2018: opb Airstrike
2023: MHD Rockland Svcs

Ed Brewer sent me, alongside some photos, a request for information on Campbell Airstrip, in Anchorage, Alaska:
"We are greatly interested in any information on Campbell Airstrip, in Anchorage, Alaska, that your readers may have.
The strip was built as a supplemental airstrip during WW2 and had a fairly large tent city during those years. We don't know what if any aircraft were actual on site (rather than at Elmendorf AFB).
The tract now has a recreational trail, named P38, on the old east side taxiway, as a memorial to the war years. It is used exclusively by dog mushers during the winter.
The tract was transferred to BLM who had support aircraft and water bombers on site during the 1960's - 1980's, until these functions were moved to Fairbanks.
Smoke jumpers were based here for a while and the Campbell Creek Science Center is built in one of their Drop Zones.
The airstrip proper is still active."
More photos on Photos by Friends & Guests, Page 12.

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John wrote about this image: "There should be some S-2 aircraft preserved at Weed Airport, California since August 2005, but I am not really sure which aircraft might be there.
There might be a Tanker 94, but this is possibly not N446DF, but a different S-2 painted as tanker such...
I have noticed that the CDF has, from time to time, changed some of the tanker numbers on the S-2's: e.g. this photo shows 2 aircraft with tanker number 95!!
One of the aircraft is N447DF, the other is N406DF.
And I have pictures of N406DF as tanker 73, tanker 74, and tanker 95. And N447DF as tanker 93.
These are all the older S-2's, not the S-2T's (which is the only model the CDF now uses)."

Photo taken at McClellan Park in August 2007.
[N446DF c/n 175 was preserved at Weeds Airport, CDF had it replaced by BuNo 152826 - Webmaster]

Here are some more air tanker pictures, this time of N443DF (c/n 195).
Picture N443DF-1 is a scan from a slide, taken at Mather Field in February 1996. The tanker number is 71.
Picture N443DF-2 is a digital picture taken at McClellan Park - the former McClellan AFB, and now the home of the CDF air tanker fleet (during the winter months) - taken August 2006. The tanker number is now 84.
Pictures N443DF-3 and -4 are digital pictures taken in May 2007, and show the tanker at the Pacific Coast Air Museum, Santa Rosa, California. It was flown to the Museum in November 2006.

Jim wrote": I have been going through some of my aircraft slides from the late 1970's.  I was looking for one particular slide, but came across some air tankers slides I took from at our airport here in Santa Rosa (Charles M. Schulz). Here is one of the F7F's that operated out of here."
I don't know what tailnumber belongs to Airtanker E43; anyone?

The Grumman F7F Tigercat was the first twin-engined fighter aircraft to enter service with the United States Navy. Designed for the new Midway-class aircraft carriers, the aircraft were too large to operate from earlier decks. Although delivered to United States Marine Corps (USMC) combat units before the end of World War II, the Tigercat did not see combat service in that war. Most F7Fs ended up in land-based service, as attack aircraft or night fighters; only the later F7F-4N was certified for carrier service. They saw service in the Korean War and were withdrawn from service in 1954.
[Wikipedia]

Information from the Goleta Air & Space Museum ('virtual'), which offers a generous selection of photos and individual B-17 tanker histories:
B-17G-95-DL, N5237V tanker 65. It was delivered to the U. S. Army Air Corps as 44-83868 and was transferred to the U. S. Navy as PB-1W, BuNo 77233.
American Compressed Steel Corporation of Dallas, Texas acquired it in December 1957 and gave it its current registration. It sat unconverted at the Dallas-Love Airport for two years.
Carstedt Air of Long Beach,CA made an unsuccessful bid to purchase it, reserving the registration N6466D for it, but never taking it up.
Aero Union Corporation of Chico,CA bought it in 1960. Butler Farm Air (later Butler Aircraft Company) of Redmond, Oregon acquired it in 1963 and flew it as tanker E15, F15, and #65.
TBM Incorporated of Sequoia,CA bought it in 1979.
It was restored to stock configuration at Sequoia and flown to RAF Brize Norton, UK in 1983. It arrived at the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon,England on 09Dec83.
While now named Mary Alice, wearing serial 44-83868, it is on static display at the American Air Museum in England at Duxford.

