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On Sunday October 26, several fire fighting tankers took off from Fox Field Airport near Lancaster to fight the numerous fires between Simi Valley and Lake Piru. The turbulent wind prevented the tankers from dropping their loads of retardent on the fires. The tankers were too heavy to land safely with the retardent on board. They returned to Fox Field and dropped the retardent alongside the runway.

Douglas C-54E Skymaster, N460WA Tanker #151

Douglas C-54E Skymaster, N460WA Tanker #151 is operated by ARDCO, Inc.

Douglas C-54E Skymaster, N460WA Tanker #151 is based at Fox Field.

Lockheed P-2 Neptune, N4692A Tanker #48 is operated by Minden. It came from Kalispell, Wyoming to fight the California fires.

Lockheed P-2 Neptune, N4692A Tanker #48

Lockheed P-3 Orion, N922AU Aero Union Tanker #22 is operated by Aero Union.

Lockheed P-3 Orion, N922AU Aero Union Tanker #22 came from Durango, Colorado to fight the California fires.

More Tanker Photos

Aerial tankers

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Aerial Tankers

2008 Calendar

You can buy a 2008 Calendar featuring my photographs of aerial tankers in flight and fighting fires.

A dozen photos of aerial tankers:

Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress N17W Tanker 04, Santa Barbara, September 12, 1979
Douglas DC-7C N5903 Tanker 35, Santa Barbara, November 28, 1980
Douglas C-54E Cargomaster N460WA Tanker 151, Santa Ynez Valley, July 30, 1990
Air Force Reserve Lockheed C-130E Hercules 62-1081, Reno Stead, September 15, 1991
California Air National Guard C-130E Tanker 6, NAWS Pt. Mugu, April 25, 1998
Douglas C-54E Cargomaster N8502G Tanker 65, Santa Barbara Airport, May 5, 2004
Evergreen S-64E Skycrane N6979R Tanker 707, Santa Ynez Valley, May 7, 2004
Siller Brothers Sikosky S-61N N15456, Santa Ynez Valley, May 7, 2004
McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-10 10 Tanker Air Carrier Tanker 910, Goleta, November 4, 2005
Evergreen International Boeing 747 Supertanker, San Bernardino, May 31, 2006
Grumman S-2T Tracker N439DF Tanker 74, Santa Barbara Airport, June 19, 2006
Lockheed P2V-5 N1386C Tanker 44, Santa Barbara, June 19, 2006

Put a copy of the Aerial Tankers: 2008 Calendar in your Lulu.com shopping cart for $16.95.

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