As yet the contracted jumbo jet supertanker has not been pressed into service. The US Forest Service passed on signing up the weapon in 2007 but this year Cal Fire smartly offered the group from Evergreen Aviation a deal.
Here is a promo video of Tanker 979 over the desert near Tucson. The 747 supertanker has a payload of 20,000 gallons. Tanker 910, the DC-10 supertanker delivers 12,000 gallons of water or retardant.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUEqbLVfpGc&hl=en&fs=1&]
I can’t wait to see the first images of this aircraft in operation over a fire.
