10 Tanker Air Carrier Flights Erskine Fire Near Lake Isabella

As the Erskine fire rages on near Lake Isabella, we are all so thankful for the Kern County Firefighters, Cal Fire and all of the aerial tankers working on this horrible fire. One large aerial tanker in particular does the job of many smaller aircraft. 10 Tanker Air Carrier is a fantastic weapon used in the war of wildfires.

The maneuverability of this large former commercial air carrier is impressive. They look for pilots who are comfortable flying low over terrain.

The whole area that used to carry passengers is empty and a crew of three people operate the aircraft; two pilots and a flight engineer who sets up the drop from his panel. He also pushes the button that drops the load, which is located between the two pilots.

In January 2013, at Plane Crazy Saturday, former Vietnam F-4 USMC Fighter Pilot, Rick Hatton, CEO of 10 Tanker Air Carrier and mechanic, Amy Butler, explained the research and development process that lead to the DC-10 conversion, which began in 2002.

Hatton, Stan Burnstein and Rob Coretz, owners of 10 Tanker Air Carrier, funded the entire research and development project without any government assistance.

They chose the DC-10 for this application because they had previous experience with this model through other business ventures and knew its capabilities as an airplane.

Hatton gave an informative and comprehensive talk about the engineering and certification process, and in addition described how to set up for a water drop on a forest fire.

The DC-10 Air Tanker is an American wide-body jet air tanker, which has been in service as an aerial firefighting unit since 2006. The aircraft, operated by the joint technical venture 10 Tanker Air Carrier, is a converted McDonnell Douglas DC-10 airliner, and is primarily used to fight wildfires, typically in rural areas.

The turbofanpowered aircraft carries up to 11,600 U.S. gallons (45,000 liters) of water or fire retardant in an exterior belly-mounted tank, the contents of which can be released in eight seconds, ¾ of a mile long and 50-feet wide in one drop.

Three air tankers are currently in operation, with the call-signs Tanker 910, Tanker 911 and Tanker 912 and by 2018 two more will be added to the fleet.

It was a true pleasure to meet Rick Hatton as he is a fellow 'airplane nut.'

"I just love to fly!" Hatton exclaimed on the ramp at Mojave Air and Space Port in 2013, as he stood in front of his homebuilt Lancair.

As any pilot when speaking about flying, Rick's hands were in the air moving about as he explained different maneuvers.

Thank you Rick Hatton and your entire crew at 10 Tanker Air Carrier! Thank you Cal Fire! Thank you Kern County Fire, Kern County Sheriff and all of the first responders who are still on the job. We appreciate all of you so much!

Prayers for everyone who have been affected by this cataclysmic event. We are also saddened to hear of the destruction of so many pets and wild animals.

Thank you to each person, volunteers, churches and organizations who have pitched in to send donations to the Lake Isabella area.

See you on our next flight!