Erickson DC-7B - Tanker 60

[zfwaviation]

Not a warbird, per se, but I hope you guys make an exception for this rare beauty.

A quick photo tribute to Erickson Aero Tanker's beautiful Tanker 60 - a 1958 Douglas DC-7B. She started her life with Eastern Air Lines before being converted into a fire bomber.

Here she is operating out of the Redmond, Oregon tanker base to make drops on the Green Ridge Fire near Sisters, Oregon back in August. Tanker 60 has been very busy on contract with the State of Oregon this summer, and is currently taking part in heroic efforts by firefighters to slow and stop the fires ravishing the state.

Sadly, Tanker 60 is in its last year of service and will be retired after this wildfire season which will be the end of airworthy DC-7s and leaving CL-215s as the last large piston air tankers remaining.

A true ending of an era for those of us on the west coast in particular!

N838D by Dylan Phelps, on Flickr

N838D by Dylan Phelps, on Flickr

N838D by Dylan Phelps, on Flickr

N838D by Dylan Phelps, on Flickr

N838D by Dylan Phelps, on Flickr


Hope you all enjoyed!

Dylan Phelps
https://www.instagram.com/zfwaviation/?hl=en
https://www.flickr.com/photos/10979857@N06/

Last edited by zfwaviation on Mon Sep 14, 2020 10:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Pat Carry]

A beaut!!

[exhaustgases]

And very stupid to be grounding all the old recip fire planes, one of the reasons there is such a mess happening right now. Oh well its similar to not managing the forests correctly it supports an agenda.

[Mick G]

Not a warbird, per se, but I hope you guys make an exception for this rare beauty.

leaving CL-215s as the last large piston air tankers remaining.

I think thier are a few moe piston pounders in service, as example, the State of Kansas has a S2 that returned to service this year, as well i believe Conair has some of their S2 Firecats overseas on contracts.

[sledge39]

Fantastic photos Dylan...+ your websites are loaded with good stuff...

Tanker 60 N838D ... back in the day

01 Ontario (ONT) Nov 1975

02 San Bernardino (SBD) 10-17-1999

WIX won't accept larger than 1024 wide for some reason

[quemerford]

Lovely photos - many thanks for sharing!

[airnutz]

What a grand old bird!!! You'd think under the current circumstances they'd be extending the lives of as many tankers as they could lay their hands on. Thanks Dylan and Sledge!

[Cvairwerks]

USFS is a bit gun-shy of anything older than about 40 years after the C-130 came apart on a run. Fire use really accelerates the fatigue cycling of the airframe and it requires closer inspection and monitoring of condition. Additionally, various fire retardant chemicals play havok with corrosion control and that has additional effects and maintenance requirements.

[JohnB]

Not a warbird, per se, but I hope you guys make an exception for this rare beauty.

leaving CL-215s as the last large piston air tankers remaining.

I think thier are a few moe piston pounders in service, as example, the State of Kansas has a S2 that returned to service this year, as well i believe Conair has some of their S2 Firecats overseas on contracts.

Aren't the Firecats turbine?

[Lon Moer]

officially retired.


https://fireaviation.com/2020/10/22/tanker-60-retires-from-aerial-firefighting/

[Blackbirdfan]

I so wanted to get a good shot of T60 but it was never used on a fire near me, or when it was, I couldn't really see it.

This is my one shot, heavily processed due to the smoke. This was from the Atlas Peak fire in 2017. It was a glorious sound. I wish I could have gotten a shot of it making a drop.


Will

[Mick G]

I'd be curious to see if the 3 of them might be offered up for sale. You would think there might be demand for a ready to go fleet in other countries. Mexico, Spain, Greece, Turkey, etc.....

[JohnB]

I'd be curious to see if the 3 of them might be offered up for sale. You would think there might be demand for a ready to go fleet in other countries. Mexico, Spain, Greece, Turkey, etc.....

I would think the AVGAS requirement might be a big negative in many places.

[jcochr50]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/a ... d=msedgdhp