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picture below.)
The Wolf Fire burned the forest north of Ojai for several days in the first half of June. A variety of tankers fought the fire from the Santa Barbara Airport.
Grumman S-2 Tracker #76, N417DF is one of many
Trackers operated by the California Department of Forestry. It is
based in Porterville.
The U.S. Forest Service Grumman S-2F Tracker page.
Grumman S-2 Tracker #75, N420DF is based in
Paso Robles.
Grumman S-2 Tracker #81, N447DF used to fly as
tanker #93. It is based in Hollister.
The Associated Air Tanker Pilots Memorial Fund is supported in part through the sales of prints of a painting of N447DF as #93 by aviation artist Barry Rudolph.
Clark Cook has created a
site devoted to the Grumman S-2 Tracker.
Douglas C-54D Cargomaster #152, N9015Q is
operated by Ardco Inc. Its Douglas construction number is 22178.
It was delivered to the Army Air Force as 43-17228. It is based
at Fox Field near Lancaster.
Link to Oldprops DC-4 Census for more information about surviving C-54s and DC-4s.
Grumman S-2T Turbo-Tracker #82, N420DF had been
sighted at the Ramona Air Fair just two days earlier. It is based
at Columbia.
Greg Goebel's web site has information about Grumman Tracker turbine conversion programs.
Lockheed C-130A-6 Hercules #63, N473TM is
operated by Butler Aircraft, which is a subsidiary of TBM
Incorporated. It is based at San Bernardino. It can be told from
C-130A #67 from a long way away by its gray nose radome. Its
Lockheed construction number is 182-3081.
Butler Aircraft Company web site.
Link to Oldprops C-130 Hercules Census for more information about military C-130s in civilian operation.
Grumman S-2T Turbo-Tracker #89, N425DF. It is
based at Grass Valley.
Lockheed C-130A Hercules #63, N473TM was
delivered to the Air Force as 56-473. As many as 42 Lockheed
C-130 Hercules and P-3 Orions that were supplied to the Forest
Service by the Department of Defense were diverted to covert
operations by the CIA in the early 1990s.
Link to a Portland Free Press article about the diversion of Forest Service aircraft.
The De-Central Intelligence Agency declaration of Gary Eitel regarding the use of Forest Service C-130s by Evergreen.
Lockheed P-3A-25 Orion #20, N920AU is operated
by Aero Union. Its Lockheed construction number is 185-5039. It
was delivered to the U.S. Navy as BuNo 150513 in 1963. After
transfer to the Spanish Air Force, it served as an instructional
airframe at Texas State Technical College. It is based at
Redding.
The P-3 Orion Research Group, based in the Netherlands, has a P-3A Orion Aircraft Location Report.
Lockheed P-3A Orion #20, N920AU was one of the
first tankers to take off on June 5. It must have been
transferred to another tanker base, because it did not return
that day.
Link to Aero Union's page describing their Retardent Aerial Delivery System for Lockheed C-130 Hercules and P-3 Orions.
Rockwell Turbo Commander #07,
N700PQ is owned by Rogers Helicopters of Gustavas, Alaska. It
serves as Air Attack, guiding the tankers in to the drop zone. It
was built in 1977.
Grumman S-2 Tracker #80, N404DF. It is based in
Hollister.
Lockheed P-2V-7 Neptune #10, N4235N is operated
by Neptune Aviation Services Inc. of Missoula, Montana. It is
based at Fox Field near Lancaster. Its sister ship P-2 #11,
N14447 remained parked for most of the day.
The Neptune Aviation Services web site.
Link to Oldprops P-2 Neptune Census for more information about Neptunes in civilian operation.
Lockheed P-2V-7 Neptune #10, N4235N was built
in 1957. Its Lockheed construction number is 726-7158.
Grumman S-2T Turbo-Tracker #82, N420DF from the
Columbia tanker station.
Douglas C-54D Cargomaster #162, N3054V is
operated by AeroFlite. It is based at Porterville. Its Douglas
construction number is 10547. It was delivered to the Army Air
Force as 42-72442. It served in the Royal Canadian Air Force for
a year, then the U. S. Navy operated it as R5D-3, BuNo 91994. It
was retired from military service in 1970. It was first
registered as N62296 in 1974 by Aero Union. Later Aero Union gave
it a flashy U.S. bicentennial livery and registered it as N76AU.
In the 1990s it was restored as an Army Air Force C-54 for use as
a movie prop.
AeroTransport Databank has a picture of N76AU in its bicentennial livery on their gallery of uncommon transport aircraft.
R Leeuw has a picture of N76A restored as a C-54 on his DC-4 page.
Lockheed P-2V-7 Neptune #10, N4235N.
Lockheed P-2V-7 Neptune #10, N4235N.
Lockheed P-2V-7 Neptune #10, N4235N.
Tankers Spotted at Santa Barbara in June 2002 |
||||||
| Number | Type | Registration | Operator | Home Base | c/n | military serial |
| 10 | SP-2H | N4235N | Neptune Inc. | Fox Field, Lancaster | 726-7158 | BuNo 144681 |
| 11 | P-2V-7 | N14447 | Neptune Inc. | Redmond | 826-8010 | RCAF 24110 |
| 20 | P-3A-25 | N920AU | Aero Union | Redding | 185-5039 | BuNo 150513 |
| 63 | C-130A-6 | N437TM | Butler Aircraft | San Bernardino | 182-3081 | 56-473 |
| 67 | C-130A-9 | N531BA | Butler Aircraft | Santa Barbara | 182-3139 | 56-531 |
| 75 | S-2 | N420DF | CDF | Paso Robles | 0382-029 | |
| 76 | S-2 | N417DF | CDF | Porterville | ||
| 80 | S-2 | N447DF | CDF | Hollister | BuNo 136508 | |
| 81 | S-2 | N404DF | CDF | Hollister | ||
| 82 | S-2T | N435DF | CDF | Columbia | ||
| 89 | S-2T | N425DF | CDF | Grass Valley | 0341-029 | BuNo 152825 |
| 152 | C-54D-15 | N9015Q | EMI Services | Lancaster | 22178 | 43-17228 |
| 162 | C-54D | N3054V | AeroFlite | Porterville | 10547 | 42-72442/BuNo 91994 |
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 2011 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: 2011 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.