Larry's pics of heli-tankers 9-8

 These first pictures are of the big air cranes.  They suck up, in just 18 seconds, 2,600 gallons of water.  That is a swift change in their weight!

This Kmax is an interesting little guy.  It can carry loads as heavy as the big guys and because it is smaller and because of its design can haul heavy loads much, much higher.  Larry was talking to either the pilot or the mechanic (I can't remember) and that puppies rotors were just recently replaced to the tune of one million dollars. They are made from the heart of the sitka spruce which grows in Alaska and are hand made. It only has room for one person, the pilot and he does it all...scoops water with his bucket and dumps and all without a spotter, which the bigger birds fly with.  For all these "birds" the maintenance crews do all the repairs and maintenance wherever they happen to be.  They travel with trucks that are shops and what they don't have they get shipped to them.  Just a couple nights ago on the Kmax, after the engine cooled off enough in late afternoon they replaced the entire engine, finished in the wee hours of the morning, did some test flights later in the morning, which Larry said were amazing and frightening to watch and then off to work again.

See the side bubble there for the pilot to lean out.  And look at how those rotors are, there are two.  

This is a Chinook

This is a Vertol and is smaller than the Chinooks

Now the buckets.  This one looks pretty simple.

 This one is pretty complicated looking.  Lots of electronics and wiring inside of these. Some pilots set them in the water open and then close and scoop, some scoop with bottoms closed.

These helicopters were getting $18,000 a day, PLUS when flying they earn an additional  $7,700 an hour!  But learning about the maintenance, and the crews needed to keep them in good shape it is understandable.