Evergreen Super tanker 979..eek

[Daveroo]

looks like its being dismantled...i knew it hadnt been contracted for awhile...but this is sad...

79711

[jrbirdman]

I have a feeling they may learn to regret this decision once fire season hits California again. I bet there will be a massive fire and the only way to contain it in a feasable amount of time will be this bird. Only to have it be too late thanks to it being scrapped. So sad and not smart!! Just my thoughts. Best regards, Jeremy aka Birdy

[bearcat241]

Well, if i were a tanker pilot tasked with making precision runs on hotspots at the low altitudes that they operate in, i'd vote this big jumbo elephant out of the fleet myself. It might be good for blanketing flatland fires, but it just seems too big and cumbersome and high risk for the low altitude maneuvers required in hilly terrain. Add to that the budgetary constraints of carrying costs and the high maintenance and fuel consumption of those four massive turbofans. Could be a simple cost cutting decision. But if you can't find a buyer who'll take it whole, piecemeal will have to do.

On the other hand, this could be a pic of the buyer's yard and their "best use" of the asset at this time.

[pfflyers]

I seem to remember reading that Evergreen and the FS had trouble reaching a contract agreement last year. IIRC in the past operators would be given a "standby" contract where they would be paid to keep themselves available with additional money for hours flown. Recently they were offered an "as needed" contract where the FS would only pay for actual missions flown. The overhead to keep an aircraft like that and crew available with no steady income would be unsustainable.

[jrbirdman]

It would be expensive to sustain such a program, but seeing how some tankers are DC-10s, it just seems like the airplane is getting the shaft. Wouldn't it be fitting to either put her in a museum, perhaps the Evergreen museum in McMinnville, Oregon, or possibly return her to freight use? What would be a viable option for her? It's just seems a little premature to just scrap her like this. Any thoughts? Best regards, Jeremy aka Birdy

P.S. Wasn't this the same bird that was in Die Hard 2? If not what was her tail number and what ever happened to her?