Overnight Open Thread - 08/06/2024
[Roger Ball]

Greetings, HORDE! Lest the banner picture lead you to believe I have a strange fetish about old Grumman airplanes*, let me put your minds at ease. It is fire season and the theme of this ONT is airborne firefighting or, in the industry lingo, “air attack”. Also, if you’re not “ aeronautically inclined”, or time limited, skip all the airplane stuff and head south to more traditional ONT fare.

*Well, full disclosure, I did fly the A-6 Intruder and who doesn’t love all the Grumman cats?

So, let’s go!

First, the lineage of the S2F “STOOF” started with entry into service in 1954 as an anti-submarine warfare platform. It then became the WF-2 Tracer “STOOF with a ROOF” or the “Willy Fudd”. Heh. (Navy guys, you know, lots of time at sea and no women or beer. Nowadays maybe more women and soy lattes.)
(Note: if you don’t understand the early Navy aircraft designation protocol, don’t worry about it. That’s for another time and another thread.)

It also was used in Training Command as the advanced multi-engine trainer and allowed E-2 pilots to CARQUAL before going to the expensive airplane. And finally, the subject of my last ONT, it was the C-1 Trader COD aircraft. It was powered by two Wright 1820 cubic inch radial engines and was a rugged bird in the best Grumman tradition. It was phased out in the late 70’s and most were sent to the bone yard at Davis Monthan. However, Marsh Aviation in Mesa, AZ developed one of the great repurposing programs for the STOOF. With no small amount engineering imagination and expertise, they turned 23 of the aircraft into air attack firefighters. It is now known as the Marsh/Grumman S-2FAT Turbo Tracker. (No, not a "FAT" Turbo Tracker, "F" is for Grumman (don’t ask) and “AT” is for Air Attack.) You should not be surprised that the Grumman Tracker has its very own outstanding and thorough website because…uh…aviation geeks. Here’s Tanker 88 as an example. You will see “her” again shortly.

I’ve often thought that air attack would be a cool job. It involves lots of equipment, coordination and planning and takes place in a threat environment. And you get to “enjoy” it while nobody is actually shooting at you, although obviously there is lots of fire involved. What better way to learn about the job than to talk to an air attack pilot? I found a video Juan Browne made last year at the Grass Valley, CA air attack base. He talks to air attack pilot Abbie Crews for almost 30 minutes about her career, the mission, the airplane and the lifestyle. She presents herself as a cool, professional experienced pilot and, I think, would make a credible subject for Red Friday. Here’s a taste:

Here’s the full interview if you are so inclined.

If not, no worries. Ace hosts a busy HORDE so here’s the short story:

Abbie went to the Air Force Academy, flew C-17s and MC-12s. After leaving active duty she was searching for her next flying job and airlines were not very attractive to her. She got the job with CALFIRE, starting out in the OV-10 and then moved to the Turbo Tracker. The schedule is 10 on, 5 off. If it’s an active season, she could be working 10 hours a day or more. The pay is commensurate with major airline pilot pay. The air attack pilots even have a union or "association" as we like to call it. I learned a lot in those 30 minutes, and it still sounds like a pretty cool job.

The HORDE dwelling in the western US know that this has been a busy season so far. Thankfully the current incidents are not as bad as the Camp Fire in 2018, but the current Park Fire has burned up over 400,000 acres, destroyed hundreds of structures, incalculable wildlife and displaced hundreds of people although, miraculously, no fatalities.

From the CALFIRE PARK FIRE website: 6588 personnel, 40 helicopters, “numerous” air tankers and 192 dozers. If you watched the video, Abbie noted that the dozers are one of the most effective pieces of firefighting equipment. Makes sense now but it would not have been my first guess.

And all that fire…what could it be? ‘Global warming”? “Global climate crisis”? Nope, sorry fans, just an idiot with a prior arrest record and a burning car.

Ronnie Dean Stout II, 42, of Chico, was arraigned Monday in connection with the Park Fire, which has quickly become one of the largest recorded wildfires in California's history. During his first court appearance, he was charged with felony arson with an enhancement of special circumstances due to prior convictions… Stout was allegedly spotted just before 3 p.m. PT on Wednesday pushing a burning car down a gully…

Aerial firefighting is a great application of the airplane enabled by imagination and engineering excellence. WW2 bombers like the B-17 and PB4Y started out being the “heavies”. Then C-130s, DC-6/7s came along. The amazing Air Tractor 802 Fire Boss is used all over the world. Same for the Canadair CL-415, the B737s (not MAXs, btw) all the way up to B747s that could show up to a fire if required. And that’s just the fixed wing. Helicopters could be a whole other thread!

