WIX Archives
Thanks for the History lesson! :o)
Posted by Olivier Lacombe on Sun Jul 06, 2003 06:50:59 PM
In reply top Re: Air tanker American invention? posted by Joe Scheil on Sat Jul 05, 2003 01:22:02 AM
: Oliver,
:
: A great question, and perhaps a jointly North American ope
: ration...but here is the thumbnail.
:
: Air Tanker History, I reference Alexander Linkewich, and A
: ir Attack on Forest Fires. First attempts were made in 19
: 30 using a Ford Trimotor at Felts Field in Spokane, an N3N
: duster operated by Red Jensen in 191 and the USFS testing
: a Travel Air in 197. These were all containerized drops
: and were largely unsuccesful. The Canadians modified a No
: rseman in 1944, but again were unsuucesful as the re was t
: oo little material sread from the aircraft too thinly to b
: e effective. The next try was fused drop tanks dropped fr
: om B-29's and P-47's during 1947 in the US, and the Forest
: Commission of Victoria using a B-24H, Avro Lincoln and P
: -51's dropping 50 and 5 gallon unfused bombs. This was un
: suucesful as well, though it pointed to a solution. In 19
: 49 the Ontario Province brough water filled bags held in r
: acks to operational use, and standardized technique by 195
: 1. Everything continued as such until late 1953...
:
: A DC-7 prototype jettisoned its load (1300 gal)of water ba
: llast over Palm Springs airport. The Douglas company saw
: the potential for firefighting and conducted tests at Rosa
: mond Dry lake for Los Angeles County. The first successfu
: l free fall drop of retardant was Dec 2, 1953. From that
: point all tankers improved or continued the free fall meth
: od of application. Tanker 1, N75081, another candidate fo
: r NASM, (She Survives!) was built at Willows, CA and led t
: he line of free fall tankers, eventually totalling 7 aircr
: aft that year. In 1956 the squadron dropped 83,120 gallon
: s of water and 65,990 gallons of borate on 25 fires and cr
: edited with controlling 20. Due to some good publicity on
: the Inaja fire north of Los Angeles, the heroic squadron
: achieved results and public acclaim. The scramble began,
: and the same year (1956) saw the conversion of the first o
: f 8 TBM's bought by the USFS. 1957 saw the first PBY-6A, C
: -82, two Trimotors in Idaho, and a different TBM with a 60
: 0 gallon system. In 1957 the Canadians switched their dro
: p system to free fall and realized a leap in gallons per h
: our efficiency. From that point the future of the free fa
: ll Tanker was assured. Watching the Utah fires last week,
: and seeing the SEAT Dromedairs flying on the fire struggl
: ing to climb on their 9 cylinder radials in 42 C temp at 6
: 200' DA, I thought of the gallant Stearmans and N3N's that
: came before...and could probably still work today.
:
: Incidentally the Field Conversion for the PBY, the "standa
: rd" scooper Catalina, utilized doors that are the same doo
: rs that Canadair choose for the CL-215. The PBY however h
: ad a better drop pattern, and was considered the best drop
: footprint until the advent of the constant flow tank for
: retardant application. I may be biased though.
:
: 115