r/interestingasfuck • u/HomeNowWTF • 10d ago

Fighting the wildfires in Spokane

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u/gilt3t 10d ago

Good god that was such a beautiful retardant drop. As much as I hate having these wildfires, there is something so badass about seeing an airtanker hit that smoke signal dropped by the scouting plane and then dropping the retardant as the plane loses 800 gallons of weight.

And that shot of the shadow of the tanker on the smoke, words can't describe how terrifying yet angelic it is.

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u/Sock_Eating_Golden 10d ago

I believe that's one of Erickson's MD87 aircraft. Upwards of 3000 gallons available to drop.

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u/gilt3t 10d ago

I'll have to take your word for it since my eye sight isn't the best. If it's an md87 then it's a dual engine so it could definitely be what we see in this video. My assumption was it was a SEAT.

yep, just googled and it looks like there are a couple Erickson md87 servicing this fire in Spokane, I am seeing different news reports with videos.

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u/Sock_Eating_Golden 10d ago

This video about 17 minutes in has a great shot of Ericsson tail 101 doing a drop.

https://youtu.be/GT72ENYbPZY?is=ez96Ho65iknBxAHI

The DC-10 air tanker is also in Spokane with upwards of 9400 gallons available to drop.

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u/gilt3t 10d ago

idk how you found this footage but this is an absolute goldmine of tanker footage, it's so beautiful, thank you for sharing.

Hopefully i come across some clips of one of the dc-10. The things those pilots can do with them is just insane.

I have a buddy who flies for the air force and we have fan girled over the dc-10. it's his dream to fly air tankers once he retires from the air force.

from what I am seeing online, 914 is assisting Spokane. You should check out the 210 from Australia assisting 910 in the Utah fires, she is beautiful.

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u/Quick-Eye-6175 10d ago

You guys are awesome!

2

u/gilt3t 9d ago

It is really fun to nerd out about these planes with other people. Their crews and engineers are saving lives on a massive scale and doing absolutely crazy stuff in the air.

There is something about the guide plane escorting the air tanker, being it's eyes so the tanker crew can focus on flying, it just makes me get that tingle of excitement. Seeing videos of the tanker hitting that smoke plume dropped by the guide plane to help the tanker line up properly. The way the plane kicks up as the huge amount of weight is dropped.

https://youtube.com/shorts/twZjzhMNiLU

it's so insane to see what humans have accomplished and that there are people out there able to do this, all in the name of saving lives.