Day 4 with the Tankers

[dbrown]

The flying was active in the morning, but a combination of wind and monitoring the slurry perimeter laid down earlier kept the planes on the ground. The forecast for tonight notes possible gusts in the 40 to 60 mph range so these tankers will likely be going hot and heavy in the morning if the fire jumps the slurry lines.

Even though many homes have been lost (over 160 to date), these pilots have no doubt prevented hundreds of others from catching fire. Seeing the devastation from the air only steels their resolve to contain this fire so the ground troops can kill it....these guys are rock stars.



Command / control planes



From today





Nice engine grime – this baby works for a living!



The ‘Office’




Loved the Jolly Roger in the nose of Tanker # 10



Each of the Neptunes have a different spinner pattern – checkers on # 10 and swirls on # 45



These jet engines really help the planes get off the ground in hot weather – and the mile-high elevation of the airport doesn’t help.




The P-3’s take on a glowing orange color in sunlight




And this bird seemed as lost in Colorado as a seagull.



Here’s hoping that the winds don’t kick the fire back up over night.

BUFFIE

[Nathan]

wow, number 4 picture is beautiful!

[TAdan]

Great shots, I've been enjoying your tanker posts.

I'd love to see a flying Neptune some day.

Very nice paint schemes on all of the planes too.

[51fixer]

I'd love to see a flying Neptune some day.

They do sound cool but different.
With the turbo compound exhaust the engine is a bit quieter than you would expect as it approaches but as it goes by you then hear the jet roaring away.

[aircuda]

I had the fortune to fly on what is now Tanker 48 when it was still owned by the Mid Atlantic Air Museum back in 1991. It was quite an experience. The acceleration on takeoff is exhilarating. But then again, we were not flying with a load of slurry either. I am sure it gets flown a lot more now than when it did as a warbird. I heard that it flew a lot better than the Neptune that the museum still has.

[Pat Carry]

wow, number 4 picture is beautiful!

I was going to say it looks like a painting! Nice shots.

[wwrw2007]

Thanks for posting the great pictures. In regards to the thread about the reliability of R-3350's they must be pretty reliable in these planes as hard as they are being worked.

[Cherrybomber13]

My cousin, from Colorado Springs FD, was sent up there in the woods and is helping fight the fires. I'm really glad to see the bombers are overhead providing some cover. Thanks for sharing!

[Curlyw]

Long before Neptunes became Tankers, I flew on them with No 11 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, as an "Air Electronics Officer" ... which was Radio/ECM/Radar/waist positions, gaining just under 3000 hours ... in the P2V-5F, which had Jets and MAD. For people in my job, it was a better layout than the P2v7, where 4 tatical crew were seated side by side behind the cockpit.

I was with Neptunes until 1968, when Australia replaced them with P3B's, then P3C's, I left and went into Civil Aviation trained as ATC ... have retired twice, and have been back working in the ATC Simulator for 9 years now - am 75.

Some great times on Neptunes, in their primary Anti Submarine Roll, and a friend sent me the website details of WIX. In Australia, the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society has a P2V-7 which flys in air displays ... hope someday I can go for a ride, to once again hear those Wright Cyclone 3350's as we motor along. The Longest flight I did was 16 hours and 40 mins.

These days I fly mainly C172's and C182's' ... which even though very forgiving, can kill you just as a Neptune could. Our squadron lost one in 1958, Power Recovery Turbine shed all its blades, and cut through fuel lines etc, resulting in a massive fire. The Pilot ... almost had it into a field, when the wing burnt through, and all perished. After that' we all wore loose fitting parachute harnesses, ready to go if the need arose. (Not if one was half way between Hawaii and Australia.)

Great to be a member off WIX too.

Cheers,
Curly.

[DH82EH]

Welcome to WIX curly!

Thanks for posting your interesting Neptune adventures.

Looking forward to more

Andy Scott

[TAdan]

Hi Curly, welcome to the forum! I look forward to hearing more about your time in Neptunes. There is one former U.S. Navy example at a local museum and I've always enjoyed crawling through it during airshows. I can't imagine how grueling those long range patrols must have been.

[Curlyw]

Yes ... the patrols were long, but vastly different to an Airline Flight, where you are strapped into "cattle class" and have to endure. On the Neptune, and P3 you could walk around, cook up Steak, Eggs, Fries, Onions, Coffee whenever ... and there were lots of laughs as people told the latest jokes over the intercom during the sometimes 4 hour transits to our search areas. There was a comaradiarie there with all your crew mates too ... and being Military, we had different tasks to perform everywhere we went, which took planning. We were fortunate to have a lot of time working with Submarines too.

These days people say to me ... "Were you in the Air Force". Me ... "Yes". Them ... "Were you a Fighter Pilot" ... Me ... "No". Them ... Oh ... What were you then ... Me .. "My job was training to drown men in batches of 80" (or how ever many were on a Submarine). Them. Recoil, Shock Horror. I did enjoy working with the USN, even got attached to the U.S.S. Salisbury Sound as an Ops Officer, they had P5M Marlins, and being Australian, they looked after me as though I was Royalty.

Enjoyed too being on U.S. bases in Hawaii and the Philippines during the 60's.

Talking of people crawling through Neptunes, on Air Force Display week, people would crawl through (under supervision) and someone would pick up the "Pissaphone" ... which looked like an ice cream cone on a rubber pipe ... and say "Whats this" ... We's always tell em it was the Intercom. Then some would yell into it ... "Heloo Hello" ... then listen for a reply. Ah well ... warped sense of humour I suppose ...

Cheers, Curly

[Kaigun Fan]

Hey D. Brown,

Nice pics! I am finally back on the WIX too!

Ron W.

[dbrown]

Hey Ron!

This season is shaping up to be a hot one - lots of potential for fire this summer as it has been real dry and windy (50-80MPH gusts today).

The tanker force will be relocating to the Loveland / Fort Collins airport this season due to construction at the Jeffco base.

And there are private C-130's that may join the usual assets.

Derek