Fighting fires with aging tankers from another era

[syscom3]

I saw this on todays LA Times.

Many of the tankers used by the Forest Service are retired military aircraft that are costly to maintain and dangerous to fly. Wings break off, engines catch fire and parts must be scrounged.

Forest Service fights fires with aging tankers from another era - latimes.com

Dont forget to click on the interactive maps. Lots of good info here.

 

[michaelmaltby]

Great video - Neptunes to BAE Jumbolinos .... good story on B-52 enhancements on the same page

 

[evangilder]

Look at the operating cost differences between piston and turbine engines and that's most likely the reason. With budgets shrinking and fuel costs rising, there isn't an easy solution to this.

 

[swampyankee]

The military-surplus aircraft are cheap, and unlike its equivalent some other countries, the US Forest and Park Services do not maintain a fleet of firefighting aircraft, which means that the operations are being handled by smallish businesses that can't afford the up-front expenditure to buy something like a CL-415 or a Be-12.