Fire suppression movement and rumours!

[skydivepilot]

The season is almost upon us so here's wishing everyone a safe summer.

[CLguy]

Saw Manitoba Government's brand new shiny 415 in Dryden yesterday. Looking good guys and congratulations. Welcome to the 21st century of waterbombing.

Have a safe one everyone!!

[magic wand]

Saw Manitoba Government's brand new shiny 415 in Dryden yesterday. Looking good guys and congratulations. Welcome to the 21st century of waterbombing.

Have a safe one everyone!!

So all the prairie provinces have new iron this year. Sask and Alberta will be operating their converted CL215-T's this year.

[Caracrane]

everyone have a good and safe summer. They will like the 215T. A real workhorse that comes off water with probes down when lower in fuel. Take good care guys.

[ArcticKat]

Saskatchewan upgrades 'Scooper' air tankers

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. — Saskatchewan is upgrading its fleet of amphibious air tankers to make them safer, faster and more reliable.

Officials say work on the first CL-215 "Scooper" is now complete just before the wildfire season.

Technicians have converted the aircraft's radial engines to turbines -- a change that will reduce maintenance costs and give the plane more power.

http://regina.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/C ... hub=Regina

[The Old Fogducker]

So why would CTV's research be so lame as to put a US registered '215 picture at the top of the story?

There's no shortage of pictures of the CL-215T available from the Public Affairs section of the Ministry of the Environment.

Talk about lazy!

Come on folks .... I know that times have been tough in broadcasting since restructuring and nobody in support roles is earning more than $12 an hour .... but really.

The Old Fogducker

[Driving Rain]

So why would CTV's research be so lame as to put a US registered '215 picture at the top of the story?

The Old Fogducker

Perhaps they cut and pasted from a CBC site.

[The Old Fogducker]

Perhaps they cut and pasted from a CBC site.

'Ya know, despite my years in the broadcast media, I failed to consider that may be the case Driving Rain .... I must be in the ealy stages of dementia to have forgotten the rampant plagiarisim in the news world.

Thanks for the slap in the face ... it woke me up and brought me back to reality!

OFD

[Caracrane]

Just to relieve the pressure on the amazing job that the MNR's 415 Drivers do in the Dryden area, go on youtube with Grupo 43

[Caracrane]

To all OMNR employees and crews; THANK YOU for the way you welcomed us and the way we felt part of your team. We left YHD this past afternoon and we'll keep a good memory of our stay with you guys on this still very difficult 2011 season., What a nice set-up and wonderful people we had the chance to meet. Dave, Don, Al, crews from BD 151,153, 158...

T244 and T245 crews.

[CLguy]

Was great seeing and working with you guys again. It is always a joy working with your organization, a group of professionals committed to getting the job done. Stay safe in California!

Just want you to know that B&B Roadhouse has had to lay off 2 barmaids since you left. They said business is way down!!!!

[toelessjoe]

To all OMNR employees and crews; THANK YOU for the way you welcomed us and the way we felt part of your team. We left YHD this past afternoon and we'll keep a good memory of our stay with you guys on this still very difficult 2011 season., What a nice set-up and wonderful people we had the chance to meet. Dave, Don, Al, crews from BD 151,153, 158...

T244 and T245 crews.

I too would like to give a completely unbiased shout out to the utterly fantastic, overly stupendous, tremendously talented, completely non narcissistic (insert adjective/adverb combination here) pilot of BD 151, whose amazing style & grace was reminissant of a young Clarke Gable (assuming Clarke Gable could handle the raw power of the mighty 90). A man who rules the skies with with unyielding might, yet tempers his dominance of the 5nm, 3000'agl airspace with the kind of mercy & kindness seldom shown by other aviation deities. Why this legend of the airways even...HEY CL GUY, QUIT YER GIGGLIN'!! That's it, I'm grabbing a nap.

- Toeless.

[CLguy]

I think we need to get you some time off! Clarke Gable, yeah right, maybe Jim Carrey!

The good news is the Quebec replacements arrived so hopefully the barmaids will be employed again.

[Caracrane]

Sorry to hear that the girls at the Bestwestern were laid off for a while. Next time we'll make sure that there's an overlap for crew change so they don't get unemployed!

We now in KVNY and you can see some footages from yesterdays brush fires inside LA County on www.abc7.com.

[Caracrane]

sorry www.kcla9.com or www.ktla.com might be better.

[North Shore]

I've split this thread from the sticky about Fires in general. Perhaps we can use this to communicate who/what/where? Kinda like AAT down in the US.

[North Shore]

2 Manitoba machines currently down in Ely, Minnesota, fighting the Pagami Creek fire in the Boundary Waters wilderness area. ~180 loads yesterday, despite the cold!

