by Bob Fish
Media Relations
From the earliest era of winged flight, man has been trying to manage wildfires from the air. Agricultural pilots had been in the forefront of many of these early attempts. Techniques had been developed to drop cargo and smokejumpers out of airplanes, but the successful combination of technology, personnel and procedure for direct fire control eluded the Forest Service. It wasn’t until after World War II when the transformation in fixed-wing aircraft capability created a real opportunity. Many former military pilots turned to agricultural aviation to earn a living in rural areas. Surplus military airplanes were relatively inexpensive - Stearman PT-17 and NAF N3N trainers were quickly snapped up, modified and put into the skies over America’s fields.
The Central Valley in northern California was rich farmland and “ag” flying was a way for young men to make good money. By 1955, there were many “ag” operators based in the Willows area. Floyd, Dale and Vance Nolta ran the Willows Flying Service, established in 1928 when Floyd pioneered aerial rice seeding techniques. Ray Varney, Lee Sherwood, Harold Hendrickson also started their own air services in the early 1950s. Other locals such as L.H. McCurley, Frank Prentice, and Warren Bullock flew for a service operator while trying to earn enough money to buy their own airplane. Many pilots gained valuable flying experience with the military during World War II while others used the GI bill to complete flight school.
These fliers fully exploited the use of their aircraft for various aerial application operations. Special attachments enabled them to spray liquid pesticides to eliminate weeds and insects from the rice fields. They sprayed irrigation canals and ditches to eradicate mosquitoes and “herded” transient geese from recently planted fields. In the late summer, they contracted to the Forest Service to fly men and equipment into remote areas of the nearby Mendocino National Forest (MNF) to fight wildfires. Since the rice seeding and crop dusting work was largely complete by the end of June, working for the Forest Service during the fire season was a desirable business proposition.
In July 1955, Joe Ely, the fire control officer for MNF, envisioned using “ag” airplanes to drop water on wildland fires. Joe met with several of the Willows operators to discuss the idea. He recalls asking Floyd Nolta if he could effectively drop water on a forest fire. “He thought it over, and told me to come back in a week.” Floyd cut a hole in the bottom of a Boeing Stearman 75 Kaydet (N75081) underneath the rice hopper used for seeding operations. He added a one-foot square water release gate with hinges, a snag and pull-rope so the pilot could open and close the gate when required. A practice demonstration was put on for Forest Service personnel at the Nolta Airport by setting the dry grass alongside the runway on fire. Vance then flew over, released the 160-gallon water burst, and extinguished the blaze. Airtanker number 1, referred to as an “aerial firewagon” and a “water tank with wings” by the local press, was now in business.
The first airdrop on an actual wildfire was made during the Mendenhall Fire, August 13, 1955, in the MNF. Vance Nolta flew this historic mission in the Kaydet, dropping six loads of water in support of firefighters on the ground trying to contain the blaze. To reduce turnaround time between drops, a water tender truck was deployed at a dirt airstrip in the mountains near the blaze. This operation was considered so successful, America’s first “fire pilot” Vance worked another fire the very next day.
By the summer of 1956, seven biplane “borate bombers” had been modified to handle a borate-water slurry drop when required. Rather than using rice-seeding hoppers for the slurry, they switched to liquid spray tanks that had been lined with fiberglass. The release valve was modified to be more streamlined in flight and easier to operate by the pilot.
The MNF Aero Fire Squadron was integrated into the overall forest fire control program. Local rangers requested air support by just radioing their needs into the HQ dispatch office. Soon, however, Forest Service rangers from all across the state began dialing “Willows 80” to reach the MNF dispatcher, asking for help. The squadron pilots fought 23 fires all over California during that summer and their success was duly noted.
The “ag” pilots quickly learned how to work with ground forces to create an effective fire control line. Ely was adamant that aircraft were just another tool in the firefighters kit, not a solution all by itself. In the early years, there were no radios in the planes. When more than one aircraft was required to suppress a fire, Ely would fly in the front seat of a Piper Tri-Pacer flown by Lee Sherwood. He would have the pilot waggle his wings to point out locations where the slurry should be dropped. One day, Harold Hendrickson was proceeding from the Ukiah Airport to his home base and spotted a fire atop Cow Mountain. Hendrickson swooped down and hammered the blaze with a full load of retardant before radioing the dispatcher. A ground patrol sent to the area had little to do but mop up the fringes, although this “solo initial attack” was a rare occurrence.
By 1957 the Forest Service realized air attack was a valuable weapon in its fire control arsenal. The Aero Fire Squadron biplanes took hours to reconfigure from crop dusting to borate bombing, so the concept of standby pay was created to ensure their availability during the peak fire season months. However, these biplanes couldn’t carry more than 160 gallons of retardant and even that load was dangerous to fly with over rugged terrain with tricky wind currents.
As the 1960’s dawned, it was clear there were many types of fire fighting missions. A single engine aircraft, with its limited tank capacity, was most effective performing initial attack duties on small fires at low elevation. Big project fires, especially ones in thick forests or at higher elevations, raged unchecked. The Forest Service and California Division of Forestry contracted with larger companies for a wide variety of multi-engine military bombers that could carry up to 3,000 gallons of retardant. They were also safer to fly and more effective on large fires.
The innovative and feisty “ag” pilots proved that wildfires could be fought from the air. However, they were nudged out by specialized airtanker operators who contracted all across the US, following the fire season from state to state. Some of the local pilots were indignant, but Floyd Nolta just smiled and said, “What the hell, it was fun while it lasted.” Their pioneering work of fighting fires finished, these pilots continued to serve local farmers by sowing and spraying the rice fields of the Sacramento Valley for many years.
Like their WWII training biplanes, these pioneers of aerial firefighting have mostly faded into the history books. In 2004, only Joe Ely and Frank Prentice remain alive to share tales of their exploits in the skies over California during these early aerial firefighting efforts.
More information about these Pioneers of aerial firefighting can be found on the web site of the Associated Airtanker Pilots (www.airtanker.com).
Editor’s note: History truly repeats itself as the SEAT aircraft returned to the sky as an evermore efficient firefighting tool.