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A wildfire broke out in Bouquet Canyon, near Santa Clarita, California on May 11, 2002. A dozen tankers fought the fire out of the Goleta Tanker Station at the Santa Barbara Airport on May 11 and 12. This page features the tankers that were operating out of Santa Barbara on Saturday, May 11.
C-130A #67, N531BA is assigned to
the Goleta Tanker Station over the summer. It is operated by
Butler Aircraft Co.
C-54D #152, N9015Q was temporarily
stationed at Santa Barbara before the Bouquet Canyon fire
started. It is operated by ARDCO and based at Fox Field,
Lancaster.
C-54E #160, N96358 is assigned to
the tanker station at Ramona. It is operated by AeroFlite.
Four of the California Department
of Forestry (CDF) Grumman S-2T turbine conversion Trackers were
brought south from bases in northern California. S-2T #89, N425DF
is based in Grass Valley.
Clark Cook has created a
site devoted to the Grumman S-2 Tracker.
S-2T #89, N425DF lands as C-130A
#67, N531BA taxis out for another mission.
C-54D #152, N9015Q on approach to
Runway 25.
C-54D #152, N9015Q
S-2T #91, N428DF is based at Ukiah.
C-54D #152, N9015Q
C-130A #67, N531BA on aproach to
Runway 25.
C-130A #67, N531BA
C-54E #160, N96358 on aproach to
Runway 25.
S-2T #72, N435DF is based at Hemet.
S-2T #90, N434DF is based at Ukiah.
Front view of S-2T #89, N425DF.
Tankers Spotted at Santa Barbara on May 11, 2002 |
||||||
| Number | Type | Registration | Operator | Home Base | c/n | military serial |
| 67 | C-130A-9 | N531BA | Butler Aircraft | Santa Barbara | 182-3139 | 56-531 |
| 72 | S-2T | N435DF | CDF | Hemet | 0382-029 | |
| 89 | S-2T | N425DF | CDF | Grass Valley | 0341-029 | BuNo 152825 |
| 90 | S-2T | N434DF | CDF | Ukiah | 0382-034 | |
| 91 | S-2T | N428DF | CDF | Ukiah | 0865-018 | BuNo 149862 |
| 152 | C-54D-15/DC-4 | N9015Q | ARDCO | Lancaster | 22178 | 43-17228 |
| 160 | C-54E-5/DC-4 | N96358 | AeroFlite | Ramona | 27284 | 44-9058 |
Aerial tankers
Visit the web site of
the Aerial
Firefighting Industry Association
Visit the web site of the Associated
Airtanker Pilots
The Cleveland National Forest web site provides specifications for the different types of aerial tankers.
You can buy a 2010 calendar featuring my photographs of 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
Put a copy of the Day Fire Tankers at Santa Barbara: 2010 calendar in your Lulu.com shopping cart for $16.95.
Send a message to Brian.
Go to home page of the Goleta Air and Space Museum.