[CLguy]

Four Ontario machines were there as well helping out on the north side. Heard the Manitoba machines working but never saw them.

[fire flyer]

Yukon is empty of FireCats, DC6 and Aerostars...was that the last year? Maybe as YK has put out a very specific RFT making a return of those types a non-option.
Alberta is sort of empty but has extended one CV580 and TC690 as they are on export to USFS and maybe in Montana or Nevada.
BC has two L-188 with TC690(Penticton and Kamloops) and four AT802 with PA60(Castlegar) still on regular contract. They have also extended a group(two CV580 and TC690) as they are on export to lower 48. Maybe Helena Montana also?
Conair has another three CV580s roaming the states(Boise Idaho is "home base") on contract extension with there Alaska State customer. No bird dogs.
This info may be old or inaccurate so please correct me if I am wrong.

FF

[fire flyer]

Several CV580s on the move to parts of California. Possibly two and TC690 to Chico(northern) and maybe one to Porterville(halfway between SFO and LAX). One still in Nevada and another couple out there somewhere.


FF

[Flybabe]

I realize this is U.S. info, BUT...

Just got notice that Neptune's (my old employer) BAE-146 will be on contract as of September 29. Crew and aircraft are carded and have an item #. A year late (due, I think, to poor tank design) but online nonetheless.

[W5]

Tronos fire-fighting aircraft joins U.S. Forestry Service

Sept. 30, 2011, Summerside, P.E.I. - An independent aviation company based in Atlantic Canada has developed the first new 3,000-gallon capacity fire-fighting airtanker to enter service with the U.S. Forestry Service since the early 1980s.

“We are excited by this breakthrough,” said Mark Coffin, who manages Tronos’ conversion maintenance facilities at Summerside, Prince Edward Island. “This is a triumph for our leading design and production teams.”

A converted British Aerospace BAe 146 known as the “whisper jet” from the Tronos fleet was released into service following extensive United States Forest Service field tests this summer at Missoula, Montana. Now located in Longview, Texas, the airtanker is scheduled to be dispatched to fight fires as early as today (Friday, Sept. 30.) “We have leased this jet to Neptune Aviation Services and plan to convert additional aircraft for Neptune, which will use them to combat forest fires in the United States. Our airtankers provide the Forestry Service with an effective and reliable means of combatting forest fires.”

Tronos is an innovative company which tailors aircraft for specialty uses. In this instance, the firm refitted the BAe-146 by removing the 90-passenger interior and installing a 3,000-gallon tank system that disperses fire retardant on fires. In rigorous testing at Missoula, the BAe-146 demonstrated that it could meet widely varying requirements for fighting fires in eight different environments – from grassy areas to dense forests.

The Forestry Service last approved a new large airtanker (capable of carrying 3,000 gallons of retardant) in the mid-1980s, when the P-3 Orion (PS) was first used in firefighting operations. Demand for new aircraft is expected to be strong, in the face of the increased incidence of major fires, as the aging fleet of airtankers is retired.
The Tronos airtanker design is versatile for other uses, including delivering supplies in relief efforts. “We have done pioneering work in aviation that can also do a little good,” said Coffin. The BAe-146 could also be adapted for emergency response in other sectors, including offshore oil and gas.

[threepoint]

Just an update: the three Convair 580s remain in Porterville, CA although not really doing much the past few weeks (riding bikes, crashing RC cars, you know, the usual). All the BC & AB contract machines were released from Austin TX at the end of October; the last SK 580 departed a couple weeks prior.
The first Neptune BAe146 did indeed appear on contract in Longview TX and worked a few fires soon thereafter. Impressions from the person behind this keyboard are that the platform is suitable for firefighting (no problems manoevering in the fire traffic area and speeds were appropriate), but the delivery method is still sorely lacking. Pressurized liquid delivery is not the answer to aerial fire suppression. It remains to be seen whether the USFS will accept the 146 beyond its current temporary approval to work fires in the US, but they really don't have any sort of alternate plan. Neptune is keen to convert 10 more 146 airframes at a rate of 2 per year to supplement and eventually replace their P2Vs. The Convair 580s did great work while there and I'm sure we'll see a lot more action in future from those based in AK as well as the three western Cdn provinces once the northern fire season winds down. And once the other Canadian-developed BAe146 enters the game (gravity tank, not pressurised) then things will really become interesting indeed.

[Flybabe]

The tank was (and apparently is STILL) a bone of contention with T-40.

I am curious, though, how the 146 will perform in terrain. I can see it being a good platform for Texas, short of the Guadelupes; but in California's mountains? I've been in those canyons.

Not convinced, but not saying it's doable, either.

[fire flyer]

The Bae146 tank issue will be adressed(external) for the Canadian tankers...stay tuned Kiddies!