HOME





Mendocino Air Tanker Squad
The Mendocino Air Tanker Squad (MATS) is a flying fire fighting team working to protect the Mendocino National Forest. Joseph Bolles Ely, the Fire Control Officer formed it In 1956. History The impetus for this unit occurred on July 9, 1953, when fifteen men were killed while fighting the Rattlesnake Fire, in the Alder Springs area of the Mendocino National Forest. The tragedy prompted forester to look for better ways of fighting fires. Joseph Ely was fighting a fire in the Angeles National Forest at the time of the Rattlesnake Fire. According to his son Frank, Joe became passionate about making firefighting safer for his men. The idea of dropping water from airplanes had been considered for many years and but no experiments had led to the regular use of airplanes to drop water. Ely had the idea to use agriculture pilots who were adept at spraying liquids over crops. He approached Floyd H. Nolta, already an experienced and innovative agriculture and stunt pilot. Within one week ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Mendocino National Forest
The Mendocino National Forest is located in the California Coast Ranges#Northern Coast Ranges, Coastal Mountain Range in northwestern California and comprises . It is the only national forest in the state of California without a major paved road entering it. There are a variety of recreational opportunities — camping, hiking, mountain biking, paragliding, backpacking, boating, fishing, hunting, nature study, photography, and off-highway vehicle travel. The forest lies in parts of six counties. In descending order of forestland area they are Lake County, California, Lake, Glenn County, California, Glenn, Mendocino County, California, Mendocino, Tehama County, California, Tehama, Trinity County, California, Trinity, and Colusa County, California, Colusa counties. Forest headquarters are located in Willows, California. There are local National Park Ranger, ranger district offices in Covelo, California, Covelo, Upper Lake, California, Upper Lake, and Stonyford. Wilderness area ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Bentonite
Bentonite ( ) is an Absorption (chemistry), absorbent swelling clay consisting mostly of montmorillonite (a type of smectite) which can either be Na-montmorillonite or Ca-montmorillonite. Na-montmorillonite has a considerably greater swelling capacity than Ca-montmorillonite. Bentonite usually forms from the weathering of volcanic ash in seawater, or by hydrothermal circulation through the porosity of volcanic ash beds, which converts (devitrification) the volcanic glass (obsidian, rhyolite, dacite) present in the ash into clay minerals. In the mineral alteration process, a large fraction (up to 40–50 wt.%) of amorphous silica is dissolution (chemistry), dissolved and leaching (agriculture), leached away, leaving the bentonite deposit in place. Bentonite beds are white or pale blue or green (traces of redox, reduced ) in fresh exposures, turning to a cream color and then yellow, red, or brown (traces of oxidation, oxidized ) as the exposure is weathered further. As a swel ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Chico Municipal Airport
Chico Regional Airport , formerly known as Chico Municipal Airport, is north of Chico, in Butte County, California, United States. The airport covers , has two runways and one helipad. Its fixed-base operator, Northgate Aviation provides fuel, maintenance, flight training, and charter flights. Though an operational airport with that meets Federal Aviation Regulations Part 139 standards, the airport has not seen active commercial air service since SkyWest Airlines ended service to San Francisco at the end of 2014. Past airline service and Pacific Express Airlines at Chico were American Airlines regional affiliate American Eagle, Hughes Airwest, Pacific Express, Reno Air Express and WestAir operating as United Express. Southwest Airways and its successors provided the only airline service into Chico from 1947 until June 1979. Two airlines flew jets from Chico: Hughes Airwest with Douglas DC-9s and, from 1982 to 1984, Pacific Express with BAC One-Elevens. Both airlines f ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

North American B-25 Mitchell
The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allies of World War II, Allied air forces, the B-25 served in every theater of World War II, and after the war ended, many remained in service, operating across four decades. Produced in numerous variants, nearly 10,000 B-25s were built. It was the most-produced American medium bomber and the List of most-produced aircraft , third most-produced American bomber overall. These included several limited models such as the F-10 reconnaissance aircraft, the AT-24 crew trainers, and the United States Marine Corps' PBJ-1 Maritime patrol aircraft, patrol bomber. Design and development In March 1939, the United States Army Air Corps, US Army Air Corps issued a specification for a medium bomber that was capable of carrying a payload of over at . North American Aviati ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter
The Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter is a long-range heavy military cargo aircraft developed from the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, B-29 and Boeing B-50 Superfortress, B-50 bombers. Design work began in 1942, the first of three prototype XC-97s flew on 9 November 1944 and the first of six service-test YC-97s flew on 11 March 1947. All nine were based on the 24ST alloy structure and Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone, Wright R-3350 engines of the B-29, but with a larger-diameter fuselage upper lobe (making a figure of eight or "double-bubble" section) and they had the B-29 vertical tail with the gunner's position blanked off. The first of three heavily revised YC-97A incorporating the re-engineered wing (higher-strength 75ST alloy), taller vertical tail and larger Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major, Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engines of the B-50 bomber, flew on 28 January 1948 and was the basis of the subsequent sole YC-97B, all production C-97s, KC-97s and civilian Stratocruiser aircraft. Between 19 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during World War II, used primarily in the European Theater of Operations, United States Army, European Theater of Operations. It is the List of most-produced aircraft, third-most produced bomber in history, behind the American four-engined Consolidated B-24 Liberator and the German multirole, twin-engined Junkers Ju 88. The B-17 was also employed in transport, anti-submarine warfare, and search and rescue roles. In a USAAC competition, Boeing, Boeing's prototype Model 299/XB-17 outperformed two other entries but crashed, losing the initial 200-bomber contract to the Douglas B-18 Bolo. Still, the Air Corps ordered 13 more B-17s for further evaluation, which were introduced into service in 1938. The B-17 evolved through numerous Boeing B-17 Flyin ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Douglas B-26 Invader
