20 F L I G H T J O U R N A L

Nicknamed “The Golden State,” majestic

California boasts some of the best weather

in the world. It is also home to some 34

million residents and has numerous metro-

politan areas as well as remote and exten-

sive forests, deserts, hills and grasslands. Although

California is a popular place to live, and there is plenty

to do in its excellent climate, the enormous landmass is

subjected daily to a meteorological smorgasbord.

Traditional weather cycles include some rain in the

winter and spring, but it seldom rains in the summer and

fall. Seasonal rains turn the vegetation green and allow it

to grow, but during the summer, it becomes parched and

dry—a potential fire hazard. The combination of all the

people and machines with Mother Nature and the dry

vegetation can bring disaster!

One of the worst years for fires in California was 1999;

7,562 wildfires burned 285,272 acres and more than

1,300 structures. Tankers engaged in the battle logged

12,100 hours, breaking the record of 11,400 hours in

1996. 2000 wasn’t quite as bad as the

previous year, but some 5,177 wild-

fires swept through 72,718 acres and

destroyed 53 structures. 2001 began

with a major fire in San Diego County

that took days to extinguish.

The state’s official firefighting and

fire-protection organization is the

California Department of Forestry

(CDF). California actually owns the

largest firefighting aviation fleet in

the world (the U.S. Forestry Service

[USFS] leases the tankers it uses). The

National Guard also lends its support

with a variety of aircraft.

Story and photos by Ted Carlson

FIREBOMBAERIAL

Battling the blaze from above …

A U G U S T 2 0 0 1 63

BERSFlying CDF TS-2A tanker number72, Deen Oehl punches off a loadof retardant over SouthernCalifornia. The TS-2A can beidentified by its radial engines,compared with the S-2T that hasturbine engines.

Fires always start out small, and it’sparamount to put them out early,before they turn into raging monsters.Hundreds of small fires that couldescalate occur every year in California,but they are ended quickly by theCDF’s prompt action. When a firebreaks out, the person in charge ini-tially is the incident commander (IC),who is generally on the ground.

When CDF fire aircraft are dis-patched, the launch usually includesthe OV-10, two S-2s (“Stoofs”; origi-nally designated S-2F) and a SuperHuey. Ninety percent of the time, thiscombination of aircraft handles smallfires that range over between one andfive acres. They rarely make the news.The aerial firefight is run by an airattack officer, who is the CDF captainin the back seat of the OV-10A thatusually orbits above the action. The airattack officer reports to the IC andinstructs all civilian tankers, militarytankers and helicopters.

The OV-10A air attack crews aretaught to look for four things first (inaddition to keeping an eye out forhazards such as wires, trees, snags,

etc.): the origin of the fire, the leftflank, the right flank and the head ofthe fire, where the aircraft concentratetheir attention. The head of the fire iswhere the fire spreads most rapidly.Sometimes, one burning flank may beheading into rock or a cliff, and thismeans that the fire will burn itself out,so the aircraft don’t bother to workthe area.

The air attack officer is responsiblefor monitoring the airspace bubblearound the fire. Most important isensuring that all players have safe sep-aration for safety of flight. The great-est hazard for the OV-10 crew issmoke, which is always avoided. Inthe event of a large fire, the CDFrequests a temporary flight restriction(TFR) from the FAA. It references aVOR, a given radial and distance. Afive-mile radius and an altitudebetween 2,000 and 12,000 feet arestandard, and nonessential aircraftmust remain clear.

Aircraft working within the areamight include large and small tankersand an array of helicopters and leadplanes. Because of the many VHF andFM radios on board, communicationscan become very hectic for the hard-

Fighting the enemy: tactics and strategies

The OV-10A air attack crews aretaught to look for four things first(in addition to keeping an eye outfor hazards such as wires, trees,snags, etc.): the origin of the fire,the left flank, the right flank andthe head of the fire, where the air-craft concentrate their attention.The head of the fire is where thefire spreads most rapidly.

FIRE BOMBERS

working air attack crew. The air attack officer has specificopen channels to the helicopters, tankers and main com-mand frequencies.

