Forest November Morning
View from house
This is what pattern 238 "Filtered Light" is about in the
book A
Pattern Language.
25 Jun
2009 Nikon D300 Active D-Lighting
Ukiah
California 7 July 09 The cloud like stuff is
the milk in the Milky Way
About a 1 second exposure in Nikon D300.
This is close to what you actually see, except your eye
doesn't see the red.
Green
Laser Pointer
Ukiah, California Mountain Mist view from front door
March 2011 dead Oak fell over
Bump on Oak 1
Bump on Oak 2
30 Jun 2011 6:48 pm sun into TV camera lens
7 July 2011 Forest in the
morning
Weed Seed Nature's Velcro
(it sticks to clothing)
It's about 1/16" x 1/8"
Shown stuck to black shoe lace.
20 Oct 2011 A couple of
Ultra Light aircraft flew between my property and the
South end of Lake Mendocino
Here's looking at you.
Taken using the HDR Camera app in my
Motorola Electrify 2 cell phone.
Cones on big fir tree Sep. 2013
Sunset 12 Aug 2014
Aerial Photo
Google
Maps - Ukiah
Airport - Ukiah Airport - just to the left of highway 101
To enter a Latitude & Longitude use degrees.fraction
format. The above were found with 39.190162 N 123.164023 W
18 wheel trucks deliver to
the left.
Forklift takes gondola to this building
or one of the other buildings.
The empty gondola comes out on this
track and an elevator like machine stacks
them 5 high ready for a forklift
to take to the empty storage yard.
California Western Railroad
- Skunk Train - be sure to ask which engine you will be riding
behind, not all trains use steam engines Got Fruit - sells locally
grown pears
Holiday Inn Express - Ukiah
- International Paper
- Masonite
Factory - Grinds up grungy logs and makes saw dust then
forms saw dust into Masonite panels - closed 2001
InnEVations - Electric Vehicles - out of business
http://www.mcn.org/a/innevations/ - not at archive.org Irish Beach - has
rental houses right on the coast, lots for sale, reservations
highly recommended. Jubilee Jumps - large
outdoor rentals Kirk
Driving School - Konoci Harbor - at
Clear Lake has live music (tours)
Mendocino Hobbies - http://www.mendocinohobbies.com/ - out of
business @archive.org The T Shirt People -
Screen printing (T shirts) & Embroidery ? Vichy Springs - just a
few blocks from my house
Alternative Energy is in Hopland, about 15 minutes
South on 101. As of 9/99 they are installing a 132 kW -
13,020 panel photovoltaic array - panels owned by Astro Power
who is selling output to Green Mtn. Power on East Coast.
After 15 years Real Goods (who is leasing land to AP) will own
panels - Real Goods sells a full spec 120 Watt version of the AP
panel. They also have wind generators, micro-hydro
generators, efficient lights, etc.
Charcuterie -
in Healsburg, good food
Harbor Village Restaurant, Four Embarcadero Center, SF (415)
781-8833 - extremely high quality Cantonese food Madrona Manor - very
fine dining & an Inn St.Orres Inn & Dining
Room - found on Hwy 1 using GPS navigator (actual location
is 38:47:33 N 123:33:41 W, 95') "fine dining & lodging"
Ukiah Restaurants
Walter Cafe Patrona's - North State Cafe - Romi's Brew & BBQ - Breakfast Menu.pdf - Lunch & Dinner Menu.pdf - (formerly Porter St.
Grill - always been on Perkins St) Branches - Bakery, Butcher shop, Irish Pub, Wine
Bar, restaurant - Closed April 2012
December 11, 2012 now called Crush
- the bakery & butcher shop are gone.
The bar/takeout
menu is different from the dinner menu.
Bakery
Butcher Shop (click
to see big version)
Irish Pub
Wine - Main Bar
Ceiling above main dining
hall
Saw Mills International Paper
- Masonite
Factory - Grinds up grungy logs and makes saw dust then
forms saw dust into Masonite panels - closed 2001
There are a number of other saw mills in Ukiah, more on them
later.
