Air Tankers Working Hard
Air Tanker takes off from Prince George Airport- photo 250 News
Prince George, B.C.- The runway at Prince George Airport is busy, as air tankers take off and land to reload as wildfires rage in the province.
Four air tankers at Prince George Airport
With the closure of the Williams Lake Airport because of the threat of wildfires, the two air tankers normally stationed there are working out of the Prince George Airport.
Along with the two air tankers normally stationed here, that brings to four the number of tankers working out of Prince George.
The take offs and landings of the air tankers are not having any impact on regular flights in and out of Prince George. There have been some delays noted for planned Central Mountain Air flights, but those delays are not related to the air tanker operations at YXS.
As always check with your airline before heading to the airport for arrivals or departures to ensure the arrival or departure time of your flight.
Comments
Just took a pic myself. Thank our lucky stars they’re here.
Bring in the Mars water bomber.
wonderful idea but last I heard the last two planes were up for sale. That was back in JUly of 2016.
They are currently where they belong.
Due to its size, the Martin Mars can only land on and scoop up water from about 113 water bodies in B.C., as opposed to the 1,700 water bodies that other smaller amphibious scoopers can access.
That is not a restriction, the number of water bodies, because of the load size allows for high volumes of water. Also the plane can be used out of bodies of water closest to fires. Fifty years of successful use on the mountainous coast then all of a sudden it not useful. The province has a snit going on as they objected to paying the standby costs.
They weren’t that successful. They were only successful on limited fire types. They cost taxpayers a lot of money and have been proven to be way less efficient both in results and financially than the new scoopers that have replaced them. It’s unbeleivable how many people still think the Mars have been and still are our saviours.
The Mars are not a saviour in itself but there is a lot of misinformation about them. The lake availability is a non starter as the Mars can be deployed to the fires closer to the lakes it can use. There are only a hand full of airports that with the facilities for the bigger land based bombers. The big land based bombers are not that much faster as speed below 10000 feet is restricted to 250 knots.
The Mars with its high volume of water can make multiple drops. The smaller planes can be deployed faster and more efficient on smaller fires or spot fires. On a large fire volume is required. A water bomber is not meant to put out a fire but help contain it.
About not being successful well they where is service for fifty years and mostly by private forest companies.
Smaller aircraft can respond faster to a small fire but a big one needs volume.
Q: How can you spot a Prince George Right Winger?
A: They are experts on everything (or at least think they are).
The Martin Mars is a wonderful aircraft.
But lets look to the future .
Check out the Global SuperTanker.
It is a converted B747-400.
Which has been used in fighting forest fires.
In some parts of the world.
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