The USFS Beech Baron lead planes sometimes lead thelarge tankers to the drop. They fly about a quarter mile aheadof the tanker, ensure that conditions are safe for low-leveldrops and watch for dangerous air currents or winds. A largetanker’s drop speed is usually a slow 130 knots indicated;thus, the Baron runs no risk of having a tanker run it down.

When a tanker arrives, the air attack officer gives its pilotan altimeter setting and an altitude at which to orbit. Thetanker pilot is informed of any hazards and is told where todrop. The tankers then get to work. In the event of anunforeseen problem, such as the loss of an engine or a loadthat won’t release during the run-in, the tanker pilots alwayshave an exit and escape route planned. They try to avoid fly-ing through smoke or toward rising terrain, wires and treesnags, and they constantly watch for birds.

Tanker pilots must consider such factors as wind directionand wind drift, slope angles, smoke, speed, speed buildup ifdiving, altitude and the release point. The ideal drop situa-tion is to fly into the wind while traveling downhill. S-2s average about 150 to 200 feet AGL and between 110to 130 knots during drops, and thus, the missions tendto be mostly in the uncomfortable “low and slow”mode. But dropping from that altitude is ideal for coat-ing the vegetation with retardant. Depending on thesize and parameters of the fire, the tankers will eitherdrop the load ahead of the fire (known as an indirectattack) or directly on a fire (a direct attack).

A direct attack is sometimes used to cool a fire andreduce hot spots and embers. Drops areoccasionally made behind the head ofthe fire in an attempt to eliminateburning embers that can blow ahead ofthe fire and cause more problems.Tanker pilots can feel the heat radiat-ing from the fire, and the turbulenceand updrafts that the blaze produces canbounce a Stoof around pretty well.

For small fires or when a “stop gap” isneeded for ground personnel, a tanker maydrop its load on the head of the fire; this isknown as “head hunting.” However, mostdrops are ahead of the fire or at its flanks.

Tankers are used more to sup-press fires, not extinguish them;that is the ground personnel’s

responsibility. The S-2 makes an excellent tanker for smallerfires because it can get into tight places. The first drops areprobably the most important, as they may succeed in stop-ping a blaze before it turns into a raging fire.

There are several types of fire retardant, and all are dyedpink or red. The dye helps participants see where drops havealready occurred so the same areas aren’t hit again. Thechoice of retardant depends on the fire’s ground fuel source.The dyes are environmentally friendly and are bleached awayby the sun. Larger tankers almost always drop their 2,000 to3,000 gallons of retardant ahead of the fire line, effectivelypretreating the area. When the fire reaches the treated area, itslows down considerably, thus giving firefighters more timeto work.

When the Super Huey arrives, its first priority is to drop offthe CDF helitack ground crew of five to eight firefighters.When the helicopters are ready to work, they often start atthe flank opposite the tanker. The helicopters work onwhichever flank is closer to a water source so they don’t haveto travel so far to refill.

The helicopter may also be instructed to support theground crew it dropped off and to make drops in front ofthem so they can cut fire lines quickly. The helicoptersinvolved communicate not only with the air attack officer but

A U G U S T 2 0 0 1 23

Todd Deline and Steve Calkins man this CDF OV-10ABronco. The former USMC Broncos make excellentplatforms for the air attack role and are fast, whichenables them to arrive quickly on the scene.

Above: Mike Venable makes a practicewater drop in TS-2A tanker number 73.When making practice drops for profi-ciency, tanker pilots will often usewater in lieu of the red/pinkish dyedretardant. Left: the S-2s have a conve-nient cam-lock fitting at the end of thefuselage that is great for expeditiousrefilling.

Continued on page 27

NIGHT HUNT

A California Army National Guard UH-60A Blackhawk makes a pickupin a lake with a Bambi bucket. The Guard is instrumental in helping outwith large fires, and its rotary-wing assets that use the Bambi bucketsinclude the CH-47D, HH-60G and UH-60A. Right: a California ArmyNational Guard Blackhawk demonstrates the Bambi bucket in action.The 780 gallons it can hold weigh 6,240 pounds!

