Yes, in all circumstances including engine failure. In addition we have two more MD-87's ready to convert. Last week we received a video of an engine failing on an MD87 air tanker as it was taking off July 30, 2018 at Coeur D’Alene Airport in Idaho en route to drop retardant on a wildfire. May 7-8: repositioned from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Lake City, Florida, then delivered four loads of water on the Moonfish Fire in Big Cypress National Preserve in south Florida, one on May 7 and three on May 8. Since November Mr. Mullins has been serving as a volunteer firefighter in NSW. The company’s maintenance personnel are on scene to begin the process of replacing the engine. Then in June, 2017 they took a much more radical step. It is expected to arrive in Australia at Cairns Friday afternoon U.S. time. This was not the first time that an engine on an Erickson Aero Air MD87 failed and falling debris caused problems after hitting the ground. According to FlightAware, Tanker 102 (N292EA) departed from Portland, Washington on Tuesday January 14. The fact that the engine failed that day was well known, especially since hot debris falling from the aircraft started seven fires within a five-mile radius of the airport. Kevin McLoughlin, the Director of Air Tanker Operations for Erickson Aero Air, told us that they have fixed the problem with their recently converted MD-87 air tankers and expect to have five of them available this summer. Erickson Aero Tanker . The other three: Other air tankers have had engine failures, of course. On our way to California to join up with Erickson Aero Tanker 103 and be on call for anything that might transpire over the next few days. (The video can also be watched at YouTube). Few, if any tanker bases  utilize both ports, loading using a single port at an average flow rate of 450 gallons per minute, giving  the load time of under 7 minutes. Greg Mullins, former head of New South Wales Rural Fire Service, was interviewed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Greg Mullins, former head of New South Wales Rural Fire Service, was interviewed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), a public broadcasting service. AerSale has signed a contract with Aero Air / Erickson Aero Tanker to build another firefighting air tanker for the company’s fleet at AerSale’s MRO facility in Goodyear, Arizona. Mr. Isley said they have had an air tanker working out of Alamogordo, NM since the beginning of March. SAS ATR-72 … He expects the aircraft will depart from Hawaii Wednesday morning U.S. time heading toward a refueling stop at the Marshall Islands, then arriving in Australia Thursday evening local time. One of the newer aerial tanker solutions is the Erickson Aero Tanker MD-87. The company’s fuel team is on it, Mr. Gould said. Those four include two MD-87s and two DC-10s leased from Erickson Aero Tanker and 10 Tanker. John Gould, President of 10 Tanker, said that after being topped off with fuel and sitting on the hot tarmac, a fuel leak was discovered. The DC-10 delayed by a tropical storm and a maintenance issue is expected to arrive in Australia the evening of January 23 local time. Once the modification is complete, the new Erickson Aero Tanker will cruise at 450 knots, carry 3,000 gallons of fire retardant in all environments up to 40 degrees Celsius, boast a 900-mile loaded strike range, require only a 5,200-foot runway loaded, and both take off and land fully loaded. On Tuesday and Wednesday 10 Tanker Air Carrier posted photos on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook with the text: “Huge thanks to the Royal Australian Air force For sending out crew and a C17 and our own United States Air Force for coming out! When massive wildfires are burning homes and lives are lost — 27 people have perished so far in Australia this summer — there is always pressure to deploy more firefighting air tankers. The two DC-10s, Tankers 912 and 914, were expected to arrive in Australia on January 15 and 25 respectively, but weather in the southern U.S. required a change in the schedule for the first one. 09/03/2020 . The first fix that Erickson Aero Air implemented was in 2014, “a new spade profile that has proved to eliminate this problem by keeping the fluid column much more vertical” the company wrote. (about 320 miles south of the Lake City Airport), May 11: Made six drops on the High Hill Fire in the Apalachicola National Forest in the Florida panhandle southwest of Tallahassee. Photos were taken of retardant stains on the fuselage caused by retardant flowing over the wing. Note: Erickson Aero Tanker's beautiful Tanker 60 - a 1958 Douglas DC-7B. He told us, “I had talked to Erickson Aero Air HQ in Oregon to make sure it was ok for me to distribute and the only thing was that I had to forward a copy of the video to the lead mechanic. The pilot then had to override the auto-throttle to power up that engine again. The MD-87s have both arrived in the country, in spite of one of them being stuck for a while in Adak, Alaska due to an ash plume from a volcano in the Philippines developing on its anticipated route. At 0:52 in the video below, smoke or debris can be seen in the vicinity of the tail of the aircraft. “This modified aircraft will rank among the best air tankers available for fighting wildfires across the country for years to come.”