Saved By The Belle

If we are laying a big retardant line, then the DC-10 is going to do a beautiful job.

something most Australians are all too familiar with.

In a stroke of good timing, the NSW government has fully funded a two-year, $9. 8 million trial to allow the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) to examine the effectiveness and feasibility of engaging Large Air Tanker (LAT) and Very Large Air Tanker (VLAT) aircraft as part of its aerial attack and suppression arsenal. This year, and next, will see a Lockheed Martin L-100-30 Hercules LAT and a DC-10-30 VLAT positioned at RAAF Base Richmond, north-west of Sydney, on standby to deliver high volumes of water and retardant in any part of the state in about an hour.

“Using the LATs is a big jump up for us and we are interested to see how their capabilities can complement our existing fleet of aircraft,” said NSW RFS manager aviation, Chief Superintendent Maryanne Carmichael. “This is the first time we have used LATs so it will be a bit of a learning curve for everyone including our air attack supervisors, who will be coordinating a lot with these aircraft, and for our firefighters on the ground. I think it will be just like when we started with the Air-Crane, once you know what the full capabilities of the aircraft are, the LATs will then become ‘just another machine’. ”

Thor

First to report for duty for the trial was Coulson Flying Tankers Hercules N405LC Thor, which arrived at Richmond on August 31. Operating under Coulson’s own air operators certificate (AOC) while flying in Australia, the LAT, callsigned ‘Bomber 132’, is the larger sistership to Coulson’s C-130Q Hercules N130FF, which operated on contract in Victoria last bushfire season.

In the immediate days after arriving in country from Anchorage, Alaska via Kahului, the Marshall Islands and Brisbane, the NSW RFS conducted some familiarisation training with the LAT at Kangaroo Valley just north of HMAS Albatross, Nowra.

“The training was provided to our staff, volunteers and land management agency air attack supervisors (AAS),” said Carmichael. “We conducted two courses over a four-day period involving information about the new assets followed by a flying day that included their integration into our current aerial firefighting fleet. ” To deliver its 15,450-litre capacity of water, retardant or suppressants in an area up to 30 metres wide and over a kilometre long, the LAT uses an internal, constant-flow retardant aerial delivery system (RADS), designed for the stretched Hercules’ fuselage. A roll-on roll-off system, the upper component of the RADS-XXL is a V-shaped hopper tank that can be removed in about 30 minutes allowing the Hercules to revert back into a cargo configuration. The lower section of the system, built-in beneath the aircraft’s cargo floor, funnels the gravity-fed retardant through the underside drop doors. Taking just 10 minutes to refill using its two refilling points, the RADS-XXL has a maximum flow rate of 6,056 litres per second and can empty the tank in just 2. 2 seconds.

In addition to Richmond, the NSW RFS will use RAAF Base Williamtown, Tamworth, Dubbo, and Canberra airports as forward operating bases to support Thor on fire bombing operations in the provincial areas more effectively and efficiently.

Southern Belle

Returning to Australia for a second time, 10 Tanker Air Carrier’s DC-10 VLAT brings with it a staggering43,900-litre drop capacity. Callsigned ‘Bomber 910’, N612AX is a converted ex-Northwest Airlines DC‑10 and is currently one of three that 10 Tanker Air Carrier has working on fires around the world.

Christened Southern Belle while operating in Australia, in tribute to Australian female firefighters, the VLAT comes directly from working on devastating fires in Washington state, Idaho, Oregon and California. Arriving at Brisbane Airport on September 28 from Albuquerque, New Mexico with stops in Honolulu and Pago Pago, the VLAT is subcontracted to AGA Services in Stawell, Victoria which in turn contracts the VLAT to NSW RFS, and is operated under a discreet AOC.

Configured with five in-line external tanks attached underneath its centre fuselage, the VLATshares some commonality with the Erickson Air-Crane. “The tanks are identical to the single tank on the Air-Crane,” said 10 Tanker Air Carrier’s president and CEO Rick Hatton. “It is proven technology and we bought it off Erickson. The computer is programmed differently because of the airspeed at which we drop at. ” Fore and aft aerodynamic cowling tanks enclose three Erickson tanks. “The reason the tanks hang externally is much the same as on the Air-Crane, you want to be able to open a long, computer-controlled door to get a constant flow during a drop,” said Hatton. “Putting fluid inside the aircraft would be very difficult to get it out fast enough. If you did, you would have to cut large holes in the fuselage and pressurise the tank to get it out at a 5,678 litres per second flow rate. Having an external load, gravity-propelled through constant flow doors, we think, is the preferred technology. ” N612AX is a ‘new’ aircraft to wear the ‘910’ tanker number. “We took the old tanker number and put it on a new airframe which was 12 years newer than its predecessor,” said Hatton. “The original Tanker 910 was our oldest aircraft. Curiously, it had racked up 910 hours on fires during its tenure, which is purely coincidental. ” Having bought the last five DC‑10s ever built gives 10 Tanker Air Carrier the stock to build more tankers. “We still have three in storage and available for conversion should we choose to in the future,” said Hatton. “A conversion takes around 23,000 man hours just to make the aircraft ready to hang the tanks. You can’t just bolt on the tanks, you have to go deep into thestructure to fit the 14 hard points to hang the tanks which takes around six months to convert an aircraft. ”

Low and slow

The trial also includes using two lead planes, both Rockwell Turbo Commander 690Bs, to accompany both the LAT and VLAT when on the drop.