Kit Robinson ('Kitzky992002') wrote a nice explanation on the 'Airtanker Yahoo forum (June 2013):
"The Canadian numbering system is as follows:
Canadair CL-215, 215T, 415 are all in the 200 series.; e.g. ex/ Alberta #201, Ontario #277, Quebec #238.
300-series numbers were assigned to the A-26's of Air Spray and Conair, e.g. ex/Airspray #314, Conair #321. Both Airspray and Conair only displayed two numbers on the aircraft during there firefighting careers.

Heavy Tankers Convair 580's, DC-4's, DC-6's, Lockheed L-188's are numbered in the 400's; e.g. ex/ Convair 580 #445, #471, L-188's #460, #482, DC-6 #452, DC-4 #457.
S-2 Trackers and Firecats were numbered in the 500's, e.g. ex/ Conair #562, Saskatchewan #505, Ontario #559. Conair and Ontario only displayed two numbers on there aircraft.

AT-802's and Fireboss aircraft are numbered in the 600's (ex #699) again Conair and FPL only carried two numbers on the aircraft.

The 700 series of numbers is no longer used I believe as those numbers were assigned to PBY's or Cansos (ex- Buffalo #714). Conair or Skyway TBM's as well as FPL TBM's were also numbered in the 600's (ex-#612). Conair displayed just two numbers on the engine cowling but had the entire number on the top of the tail.

The Hawaiian Mars warrants an extra word: the number #223 on Hawaii was first used on the aircraft in 2009, while operating in Southern California; the number was mainly used while operating in the USA.
She has kept this number while operating in Canada as well, as it does fit with the Canadairs which also operate in the 200 series.
2013 will be the last year for the Mars in operations with the B.C. Forest Service. She is operating as Tanker #823 this year but I don't know if the number was painted on the aircraft or not.
I photographed her in 2008 at Shasta Lake and she was looking sharp with the big USFS logo on the nose of the aircraft but still no Tanker number! It wasn't until the following year that she started wearing Tanker #223 on the rear fuselage."
Thanks to Kit for this explanation!
(See my report on a 2010 visit to Sproat Lake and the Martin Mars).

New kids on the block..

Matt James wrote me in Feb.2012:
"I just wanted to let you know that there is now a Tanker 40, it is a BAe 146-200A and it is being operated by Neptune Aviation. The N Number is N146FF. The construction number E2049.
There is a second BAE 146 being transformed into an airtanker, but there is no information on it as of yet."

The following was published on fire.bombers@yahoo.com (25May2017)-
"Neptune Aviation's latest BAe-146 Tanker #15 N477NA became operational and is reported at Cedar City,UT tonight (5-25).
This makes it the 8th BAe-146 operated by Neptune; current fleet consists of the following aircraft:
#01 N473NA
#02 N474NA
#03 N475NA
#10 N472NA
#12 N476NA
#15 N477NA
#40 N146FF
#41 N471NA
Neptune should have at least one more aircraft converted soon, this should be Tanker #16 N478NA.
Sadly with this number of jets the company can finally retire their P2V Neptunes. The Jet Age is truly here and with the retirement of the remaining Neptune aircraft at the end of this season only the DC-7 will remain as the only large reciprocal Tanker... but whose days are numbered as well."