NIGHT HUNT

68 F L I G H T J O U R N A L

Dave Patrick is piloting this CDF SuperHuey, which has the water tank with snorkelassembly below the fuselage. The waterpickup pump on the distal end of the snorkelis noteworthy.

A U G U S T 2 0 0 1 27

also with the other helicopters involvedvia a specific helicopter frequency.

Sometimes a helicopter is directed towork a flank to hit a flare-up or spotfire. Buckets of water are more com-monly used in timber country; thetanks are employed in rural and semi-arid areas. The Super Huey pilots like tomake drops using the 60/50 rule: 60knots indicated at about 50 feet AGLwhile heading into the wind. However,the parameters often change based onthe terrain, fuel type, tree-line heightand winds. Slow flight and hoveringcan actually fan the flames, and that isa bad profile to be in if an engine fails.

Helicopter pilots must monitor thelocations of the ground crews workingthe fire line so that water is not acciden-tally dropped over them. The force of360 gallons of water hitting someone at60 knots could be somewhat traumatic.If the ground crew is below trees, thewater could snap off branches and bringthem down along with the flood.

In the National Guard Blackhawk helicopter, as the pilotapproaches the water source, he calls “Short final,” and thecrew chief relays the height to help guide the helicopter to agood place to pick up the water while also watching forobstacles below. Fast-moving rivers are usually avoided, asthe force of their flow can cause a helicopter-versus-riverwrestling match that could result in having to pickle thebucket. Downhill drops can be tough because of limited visi-bility, and uphill drops can be hazardous if the water fails torelease. Thus, helo drivers tend to follow a ridgeline whenthey are dropping.

The Blackhawk has a five-gallon foam container with ahand pump and a hose that runs down into the bucket.When the foam is used, drops are usually made ahead of thefire rather than on top of it. Dropping on top of reddishtanker retardant is also to be avoided, as water dilutes theretardant chemicals and hinders the chemical effectiveness ofthe concoction.

Aviation mishaps occur in all communi-ties, and many accidents happen duringlanding and takeoff. Firefighting aircraftare no exception to this rule. Thoughalmost all flights are uneventful, andmost drops are routine, flying any air-craft for an extended time can result insome hair-raising moments. Some S-2tanker pilots were kind enough to sharetheir war stories with us.

Deen Oehl, an S-2 tanker pilot atRyan Air Attack Base, describes a 1988experience during a takeoff: “I hadlanded after a sortie at Porterville andhad to top off with fuel and retardant,which put the S-2 at the maximumgross weight. I was then dispatched to afire at Cajon Pass.

“The weather was bad, it was warm,and there were thunderstorms in thevicinity, with erratic winds at the air-port. Tankers were taking off in bothsoutherly and northerly directions,depending on the mood of the twenty-

or-so knots of wind at the time. I recall a DC-4 taking off thatused up almost the entire runway, and he added a notch ofdown-flaps to recover and make it off.

“I took the active runway and commenced the takeoff roll.About the time when I was just breaking ground, the initialleft-quartering headwindsuddenly switched to aleft-quarter tailwind. Atthat critical point, my air-speed rapidly deteriorated.Despite my best efforts,the S-2 began to settle. Ihad already actuated thegear retraction, so the gearwas on its way up. Theradial engine Stoof thensettled back onto the run-way due to loss of lift, cre-ating a shower of sparksbehind.

“Luckily, there was plen-ty of runway left, and theS-2 remained on the run-way until it stopped. Itried to shut down theengines before it hit, butthere was not enough timefor them to wind down,resulting in prop strikes. Prop shrapnel from the right engineactually penetrated the fuselage, and one large piece justmissed me and struck aft of my seat.

“The retardant tank on the belly was ground away, andretardant spilled out, which may have been a good thing. Iwas fortunate to escape without injury—other than to mypride. With the prop strikes and metal grinding, it was adeafening experience. It happened so fast, I didn’t even havetime to be scared. A few months later, that particular S-2

In addition to its primary firefightingrole, the Super Huey is used for res-cues (as evidenced here).

A CDF Super Huey crew returns from a training flight at Ryan AirAttack Base.

