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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. The four California Department of Forestry Grumman S-2T Trackers departed late Saturday and five additional four-engine tankers were flown in from Arizona and Utah. This page features the tankers that were operating out of Santa Barbara on Sunday, May 12.
DC-6 #68, N90739 cranks up number 1
engine at the start of the first mission of the day. It is
operated by Butler Aircraft and based in Prescott, Arizona.
C-130A #67, N531BA is assigned to
the Goleta Tanker Station over the summer. It is operated by
Butler Aircraft Co.
C-54E #160, N96358 is assigned to
the tanker station at Ramona. It is operated by AeroFlite.
C-130A #67, N531BA takes off as
C-54E #160, N96358 is loaded with fire retardent slurry at the
tanker station
P-3B #26, N926AU is operated by
Aero Union and based at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.
DC-6 #68, N90739
DC-6 #68, N90739
C-130A #131, N131HP is operated by
Hawkins Powers and is based in Ogden, Utah.
C-130A #131, N131HP
DC-6 #68, N90739
P-3B #26, N926AU
C-54E #160, N96358
C-130A #131, N131HP
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, California.
C-130A #67, N531BA
P-3B #26, N926AU
C-54D #152, N9015Q
P-3A #23, N923AU arrived from its
base at Prescott, Arizona later in the day.
P-3A #21, N921AU arrived after I finished shooting on May 12 and was not in a good position to get a photo the following morning.
C-130A #67, N531BA made a sortie on
the morning of May 16 while I was waiting for the Collings
Foundation B-24J and B-17G to arrive.
Vapor streams from the tips of the
propellors of C-130A #67, N531BA as it winds up the engines for
take-off.
C-130A #67, N531BA
C-130A #67, N531BA over the
threshold of Runway 25.
Tankers Spotted at Santa Barbara on May 12, 2002 |
||||||
| Number | Type | Registration | Operator | Home Base | c/n | military serial |
| 21 | P-3A-45 | N921AU | Aero Union | Winslow | 185-6098 | BuNo 151385 |
| 23 | P-3A-40 | N923AU | Aero Union | Prescott | 185-5085 | BuNo 151372 |
| 26 | P-3B-65 | N926AU | Aero Union | Fort Huachuca | 185-5171 | BuNo 152731 |
| 67 | C-130A-9 | N531BA | Butler Aircraft | Santa Barbara | 182-3139 | 56-531 |
| 68 | DC-6 | N90739 | Butler Aircraft | Prescott | 43044 | |
| 131 | C-130A | N131HP | Hawkins Powers | Ogden | 182-3142 | 56-534 |
| 152 | C-54D-15/DC-4 | N9015Q | EMI Services | 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.