Douglas DC-10

Fire usage

Contracting

In 2006 the aircraft was operated on a limited evaluation contract from the State of California.

During the 2006 season, the aircraft was offered on a "call-when-needed" basis, which came with a $26,500 per-flight-hour (three hour minimum) cost and a 12- to 24-hour activation delay.

Under these terms, Tanker 910 flew on six fires in California and one in Washington.

For the 2007–2009 fire seasons, California Governor [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] authorized a contract for exclusive use of the aircraft at a cost of $5 million per year, or an average of about $41,000 per day for the June 15 to October 15 fire season; there is an additional $5,500 per-flight-hour charge.

The exclusivity of the contract allows the aircraft always to be ready for dispatch, and it will be able to launch to a fire within one hour of being called.
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As of 2007 the aircraft had not been certified by the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], so it was not permitted to fly on fires on USFS land in California; however, the aircraft has been used in the 2009 [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], so it is believed that such concerns have been addressed.^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}

2006 call-when-needed use

Tanker 910 was first used in July 2006 when it fought the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].
While the fire was burning, Tanker 910 initially sat on the ground at
Victorville, as it had not received CAL FIRE approval to operate.

The mayor of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], Mike Rothschild, became concerned and investigated why it was not flying, finding that the approval process was expected to take up to six months to complete.

After a call to California State Senator [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], CAL FIRE was able to complete the necessary training and paperwork in a matter of days, with the California certification being granted on July 15, 2006.

The following day, July 16, the aircraft made two drops on the Sawtooth fire, and CAL FIRE personnel were reported to have said that "the two fire drops made a greater impact on containing the fire than the 12 helicopters drops for the past 10 days."
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Later in the same month, the aircraft was used against several smaller California fires, as well as the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

In September 2006, Tanker 910 was activated by CAL FIRE for use against the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], and the following month it flew against the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

2007 contract use

Under the terms of the exclusive-use contract, Tanker 910 was activated against the White Fire where it flew two runs before incurring its [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

After repairs were completed, it was activated for use on the massive [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], the second-largest fire in modern California history, in August 2007.

Tanker 910 was also activated for the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], as of September 6, 2007. On October 22 Tanker 910 became involved in the effort to put out [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], including the Slide Fire and the Grass Fire near [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

The next activation came on November 24, 2007 when the tanker joined the effort to fight the Corral Fire above Malibu, CA.

2008 Fires


In June, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] activated Tanker 910 in response to the state of emergency regarding the Humboldt Fire in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], in order to combat the 20,000+ acre fire in adverse conditions on rough terrain.

It is currently flying sorties out of a former Air Force base, now called [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], in Sacramento County.

It made 14 drops totaling 168,000 gallons of retardant to quell the raging blaze, Hill said.

The aircraft also participated in the defense of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] at the end of June and into July.
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2009 Fires

The aircraft was used during the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in August 2009.

New additions to widebody air tanker fleet


Owner 10 Tanker Corp. will be adding a second DC-10 to its fleet in July 2008. It will be used on an on-call basis.

On 19 December 2009 the aircraft arrived in Melbourne Australia for the Australian fire season.

Leased by the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] on behalf of the Victorian state government it will become operational
in Australia in early January 2010, and will be based at Avalon.

Premier John Brumby said the addition to Victoria's firefighting arsenal was part of a record financing program to make sure the state was as fire-ready as possible.

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MD-10 upgrade


The MD-10 is retrofit cockpit upgrade to the DC-10 and a re-designation to MD-10.

The upgrade included an [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (ACF) used on the MD-11.

The new cockpit eliminated the need for the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] position and allowed common [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] with the MD-11.