Continued from page 23

Not a perfect world

flew again.”S-2 instructor pilot Bob

Valette flies out of SantaRosa, and he pitched in, “Iwas flying down a canyonand was supposed to deliverretardant on one side of ahouse and then hit theother side coming back. Itwas a perpendicular run tothe canyon, which is tough.It means you have to godown the side of a hill ,punch off the load, pull theelevator up, advance tomaximum allowable throt-t les and make a ninety-degree-heading changebecause of a mountain onthe exit route.

“I punched half the loadoff, pulled the elevator,added power, pulled aboutthree Gs and banked sharplyto the left. Everything wentwell until I entered the left-hand bank. At ninetydegrees of bank, the aircraftdidn’t want to roll out. Itscared the heck out of me,and both hands went to thecontrol yoke.

“I thought I was going todie, but the adrenaline rushhelped me to move theyoke, which finally brokeloose. The plane rolled outon a heading towardSacramento, and I did anuneventful, long, straight-inlanding at Mather using therudders only. I had the con-trols lock up on me a secondtime about three years ago,and that time, I had atrainee with me: CharlieJones, who now flies tankersout of Rohnerville. Charliewas flying, and we werenear Vacaville, dropping ona fire that was movinguphill.

“Charlie was doing agood job on the approach,but during the final turn forthe drop, he didn’t roll out;he just kept turning. Ilooked at him, and you hadto be there to see his startledexpression! He had bothhands on the yoke, with awide-open mouth, obviously

extremely concerned. Thecontrols were locked in neu-tral, but in a thirty-degreeleft bank. I instantly droppedthe load. Charlie is a strongguy, and I jumped on thecontrols with him.

“With our combinedefforts, the ailerons eventuallysnapped with a big clank tothe right, and then the planerolled back into a right-bankposition, with the controlsnow free. Due to the earlierproblem, I wanted to avoidneutral. This had all hap-pened so fast, and with allhands on the yoke, that wehad not yet communicated. Itold him to leave the birdthe way it was.

“I put both feet on the rud-der, and we were flyingstraight in a slide slip at thatpoint. We declared an emer-gency and made a slow andlazy turn over the Santa Rosabase with other CDF aircraftin trail watching us. Onshort final, Charlie loweredthe gear and flaps, whichdidn’t have any adverseeffects.

“On the ground, the con-trols were free and felt per-fect. When the aircraftmechanics checked the planeand looked at everything, allthey could find were rivetheads, a screwdriver andother debris. It could be thatthe screwdriver bounced upand locked an aileron. The S-2 is quite a strong airplane,and it has done a great jobfor California in the fire-fighting mission for morethan twenty years. I haveflown the new turbine air-craft, the S-2T, with the reli-able Garrett turbopropengines. It is faster, larger,carries more retardant and isa fantastic airplane.

“Many people only hearabout the ten or fifteenmajor fires statewide everyyear. Last year alone, Iresponded to four hundredforty-seven fires, and with-out the tankers, we wouldhave been much worse off!

FIRE BOMBERS

Just as important as firefighting aircraft are the firefighting groundcrews; they play a critical role in containment, as well. Ground crews areresponsible for extinguishing fires to the end, and the aviation assetsand ground crews work together as a team.

Helicopter pilots must monitor the locations of the

ground crews working the fire line so that water is not

accidentally dropped over them. The force of 360 gallons

of water hitting someone at 60 knots could be somewhat

traumatic. If the ground crew is below trees, the water

could snap off branches and bring them down along with

the flood.

A Huey makes a drop duringthe 2001 San Diego fire.The Huey is still the mostused helicopter at hot spotsaround California.

28 F L I G H T J O U R N A L

The news media never report the ones wesnuff out early, which happens all the time,and the job that we do is invaluable in con-trolling the situation.”

Another pilot who has 22 years’ experi-ence flying tankers is Doug Baker, who fliesS-2Ts out of Ukiah. He had a horrifyingexperience flying a TS-2A out of Ramona.“We were working Santa Ana fires inSouthern California. The winds were blow-ing at forty to fifty miles per hour, and Iwas returning to base after a drop. I was onthe downwind leg and turned on base withthe flaps down. While in the turn to final,the flap actuator snapped and the airplanestarted rolling uncontrollably to the right when I was abouteighty feet above the ground.

