Warbirds and Airshows
By David D Jackson

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CAL FIRE   Fresno   Hemet-Ryan   McClellan   McClellan 2010   Porterville   Ramona

CAL FIRE  (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection) - Formerly California Department of Forestry (CDF)

CAL Fire operates 48 classic warbirds as part of its statewide firefighting program.  The Aviation Department operates (23) S-2T 1200 gallon "First Responder" Tracker tankers, (11) UH-1H Huey Helicopters and (14) OV-10 Broncos.  One of each of the fixed wing aircraft are kept as a spare for trading out for maintenance during the fire season and two of the Hueys are kept back for the same reason.

During my trip to California in May of 2009 I was able to visit several of the Cal Fire Air Attack Bases and get tours of the facilities and the aircraft.  I found that the CAL FIRE personal at each location were always friendly, professional and willing to show me around and explain what there capabilities were at each location and what their mission was.  I am looking forward to returning to California and visiting other Air Attack Bases along with revisiting the ones previously visited as time permits in the future.  Actually I arrived before the bases would have normally opened but due to the continuing drought and early fire season some of the bases were opening early, starting in the south and then working northward up the state.  All of the bases have to be open by Father's day in June.  Due to the early base openings many of the aircraft were temporarily not at their assigned bases, as each base had to take whatever planes had gotten through the winter maintenance and inspection program at the CAL FIRE Air HQ and Maintenance Facility at McClellan Airport in Sacramento.

It should be noted that CAL FIRE is a state wide Fire Department providing fire protection for over 31 million acres of California's privately-owned wildlands along with providing varied emergency services in 36 of the State's 58 counties on a contractual basis.

CAL FIRE  Station Location Map

CAL FIRE operates both air attack bases (Fixed wing S-2T and OV-10A) and Helitack Bases (UH-1H) with the intent of being able to reach an location in California within 15 minutes flight time.  In some cases the two types of bases are co-located.

Location of CAL FIRE Aviation assets by CAL FIRE Aircraft Number
Location S-2T OV-10A UH-1H Comments
Alma Helitack - - 106 Located in the CDF Santa Clara Unit above the Santa Clara Valley in Los Gatos. 
Alma Helitack Base
Bear Valley Helitack - - 406 Located in the CDF San Benito-Monterey Unit on Airline Highway in Paicines  Bear Valley Helitack Base
Bieber Helitack - - 202 Located in the CDF Lassen-Modoc Unit on Bridge Street in the small town of Bieber.
Bieber Helitack Base
Boggs Mountain Helitack - - 104 Located at Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest in CDF Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit near the town of Cobb.  Boggs Mountain Helitack Base
Chico Air Attack 93 210 -

Located on the grounds of the Chico Municipal Airport.  Chico Air Attack Base

Columbia Air Attack and Helitack 82, 83 440 404 Located on the grounds of the Columbia Municipal Airport.  Columbia Air Attack Base 
Fresno Air Attack 78 430 - Located at the Fresno Airport.  Fresno Air Attack Base
Grass Valley Air Attack 88, 89 230 -

Located at the Nevada County Airpark.  Grass Valley Air Attack

Hemet Ryan Air Attack and Helitack 72, 73 310 301 Located at the Hemet Airport.  Hemet Air Attack Base  Hemet-Ryan Helitack Base
Hollister Air Attack 80, 81 460 - Located along the central coast of California, 30 miles south of San Jose at the Hollister Municipal Airport.   Hollister Air Attack Base
Howard Forest Helitack - - 101 Located five miles south of Willits in the CDF Mendocino Unit.  Howard Forest Helitack Base
Kneeland Helitack - - 102 Located in the CDF Humboldt-Del Norte Unit in the town of Kneeland.  Kneeland Helitack Base
McClellan Aviation Facility 100 500 303, 901

Located at the McClellan Airport in Sacramento.  McClellan Aviation Facility

Paso Robles Air Attack 74, 75 340 -

Located at the Paso Robles Municipal Airport.  Paso Robles Air Attack Base

Porterville Air Attack 76 410 - Located at the Porterville Municipal Airport.  Porterville Air Attack Base
Ramona Air Attack 70, 71 330 -

Located at the Ramona Airport.  Ramona Air Attack Base

Redding Air Attack 94, 95 240 -

Located at the Redding Airport.  Redding Air Attack Base

Rohnerville Air Attack 96 120 -

Located on the east end of the Rohnerville Airport near the City of Fortuna.  Rohnerville Air Attack Base

Sonoma Air Attack 85, 86 140 -

Located at the Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa.  Sonoma Air Attack Base

Ukiah Air Attack 90, 91 110 -

Located at the Ukiah Municipal Airport.  Ukiah Air Attack Base

Vina Helitack - - 205

Located in the CDF Tehama-Glenn Unit in the town of Vina.  Vina Helitack Base

 

CAL FIRE S-2T Turbo Tanker Information

Cal Fire Tanker No.

