what if? AT802

[Daveroo]

what if you took an Air tractor AT802 and instead of the 810 gallons of retardant...put a fuel tank and small cargo compartnemt in the hopper and extend the range for a "commmuter?...

it has a range of 210 miles with its currant fuel load ( but i dont know what that is)..
and im allso assuming fuel is lighter in wieght than retardant...
i just think it would be fun....i use my FS9 802 as a buzzbomb i fly it for fun....and if i were a real world pilot....id want one ..get an older one and call it an "antiqe"

 

[3/7charlie]

All ready done, Daveroo. There is a kit for ferrying the aircraft useing the hopper for an aux tank.This is a commom practice for most ag planes.All though;the seats in the dammed thing will generate terminal 'roids in a matter of moments! It is also common(!) practice to carry loaders/mixmasters out to a remote site in the hopper, although the gate torque shaft,link arms and quantity float make this an uncomfortable trip, let alone the glop clinging to the hopper.( and the only window in the hopper gives you a great veiw...of the drivers,um,area.) You should see and smell BTK, for instance. We have also hauled MOGAS,diesel and heating oil with the aircraft, and use the hopper to carry spares, kit , baggage, mountain bikes and what not when deploying on spray and fire fighting missions. I am not a big fan of the type as an air tanker. It is not a nice aircraft to fly, hard to land, and visibility over the nose sucks. (Tail dragger) The variable flow gate is great for line building, but has no punch for initial attack in any kind of canopy. Its slow, though in Alberta we have used portable bases set up on a road strip to keep in close to a fire.
The airfoil section really penalizes the aircraft. To keep the cost down,Leyland used all kinds of automotive and RV stuff in the electrical and utillity systems, which was endless greif untill it was replaced. Lastly the Sea Tractor/ Sea Cow is short on puff hot and high, has to leave mud or gas on the ground, is a beastly thing to access for maintenance. The floats are missmatched to the aircraft, being wipline Twotter floats with the transom clipped, which has left the step in the wrong place, leading to long take off runs.The wip air float have all the rigging inside the float, making maintenance difficult. Lastly, it only has one engine. The PT6A is s great bit of kit,statisticly only failing every 1.5 zillion hours or so, but it only has to quit once. Not a terribly reassuring thought when you are out over the hard, pointy rocks one finds away from most air fields. But is is cheap, although in the first ten years of ops, we wrote off one WHEN THE ENGINE QUIT.( The pilot walked away, thank the gods.) The 'old' fleet of multi engine Firecats and DC-6's have had one fatal, 20 years ago( the pilot had a heart attack ) and will shut down engines, but will live to fly another day. But it is a very pugnacious looking airplane.
3/7charlie.

 

[Daveroo]

All ready done, Daveroo. There is a kit for ferrying the aircraft useing the hopper for an aux tank.This is a commom practice for most ag planes.All though;the seats in the dammed thing will generate terminal 'roids in a matter of moments! It is also common(!) practice to carry loaders/mixmasters out to a remote site in the hopper, although the gate torque shaft,link arms and quantity float make this an uncomfortable trip, let alone the glop clinging to the hopper. You should see and smell BTK, for instance. We have also hauled MOGAS,diesel and heating oil with the aircraft, and use the hopper to carry spares, kit , baggage, mountain bikes and what not when deploying on spray and fire fighting missions. I am not a big fan of the type as an air tanker. It is not a nice aircraft to fly, hard to land, and visibility over the nose sucks. (Tail dragger) The variable flow gate is great for line building, but has no punch for inital attack in any kind of canopy. Its slow, though in Alberta we have used portable bases set up on a road strip to keep in close to a fire.
The airfoil section really penalizes the aircraft. To keep the cost down.Leyland used all kinds of automotive and RV stuff in the electrical and utillity systems, which was endless greif untill it was replaced. Lastly the Sea Tractor/ Sea Cow is short on puff hot and high, has to leave mud or gas on the ground, is a beastly thing to access for maintenance. The floats are missmatched to the aircraft, being wipline Twotter floats with the transom clipped, which has left the step in the wrong place, leading to long take off runs.The wip air float have all the rigging inside the float, making maintenance difficult. Lastly, it only has one engine. The PT6A is s great bit of kit,statisticly only failing every 1.5 zillion hours or so, but it only has to quit once. Not a terribly reassuring thought when you are out over the hard, pointy rocks one finds away from most air fields. But is is cheap, although in the first ten years of ops, we wrote off one WHEN THE ENGINE QUIT.( The pilot walked away, thank the gods.) The 'old' fleet of multi engine Firecats and DC-6's have had one fatal, 20 years ago( the pilot had a heart attack ) and will shut down engines, but will live to fly another day. But it is a very pugnacious looking airplane.
3/7charlie.

