I just figured they were moving the S2s in a way very similar to the way they are rotating the new firehawks for maintenance reasons.
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Tanker 912 back in the fight. Flying out if MCC
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910 and 912 in CA. Where are the other VLATS?
Thanks
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Both out of serviceâŚ
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WowâŚThanks
The answer I was afraid ofâŚEven as much as they cost to use!
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Scoopers, I believe, are even more expensive.
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Scoopers are a reasonable cost (rate per gallons) dropped by the hour, if a large water source is within 5 minutes flight time. Generally theyâll fly in pairs, for a four hour fuel cycle.
âFor the 2026 fire season, major municipal and federal contracts for âSuper Scooperâ amphibious firefighting aircraft (such as the Canadair CL-415/CL-215T variants) reflect daily standby and flight-hour operational costs averaging roughly $6,000 per flight hour, with seasonal federal agreements (like Bridger Aerospaceâs 160-day US Forest Service task orders) valuing guaranteed standby availability blocks at over $7.5 million per aircraftâ.
" Operational costs for a Very Large Air Tanker (VLAT) like the DC-10 operated by [10 Tanker Air Carrier] average roughly $25,000 USD per flight hour. Federal exclusive-use contract structures typically split expenses into a daily standby availability rate (roughly $34,000 to $35,000 per day) plus an hourly flight rate, exclusive of retardant chemicals and specific fuel adjustments".
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T914 is flying as well. The only DC-10 thatâs out of service is T911, which is in Pensacola Florida for maintenance.
T914 was dropping on the Sand Creek Fire in Montana. It is now on the ground at Pocatello
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Question:
On todayâs Yuba fire, AA230 the local AA was quickly replaced with N561CG which is a Coulson owned Citation.
Was this done in anticipation of a LAT/VLAT need and this platform being more capable, or what?
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Training platform
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On the taffle fire yesterday just outside of Hemet. Taffle Air Attack requested two additional type 3 or better air tankers, closest resource. They sent 76 out of Porterville and 71 out of Ramona. Air Attack asled Perris if the C-130 was available out of Ramona. I didnât hear the status, but they did not launch. South ops ended up sending two type 1âs, when requesting type 1 aircraft from the timber fire from Paso. Is tanker 117 out of service and Iâm not sure why they wouldnât have sent the other S2 out of Ramona as it was much closer. Any thoughts ideas why those two aircraft werenât launched to the fire?
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Tanker 120 was out of service during the request and Ramonaâs second S2 is currently not there.
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Why arent they moving other tankers to back fill? Ramona is definitely not in a converging location?
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They have a few S2âs out of service and are backfilling open bases with other tankers to close the gaps. I too, wish Ramona had all of its aircraft considering itâs the cul-de-sac.
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70 has been bouncing all over the state, currently at Santa Rosa, before that Hollister, it was in the southern inland desert some time, before that it spent quite some time at Grass Valley.
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There is not a lot of spare S2 depth
I recall there only being one spare
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Has it always been that way or does that have something to do with the C130s existing now? Are there a lot of situations where a S2 will do but a C130 is too big and cumbersome?
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Itâs been that way since they went to the turbo prop S2 .
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