Logging Trucks deliver logs to the mill
Lumber Trucks deliver the finished boards
Saw Dust-Wood Chip trucks deliver materials for other purposes
like gardening
Evden
Enterprises - world class fully automated machine shop Metal-FX - world class
sheet metal shop Motion Industries
- (part of chain) - stocks bearings, O-rings, Devcon
epoxy, etc. Munnell &
Sherrill - (part of chain) 9/2008
just found they carry Devcon epoxy, haven't been there yet Railway Engineering -
makes turnouts and track related items for model railways that
both look good and work
In a rural area where it could take a long time for a
fire truck to drive to the site of a fire, it is very comforting
to know that the air attack units can be there in a matter of
minutes.
Still photos taken 2001
Grumman S2 with radial engines, What a
Sound & www.OV-10
Bronco.net
The S2 carries a mixture of water, red clay (for color), salt,
and a sticky stuff like in napalm called Fire-Trol that comes in big
cloth bags one bag to a pallett. It is mixed with water then
pumped to the planes. You can see that the concrete below
the planes has a red color. That's the Fire-Trol red
color.
3 April 2013
Cal Fire Huey with water bucket just filled at Lake
Mendocino
Indian Fire Lake County Air Attack planes
over me 7 Aug 2013
24 May 2015 A
new chopper heading for Lake Mendocino to get water.
Kaman
K-MAX (Wiki)
- can lift twice it's empty weight & twice what the
Huey above can lift.
Counter rotating main blades, no tail rotators. Movable
stub wing.
Designed to be an aerial truck. Marines called
them the "Grasshopper". An unmanned version being
developed.
Using the K-MAX for firefighting is a new service for Timberline
Helicopters.
Some details on YouTube,
another YouTube,
with some history YouTube:
Kmax Type 1
Firefighting Helicopter Northern Ca. Fires - no
hydraulics
YouTube: Interview with a
K-Max, 26:05 - w/Bambi bucket
2881989Air
vehicle with rotary wing, Anton
Flettner (Wiki),
Apr 14, 1959, 244/6, 244/49 - instead of the 2
to 3 lbs/sq ft of normal
choppers this uses 6 to 10 times higher loading and
about 5 to 10 times more power, hence has a higher lift
capacity.
24 May 2015
In the morning when the Sun is behind me.
Rented by the Feds for a fire
24 Jun 2015 GoodYear Blimp N10A (Wiki)
flew over my house
12 July 2016
Boeing CH-47F Chinook C/N M.8406
tail No. 10-08406
13 July 2016 - another chopper looking
for pot. UH-60 (Wiki).
Notice all the special multi spectral sensors (Wiki).
The local law enforcement agencies train other agencies
in how to hunt for pot grows, so some of these flights
are actually
looking for pot while others may just be training
flights. Marked United States Army
13 July 2016 - this guy flew below the
tree line above the creek, never have seen that done
before. A few minutes later he made a pass between
me and the creek
Flying in the other direction
27 April 2017 - I can hear a chopper very
close, but have not seen it.
9 Oct 2017 - Redwood
Valley & Potter Valley Fires
1:
The below photos are maybe 1/4 of the flights that went
within seeing/hearing of my house.
This has been the busiest few days I've seen/hears in the
past 27 years.
There are duplicates, the photos are more or less in order
left to right, top to bottom.
Taken very early Monday.
Just over hill from my house.
2: N9696W
- Withrotor 96W 1960 Sikorsky S-61A
Just caught it before it went behind house. Chris Pugh Video
of 96W
CDF "95B" N7095B
- Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane
Obscured by smoke.
28 July 2018
28 July 2018 View from my front door
Cloud - smoke fire behind mountain. Ranch Fire
Two planes circling my house.
In the above photo of smoke they are flying between me and
the smoke.
They both look like C-130E (Wiki)
but with water tanks.