“Initially, I thought I had lost an engine. I put the propsforward to flat pitch and added power. Nothing happened;the roll continued. We have Plexiglas hatches overhead, andas the plane rolled, I could see the ground through thecopilot’s top glass. The aircraft was probably at about one-hundred-twenty-degrees angle of bank. The S-2 has a rudderassist that I quickly turned on and put in full left rudder andfull opposite aileron, which kind of gave me control again.Taking it around was not an option, as the aircraft was notreally flying but was in more of a semi-controlled descentduring base to final.

“It then smashed down on the runway at about a forty-five-degree nose angle to the runway. I straightened it out,taxied in and had no idea what had happened. I took it tothe run-up area, ran the engines up, and they appeared to befine. I then took it into the loading-area fuel pits and shut itdown. When I exited, Inoticed that the right flapwas broken and was flappingin the breeze.

“Through sheer strengthand the fear of dying, I hadmade it to the runway. Tothe airplane’s credit, after itslammed down on the run-way, it fared very well—probably because it wasdesigned for aircraft-carrieroperations. The aircraft flapsystem was fixed, the aircraftwas carefully inspected, andit was up and flying the fol-lowing day.”

Jimmy Barnes was thefirst to fly the prototype S-2T. “I was ferrying a 1947-vintage DC-4 that had beensitting in the desert for yearsto North Carolina. There

was water in the fuel, though, and it froze, and all four enginesquit over Sherman, Texas. We had to do a four-engine-outdeadstick landing! I have also had to drop loads to get out ofdowndrafts. Once, near Palm Desert, I was dropping near amountain peak in high winds. My rate-of-climb indicator waspegged in the downward mode with my power levers at maxi-mum. It stayed that way until I dropped down several thousandfeet lower.

“As with most other tanker pilots at one time or another, Ihave accidentally flown into convection columns, which con-tain heat, smoke and the products of combustion. In that case,the rate of climb is usually pegged up, and you try to maintainattitude control. The Super Huey and S-2T are probably amongthe most potent team combinations for initial attack air sup-port in California.”

Although having both state- and federal-sponsored tankerfleets is not inexpensive for California taxpayers, it is reassuringto know that these fleets stand ready to defend citizens against

the fury of the beast.Attacking fire from theair has proven to be invaluable oncountless occasions,and it’s obviously oneof the most effectivemethods for combat-ing “the big ones”!

Acknowledgements: the

author thanks Lt. Cols. Doug

Hart, Terry Knight and Tom

Lasser; Maj. Car l Al len;

Capts. Steve Calkins, Jim

Fuller, Bruce Malarky, Wayne

Murray, Ken Pimlott and Rob

Toups; CW3 Bob Pr ice;

Sgt. 1C Barry Linture; Doug

Baker, Jimmy Barnes, Todd

Deline, Marshall Graves, Les

Koehler, Deen Oehl, Dave

Patrick, Bob Valette, Mike

Lookng somewhat like a mosquito on steroids, a CH-54 (S-64) Skycrane is shown fighting a fire inCalifornia earlier this year. The Vietnam-vintage, former U.S. Army helicopter (officially dubbed “theTarhe”) is a heavy-lifting machine that is leased bythe USFS.

A C-130E Hercules of Channel Islands California Air National Guard 146th AirliftWing makes a drop on target. C-130s are among the largest tankers and candeposit huge amounts of retardant over a sizable area in one or more passes.

A U G U S T 2 0 0 1 29

The CDF owns 14 ex-USMC OV-10A Broncos that areemployed for command and con-trol of fires. The nimble Broncosare manned by a crew of two: a pilotand an air attack officer. The aircraft have

an array of radios—three VHF and three FMradios (one with UHF capability as well)—that enables them to communicate with var-ious agencies, controllers and aircraft simul-taneously. The radios all have Guard fre-quencies, so the Bronco may be monitoringeight different frequencies at once.