The Douglas A-26 Invader (designated B-26 between 1948 and 1965) is an American twin-engined light bomber and attack aircraft, ground attack aircraft. Built by Douglas Aircraft Company during World War II, the Invader also saw service during several major Cold War conflicts. A limited number of highly modified United States Air Force aircraft served in Indochina Wars, Southeast Asia until 1969. It was a fast aircraft capable of carrying a large bomb load. A range of guns could be fitted to produce a formidable ground-attack aircraft.Wheeler 1992, p. 82. A redesignation of the type from A-26 to B-26 has led to confusion with the earlier and unrelated Martin B-26 Marauder, which had already been withdrawn from service when the designation was reused. Design and development The A-26 was Douglas Aircraft's successor to the Douglas A-20 Havoc, A-20 (DB-7) Havoc, also known as Douglas Boston. Designed by Ed Heinemann, Robert Donovan, and Ted R. Smith,Francillon 1979 the innovative ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Douglas DC-6
The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, Douglas reworked it after the war to compete with the Lockheed Constellation in the long-range commercial transport market. Douglas built over 700, and many still fly in cargo, military, and wildfire control roles. The DC-6 was known as the C-118 Liftmaster in United States Air Force service and as the R6D in United States Navy service before 1962, after which all U.S. Navy variants were also designated as the C-118. Design and development The United States Army Air Forces commissioned the DC-6 project as the XC-112 in 1944. The Army Air Forces wanted a lengthened, pressurized version of the DC-4-based C-54 Skymaster transport with more-powerful engines. By the time the prototype XC-112A flew on 15 February 1946, the war was over, the USAAF had rescinded its requirement, and the ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer
The Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer is an American World War II and Korean War era patrol bomber of the United States Navy derived from the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. The Navy had been using B-24s with only minor modifications as the PB4Y-1 Liberator, and along with maritime patrol Liberators used by RAF Coastal Command, this type of patrol plane was proven successful. A fully navalized design was desired, and Consolidated developed a dedicated long-range patrol bomber with tests begun in 1943, designated PB4Y-2 Privateer. The first version of the Privateer flew in September 1943 with production versions arriving in March 1944. In 1951, the type was redesignated P4Y-2 Privateer. A further designation change occurred in September 1962, when the remaining US Navy Privateers (all having previously been converted to drone configuration as P4Y-2K) were redesignated QP-4B. Design and development The Privateer was externally similar to the Liberator, but the fuselage was longer t ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Consolidated PBY Catalina
The Consolidated Model 28, more commonly known as the PBY Catalina (U.S. Navy designation), is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft designed by Consolidated Aircraft in the 1930s and 1940s. In U.S. Army service, it was designated as the OA-10 and in Canadian service as the Canso, and it later received the NATO reporting name Mop. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other nations. The last military PBYs served until the 1980s. As of 2021, 86 years after its first flight, the aircraft continues to fly as a Aerial firefighting#Water bombers, waterbomber (or airtanker) in aerial firefighting operations in some parts of the world. Design and development Background The PBY was originally designed to be a Maritime patrol aircraft, patrol bomber, an aircraft with a long operational Range (aeronautics), range intended to locate and attack enemy ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Grumman F7F Tigercat
The Grumman F7F Tigercat is a heavy fighter aircraft that served with the United States Navy (USN) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) from late in World War II until 1954. It was the first twin-engine fighter to be deployed by the USN. While the Tigercat was delivered too late to see combat in World War II, it did serve in reconnaissance roles. The Tigercat primarily saw action as a night fighter and attack aircraft during the Korean War. Designed initially for service on ''Midway''-class aircraft carriers, early production F7Fs were land-based variants. The type was too large to operate from older and smaller carriers, and only a late variant (F7F-4N) was certified for carrier service. Design and development Based on the earlier Grumman XP-50 that was eventually canceled, the company developed the XP-65 (Model 51) further for a future "convoy fighter" concept. In 1943, work on the XP-65 was terminated in favor of the design that would eventually become the F7F.Dorr and Do ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Grumman TBM Avenger
The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval aviation services around the world. The Avenger entered U.S. service in 1942, and first saw action during the Battle of Midway. Despite the loss of five of the six Avengers on its combat debut, it survived in service to become the most effective submarine killer and most widely-used torpedo bomber of World War II, sharing credit for sinking the super-battleships and and being credited for sinking 30 submarines. Greatly modified after the war, it remained in use until the 1960s.Wheeler 1992, p. 53. From 1942-on, production of the Avenger (in fact nearly three quarters of its the total production) was subcontracted to a purposely established division of General Motors: the Eastern Aircraft Division. Design and development The Douglas ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]