours of flight time and 520 drops for a total of 1.77 million gallons delivered over wildfires — an average of 3,404 gallons per drop.

Coulson’s other C-130 type air tanker, T-132, a C-130H, has been in New South Wales since September 6, 2016. Known as “Thor” down under, it just had its contract extended for another month and will continue to be based at Richmond RAAF base until mid-January.

Update on Coulson’s C-130s

Bill Gabbert3. December 2016Fixed wingAustralia, Coulson, T-131, T-132

They have concluded their 2016 contracts in the United States, and will soon have a second air tanker in Australia.

air tanker 132 at Avalon — Air tanker 132 at Avalon, New South Wales during the 2015-2016 Australian fire season.

Coulson’s Tanker 131 concluded its 2016 fire season in the United States on November 30, racking up 350 hours of flight time and 520 drops for a total of 1.77 million gallons delivered over wildfires — an average of 3,404 gallons per drop.

Next on its schedule is a flight down under to Australia where it will join, at least within the same country if not the same state, its sister, Tanker 132 which has been there since September 6, 2016.

Air tankers on the Trailhead Fire

Bill Gabbert3. July 20165. July 2016Fixed wingCalifornia, T-12, T-131, Trailhead Fire1 Comment

Above: Tanker 12 drops on the Trailhead Fire. A Cobra helicopter is in the background. Photo July 1, 2016 by Matthew Rhodes.

Matthew Rhodes sent us these photos he took July 1, 2016 on the Trailhead Fire on the El Dorado National Forest 11 miles east of Auburn, California. Thanks Matthew.

The 4,000-acre fire is causing evacuations in Placer and El Dorado counties.

Tanker 131 Trailhead Fire — Tanker 131 on the Trailhead Fire. Photo July 1, 2016 by Matthew Rhodes.

Victoria picks up Tanker 132 on contract

Bill Gabbert16. February 201616. February 2016Fixed wingair crew, Australia, T-131, T-132, Victoria

Above: Air tankers 131 and 132, both on contract in Victoria. Coulson photo.

Both of Coulson’s C-130 air tankers have been working in Australia during the 2015/2016 bushfire season; 131 has been with the state of New South Wales while 132 was in Victoria. When the NWS contract with 132 ended recently, Victoria hired it, affording a rare opportunity to photograph both of them together.

Tanker 131 fire crew — Tanker 131 and her crew on contract in Victoria. Coulson photo.

Tanker 132 fire crew — Tanker 132 and her crew on contract in Victoria. Coulson photo.

Both of the air tankers are variants of the C-130 platform. T-131 is a C-130Q which served as a strategic communications link for the U.S. Navy’s Ballistic Missile submarine force and as a backup communications link for the U. S. Air Force manned strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile forces. It had the capability to deploy two trailing wire antennas with the longest being 17,000 to 20,000 feet depending on the VLF frequency being used. The aircraft still has remnants of the system — a vent in front of the landing gear that brought in air to cool the wire spooling mechanism. (More information, a Word document, about the “TACAMO” communications system.)

T-132 is an L-382G, also known as an L-100-30, a civilian version of the C-130 that has been stretched about 15 feet compared to the L-100.

We like posting photos of firefighting aircraft with their crews. Too often we see dramatic photos of aircraft fighting fires, but the crews don’t always get the recognition they deserve. If you have any recent or classic photos along these lines, let us know. A description with names, places, and dates would be helpful.

Tanker 131 en route to Australia

Bill Gabbert27. November 2015Fixed wingAustralia, C-130, Coulson, New South Wales, T-131, Victoria

T-131 C-130Q — Tanker 131, a C-130Q. Photo November 23 in Edmonton by Matt Ralph.

Air Tanker 131 (N130FF), Coulson’s C-130Q, arrived in Hawaii on Thursday after completing the first leg of its trip to Victoria, Australia. It is under contract with Emergency Management Victoria for their summer bushfire season, along with Conair’s Tanker 162, an RJ85, (N355AC).

Two other air tankers are already down under working for New South Wales, T-910 (N612AX) a DC-10 operated by 10 Tanker Air Carrier, and Coulson’s Tanker 132, an L-382G (N405LC) which is a civilian stretched version of a C-130.

Tanker 131 just received a new retardant tank and a redesigned “Next Gen Smart Controller” to operate the retardant delivery system.

air tanker 131 retardant tank — The new retardant tank for Tanker 131 is on the right. The original tank is on the left. Photo by Matt Ralph.

The newer tank holds about 500 gallons more than the original tank and should enable an average retardant load of 4,200 USG and a maximum capacity of about 4,500 USG, according to Britt Counson. Tanker 132, an L-382G, also has the new version of the tank system.

Air tankers at Medford

Bill Gabbert3. August 20153. August 2015Fixed wingMedford, Oregon, T-10, T-131, T-160, T-162, T-43, T-666 Comments

Tim Crippin took these photos on July 31 of air tankers at Medford, Oregon. Thanks Tim!

Air tankers at La Grande, Oregon

Bill Gabbert29. July 201529. January 2016Fixed wingAvro RJ85, BAe-146, C-130, La Grande, Oregon, T-10, T-131, T-451 Comment

T-10 at La Grande — T-10 (a BAe-146), another BAe-146, and an RJ85, La Grande, OR. Photo by Josh Annas.

Josh Annas took these photos of air tankers that were working out of Union County Airport in La Grande, Oregon (map) between July 20 and 24. The aircraft were working the Blue Creek Fire in the southwest corner of Washington.

Aaron tells us that on July 23, 13,000 gallons of Jet A fuel was used.

An RJ85 at La Grande, OR. Photo by Josh Annas.

T-131 at La Grande — An RJ85 and T-131 (a C-130Q) at La Grande, OR, while a SEAT photo-bombs. Photo by Josh Annas.

Tanker 45, a P2V, at La Grande, OR. Photo by Josh Annas.

Video of Tanker 131 dropping water on wildfire in Florida

Bill Gabbert27. July 201528. August 2022Fixed wingC-130, Florida, Mud Lake Complex, T-1311 Comment

In this video, Air Tanker 131, a C-130Q, is seen making two drops with water — instead of fire retardant — on the Mud Lake Complex of fires in Big Cypress National Preserve in south Florida. This is an unusual tactic for most large air tankers that normally drop retardant. It was a direct attack on the edge of the fire, rather than being offset as they would usually do with retardant. In the United States, federal policy does not allow retardant to be dropped near water. Many areas in the Mud Lake Complex were near wetlands.

Air tankers that can skim over the surface of a lake, scooping water to refill their tanks, usually drop water instead of retardant. Those aircraft include the Air Tractor Fire Boss, CL-215/415, and the Martin Mars.

Coulson Aviation attached a GoPro camera to the belly of their C-130Q to record the video in May, 2015.

If you are wondering how far water dropped by an air tanker spreads out laterally, check out this video of a scooper dropping on a vehicle fire in Canada.