On 12Dec12 this website http://fireaviation.com/tag/erickson-aero-tanker/ published the takeover of Butler by Erickson Aero Air:
--Aero Air buys Butler, intends to convert 7 MD-87s into air tankers--
Aero Air of Hillsboro, Oregon, has purchased the air tanker operations of Butler Aircraft from Travis Garnick.
Aero Air acquired Butler’s three DC-7 air tankers ( (N401US, N838D, N6353C; reg'd to 'Corsair Two LLC' -Webmaster) , support equipment, and spare parts in Madras, Oregon.
They will take over the lease of Butler’s new city-owned hangar at the Madras Municipal Airport (map) as well as the contracts with the state of Oregon for the three air tankers. The company did not have a contract with the US Forest Service for the DC-7s.
Kevin McCullough, now the President of Aero Air, and Jack Erickson, founder and former owner of Erickson Air-Crane, became co-owners of Aero Air in 1998 and since then have been growing the company.
After Mr. Erickson sold Erickson Air-Crane to ZM Private Equity Fund in 2007, they began talking about getting into the air tanker business. A couple of years ago they decided to go with MD-87s and pulled together teams to develop a tank design and to handle obtaining the supplemental type certificate (STC) from the FAA.
(N756Z was registered that same date (27Dec12) to another part of the group, Aero Air LLC; photo on my USA 2012 Report. -Webmaster)

Added some photos taken at Madras by Larry Kraus on my page Photos by Friends & Guests (36)

This was published on Yahoo's Airtanker forum in April 2017: change continues...
"Here are a few new Tankers that are scheduled to make their debut for the 2017 season.
Neptune Aviations BAE-146 Tanker #15 (N477NA ), Air Spray BAE-146 Tanker #170 (N907AS) will begin testing in the next few weeks.
There are currently three BAE-146's at Chico for Air Spray, Tanker #170 and #171 are currently in the hanger while the third 146 outside the hanger will become Tanker #172.
Airspray will convert an additional three aircraft for a total of six aircraft, they will be numbered from 170-175, they will eventually replace the L-188 fleet at Airspray and will operate with numbers in the 400 series while operating in Canada 470-475.
Coulson should have their second L-100 completed and ready to go very soon; this aircraft will be Tanker #133. Remember this is the last year for the venerable P2 Neptune so put them on your priority list for photos this season.
__._,_.___
Posted by: fire.bombers (yahoo dotcom)

More 'new kids on the block': Coulson Flying Tankers with Lockheed C-130/L-100-30 aircraft!
This is what Randie Coulter sent me 18Apr2017 after he noted Coulson's Tankers 131, 132 and, introducing, tanker 133 at Reno-Tahoe Int'l Airport early april 2017:
"I just talked with Bryan Baker, a friend of mine. He informed me that both of the 382G's are leased from Lynden Air Cargo.
I asked if he knew of any future plans regarding them and he stated that he did not know if they were going to try and purchase them at a future date or not.
As to Coulson's tanker 134? She is another EC-130Q and is being converted at the moment in Arizona.
So, when all is said and done COULSON will have two EC-130Q's (shorties) and two 382G's (stretched).
As a side note, Neptune will be keeping 2 P2V's in tanker configuration for possible air show demo flights.
They are looking at applications from museums for the remainder of the fleet, except for P2V tanker 10; they are keeping her as a gate guard at Missoula!"

A bit of background here:
T131 is N130FF - T132 is N405LC (per ATDB) and new kid on the block (not yet listed ATDB.aero) T133 is N402LC.
FAA's N-inquiry has N402LC still reg’d to Lynden Air Cargo (reg 24Mar2016), so this is a lease.
Perhaps until T134 (see http://fireaviation.com/2017/04/10/air-spray-and-coulson-to-roll-out-additional-air-tankers/) is converted and operational..?
The identity (N-number) of Coulson’s T134 is welcomed, btw...

And an update (2017) on fire.bombers@yahoo.com:
"Coulson's two L-100's arrived at Reno/Stead Sunday afternoon (april 23rd).
Tanker #133 (N402LC) was parked in reload pit 2 and did look like she was conducting loading operations
(water ?).
Tanker #132(N405LC) arrived and was parked near the tower; both aircraft were still on field as of 16:00 and looked like they were staying overnight.
C-130Q Tanker #131 did not arrive at Reno/Stead and was still at Reno/Tahoe international as of 12:30 on Sunday, april 23rd."
"Reno/Stead Tanker base is not open yet, but #132 & #133 are reloaded from a fire hydrant just to the South of pit 2. Coulson's C-130Q Tanker #131 (N130FF) is at Reno International Airport and has yet to fly." - April 25th.