“We will always deploy both the LATs to an incident with a lead plane carrying an air attack supervisor,” said Carmichael. “Having aviation assets already at an incident under the control of an AAS, we should see them seamlessly all start to work together. But that’s one of the things we will be testing during the trial – if the LATs will always require a lead plane to do the coordination between the ground, firefighters and other aircraft at the incident. ” The AAS flies over an incident immediately ahead of the LAT or VLAT to provide tactical coordination with the ground crews and to direct the trailing fire bombers to critical areas of the fire for the drop. Flying in a drop profile over the incident, the AAS will mark the direction, drop start and drop stop points using a display smoke system fitted to its right-hand engine.

On the VLAT’s flightdeck, the flight engineer sets up the drop quantity amount and the flow rate, or coverage level, and arms the system ready for the captain’s call. “The captain will make the drop call with ‘stand by, stand by, drop’,” explained Hatton. “The flight engineer pushes and holds the release button until either the captain calls ‘stop drop’ or the tanks are empty. Both the captain and first officer have a salvo release button on the control column to release the load in case of an emergency. ”The DC-10’s optimum flight profile for a drop is a low and slow 200ft and 150kt, which still gives the pilot a great level of maneuverability. “There is a very high margin of safety because the aircraft is relatively light,” said Hatton. “Because we don’t need 12 hours of fuel, even with a full load of retardant, it gives us a tremendous amount of vertical performance and great maneuverability. We can be pretty extreme on the controls and still maintain a high safety margin. ”

Loaded up

At RAAF Base Richmond, Defence is providing both LAT operators with a number of services including secured aircraft parking, access to fuel and refuelling facilities, equipment storage, a water supply, aircrew office space and meals and accommodation for up to 20 people.

Burning through 9,650 litres of Jet-A1 costing about $18,000 per hour, the VLAT will always depart from and return to Richmond when deployed. The base’s 2,134 metre-long runway is capable of allowing the VLAT to launch with a full load of retardant with maximum fuel, even on a very unlikely 48 degrees Celsius day.

“We go out with a full load of retardant and three hours of fuel, which is about 60 per cent of what the aircraft would be capable of doing in its previous life,” said Hatton. “We have up to a 500nm reach radius and can get to the furthest parts of the state in any direction in about an hour. On a cost per litre dropped, we are very efficient. ” Filling the VLAT takes approximately 15 minutes. Pre-mixed Phos-Chek MVP-F, a gum-thickened, medium viscosity retardant used by fire authorities across the country, is pumped in using the tank’s three refilling points. Coming in one tonne bags of powder concentrate, Phos-Chek is added to with water using a mixing system set up at Richmond. The retardant maintains its distinct red colour during application, but slowly fades with exposure to sunlight.

“Each drop uses a mix rate with water of six tonnes per 44,000 litres,” said Hatton. “It makes the water density slightly heavier and prevents it from breaking up when it is dropped. The idea is to get containment lines in place sooner rather than later for the fire to starve itself of fuel. If we are using the aircraft for strike, you overkill it early with both manpower and aviation assets, with a little more and not a little less, because once a fire gets away from you it’s pretty hard to catch. ” Flightcrews are on call, on a normal day, from 10am until 6pm. If the forecast for the day ahead looks particularly bad, both LATs will be loaded with retardant first thing in the morning.

“On heightened activity days we will bring that down to a 9am start and have them push through until about 7pm,” said Carmichael. “The aircraft can depart on last light, drop its load and return – it does not have that absolute crunch time of being on the ground by last light which most of our other aircraft do. This adds an extension to our capabilities to be able to do the drop at last light. ”

Report says no

Despite a report suggesting its ineffectiveness during an earlier trial, conducted over the 2009-10 bushfire season in Victoria, the NSW RFS is confident the new trial will give the DC-10 the chance to really prove itself in Australia. According to the ‘Evaluation of the effectiveness of the 10 Tanker Air Carrier DC-10 Air Tanker, Victoria 2010’ report, the then Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre concluded on evidence it had collected that the VLAT was “not suitable for achieving effective suppression under most Australian wildfire conditions. ” Despite deploying only to one active fire and dropping just a single load, the report said “while the drop was on target, the fire behaviour did not seriously challenge the drop owing to moderated weather and discontinuous fuels, leaving the question of its effectiveness in wildfire conditions unanswered. ” “Its drop patterns were getting some scalloping and by the looks of all the information that has been coming out of the US, where the DC-10 has been in use over there quite recently, it appears 10 Tanker has done a lot of work to fix that,” said Carmichael. “When it was out here it did one fire in Victoria. You want to test its full capabilities so you want to put it where it will get used. You have to be realistic with what the capabilities of the aircraft are and to test those. ” Hatton said when reading the report in its entirety, the trial was not quite as bad as its summary suggested. “I can’t say there was anything wrong with the report per se, but when we came down here in 2009 – I was part of the crew – nothing happened, there were no fires. So they set up some trials but there wasn’t enough planning to make the trials effective. They were not really indicative of what the machine could or could not do. Most people have put that in their rearview mirror so I don’t think it’s worth discussing anymore – it’s history. We are much better prepared now and we are very pleased to be here and look forward to contributing to whatever suppression is needed. ”

