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For Firefighting The 747 Is King... The P-3 Ia A Big Pussy
- Thread starter ChuckMK23
- Start date
Thats pretty impressive, interetsing clip. + 1
Wow, the 747 is to water bombing as the B-52 is to carpet bombing (as in Vietnam era Arc Light missions). So-called "Big Belly D" models carried 108 Mk 82s internally and on wing pylons. That's about as many as a squadron of B-17s or almost as many as 4 A-6 Intruders.
Except if you talk to the guys that do the aerial firefighting, the 747 and DC-10 have limited use. Too few fields that can take them causing excessive transit times, too long to reload the retardant, etc. Plus terrain is a factor as the best deliveries are from lower and the 747 & DC-10s can't get as low into the weeds and canyons.
Also the pilots that fly the 747 from Evergreen have limited aerial firefighting experience. The guys in the other aircraft have years. I'm told the 747 and DC-10 have a bad habit of not getting the retardant in the right area and have a habit of knocking the hell out of the firefighters on the ground.
All second hand info from talking to some of these guys so take it for what it's worth (i.e. less than a cup of coffee).
Also the pilots that fly the 747 from Evergreen have limited aerial firefighting experience. The guys in the other aircraft have years. I'm told the 747 and DC-10 have a bad habit of not getting the retardant in the right area and have a habit of knocking the hell out of the firefighters on the ground.
All second hand info from talking to some of these guys so take it for what it's worth (i.e. less than a cup of coffee).
MasterBates
Well-Known Member
Hozer Sartapa needs to come up and give his opine on the 747 tanker.
(USN fighter guru turned S-2 firebomber extrodinare)
(USN fighter guru turned S-2 firebomber extrodinare)
Props are better than jets @ this type of thing ... they can go lower, slower, tighter than a WHALE or a Diesel-10 ... but I sometimes wonder what would happen when someone who knows how to 'max perform' a WHALE goes 'downtown' on a fire ...
What I wouldn't give...
I'm curious to see how much use the 747 guys are going to get this fire season. There's something to say for being able to put down a lot of retardant for a big, wide open fire. I think it has to be treated as another tool and not the answer for fighting every fire. There are lots of places that the C-130, P-3, P-2, and S-2 are going to be a hell of a lot more useful but also places they'll be less effective than the Whale.
How many P-3 bubs go onto aero union/ other aerial firefighting gigs afterward? Firebombing seemed like a fun way to earn a retirement... Especially if I could live out in the Rockies or high plains and still do it.
It's not in my NATOPS, so it must not exist. Thank goodness, too...I can just hear it now: "Sorry, but the board scenario distinctly notes the mean temperature at 700' AGL as being 232.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Therefore, your drop profile, which was clearly weaponeered for 231 degrees and below, is complete crap. Go talk to training to schedule a reboard."
I wouldn't count on this. Hard gig to get into that normally takes a few seasons of loading retardant, doing grunt work, being a mechanic, etc. before you maybe get invited to try for a right seat.
California has it's own fleet of firefighting aircraft. They are probably the only place to jump right in but I understand it's a "who you know job".
I hear those jobs are hard to get. I haven't seen any solid data on how much they pay, but I figure that they don't really work year round. Hal, do you have any idea how much it does pay? Plus it'd be very exciting I imagine. I think it'd be a fun gig.
My understanding is that pay is proportional to how many fires there were....
The California guys are employed by the state full-time with normal state type pay & benefits. The rest are seasonal with the fire companies - Never home during the fire season and no work in the off season. I don't know the pay for either but I know it's not that great.
Seems to me like a good way to get yourself killed, putting G's on OLD airplanes with questionable maintenance......
