Evergreen on Standby

[Classicdriver]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100602/sc_livescience/747settobattlegulfoilslick

747 Set to Battle Gulf Oil Slick

• 
  
• Ned Smith
  TechNewsDaily Contributor
  LiveScience.com Ned Smith
  technewsdaily Contributor
  livescience.com – Wed Jun 2, 5:48 pm ET

A [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]Boeing [COLOR=#366388 !important]747[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] supertanker is parked on the tarmac of the Gulfport, Miss., airport awaiting a call from British Petroleum asking for help in combating the tsunami of crude oil spewing from BP's failed Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico.

If called to action, the giant tanker would be able to drop 20,000 gallons of EPA-approved [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]oil [COLOR=#366388 !important]dispersant[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] in one or more passes that would cover a path in the [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]Gulf[/COLOR][/COLOR] more than 300 miles long and 200 feet wide. At a rate of 5 gallons per acre, that is an area of 7,272 acres.

The [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]jumbo [COLOR=#366388 !important]jet[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] would fly at a speed of 170 to 180 mph at an altitude of 250 feet while dropping its load. Flying to and from the drop zone, it would be able to maintain a cruise speed of 600 mph.

This is a shift in mission for the 747-200 commercial airliner, originally converted by Evergreen [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]Aviation[/COLOR][/COLOR] at a cost of $55 million to develop, manufacture and test the spraying equipment, to fight wildfires on land. With a 20,000 gallon payload, the Evergreen Supertanker is the largest firefighting aircraft in the world. It was certified for firefighting service in 2009.

With its ability to disperse a variety of liquids, foam and gels, the aircraft can conduct several missions besides firefighting, including oil spill containment, weather modification and biochemical decontamination. It disperses its payload from pressurized tanks in the aircraft's fuselage through four independently regulated nozzles under its belly.

Because the aircraft takes off below its maximum landing weight, even when it has a full payload, there is no danger that the crew will have to dump the entire load before landing in the event of an emergency or mission cancellation.

No reconfiguration is required to switch from firefighting to oil spill control, says Jim Baynes, Evergreen's project manager for the Supertanker. "You just change the nozzle settings," he told TechNewsDaily. "We could be up and running in a day." The dispersant, he said, has the consistency of diesel fuel.

Anticipating a call for its help in curtailing the destruction in the Gulf and on the shoreline, the company at its own expense relocated the Supertanker from its home base in McMinnville, Ore., to Texas for testing to ensure that it met American Society for Testing & Materials (ASTM) standards for oil spill containment. When the testing was completed in May, the aircraft was flown to Gulfport to be close to the spreading [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]oil [COLOR=#366388 !important]slick[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]. "The aircraft is right in the heart of where everything is happening," said Baynes.

Evergreen is no stranger to disaster relief in the Gulf area; during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita the company deployed more than 20 of its helicopters to support [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]emergency [COLOR=#366388 !important]operations[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]. It has been involved in aerial firefighting for more than 70 years.

Evergreen is still waiting for the call from BP. "They haven't hired us," said Baynes.

A spokesman in BP's America Press Office said he was not aware of any discussion on the possible use of the Supertanker.

 

[Zoneload]

Been there for about a month now and nothing..Waiting on BP to call..

 

[Nevergreen]

They blew it again. Had it been there at the start of the crisis they could have probably snagged a very high dollar contract. Now it is too late.

The time has come to mothball that money loser. Stop wasting money and get more cargo planes. That is where the profit is for EZ. Instead, Del and his incompetent managers continue to waste time and money on a bunch of worthless projects while our competitors continue to expand and earn profits.

 

[Zoneload]

The rig fire started on April 20th and sunk two days later. I don't think anyone had any idea that the leak was as bad as it was till the end of April. They moved 479 to MSY on May 9th and then to GPT on the 17th and we sit.

I would love to see more cargo planes. We just added 491 to the fleet and they are talking about somemore planes. AF BCF's? I think they are still in play.

Or as some people are saying we will be out of business in about 3 months give or take. Who knows what is going to happen.

Its to early in the morning to care..Have a good week everyone..Fly Safe

 

[B747FR8DAWG]

I would love to see more cargo planes. We just added 491 to the fleet and they are talking about somemore planes.

Saw 491 twice last week, DOV & HKG, nice looking plane!

 

[Zoneload]

Thanks..Long time coming. You always have something nice to say..Thankyou!!

 

[belchfire]

Saw 491 twice last week, DOV & HKG, nice looking plane!

Is 491 the ship in the new paint scheme? If so, very pretty and a real improvement over the old colors-er, black and white!

 

[B747FR8DAWG]

Is 491 the ship in the new paint scheme? If so, very pretty and a real improvement over the old colors-er, black and white!

We talking about Evergreen and not Southern, right?

 

[FreightGod]

Huh.. New colors?

I always liked the white/green, especially since the Zone was my first jet-job.

Bought Del a beer back in 1989 in Frankfurt when he was there with the G-2 and his gay VIP pilots.
I thought he was going to pick up the tab...I was wrong...

 

[Zoneload]

Pick up the TAB....Now that's funny..