Marcos Valdez, EAA 618370, wanted to be perfectly clear on one detail — the true heroes in the fight against the raging California wildfires are the firefighters on the ground.
“I can’t stress this enough that the real heroes are the firefighters on the ground,” he said. “Those guys and gals are just amazing, fighting the fire up close and personal.”
But Marcos and his fellow firebomber pilots definitely make a difference in the battle. As a Boeing 747-400 captain for aerial firefighting company Global SuperTanker, Marcos, call sign “Taco Loco”, has been in Northern California assisting in the efforts of containing and eliminating the Camp Fire that’s become the most devastating wildfire in California state history.
Marcos was a cargo pilot for many years during the 1990s and 2000s before lining up a job with Global SuperTanker as the captain of flight standards. Now in his third season with SuperTanker, Marcos has been transitioning to tactical captain this year, a position in which he flies in the left seat of the 747 and makes fire retardant drops.
A longtime cargo pilot who flew 747s and DC-9s, Marcos has had few problems transitioning to flying the 747 firebomber itself, but the art of aerial firefighting is a much different and significantly more intense experience.
“Having flown the airlines as a cargo pilot for years, tanker pilots are probably the most skilled set of pilots I’ve ever flown with,” Marcos said. “It is the most demanding, ragged, on-the-edge, every-second-counts kind of flying that I’ve ever done. We’re flying the 747 200 feet off the top of the trees, so we’re less than our wingspan over the trees a lot of times. There’s smoke and flames, visibility can be poor, and we’re following a lead plane so we’re in close proximity with traffic. There’s always helicopters and other tankers in the fire traffic area. It’s just incredibly demanding flying. But if you’re an adrenaline junkie, it’s addicting. I don’t know if I could ever go back to flying a 747 straight and level again.”
As for the day-to-day operations of a firebomber pilot, each day and particular mission bring about unique challenges, but Marcos said the most frustrating part is simply not having an exact time frame as to when he’ll be sent out after his morning briefing.
“The hardest part of aerial firefighting is waiting. Sometimes you wait for hours, sometimes you wait for days. We’ve sat on a tanker base for five or 10 days without being activated. That’s the life of a fireman, regardless of whether you’re aerial firefighting or if you’re at a firehouse. It’s a lot of hurry up and wait.”
The process of sending a 747 or other tanker out to battle the fire starts with a smaller lead plane, which will go out beforehand to observe the fire, communicate with the ground commanders about what needs they have, and begin to work out a plan of attack. Typically the VLATs (very large air tankers) are called in when a broad area, such as a 4-5 mile long ridgeline needs to be doused in retardant to prevent the fire from spreading over the mountain, for example. When the word comes in that the 747 is needed, the pilots, loading crew, and mechanics spring into action, very much like firefighters would at the sound of the fire bell. In total, it takes about 30 minutes for the airplane to be ready for action after receiving its order. From there, the 747 heads to the fire and begins listening to the frequency around the fire traffic area to determine the plan as decided by the lead plane, as there may be multiple aircraft assigned to the fire. After getting the go-ahead, the lead plane will come out to meet the 747, form up, and do a ‘show me,’ where the lead will describe the target, with nearly all of it being done visually — pointing out different landmarks to determine where to dump retardant. The 747 will then come back around for a second pass and dump the retardant. That process will continue until the wildfire is eliminated.
As intense, precise, and dangerous as aerial firefighting can be, Marcos is very glad to know that he’s helping people in need.
“It’s the most gratifying type of flying I’ve done. … We’re helping those firemen on the ground and we’re helping to save lives and property. That’s the most satisfying thing you can imagine, to fly an airplane and then to be able to save lives and property. I remember when I was little and I wanted to be a fireman or a pilot and now I’m both! I post on Facebook all the time that I’m living the dream and I really am.”