A different firebomber

[Neal Nurmi]

Triple post...

[StudeDave]

I would guess Canada is the home for most airworthy Electras. Anyone know how many?
Any fire bomber P-3s based up there?

Also, any chance (if they are ever retired) of CP-140 Auroras being converted to firebombers?
Once the SLEP is completed they should have lots of life yet. Wiki says two of the three CP-140A Arcturus aircraft were sent to D-M with one going to a museum. Any chance they could be converted?

I've lost track of how many Electras are up there, and how many still fly.
I don't think there are any other fliers anywhere else in the World.

Buffalo owns a P-3, but she's not allowed on Canadian fires due to her being a former military bird.
Last I heard she was on lease to a company in the States (Airstrike Firefighters) who is also resurrecting the rest of the former Aero Union fleet.

As for the CP-140s- see above.
Canada has a 'thing' about former military birds doing this work.
I think it came about because they'd rather have folks buy new birds built within their own borders....

[StudeDave]

I meant to add....

one neat souce I have found has a page for Electra/Orion info, and that page can be found here~
http://www.proplinerinfoexchange.com/1-electra_news.htm


Poke around the page.... they have TONS of Propliner news to find!!!

[Neal Nurmi]

Thanks Dave -- I had forgotten about that site.

Regarding Dan's comments about the Electra's power, one thing I've noticed in watching these operations is how much shorter the Electra's takeoff roll is than the Avro jet that's also operating here. The Lockheed leaps into the air and climbs out with alacrity while the jet seems to struggle to accelerate and heads out in a shallow climb. Maybe there is something to be said for propellers.

It's a lovely day here today, though it is hot. Winds out of the south so the fire is heading North and so is the smoke. The fire is still very large and quite out of control. There are many new evacuation orders and alerts for the resort and ranch country up there and concern about the fire jumping across the Kootenay River toward the Rockies. At least my town seems safe for the moment...

[Dan Jones]

Hi Neal - how are your fires?

Something like 60% of the Electra's wing is behind it's propellers, and the standard tanker takeoff is to hold her on the brakes and set full power before starting your roll. It would be interesting to know how much "lighter" the aircraft gets before she even starts moving. I fly our freighter Electras as well and it's amazing how little runway that an airplane with very little wing on it actually needs. In the winter time, with the full sixteen-thousand horsepower available and a density altitude in the neighbourhood of six-thousand feet below sea level, doing a V2 climb with a light airplane is pretty spectacular! Cheap entertainment for those of us who are easily amused.

[Neal Nurmi]

Hi Neal - how are your fires?

:

Our Cranbrook fire is still burning and smoking and big, but it's now moved north and is almost invisible to most of us, and nobody seems very concerned. It is now mostly ground fire, and is described as being held by the control lines. There seems to be much less concern about it crossing the river again. The worries now are new fires in the area. A good sized one has popped up to the north, threatening a large ski resort and another very visible to the public one up in coal country to the east. Neither is a threat to us towndwellers but they are spreading resources thin. We are heading out on a trip east for a family reunion in the next couple of days. We are a bit nervous about the fire danger around here while we're gone.

As a photographer, I do miss the old days of the big props...

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[sledge39]

"...I do miss the old days of the big props..."


...Same here...

JD Davis (Sledge39)

JD Davis photos

#1 The first '4Y' air tanker...Flabob 1958....N6884C

#2 T-124 N7872G Hemet, CA (HMT) 25 Aug 1979

#3 T-123 N7620C near Banning, CA 23 July 1983

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[Lon Moer]

"...I do miss the old days of the big props..."


...Same here...

JD Davis (Sledge39)
<>

Happy to see you post !!

[Neal Nurmi]

"...I do miss the old days of the big props..."


...Same here...

JD Davis (Sledge39)

Hello Sledge -- glad to see you back!

Fall 1980, north of LA somewhere...

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[sledge39]

Overhead at Hemet 29 Nov 1980, for "load and return"

T-22 N207EV ... T-65 N5237V

JD

[JohnB]

I took shots of those two B-17s in 1980 while they were in Boise.
Even then I figured it was my last chance to see two B-17 firefighters together.
I have provided copies to Scott Thompson and he has used a couple in later editions of his excellent Final Cut.

[Neal Nurmi]

I always have been interested in firebombers...

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[sledge39]

The best looking paint sceme ever seen on an Air Tanker ??

Aero Union's N62296 was re-registered N76AU and painted as "Tanker 76" for the 1976 bicenntenial year.

In 1977 the tanker number reverted to the previous "16"


(1) Ontario (ONT) June 1977

(2-4) Hemet (HMT) 31 July 1977

(5) later repainted red/white still N76AU...seen dropping at Banning, CA 28 Sept 1987

JD

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[Chris Brame]

#1 The first '4Y' air tanker...Flabob 1958....N6884C

[sledge39]

Chris...where did you find that .gif ... ?

Pretty sure thats N6884C # 1

There was a N6884C # 2 converted after # 1 crashed, reportedly after running out of gas.

1- N6884C # 1 at Flabob 1958

2- Warbirds International March/April 2003

3- H & P operated a "N6884C" later ... seen at Hemet 28 July 1980

JD

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