Even the DC-7B, Ship 717, now parked in front of the Delta Flight Museum used to be Tanker 33 for the International Air Response company based in Arizona.

Aerial firefighting is a cool job but it’s not without risk. Y’all may remember seeing this one in the news?

CALFIRE lost one of their own Turbo Trackers in 2014.

…while on approach, Tanker 81 struck trees with its left wing. Following the impact with the trees, the airplane entered a descending left roll, and it then impacted on the top of an approximate 800-ft-tall rock cliff. A fire erupted during the impact, the airplane fragmented, and the main wreckage was projected over the cliff and scattered over a wide river valley below the cliff face.

Assembling this part of the thread has been very educational and has given me even greater appreciation for the dedication and professionalism of our firefighters in the air and on the ground. (MCGRUFF, saluting you sir!) Like I like to say, I’m glad they are on our side. Of course, good forest management might preclude the need for all the effort, but that should be covered in another thread. Now, on to...

Traditional ONT fare

First, it’s August 06. In 1945, it was a “brave new world” moment when Little Boy detonated over Hiroshima. Whether you think it was a good idea or a bad idea, my study indicates that it brought a prompt end to the war. The emperor mentioned the bombs specifically in his statement to the people. If the Allies had proceeded with Operation Downfall, I have no doubt the death count would have been in the many millions. My dad was on the staff of the 20th AD which was the first reserve afloat (in other words, the second wave) for the second part of Downfall, Operation Coronet, which was to target Tokyo. He didn’t talk about it too much but he did say they all thought that if they had to set foot on Japanese soil, none of them would survive. I am personally okay with the boys not having to test that theory.

Three years earlier, The 1st Marine Division was moving into place for the amphibious assault on Guadalcanal to take place on the 7th. At least the Marines didn’t have to worry about the next item when they hit the beach, although they did have “other concerns” at the time.

Extra stuff at the beach? A couple of weeks ago, beach goers at the exclusive islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard were greeted with shards of fiberglass and chunks of foam material.

…“the largest turbine in the western world.” It was supposed to be one of the 62 turbines that would make up the first large-scale, commercial offshore wind farm in the United States.

But just nine months later, the project has been suspended by the federal government after the now infamous turbine blade failure on July 13th that left Nantucket’s beaches and the waters surrounding the island littered with fiberglass and styrofoam debris…

As John F’n Kerry might say, “Mon Dieu! Mon agenda vert!” I am familiar with the Cape and Islands, and I can’t even imagine 62 of those abominations sitting offshore. As if living on those islands isn’t expensive enough already, now we must add man-made environmental disasters? BTW, Vineyard Wind is just the latest hustle that took over after Cape Wind folded up.

But it may not be over yet. Perhaps adults will step in…

Late Tuesday afternoon, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said all operations are shut down until further notice… The turbine blades are made of non-toxic fiberglass. Fragments can vary in size and are usually green or white.

Vineyard Wind said that while the fiberglass is not hazardous to people or the environment…

Well, that’s a relief. Not hazardous, unless you get a shard of fiberglass jabbed into your foot. And who are those “adults”? Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement which was established in 2011 under "BarryHO's" Department of the Interior. (bold mine)

Since its establishment in 2011, BSEE has been the lead federal agency charged with improving safety and ensuring environmental protection related to the offshore energy industry, primarily oil and natural gas, on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The Bureau vigorously regulates oversight of worker safety, emergency preparedness, environmental compliance, and conservation of resources.

I’ll bet they really enjoy being vigorous, eh? And I get it. This layer of government was added in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. I was in Orange Beach about a week or so after the spill started, and the fumes were pretty bad. Never let a good disaster go to waste. The T-shirts and memes came out quickly, “We’ve been BPeed on” and such. So even amid the disaster and fear pron, humor still found a way and abundant life returned to the Gulf.

Speaking of life, “life finds a way”
This is a watermelon vine growing out from under the office at my local airport, finding a way. Heh.

So, great HORDE of hordes, go forth and grab life by the, the, you know, the thing!

Roger Ball

posted by Open Blogger at 10:00 PM

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