On display

The NSW RFS demonstrated the capabilities of a range of its fixed and rotary wing firefighting aircraft to guests and the media at the Sydney International Regatta Centre, Penrith on October 1, which included an impressive display by Southern Belle.

On the first day of the state’s official bushfire danger period, the aerial demonstration started with a showcase of helicopters with one of NSW RFS’s own BK117-850-D2s, ‘Helitack 201’, delivering 900 litres of water from its under slung Bambi Bucket. Erickson S-64E Air-Crane Gypsy Lady followed next to show what the Air-Crane has been doing around the country for the past 13 years – dropping 7,560 litres of water, having just collected it from Penrith Lakes in under 40 seconds. Airborne in support of the fire attack helicopter display was the RFS’s newest BK117-850-D2, ‘Helitack 202’, which was recently acquired from the NSW Police Force’s Aviation Support Branch, and its AS350 B2 Squirrel, ‘Firebird 200’.

Making its second public display, Thor was the first of the fixed-wings to make a drop. In close company with a Turbo Commander spotter aircraft, ‘Birddog 376’, the pair made a reconnaissance pass before returning to drop a line of over 15,000 litres of water.

Dwarfing everything else in the sky above Penrith, the sight of a DC-10 flying below 500ft over suburban western Sydney was impressive. In company with ‘Birddog 376’ down at 200ft AGL, Southern Belle released its 43,900-litre load, stretching for more than a kilometre. The rushing sound of the displaced air pushed out by the falling water was audible over the noise from the VLAT’s three General Electric CF6-50C2s turbofans.

On the drop

The arrival of Thor and Southern Belle brings the NSW RFS’s contracted aviation fleet for this bushfire season to 35, comprised of two S-64E Air-Cranes, 13 twin-engined and two single-engined attack helicopters, three AAS helicopters, eight attack Air Tractor AT‑802Fs, two Rockwell Turbo Commander 690Bs and three line scanning and support aircraft.

In addition, the NSW RFS also has access to around 100 ad hoc fixed and rotary-wing tactical aircraft located around the country from operators that have met national standards to carry out aerial firefighting activities.

“Ultimately, there are not that many firefighting aircraft in Australia – it’s a small market,” said Carmichael. “During an incident, the incident controller can request aviation support. Considerations and risk assessments are undertaken in conjunction with the State Air Desk before we assign a capability we think will do the job. We need to match what they are asking for with the right asset that is available. ” Already seeing some action, on September 28 the NSW RFS tasked ‘Bomber 132’ to its first incident – a grass fire at Gungal, 140km northwest of Newcastle. Making a single drop, the LAT then returned to Richmond. Then on October 6, a call from across the border saw both ‘Bomber 132’ and ‘Bomber 910’ depart Richmond to make a drop on an out of control bushfire at Lancefield, 60km north of Melbourne. Making a single drop each, both LATs then returned to Richmond.

“From a national perspective, you can move them around readily and we do that through National Aerial Firefighting Centre arrangements,” said Carmichael. “I talk with mycounterparts in other states and territories and if there is a highlighted risk somewhere, we have the ability to share all our assets, particularly the LATs. ”

Is bigger better?

The trial will assess the use of the LAT and VLAT in support of ground firefighting operations in parallel with existing aviation resources to ensure the most effective operations. Depending on the outcomes, the NSW RFS will then consider permanently using LATs to complement its other aviation assets for future bushfire seasons.

“Different fires have different requirements, so if we are laying a big retardant line, then the DC‑10 is going to do a beautiful job,” said Carmichael. “The VLAT’s real strength is being more multiroled. In the US recently they were doing drops with the VLAT at the urban interface. You can get some heavy rain coming out of these things where, on occasions, we might need to use water only to just knock a fire down. This will be one of the things we will trial. ” A number of criteria will be assessed during the trial including fire bombing assessment and the volume delivered compared to other aircraft. “There is the aviation side of using them, but then you also have to fit them into the firefighting component,” said Carmichael.

“Does that particular capability mix in with our requirements? We really have to mesh together the large aviation capabilities with our firefighting. Information will be collated on all deployments throughout the two-year trial. It will be analysed and evaluated to consider the use of such air tankers as a component of the fleet. ” Contractual arrangements for using the LAT and VLAT in Australia for the trial have been carefully managed, particularly when the aircraft are heavily required by other international fire agencies. Thor is under contract until December 9, with Southern Belle to conclude its part in the trial on January 20 2016. Both aircraft will return to Australia in 12 months’ time to complete the trial.