Another update (25may17) on fire.bombers (atyahoo dot com):
"Coulson's first 737-300 was rolled out of the paint shop in Spokane,WA today and will now undergo tank conversion. Aircraft is N617SW (former Southwest 737) and will operate as Tanker #137.
Paint scheme sure looks a lot like Global Supertankers!
Coulson has purchased 6 ex-Southwest 737's for the transformation into Tankers."

And an update by July 2017: C-130Q BuNo. serial 161496 (c/n 4904) was transported from a salvage yard at Davis-Monthan AFB, it was transported by road to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway on 26May17.
This is to become Tanker 134!

I was stonewalled upon my visit in Oct.2017 here at KIWA.

That may be C-130Q BuNo.161496 hiding in there.
Update: www.tacamo.org/single-post/2018/08/12/Reborn-BUNO-161496

More news by Coulson (4-2025):
"The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) has finalised a sale of the 4 remaining C-130H Hercules aircraft to Coulson Aviation (USA). The aircraft will be prepared for flight and flown to Coulson’s Maintenance Base in Thermal, California by a commercial crew over the next few months.
Wayne Coulson, president and chief executive of Coulson Group, says they are looking forward to integrating these aircraft into their existing fleet of 6 C-130H Hercules." (Thanks to Ken Swartz for forwarding this article).
¬www.c-130.net/c-130-news-article755

(Originally published at 8:55 p.m. MDT March 23, 2018)
Following was published on http://fireaviation.com/2018/03/23/six-p2v-air-tankers-last-deployment-to-retirement-homes/
"In 1947 the first P2V Neptune flew for the U.S. Navy serving in the maritime patrol and anti-submarine role. In 2017, 70 years later, the last P2V’s to work as air tankers in the United States retired. As the U.S. Forest Service contract for what they called “legacy” air tankers expired, Neptune Aviation transtioned their fleet of war birds to aircraft several decades younger, jet-powered BAe-146 airliners. After working out some early bugs with the completely redesigned retardant delivery system, the newer quad-jets have performed admirably.

Neptune  announced today that it has found new homes for its venerable fleet of P2V’s.

OV-10 Bronco aircraft ready for the 2018 fire season in California. SEE MY REPORT

'The U.S. Forest Service is cutting the number of large air tankers on exclusive use (EU) contracts this year from
20 to 13.
Operators include Aero Flite Inc (4x RJ85), 10 Tanker (2 DC10), Aero Air (2 MD87), Couslon Aircrane (1 C130) and
Neptune Aviation (4 BAe146).' Article link on Fireaviation.com.

A new kid on the block! Airstrike Firefighters LLC has brought back some Lockheed P-3s (ex/ California's Aero Union) in operation to operate in the aerial firefighting business.

P-3A Tanker #25 of Airstrike shared on a tweet. I am looking for a fleetlist of Airstrike Firefighters LLC.
I did see Tanker 21 at McClellan Airpark (near Sacramento,CA) recently; my 2018 report
Their website has images of T21 and T23. T21 was reg'd to Airstrike on 07Aug2018.
So we have resp. N925AU (c/n 5074; ex/ BuNo.151361), N921AU (c/n and N923AU (c/n 5085; ex/ BuNo.151372)
www.airstrikefirefighters.com;
This Sacramento-based company is said to be refurbishing a fleet of six or seven airtankers to be used by
state and federal firefighting agencies. Good to see props remain in this business!
In August 2018 Airstrike Firefighters took on a contract with the State of Colorado to assign P-3 airtankers.
The FAA N-inquiry website still has N925AU T25 firmly registered to United Aeronautical Corporation.
N923AU T23 was reg'd 01Dec2017 to Airstrike Firefighters LLC, Kenmore,WA. Their Corporate HQ is in
Anchorage, AK according to their website, while their Maint'ce Facilities are at 3028 Peacekeeper Way, McClellan.

Compiled fleetlist on Photos by Friends & Guests #55; work in progress!
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