Wiki: Modular
Airborne FireFighting System -
patent US7753314,
Systems and methods for aerial dispersion of materials,
Two planes circling my house
see above
CH-47
Cal Fire No. 85
Cal Fire No. 90
29 July 2018
Can Fire No. 91
Blackhawk
Thunder Head over fire
29 July 2018 - View from my front door
Pyrocumulus Cloud (Wiki)-
smoke fire behind mountain. Ranch Fire
Mendocino County offers helicopter training for various
agencies and this year that includes: our Sheriffs SAR,
California National Guard, California Office of Emergency
Services training other Search And Rescue crews.
There was a VIP tour for the
immediate neighbors Saturday 1 June 2019.
Fig 40 Crane (training about lifting
people)
Fig 41 M4 Mount far end of windowsill
Fig 42 Front Two Frog Eyes ECM sensors
Fig 43 yours truly
Fig 46 Whit antenna for VHF FM
(police/fire) coms
Fig 49 Rear pair of Frog Eyes ECM sensors
Fig 44 Wheel mechanism
Fig 47 Rotor hub is cmplex
Fig 48 The passenger ceiling is the bottom
of the engine
Fig 45 VHF low band antenna along bottom.
Horizontal lade antenna below STATES.
Fig 50 Four roof mounted antennas
Fig 51 What looks like a circular step is
the FLIR mount.
Fig 52 Motorsports, Ukiah Vehicle
29 June
2019 PG&E Transmission Poles
Heard a Huey and a smaller helicopter and thought it was more
SAR practice. But it turns out it's PG&E replacing
wood transmission poles with metal poles using choppers.
They are working at the peak of Deerwood Dr. and also an
adjacent valley.
Note the transmission line needed to be shut down to make this
change. So doing the Deerwood Poles and the one in the
next canyon at the same time saves down time.
The metal poles were delivered by
helicopter N633SC to the site in the next canyon.
2019PgePole-15
First pole partially installed on
Deerwood.
2019PgePole-22
Second metal pole being put in place on
Deerwood.
2019PgePole-32
A metal pole being installed in next
canyon.
Note smaller helicopter going opposite direction in
background.
This one did no carry metal poles, but did carry pallets
of supplies.
Note the distribution pole at the right
side with two transformers.
See Telephone Poles Fig
5
This pole was replaced but the reason is not clear.
Took this to show the glass High Voltage
Insulators and afterwords saw the big bird perched on
the tallest metal pole. Note in the photo above
that the ground is sloping. The poles are the same
height and the cross bar is installed level, so the
uphill pole sits higher above the cross arm than the
downhill pole. The bird is perched on the highest
point for a few miles in all directions.
Cal Fire
Practice 2019 July 16
First heard Borate bombers flying overhead then a Huey that
was close, so went out to photograph it, and there was a white
CalFire pickup head to tail with a fire engine then they drove
in opposite directions. The fire engine going down hill
(first photo). Then a second fire engine drove a little
down hill and backed into my driveway to make a T-turn and go
up hill (second photo). Then within a few seconds a Huey
flew near overhead in the uphill direction. (third
photo). Later more Borate bombers overflew (S-2F3AT (Wiki)
no photo, but see above for many prior photos of these).
A possible solution to power line caused fires may depend on
understanding hot embers aka firebrands. The vast
majority of these are under 3/16" in size and might be thought
of as red hot charcoal briquettes. The amount of energy
in such a small briquette is very small so it can not ignite
something like a solid 2x4 or even a twig. All it can do
is ignite a dry leaf or other fine kindling. It's like
starting a fire in a fireplace. You can not use a paper
match to light a log. So . . .
To prevent sparks from a blown transmission tower from
lighting the forest on fire the ground below the transmission
tower for a width about as wide as the tower is tall on either
side of the center line needs to be cleared of
vegetation. That way when a piece of molten jumper wire
lands on the ground there will be a lot lower change it can
start a forest fire.
To prevent a problem with power distribution poles trees
should be cut back so that a falling branch can not bring down
a line. To go with that the vegetation on the ground
should be cut back along a path along the center line out to
whatever distance a down line can reach.
