Cuyama Fire, July 3-4, 1996


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On the third and fourth of July 1996, tankers operating out of the Goleta Forest Service Tanker Station were dispatched against a fire near New Cuyama.

July 3, 1996

I got these shots of the tanker operations from my back yard.

DC-4 #160 takes off from Santa Barbara to fight the Cuyama Fire C-54 Cargomaster #160 departs the Santa Barbara Airport.

DC-4 #160 flies directly overhead on its way back to the Santa Barbara airport C-54 Cargomaster #160 returning from a retardent drop.

P-2 #03, N903AU flies directly overhead on its way back to the Santa Barbara airport P-2 Neptune #03 passes directly overhead as it returns from New Cuyama. Although this model of Neptune was originally equipped with jets, this one has had them removed.

Aero Union Neptunes on P2VNeptune.org Visit the Aero Union Page on the P2VNeptune.org web site.

DC-4 #152 takes off from Santa Barbara to fight the Cuyama Fire C-54 Cargomaster #152 slowly climbs away from the Santa Barbara Airport.

P-3 #23, N923AU takes off from Santa Barbara to fight the Cuyama Fire P-3 Orion #23 climbs out much faster on the power of its T-56 turboprops.

Tankers spotted operating from Santa Barbara on July 3, 1996 included:

Number

Type

Registration

Operator

c/n

military serial

Retired

03

SP-2H

N703AU

Aero Union

726-7217

BuNo 147967

retired

23

P-3A-40

N923AU

Aero Union

185-5085

BuNo 151372

 

73

S-2E

N437DF

CDF

0865-004

   

93

S-2F-1/TS-2A

N447DF

CDF

   

retired

94

S-2F-1/TS-2A

N446DF

CDF

     

96

S-2F-1

N443DF

CDF

     

100

S-2F-1/TS-2A

N436DF

CDF

     

152

C-54D-15/DC-4

N9015Q

EMI Services

22178

43-17228

 

160

C-54E-5/DC-4

N96358

AeroFlite

27284

44-9058

 


July 4, 1996

S-2 #94, N446DF at the Santa Barbara tanker station S-2 Tracker #94 at the Tanker Station before another day of fire fighting.

Grumman S-2 Tracker by Clark Cook Clark Cook has created a site devoted to the Grumman S-2 Tracker.


More Tanker Photos

Aerial tankers Aerial tankers


Associated Airtanker Pilots web site Visit the web site of the Associated Airtanker Pilots


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Lockett Books Calendar Catalog: Day Fire Tankers at Santa Barbara

Aerial tankers fought the Day Fire from the Santa Barbara Air Attack Station for ten days, from Monday, September 18 to Wednesday September 27. Three Lockheed P-2 Neptunes and four Lockheed P-3 Orions visited the Air Attack Station during the fire. This calendar includes a dozen photos of those tankers:

Neptune Aviation Lockheed SP-2H Neptune, N4235T Tanker 09
Neptune Aviation Lockheed P2V-5F Neptune, N96264 Tanker 12
Neptune Aviation Lockheed P2V-5 Neptune, N1386C Tanker 44
Aero Union Lockheed P-3A-25 Orion, N920AU Tanker 20
Aero Union Lockheed P-3A-45 Orion, N921AU Tanker 21
Aero Union Lockheed P-3A-45 Orion, N922AU Tanker 22
Aero Union Lockheed P-3A-40 Orion, N925AU Tanker 25

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