Firefight911 Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 Here is a link to some spectacular images of the devastating fires being fought out here in Caliland. LINKY The DC-10 is one bad ass airplane dropping its retardant!!!!!!!!! And it is dangerous - LINKY Link to comment
Wheels Rollin' Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 Wow! +2, Russell... There's some real challenging flying being demonstrated here... It must be quite the experience for the aircrews <>... Bless 'em all for doin' what they do for all the rest of us... ~ Bill Link to comment
keithb Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 Unbelievable! That pic of the air tanker to the left of the house on the top of the hill is just awesome. Link to comment
BULLman Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 Unbelievable! That pic of the air tanker to the left of the house on the top of the hill is just awesome. I agree Link to comment
Todd_Z1 Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 Unbelievable! That pic of the air tanker to the left of the house on the top of the hill is just awesome. I agree The photographer may have fore shortened the back ground. But it is a spectacular picture. Cheers! Todd Link to comment
keithb Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 "fore shortened" I have never heard that term before? Can you imagine standing on the deck when this plane flew by? The people on the deck could have had a conversation with the crew they were so close. Link to comment
alimar Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 I posted this on over in the LT forum a few minutes ago and stopped by here to see if anyone had posted something recently. Here's what I posted there... same goes for everyone in thE zone here... I wish everyone out theRE the best! Stay safe, ride safe! ------- Left coasters (geographically situated, not politically motivated ), seriously, all of the news agencies are painting a pretty grim story for several areas out there, most recently Santa Barbara and Big Sur. I'm hopeful that all of our friends out there, not just in SB or Big Sur have been fortunate enough to not have lost family or structure. Talking with friends that work in downtown SB this morning, they said that things there were cool and calm this morning, that command center and scanner traffic was all optimistic that they were gaining the upper hand. Then the 6PM EDT nightly news repainted the grim that heat and lowering humidity were again fueling the fires... Bottom line is you all are in my thoughts. I hope for the best out there. When it's nice it's paradise, very similar to left coast Europe including the climate and, unfortunately the frequent common summer fires... Beauty has its price I guess... __________________ Link to comment
steve404 Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Thanks Phil, Just being in the smoke gives us a a poor idea of what is going on in the mountains. Lots of folks putting out a great effort. Hopes are that Big Sur will be contained by the end of the month. Link to comment
Firefight911 Posted July 9, 2008 Author Share Posted July 9, 2008 Can you imagine standing on the deck when this plane flew by? The people on the deck could have had a conversation with the crew they were so close. BTDT and let me tell you what a rush that is!!!! Only thing worse was 1) taking a 300 gallon bucket drop from a helicopter to the head!!! Thank goodness for the canopy of trees overhead. It did blow up the chainsaw I was running at the time though! and, 2) looking down the business end, aka, nose, of an S-2 as she came in for a retardant drop. All I heard in the back of my mind was, "Boyingtonnnnnnn!!!!!!!" As in Pappy Boyington from the old TV show Baa Baa Black Sheep with Robert Conrad. Link to comment
eddd Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Awesome pictures that I wish we never had to see. We had a little run-in with a retardant drop a couple of months ago. The plane the Fish and Wildlife uses by us is just a converted crop duster, but he still manage to dump a good load on about 4 of my guys who were helping with a brush fire. It gave the guys a pretty good wack when it hit them. I can't image what it would be like with the size of the load coming out of the planes you use out west. Link to comment
ESokoloff Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 If I'm not mistaken, this is not the first tree(s) strike for the DC-10. Saw this plane fighting the Malibu fires last year. Hope I don't have to see it this year. Link to comment
Fugu Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Very cool pictures. Many years ago there was a foothills fire in Boise, ID. There were a couple of planes dumping retardant right on a neighborhood of swanky homes to save them from their own stupidity (insufficient buffer zones between them and the grassy foothills that burn seemingly every year). Well the news stations were killing themselves trying to get somebody on scene- and one of them that I happened to be watching had a snot nosed recent college grad intern type that they threw on the air live because none of the big shots could get there. The guy went to high school with me in WA - was a few years behind me- so I turn on the news just in time to see him stammering through his very first live broadcast, and then get COVERED with pink retardant live. It was classic, and it turned out to be good for his career as a news broadcaster. Link to comment
alimar Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 This should be on line, in use... A brief search leads me to believe the project was scrapped because the gubberment wouldn't commit funds. not positive, but my brief look, that's maybe it. Link to comment
ESokoloff Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 I heard that this plane is now haling cargo for the government (military??) but will be converted back to an air tanker for next years fire season. Link to comment
Firefight911 Posted July 9, 2008 Author Share Posted July 9, 2008 This should be on line, in use... A brief search leads me to believe the project was scrapped because the gubberment wouldn't commit funds. not positive, but my brief look, that's maybe it. It is a political nightmare due to its cost. Imagine being the Incident Commander and calling for that resource. Dotting the "I's" and crossing the "T's" just took on a new meaning as the scrutiny of its expense will/does come under heavy fire when asking someone to pay for it. Link to comment
Matts_12GS Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Yeah, but it's still a P-3... I hate P-3s... And all the Toy Doctors and everything else that ate up all our shore duty billets and SRB $$$... Here's the only way a P-3 can find a submarine... ( Hi John...) Link to comment
ESokoloff Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 If I'm not mistaken, this is not the first tree(s) strike for the DC-10. I was right. Makes me wonder if it should be used more selectively or at all. Link to comment
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