. In 2002 there were 44 on exclusive use contracts. PlaneSpotting. Standard retardant capacity for the MD-87 tanker is 4,000 gallons. The MD-87 air tanker that was scheduled to depart on January 13 had to be rescheduled due to the eruption of a volcano in the Philippines when the ash plume made a leg of the flight in the Western Pacific inadvisable. Sens. Tested and Trusted® 5550 S Macadam Avenue, Suite 200 Portland, Oregon 97239 U.S.A. (503) 505-5800; Back to top Mr. Komm said that after takeoff the plane flew out to the designated retardant jettison area about seven miles northeast of the airport so it would not have to land with a full load of retardant. Tanker 104 (an Erickson Aero Tanker MD-87) is scheduled to start today, May 30, and Tanker 137 (a Coulson B-737) will start June 1. T-103 will be based in Western Australia at Perth. The federal government said that as of January 14 approximately 10 million hectares (24 million acres) had burned. Erickson Aero Tanker currently has 5 MD-87 3000 gallon tankers and 3 DC-7 3000 gallons tankers. Before saving life and property from fire, the MD-87 aircraft operated by Erickson Aero Tanker were in regular passenger configurations. The MD-87 holds a significant advantage over other Large Air Tankers of being able to drop a load of retardant and climb to cruise altitude to return to base for another load, saving time and fuel. An Erickson Aero Tanker McDonnell Douglas MD-87 aerial tanker. We drop at speeds between 135 and 140 knots, Aero Air LLC. The aircraft was Air Tanker 101, an MD87 operated by Erickson Aero Air. AG-024B-S-15-9003, which was issued by the Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, for next generation (NextGen) large airtanker services for wildfire firefighting support. FAQ. As this is written Thursday morning U.S. time, the aircraft is in Narita, Japan. And it’s decidedly not about thrill-seeking or cultivating a cowboy image, says Brent Connor, the senior captain for Erickson Aero Tanker. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said Tuesday that Hillsboro-based Erickson Aero Tanker has earned a $70.5 million federal contract for next-generation large air tanker services to support wildland firefighting in Oregon and nationwide. 2 Future records only include new-built aircraft close to delivery and expected second-hand … Erickson Incorporated operates globally and has a fleet of 69 rotary-wing and fixed … The crew declared an emergency and landed safely on one engine after diverting to Midland, Texas (MAF) as airport crash-rescue trucks stood by. 09/04/2020 War History Online . Please refer to the current fleet list to see each aircraft's individual age. After these are on board, there will be 15 large and very large federal air tankers on duty. The planned route for the MD-87 takes it through Alaska, Russia, Japan, Guam, and Papua New Guinea. Tanker 912 (N522AX) departed from San Bernardino, California Thursday morning U.S. time, en route to a fuel stop in Honolulu. As this is written, Erickson Aero Tanker’s T-102, an MD-87 (N292EA), just landed at Adelaide, Australia where it will be based. After these are on board, there will be 15 large and very large federal air tankers on duty. Tested and Trusted® 5550 S Macadam Avenue, Suite 200 Portland, Oregon 97239 U.S.A. (503) 505-5800; Back to top Designed to replace the earlier F4F Wildcat. Two are on EU contracts and they hope to have the others on CWN contracts. These ports can sustain up to 600 gallons per minute flow maximum. The Forest Service has activated two Call When Needed large air tankers for a 90-day Mandatory Availability Period. We understand that the spares included wheels and tires, as well as a spare engine and APU.”. It is likely that it had a ferry kit that enables 800 gallons of fuel to be carried in the hopper (retardant tank). # ericksonaerotanker # md87 # tanker103 # tanker104 # aerialfirefighting See More While large air tankers have dropped on bushfires in Western Australia before, this will be the first time that one will be based there — Perth in this case. A C-17 from Australia hauled extra tires, an engine, and an APU from Arizona to Australia, UPDATED at 1:30 p.m. MST January 17, 2020. Erickson Aero Tanker went back to the drawing board to plan a different route and obtain permits but the delay allowed the ash to clear so they were able to use the original route for the first tanker to leave for Australia. “The two doors open up on the bottom and let the retardant out onto the fire.” Their other MD-87 that will be working on a contract in Australia, Tanker 103 (N293EA), has left North America and is on a leg from Ketchikan, Alaska en route to refuel at Adak, Alaska. 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