DC-10 Fire Tanker

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DC-10 Fire Tanker

Postby Tom&Shelly » Fri May 13, 2022 4:09 pm

Been listening to the sound of freedom all morning (that's what we in the Air Force call jet noise) and just happened to be outside with the camera when this hero flew over

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on his way to the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak fire (it almost makes me emotional!)

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First day in quite a few when the winds are down. From the news, I believe the main air operations are at Santa Fe where the helicopters and "super scooper" aircraft are based, dropping water they pick up from local lakes. But the DC-10 is probably too large to use the runways there, and must be coming from Kirtland AFB which shares the flight line with Albuquerque International Airport. There is a Forest Service Office on base, and my guess is they are filling the aircraft there with retardant.

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Re: DC-10 Fire Tanker

Postby gudmund » Sat May 14, 2022 12:52 am

I get to hear the same "sound of Freedom" almost daily/nightly here where I live also..... from the island I live on here, when I look across the water - west of me at Whidbey Island, I get to see the Navy jets training while they are in port - in between their ship travels = was Army myself, but I still 'Love' that sound and along with a few nites a week, I also get to look out the front window of my house when they are doing their night-time touch&goes watching their 'lites' drop out of sight below the tree line, than come back into view as they lift back up - many a time, they will loop back around over my island on some of their return runs. The entrance to the Navy base on Whidbey Island has a sign posted something to the words of "We apologize for the 'sound of Freedom' we make" My neighbor maybe heading your way sometime soon, being she is on-call with the management part of dealing with these fires, she is with the National Park/Forest Services and gets called out for them many times a year. A few days ago, she was notified for call up - to be ready to go for one in New Mexico (and yes, she was Army also along with her husband(retired 3yArmy-17yAir Force) when we - the 3 of us - meet in Germany over 45+ years ago when we were stationed together on the East German border during the Cold War working for NSA.) Take care ........hope things there get worked out safety there...........
Last edited by gudmund on Sat May 14, 2022 10:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: DC-10 Fire Tanker

Postby noseoil » Sat May 14, 2022 9:00 am

Glad they are able to use more air assets now. The last month has been terrible with the winds, at our house north of the fires, we've has gusting fairly frequently to 50 mph. It just isn't safe to use fixed or rotary wing aircraft in these conditions.

What I find most troubling about this year's fire season is the use of "prescribed burns" when there is no moisture in the air & high winds. Who will replace the homes & ranches lost to this absurd decision by the Federal government? This happens too frequently in the west but continues unchecked.

Image of the sun as seen from our house (north of the fires) on 5-11-22.
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Re: DC-10 Fire Tanker

Postby Tom&Shelly » Sun May 15, 2022 8:26 pm

Here's the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak fire from Edgewood, about 55 miles away

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Note the multiple plums of smoke. There is some more smoke blowing in from the left in that picture, which might be from the Cerro Pelado fire, near Bandelier National Monument.

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Re: DC-10 Fire Tanker

Postby tony.latham » Thu May 19, 2022 9:27 am

...about 55 miles away


The beast needs to maintain that distance.

Fingers crossed. :frightened:

Tony

p.s. I'm adding a thermometer to our galley today so I can be just like you two. :thumbsup:
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Re: DC-10 Fire Tanker

Postby Tom&Shelly » Thu May 19, 2022 2:48 pm

tony.latham wrote:
...about 55 miles away


The beast needs to maintain that distance.

Fingers crossed. :frightened:

Tony

p.s. I'm adding a thermometer to our galley today so I can be just like you two. :thumbsup:


Don't think it'll make it here. :thinking: Plenty of closer towns that have to worry though.

Of course, we could have one of our own, if folks aren't very careful. Best help I can offer is to not take up smoking in the next few weeks!

Show us a picture of the thermometer once installed, Tony. I found it interesting to compare air temperature to our battery temperature. It is, of course, a big mass sitting under the teardrop (in our case) out of the sun, so it takes a long time to warm up. (We don't use it enough for the current draw to heat it significantly). I suspect it gives us a good reading of the average temperature over the past X hours.

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Re: DC-10 Fire Tanker

Postby MtnDon » Thu May 19, 2022 8:38 pm

The CL-415 SuperScoopers are a sight to see as they skim Cochiti Lake as they scoop up 1600 gallons of water to dump on one of the fires in north NM.

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There were, maybe still are, 8 of them using Santa Fe airport as base during the first 2 weeks of May. Eight is the entire fleet that is in the US.

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If you have a facebook account there is a video. One has to watch through half way or the end to get a good view of them on the lake.
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