C-54 on the fly

Sat Oct 04, 2008 4:55 pm

I heard it first...then it came over the house..low and slow...dirty.

I ran to the airport...BINGO!

They are on a cross country trip from Reno to Florida...stopped in for gas.

Sat Oct 04, 2008 6:11 pm

How many of those 800 gallon(?) trucks did it take to fill it?

Sat Oct 04, 2008 6:24 pm

Zane did they tell you where in FL.

Sat Oct 04, 2008 8:28 pm

I read #19 on the fin, ex tanker? an N#? Sure is one pretty bird!!! Looks like shes loved by someone-

Sat Oct 04, 2008 8:52 pm

Well...

They didn't tell me where in Florida...ther are other pics onlin of it at Opa Locka

N406WA - It was formerly USAAF 45-0491, Western Airlines, ARDCO Tanker 119 and now with Florida Air Transport.

They had two trucks out to tank her...I did not have time to stay for departure... :cry:

Tue Oct 07, 2008 6:34 pm

That was the only Super DC-4 air tanker. They removed the P&W R-2000's and put CW 2600's on it. I was told it made it a real good 2000 gallon air tanker. They only converted one airframe I guess it was a bit of a pain in the butt. It was done before Gary Garrett (ARDCO) bought it, I want to say it had belonged to an outfit in Utah (maybe?) back in the 1970's when it was converted to an air tanker.

Scott........

Thu Oct 09, 2008 10:10 pm

If I had to guess, its going to Carlos Gomez in Miami.

Just a guess....

Thu Oct 09, 2008 10:12 pm

b29flteng wrote:How many of those 800 gallon(?) trucks did it take to fill it?

Well, 5 would fill it from empty....

I assume its an eight tanker, so its capacity is 3540 gallons...

More if there are fuselage tanks....

Fri Oct 10, 2008 12:07 am

WOW! trying to imagine the sound of 4 2600's in tight formation, got all them itty bitty hairs up on end!!!!

Mon Oct 13, 2008 5:15 pm

Did you guys notice in the first picture the guy looks like he is standing on the prop spinner :shock:

! If I owned the airplane I would kill him!

Mon Oct 13, 2008 5:51 pm

It's an optical illusion. The first picture shows a guy standing on the wing just outboard of the #1 nacelle, which would be a pretty good place to stand while filling the #1 main tank. This is made clear in the second photo which was taken from the side and he's standing in nearly the same spot.

Mon Oct 13, 2008 6:50 pm

I partially tracked it over at flightaware.com while it was on it's way to Miami. Punched in type of plane, airport of departure and tracked the beastie! It flew about ten miles south of me and with it being dark and somewhat cloudy, I didn't get to hear or see it as it passed. But I tried. It is a cool site for AC tracking

http://flightaware.com/live/

Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:01 pm

She's a beauty.

Thanks for sharing.

Wed Oct 15, 2008 2:09 pm

RNDMTRS4EVR wrote:That was the only Super DC-4 air tanker. They removed the P&W R-2000's and put CW 2600's on it....Scott........

...N406WA...Tanker 119...R-2600s...

...Hemet...29 Aug 1980...

..operator was WAIG,Inc. which evolved into ARDCO...

Thu Oct 16, 2008 10:04 am

CAPFlyer wrote:It's an optical illusion. The first picture shows a guy standing on the wing just outboard of the #1 nacelle, which would be a pretty good place to stand while filling the #1 main tank. This is made clear in the second photo which was taken from the side and he's standing in nearly the same spot.

Actually that would be the #1 Aux tank...420 Gallons.

The fill for the #1 and #4 Main tanks are all the way out on the wingtips.

From Wingtip to wingtip

#1 Main - 500 Gallons
#1 Aux - 420 Gallons
#2 Main - 490 Gallons
#2 Aux - 360 Gallons

f u s e l a g e

#3 Aux - 360 Gallons
#3 Main - 490 Gallons
#4 Aux - 420 Gallons
#4 Main - 500 Gallons

That's 3540. Add more if there's a fuselage tank aboard.