Bronco driver Les Koehler has flown airattack aircraft since 1990. He started in theO-2A and laterchanged to the OV-10A. He has 2,200hours flying air attackaircraft, 500 of themin the Bronco. Whenasked about flyingthe aircraft, hereplied, “As a pilot, Iam responsible formaking sure the airattack officer cansee the tankers sothey may be directed to the appropriatedrop locations. I must also keep the airattack officer in a good viewing position sohe or she can monitor other aircraft, such ashelicopters. The Bronco is very stable inrough air, and with our power, the envelopeof operation is good. Turbine engines arevery well suited to higher altitudes, and withthe tandem seating, I can orbit in either aleft- or right-hand pattern, which was not anoption in the O-2. The Bronco is very agileand handles well.”

Capt. Steve Calkins is a CDF Ryan AirAttack Base air attack officer in the CDFRiverside Range Unit of the Sierra Southregion. He has been in the CDF for 32 years

and has manned the Bronco for fouryears. When asked about his job, hesaid, “I like the Bronco because it getsus there fast, and the visibility is fan-tastic. Aircraft are very effective

against fires, and I feel that we are doingsomething good during missions. We can

usually prevent small fires fromturning into large ones, andcompared with fire engines onthe ground, we get to see thebig picture. You can see whatthe fire is doing, have a broadeffect on the end result andsome input into the big gameplan.”

California helitack (“helicopter” plus “attack”equals “helitack”) operations first began inthe early 1970s. At two CDF bases, Ryanand Bear Valley, the Super Hueys (designat-ed as Bell 205-A1 machines) have adetachable tank installed on the bottom thatcontains an attached water-sucking snorkel.The 13-foot-long snorkel has a pumpattached on the distal end, and the Huey

simply locates a watersource near a fire andhovers over it whiledipping the snorkelinto the water, whichis then sucked into the360-gallon tank.

The tank has a two-door system, and thedoors can be openedindividually or togeth-er. The tank also hasattachments that allow

it to be connected to a fire hydrant. A pair ofsmall, 15-gallon tanks contains concentrat-ed foam, which the pilot injects into thewater after the main tank has been filled.The foam greatlyenhances the flame-snuffing capabilitybecause it does notevaporate nearly asfast as water, and thisgives the water retar-dant-like characteris-tics. To minimize air-craft weight for high-density-altitude oper-ations, 325-gallon

buckets may be used in lieu of thesnorkel/tank system.

Vic Wierzba is a CDF Super Huey pilot anda veteran of the war in Vietnam, where he flewHueys for the U.S. Army. He has flown world-wide and has even worked for Air America.He has logged more than 11,000 helicopterhours and has worked for the CDF since1994. When asked about flying the Huey andabout firefighting, he said, “You always needto be ‘heads up’ when fighting fires; you mustleave yourself an ‘out.’ We use the helicopterto rescue individuals who are lost, such ashikers, or perhaps for someone who is hurt orill in the wilderness. We don’t use a hoist, butwe have two rescuers in the back of the heliplus a crew chief and a rescue supervisor. Arescuer can be lowered by rope a maximumof 200 feet to reach the victim. If required, wewill send down a second rescuer with a litter.The rescuer and litter are attached to therope, and the victim and rescuers are carrieda short distance to a landing area where wecan load them inside or transfer them to anambulance.

“We fly the aircraft low and around steep,rugged terrain that can be turbulent. Wealso fly at high-density altitudes, and we fre-quently operate near maximum grossweights—variables that make this type offlying dangerous. We are providing a valu-able service to the community, saving livesand property, and that is rewarding. Just afew weeks ago, we short-haul rescued aparaglider pilot who had crashed in themountains in an area inaccessible to groundcrews. Our job is both challenging and inter-esting.”