FAA Registration Grumman Serial Number Navy Bureau Number Assigned Location  Photo Location
70 N427DF 326C 153570 Ramona Ramona 2009, McClellan 2010
71 N432DF 112C 149268 Ramona Ramona 2009, McClellan 2010
72 N435DF 329C 153573 Hemet-Ryan McClellan 2009
73 N437DF 123C 149848 Hemet-Ryan McClellan 2009
74 N439DF 129C 149854 Paso Robles McClellan 2009, McClellan 2010
75 N444DF 187C 151654 Paso Robles Hemet-Ryan 2009, McClellan 2010
76 N436DF 224C 152337 Porterville McClellan 2009, McClellan 2010
78 N431DF 109C 149265 Fresno McClellan 2009, McClellan 2010
80 N445DF 232C 152345 Hollister McClellan 2009, Hemet-Ryan 2009
81 N449DF 307C 152838 Hollister McClellan 2009, Fresno 2009, McClellan 2010
82 N422DF 286C 152817 Columbia McClellan 2010
83 N424DF 289C 152820 Columbia McClellan 2009, McClellan 2010
85 N438DF 173C 151640 Sonoma McClellan 2009, McClellan 2010
86 N433DF 130C 149855 Sonoma McClellan 2010
88 N426DF 293C 152824 Grass Valley McClellan 2009, McClellan 2010
89 N425DF 294C 152825 Grass Valley McClellan 2009, McClellan 2010
90 N434DF 335C 153579 Ukiah Porterville 2009, McClellan 2010
91 N428DF 137C 149862 Ukiah Porterville 2009, McClellan 2010
93 N450DF 228C 152341 Chico McClellan 2010
94 N442DF 259C 152826 Redding McClellan 2009, McClellan 2010
95 N448DF 234C 152347 Redding McClellan 2009, McClellan 2010
96 N440DF 148C 149873 Rohnerville  
100 N441DF 277C 152808 McClellan Spare McClellan 2009, McClellan 2010

        
CAL FIRE OV-10 Bronco Information

Cal Fire OV-10A No.

FAA Registration North American Serial Number Navy Bureau Number Assigned Location Photo Location
110 N410DF 305-158M-82 155471 Ukiah McClellan 2009, McClellan 2010
120 N413DF 305-20M-13 155402 Rohnerville McClellan 2009, McClellan 2010
140 N414DF 305-26M-16 155405 Sonoma Fresno 2009, McClellan 2010
210 N402DF 305-132M-70 155459 Chico McClellan 2009, McClellan 2010
230 N408DF 305-174M-90 155380 Grass Valley McClellan 2010
240 N421DF 305-206M-107 155496 Redding McClellan 2009
310 N429DF 305-17M-11 155400 Hemet-Ryan Hemet-Ryan 2009
330 N409DF 305-18M-12 155401 Ramona McClellan 2009
340 N418DF 305-70M-39 155428 Paso Robles McClellan 2009, McClellan 2010
410 N400DF 305-11M-65 155454 Porterville, was  AA-440 McClellan 2010
430 N407DF 305-164M-86 155475 Fresno Porterville 2009, McClellan 2010
440 N401DF 305-128M-68 ? Columbia, was AA-410 McClellan 2010
460 N415DF 305-68M-38 155427 Hollister McClellan 2009, McClellan 2010
500 N403DF 305-148M-78 155467 McClellan Spare McClellan 2009, McClellan 2010
Not assigned yet N617NA ? 155406 Unknown McClellan 2010
Not assigned yet N477AW ? 155502 Unknown McClellan 2010
Not assigned yet N12317 ? 155395 Unknown McClellan 2010

 

CAL FIRE UH-1H Information
 
We have been able to establish CAL Fire Helicopter numbers and aircraft FAA ID Numbers (N-numbers).  However, to date we have not been able in all cases to marry the two together which is why there is actually two lists below.

Cal Fire UH-1 No.

FAA Registration Bell Serial Number ID Number Assigned Location Photo Location
101 N499DF ? 71-20022 Howard Forest  
102 ? ? ? Kneeland  
104 N482DF ? ? Boggs Mountain   
106 N495 DF 12218 xx-12218 Alma Helitack, San Carlos Airport  
202 N497DF 11533 xx-11533 Bieber  
205 N490DF ? 70-15765 Vina McClellan 2009
301 N491DF 12146 69-15858 Hemet-Ryan Hemet-Ryan 2009
303 ? ? ? McClellan-Spare  
404 N494DF 11303 xx-11303 Columbia  
406 N498DF ? 69-15865 Bear Valley  
901 N489DF 12224 xx-12224 McClellan-Spare McClellan 2009, McClellan 2010
           
? N481DF ? 72-21019    
? N492DF ? 11433    
? N493DF ? 12001    
? N496DF ? 69-15676    

CAL FIRE   Fresno   Hemet-Ryan   McClellan   McClellan 2010   Porterville   Ramona
 

 


 
Home  Indiana Museums    Indiana Tanks on Outside Display   The Beginning    Revisions   First Flight of P-38F Glacier Girl  
USS Theodore Roosevelt    WWII Aircraft Manufacturing Sites    Gateguards
 2007 Airshows   2008 Airshows  22009 Airshows   2010 Airshows    2011 Airshows    2012 Airshows   2013 Airshows   2014 Airshows    2015 Airshows  2016 Airshows    2017 Airshows    2018 Airshows  
2019 Airshows   2020 Airshows   2021 Airshows   2022 Airshows   2023 Airshows   2024 Airshows
Aviation Museums of the Pacific Northwest
   Display Helicopter Locations   CAL FIRE   PV-2 Harpoon Photos     F6F Hellcat Photos
   Warbird Sightings   WWII US Air-Air Victories   Guest Photos    Indiana Warbirds   Featured Photos  Other Items   Links

Historic Sites   Historic Forts   Historic Texas Independence Sites   Pre-Historic Sites   Historic Manhattan Project Sites   GM Heritage Center


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