I knew about the Empty Sky Memorial in Liberty State Park, NJ but had not visited the Park in 15 years. Yesterday I went to the Park with a friend to refresh ourselves on how to get there for an upcoming trip. To say I was moved by seeing the Empty Sky Memorial, New Jersey's memorial to those with ties to New Jersey who died in the September 11th attack on the World Trad Center is an understatement. I live in western Hudson County for sixteen years where I saw the World Trade Center every day, I move a few months before the attacks. For reasons I can not quite explain I felt like I had t ..read more

As April began, Coulson Aviation and Neptune Aviation and continued spring maintenance of their air tankers as the following embedded (posts with photos) from their Facebook page show. I expect that other air tanker and helicopter operators who fly wildfires are also conducting spring maintenance that are not mentioned here. Neptune Aviation Services Coulson Aviation ..read more

I have posted on other occasions about the network of 21 fire towers around the State that are staffed when conditions are ripe for wildfires. For a description of the each fire tower and to learn more about the importance of fire towers in detecting wildfires in NJ go to the Detection page on the NJ Forest Fire Service web page. Obtained on April 11, 2024 from https://www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/fire/program/detection.html As we in New Jersey are currently in the spring wildfire season these fire towers will be staffed as necessary. Speaking of the wildfire season in New Jer ..read more

11 AM Following up on my April 9th post where I first reported on the Old Mine Fire, the fire continues to burn in the Worthington State Forest in the Delaware Water Gap remaining at 30 acres burned this morning with containment increasing to 75 percent. Old Mine Road remains closed. According to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, two wildland firefighters were treated yesterday at the scene for heat related injuries and released. The NJFFS also reports that the incident commander flew an observation flight in a NJFFS helicopter this morning and the acreage burned by the fire is not expected ..read more

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service in Australia is sending their 737 Large Air Tanker "Marie Bashier" to California where she will first undergo annual maintenance by Coulson Aviation at their Palm Springs Facility before being deployed to assist Cal Fire in their upcoming fire season. See the comments in the embedded Facebook post from the NSW Rural Fire Service for more information about Coulson's contract for maintenance of the Marie Bashir. Thanks to the NSW Rural Fire Service for sending the Marie Bashir to help my friends in California this season ..read more

  5:40 PM There is a small wildfire known as the Old Mine Fire burning near Old Mine Rd in Worthington State Forest in the Delaware Water Gap, see the image from Google Earth below. An 800 gallon tanker and an observation helicopter were on the scene this afternoon with the tanker making drops on the fire. The map shows the location of Old Mine Road, not the location of the wildfire.  Old Mine Road starts at Interstate 80 just before it crosses into Pennsylvania and runs north along the Delaware River. According to the NJ Forest Fire Service it may be caused by humans. There was a pr ..read more

As weather and other conditions have allowed, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service continues with doing prescribed burns. A prescribed burn is planned for today in northern New Jersey (Division A): Recent prescribed burns were done on March 30th March 26th  ..read more

Join me in looking at a video report from KRTV news out of Great Falls Montana as one of their reporters takes us inside a Super Scooper from Bridger Aerospace, probably one of their De Havilland Super Scoopers. According to the the webpage that I just referred to Bridger Aerospace has 10 Super Scoopers, six CL415EAF super scoopers and four CL215T super scoopers. Direct link to video from KRTVNews on YouTube (uploaded July 27 2021 ..read more

When I was first learning about general aviation 13 years ago, and going on scenic rides, one of my key takeways was the importance of regular maintenance of aircraft. As I recall, the maintenance of the small planes that I was familiar was guided and mandated by FAA requirements with different maintenance and inspections being done at regular intervals  (hours flown) and signed of by an Airframe and PowerTrain Mechanic. More complicated and thorough inspections and maintenance were called for at longer intervals. But things like oil changes and the like were done at shorted intervals. Bu ..read more

 I shared last Friday that Neptune Aviation's pilots were engaged in training before going on contract for the upcoming wildfire season. Unfortunately, I know no specific timetables and the like of when tanker and helicopter contractors are doing their training, spring maintenance and the like in what air tanker and  preparation for the wildfire season. However, thanks to following social media, in this case Facebook, I have an idea of what some of the contractors are doing. I do appreciate when companies are able to share on Facebook, but understand that the important thin ..read more