good info thanks.....i happen to be an airtanker nutcase...i take it you fly airtankers?...im close to grass valley atb in northern california and when i was a fire fighter had made friends with the pilots....great bunch..have a friend flying T27 for aero union this season

 

[Moses03]

I remember a movie about ferrying two crop dusters (using the hopper as a fuel tank) from SoCal to Sydney across the South Pacific. Was based on a true story.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107556/

 

[3/7charlie]

Hey,Daveroo. I did 11 years with the Abbotsford based company as an AME. Mostly on Firecats and DC-6's ,215's, L-188 and CV580's, tried to avoid the 802. We would deploy with the aircraft, so there was ample opportunity to grab some stick time. I think the most fun I'd ever had with my clothes on was a run down the Fraser canyon at 50 ft in a 'Cat, and an afternoon out bombing with a 'mate in an A-26. The most fun I've ever had, and the hardest I'd ever worked in my life. IF you like tankers, go over to FS Dome, and search securite civile. there is a really nice Turbo Fire cat for FS9 that works perfectly in FSX. Now that is flat out the sweetest light/medium tanker ever.
Shiny side up!
3/7charlie

 

[Daveroo]

Hey,Daveroo. I did 11 years with the Abbotsford based company as an AME. Mostly on Firecats and DC-6's ,215's, L-188 and CV580's, tried to avoid the 802. We would deploy with the aircraft, so there was ample opportunity to grab some stick time. I think the most fun I'd ever had with my clothes on was a run down the Fraser canyon at 50 ft in a 'Cat, and an afternoon out bombing with a 'mate in an A-26. The most fun I've ever had, and the hardest I'd ever worked in my life. IF you like tankers, go over to FS Dome, and search securite civile. there is a really nice Turbo Fire cat for FS9 that works perfectly in FSX. Now that is flat out the sweetest light/medium tanker ever.
Shiny side up!
3/7charlie

yeah i have that turbo firecat...several versions of the S2..thanks for the responce...11 years very cool..calfire doesnt allow SEATS but they do come in when the USFS calls them...they seem out of place here,,normally we see the S2T's of calfire,the P3 and DC7 of aero union and the PV2 of neptune

 

[3/7charlie]

I have allways liked the P-3 and P-2. The P-2 is such a sexy looking machine, as is the P-3. Great tanker. Too bad Transport wont let us fly them up here. The '188 has a junk wing. Big sigh of relief when we got rid of it. Airspray had one come apart on the Kelowna fire in '03. The guys I dont envy are the poor buggers that drive around that DC-10. Back in the mid nineties BCFS got a bug up its pipe for a tanked 737-200. The boys went down to Canadian and flew bombing profiles on the simulator, and found out that the slow spool up times and /or carrying more airspeed than usual made it really easy to get your ass into a crack. And finding some where to put the tank in a '37 proved nearly impossible. Are you still eating fire?
3/7charlie

 

[Brian_Gladden]

If you guys want to talk firefighting and flying, drop over to the Chinkenwings Comic forum. Several of the heavy poster's (including one of the guys that run's the place) are fire pilots (Rotary wing) There's even a dedicated Fire flyers section over there.

Brian