The CDF has a variety of former U.S. NavyGrumman S-2 Trackers employed as medi-um tankers that were originally designed tohunt and kill Soviet submarines during the

Cold War. The S-2fleet consists of for-mer TS-2As, S-2D, Eand S-2Gs. The nick-name “Stoof” is sim-ply derived fromcombining the S, the2 and the F to form aword: Stoof. The TS-2As still have recipro-cating engines,

FIREFIGHTING AIRCRAFTFIREFIGHTING AIRCRAFTThe Bronco

Super Hueys

Stoofs

OV-10A Bronco

Bell 205 A1 Super Huey

TS-2A Tracker

30 F L I G H T J O U R N A L

though the other modelshave had turbopropsinstalled and are known as S-2Ts. The last TS-2As will beretired within a couple ofyears in favor of the morepowerful and versatile S-2T.All have a crew of one.

The internal retardant tankhas four drop doors (two oneach side) and four separatebays. The retardant can bereleased using various doorcombinations and sequenc-ing timers, if desired. The S-2T can holdone and a half times more retardant thanthe TS-2A.

Mike Venable is a Stoof pilot based atRyan Air Attack Base who has piloted orcopiloted PBYs, C-119s, DC-4s and C-130s under contract for the USFS, andhe also flew the OV-10 before changing tothe S-2. He has logged 12,000 hours,including 800 hours in the S-2.

Mike said, “You need to have a goodunderstanding of how fire behaves, andwhat drives a fire up-slope or down; you

need to know the wind, heat, convection,smoke, etc. Once on scene, you mustassess the situation and determine which isthe best place to make the first drop. Wealways put safety first by planning a wayout when we work a fire. With a full load ofretardant in the TS-2A, single-engine oper-ation is marginal, and we are always readyto pickle the load in the event of an engineloss. When we make drops at low altitudes,we fly one-hundred-percent visual andheads up. We always try to avoid smoke,especially the thick stuff.

“The nature of what we do is haz-ardous. We fly out of uncontrolled airportsand integrate with general aviation aircraft.When you arrive on scene, there may be agaggle of helicopters below, four or fivefixed-winged aircraft above, other tankers,

Air Attacksand mediahelicopters.You need tomake sureyou fit into agroove in thebig plan.

“The S-2can operatefrom the smaller bases and runways, andthis places them closer to fires than some ofthe larger tankers. That means our droprepetition is greater and helps us put the fireout faster. Sometimes we can make dropswhere the big tankers cannot because ofthe terrain. You have to fly the S-2 hands-onall the time. The job is fun, exciting and dif-ferent, and you get to accomplish some-thing good for the taxpayer!”

During large fires, California’s Army and AirNational Guard are important players. Someof the planes they use include the C-130EHercules, CH-47D Chinooks, HH-60G PaveHawk and UH-60A Blackhawks. The C-130E, with the modular airborne firefight-ing system (MAFFS), can deliver a hugemass of retardant through a pair of bigtubes out the rear cargo area. TheChinooks, Pave Hawks and Blackhawksuse Bambi water buckets, and they canalso carry CDF helitack crews and morepeople than Hueys can. The Blackhawkcan carry two sizes of Bambi buckets: the660- and 780-gallon.

CW3 Bob Price is a California Army

National Guard UH-60A pilot basedat Los Alamitos AAF,California, whoserves with the 40thInfantry Division(mechanized)/1-140th Aviation. Whenasked about firefight-ing in the Blackhawk,

he replied, “We will go all over the state,and we are instrumental in helping out theCDF when called upon.”

The USFS has a small fleet of aircraft thatincludes Aero Commanders (Air Attack) andBeech Barons (lead planes). However, theyfund the larger tankers for the heavy-dutywork. Large tankers include the PBY,PB4Y, C-54, P-2, P-3, KC-97, C-130, DC-4, DC-6 and DC-7. Smaller contractedplanes are the CL-415 Super Scooper andsingle-engine air tankers (SEATs).Contracted helicopters include Bell 206 JetRangers, Bell 212 Hueys, S-61s and S-64

(CH-54) Skycranes. The USFS alsohas smokejumpers who aretrained to leap from USFS-ownedDC-3s, Sherpas and Twin Otters—the fastest way to get many fire-fighters to the scene. �

FIREFIGHTING AIRCRAFT

Fire Guardians

USFS

CH-54 (S-64) Skycrane CH-47D Chinook

HH-60G Pave Hawk

C-130E Hercules

Beech Baron

PB4Y

32 F L I G H T J O U R N A L