Some vintage tanker pictures

[Larry Kraus]

These pictures showed up on the Fire Aviation website over the past week. The aircraft were in storage at various Southern Arizona airfields in 1989 and 1990.

https://fireaviation.com/2024/02/04/his ... n-arizona/

https://fireaviation.com/2024/02/10/mor ... -and-iain/

IMG_9705 by tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_9706 by

tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_9707 by tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_9926 by tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_9927 by tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_9928 by tanker622001, on Flickr

IMG_9929 by tanker622001, on Flickr

[Hooligan2]

Fantastic! Thanks Larry.

I guess they are mostly scrap now, wish I'd been over to see these operations in the 1980s, or better still, an adult in their heyday... "Those days are gone now, over a long time ago..."

[Larry Kraus]

T&G’s DC-7C Tanker 115 ended up in France. I’m sure that it has long since been scrapped. I met a mechanic from France that came by the tanker base one day many years ago and we talked a bit about Tanker 115. His main impression was “Much Oil”. I couldn’t argue with that.

[Chris Brame]

T&G’s DC-7C Tanker 115 ended up in France. I’m sure that it has long since been scrapped.

Ex-BOAC; nose section still around as of a few years ago:
https://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDo ... ial=117084

[Cubs2jets]

Larry

Any thoughts as to why the DC-4s / C-54s all have all their props feathered?

Thanks for sharing the pics...

C2j

[Hooligan2]

T&G’s DC-7C Tanker 115 ended up in France. I’m sure that it has long since been scrapped. I met a mechanic from France that came by the tanker base one day many years ago and we talked a bit about Tanker 115. His main impression was “Much Oil”. I couldn’t argue with that.

Apparently it ended up in Spain as EC-GGB and was scrapped but the nose is preserved at Montelimar in France.

[Stoney]

what happened to the DC-7s that were at Redmond in 91'?

[Hooligan2]

Two of them appear to be flying with Erickson, third was broken up for spares.

[Larry Kraus]

what happened to the DC-7s that were at Redmond in 91'?

Tanker 60 is in Madras as far as I know. I haven’t been up there in about 5 years

1980 Fire Season 117 by tanker622001, on Flickr

Here it is with it’s Clown Car paint job

IMG_1086 by tanker622001, on Flickr

Tanker 61 crashed in 1990 or 1991

1980 Fire Season 096 by tanker622001, on Flickr

Tanker 62 is in Madras

IMG_9983 by tanker622001, on Flickr

It was also repainted in the Erickson colors, but I don’t have a picture handy

Tanker 66 is still in Madras

IMG_9982 by tanker622001, on Flickr

In the Erickson colors

IMG_1085 by tanker622001, on Flickr

Tanker 67 ended up being hacked to death with a K-12 Saw. Pretty gruesome stuff

More Tanker Pictures 022 by tanker622001, on Flickr

The freighter ended up with too much corrosion to safely fly and it spent several years at Redmond as an engine test cell

IMG_9984 by tanker622001, on Flickr

The last time that I was in Madras the nose section of the freighter was still there. It was also cut up for scrap when it couldn’t be ferried from Redmond to Madras

IMG_0854 by tanker622001, on Flickr

I don’t know how recent this Google Earth picture is, but it shows Tankers 60, 62 and 66 on the upper hard stands

IMG_9981 by tanker622001, on Flickr