Evergreen 747 Waterbomber at YEG

[jspitfire]

I was connecting through Edmonton Int'l today and saw Evergreen's 747 "Supertanker" parked there. Anyone have any idea what It's doing there?

[SeptRepair]

Hmmm, Don't let a certain west coast fire fighting company hear that. They may call Ottawa and demand they be sent back to the states.

[Jerricho]

I believe it's doing demos across the country.

Was supposed to do one here in YWG on Monday, but I believe was canceled.

[amraam]

Heard a rumour at the Lethbridge Air Show today that it was supposed to do a demo at the show both days but was broken up in YEG...supposed to be heading down for a 'pre-show' demo for tomorrow's show...

amraam

[337]

They should send it Kelowna for a few demo's.

[A2G]

They should send it Kelowna for a few demo's.

lol +1

[silentivan]

It left YEG at around 10 this morning, assuming that it was going to the airshow in YQL, then came back at around 1900 this evening. Should be sticking around for a couple days, then heading off to who knows where next. But you're right though, maybe if it made an appearance in Kelowna, we could really see the bugger at work!

[Skydrvr7]

Here's the story of its appearance at the Lethbridge Airshow...they landed it on the 6500 foot runway. I would have loved to be there to see it do a low and over then land and take off....

http://www.lethbridgeherald.com/content/view/80073/71/

There is a photo on the main page of the Lethbridge Herald of the tanker sitting in the static display area...they have it hooked up to a big 4 wheel drive tractor as their push vehicle!!!

[wee_in_yyc]

A BOWING 747 hey? Wow!

[Skydrvr7]

A BOWING 747 hey? Wow!

Yeah...that was a unfortunate spelling error! You'd think the spell check might have pointed out that error to the writer! When I read that I thought, "Boy are they going to hear about that one!"

[Krashman]

Very cool... where do I sign up?!?

[MrWings]

Shouldn't this machine be working instead of in parades?

[Skydrvr7]

Shouldn't this machine be working instead of in parades?

They are trying to drum up business for this machine. This is their first visit to Canada with it and Alberta could be a potential customer. Good marketing if you ask me.

[Big Pistons Forever]

Every time I look at the 747 (and the DC10 Tanker) I ask myself "what were they thinking" This has to be the dumbest idea in aerial fire fighting ever.

[Flybabe]

Saw the DC-10 in California several times last year. Have heard varying comments on suitability. Sure makes headlines, though... keeps the public in awe.

[Easy Flyer]

The Americans let it go quite a while before trying to top the IL-76. How many AT-802's you could have for one of these? I won't ask how many 415's because I'm afraid the answer will be less than one.

[CLguy]

I suppose it is on the airshow circuit and not working because doing airshows is about the only thing it is good for. What a waste of time and money!!

[FlyEIA]

Hi everyone,
Just in case you're interested, EIA sent this notice out to area newsrooms today. Should be quite the sight to see if anyone is going to be at YEG tomorrow morning! Evergreen is using Runway 02/20 for the demonstration for those of you familiar with the airfield.

M E D I A A D V I S O R Y
PICTURE THIS: A 747 FLYING AT 300 FT. DISPENSING 20,000 GALLONS OF WATER
World’s Largest and Fastest Firefighting Aircraft Demonstration

WHAT: Demonstration and media tour of the Evergreen B747 Supertanker, the world’s largest and fastest firefighting aircraft. The Supertanker will release 20,000 gallons of water at 300 feet onto the Edmonton International Airport as fire season approaches. Evergreen International Aviation, headquartered in McMinnville, Ore., will make a brief presentation; participants will then board buses and be taken onto the EIA airfield to watch the demonstration from beside the runway. An aircraft tour and interview opportunities will immediately follow the demonstration.

WHERE: Edmonton International Airport
Media are asked to register at the Information Booth on the Arrivals Level in Central Hall; please arrive promptly at 9:45 to ensure security clearance can be processed
Complimentary parkade parking will be provided for media

WHEN: Tuesday, July 28, 2009, at 9:45 AM

On July 28, Evergreen International Aviation will present and demonstrate its cutting edge B747 Supertanker that will forever change the way wildfires are fought at a special news conference and media tour. The Supertanker is the largest tanker aircraft available today and has the same capability of any long-range Boeing 747 passenger aircraft. The aircraft is capable of dispersing a variety of products in response to oil spills, soil stabilization, biological/chemical poisoning and radiation.

This revolutionary new firefighting system has never been used before in Canada; this is the first chance the Canadian media will have to see this remarkable new weapon in the fight against devastating forest and wild fires such as those currently being battled in British Columbia.

With a payload of more than 20,000 gallons and a response time of 600 mph, it has more than eight times the drop capability and twice the speed of other U.S. Forest Service air tankers currently fighting fires. The large capacity of the patented pressurized system is uniquely designed to attack urban interface wildland fires and fight multiple fires in one flight. The Evergreen Supertanker drops at higher altitudes, creating a significant safety buffer. This enables the aircraft to fight fires- at night when wildfires are more vulnerable to firefighting tactics. With a drop pattern of three miles in length and a football field wide, the Supertanker will provide a predictable result to minimize costs and collateral damage. For additional information visit www.evergreenaviation.com and click on “Supertanker”.

[Flybabe]

Can anyone in the know tell me what field requirements and turnaround times would be typical???

Just thinking back to the DC-10, again.

[Tim]

Can anyone in the know tell me what field requirements and turnaround times would be typical???

Just thinking back to the DC-10, again.

i was thinking the same thing...how long to pump the tanks full of water...and where is the water coming from?

[Big Pistons Forever]

It takes about 5 min to load 2100 USG in the Convair 580. So 20,000 gals would take about 45 min. I believe Alberta looked at the DC 10 last year and the only airport it could operate out of was YEG. The YYC authority made the Alberta Forestry close their tanker base in 2005 and do not want tankers to operate out of YYC.

[SeptRepair]

5 minutes??? My gawd man, you go for a coffee while you wait?

[CLguy]

Is anyone wondering why it is in Canada trying to drum up some work while the Martin Mars is in California working???

Maybe the Americans have finally come to the realization that bigger is not always better.

I'm willing to bet that there is probably only 1 airport in Alberta that it could work out of and how long would the water supply last at most airports sucking up 20,000 gallons a trip?

[Flybabe]

The boss tells me there are 5 of the 747s. Of those 5, I don't know how many have been tanked and certified. I see on AFF there are 2 DC-10s, same thing - only saw one operating last year (I think).

I'm pretty sure that the VLAT is quite alive and well in the minds of many, despite what those of us flying SEATs and LATs think. I would suspect that it's a highly political concept in the US.

[ramjet]

This is why these aircraft exist. It's all politics. Common sense does not apply.

http://tv.trb.com/news/nationworld/la-m ... 8972.story