1714 Archives - Fire Aviation

Another C-130 shows up at McClellan with new CAL FIRE livery

Coast Guard aircraft #1714 CAL FIRE air tanker 117 — Coast Guard aircraft #1714 with new CAL FIRE livery. It will be air tanker #117. Photographed January 14, 2022 at McClellan by Mike McKeig.

Coast Guard aircraft #1714, an HC-130H, has returned to Sacramento McClellan Airport after having been gone for a month or two. Mike McKeig got a photo of it January 14 when mechanics were doing an engine run. It had brand new livery showing that it will be air tanker 117 when it eventually gets transferred to CAL FIRE. The new paint job appears to be about 98 percent complete.

Mike got a “before” picture of the aircraft in November:

Former Coast Guard C-130, 1714 — Former Coast Guard HC-130H, #1714, at McClellan, Nov. 17, 2021. Photo by Mike McKeig.

And here is what it looked like 14 years ago…

Coast Guard C-130H No 1714 — Coast Guard HC-130H #1714, October, 2008. Photo by PhantomPhan1974

The seven Coast Guard HC-130Hs will not be officially transferred to CAL FIRE until all of the maintenance and conversion to air tankers is complete, or close to it. That is expected to happen in 2023. As best as we could determine, no retardant delivery systems have been installed in any of the aircraft. Some of them may still need depot level maintenance.

C-130 designated for CAL FIRE stops by McClellan, stripped of paint

One of the seven Coast Guard HC-130Hs that may eventually be transferred to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), Coast Guard number 1714, returned to Sacramento McClellan Airport this month. The last time it was seen there was quite some time ago when it was still in Coast Guard livery. When it flew in from Ogden, UT on November 2 it had been stripped of paint. It is likely that the aircraft had been under the care of the 309th Aircraft Maintenance Group at Ogden Air Logistics Complex at Hill Air Force Base.

Mike McKeig got a photo of 1714 at the end of an engine run on November 17, two days before it departed for Roswell, New Mexico.

If the Air Force completes the maintenance and conversion into air tankers as Congress required in legislation passed December 20, 2013, the seven Coast Guard HC-130H aircraft will be transferred to CAL FIRE. They were originally destined for the U.S. Forest Service to be government-owned and privately-operated. But oddly, the agency lost interest and now they will be regifted to CAL FIRE if the Air Force follows through as required. Actually, all seven are still property of the Coast Guard and won’t be transferred over until all of the work is done. In the meantime, CAL FIRE is using at least one to train crews. At news conferences they take every opportunity to have one with the new CAL FIRE livery featured prominently in the background.