2019
October 27 Burris Fire Mendocino
County North of highway 20 near Lake Mendocino
I have received evacuation warnings and there are evacuation
orders for the Lake Mendocino bridge & DeLago area.
Warning: E of Russian River, W of Lake County line, South of
hw20, North of hw175. Bombers knocked it out 3:48pm. and it came
back.
CalFire: Burris
Fire
Fig 1 TNKR94 Taking off from Ukiah
Airport
TNKR163 at Burris Fire.
Fig 2 General area of Burris Fire
Fig 3 General Area of Burris Fire
Fig 4 Two OV-10 in the air A500 &
A501
Fig 5 View covering both today's Burris
fire & Kincade
Fig 5 View covering both Burris & Kincade
fires
Fig 6 Photo from my front door
as of 2019 October 30 the cause is not known.
2019 November
5 Tehama Ranch Fire
A plane overflew my house going fast. It was AA110
coming back from the fire.
This FlightRadar24 page captures both the Ukiah airport and
the fire location.
2019
Feb 6 - PG&E
This morning heard Huey near by.
Turns out it's flying in and out of the same canyon as
used on a prior PG&E
upgrade mission on 29 June 2019.
The registration number is N3181F.
Not showing up on FlightRadar24
(too low or ??). Has landing lights turned on.
2020 June 8 PG&E Tower
Maintenance
At 10:41 & 10:43 am a truck towing a trailer full of
PG&E fittings and another with a bucket drove past my house
toward the location of the landed Hughs MD 500 chopper. So
I'm guessing this is a PG&E operation.
This is probably related to the high voltage towers, and in
particular the tower that's to the West of the one that was replaced a year
ago.
There appears to be a Grapnel Hook at the
end of the cable.
The implication is that there's not enough room for this
small
helicopter to land near the HV tower.
Note that the load is being carried back to the staging
area near my house.
2020 June 19 747 (GST944)
Practice/Training McClellan
YouTube: blancolirio (Juan Brown): 747 Supertanker LIVE! - lost feed just prior
to takeoff, but followed on FlightRadar24:
(feed came back: 747
LIVE -
GST944 is the 747 doing a plain water
drop
N85DR is the plane directing the drop,
also from McClellan
2020 July 6 - PG&E Public
Safety Power Shutoff check flight
This morning I heard a chopper, but nothing on
FlightRadar24. Around 3:10pm heard and photographed
N1957Z (Fire 572), but again not on FlightRadar24.
N1957Z
On contract from Redding Air Services to PG&E for Public Safety Power
Shutoff checks (Wiki).
2020 July 7 - 3 Fires?
After hearing an attack aircraft overfly my house I found what
appears to be a practice near Flouts Springs. Then noticed
a fire at the North end of Clearlake. Then another fire at
the South end of Clearlake.
FlightRadar24 the white dot may be a
practice fire near Flouts Springs, but a tanker showed up,
practice???
The two green trails from an OV-10 at the North and South
ends of Clearlake are fires.
At first I thought there was a mistake when
I noticed the camera was pointing south-East, not at the
North end of Clearlake, so I looked
at FlightRadar24 and saw the fuzzy green ball where it was
pointed. The red is probably a retardant drop before
it hit the ground.
FlightRadar24 something happening at Flouts
Springs, fire or practice?
White dot is real fire at North end of Clearlake.
N440DF, Tail 96
N434DF Tail 90 about 4:30pm 7 July 2020
over my house going to Flouts Springs.
about 4:39 N440DF, Tail 96 is also going to Flouts
Springs.
2020
July 8 - Old Lawley Tool Rd Fire
Heard chopper, but it was not on FlightRadar24 (probably the
PG&E line inspection, see above). But noticed three
planes coming out of Ukiah: N410DF, a couple of N4nnDF tankers
which I followed to Old Lawley Tool Rd. where there are circling
planes.
Notice that Mount St Helena is just above
and to the left of the fuzzy circle.
Camera on Mount St Helena. In right
pane you can see it's aimed down and to the right so this
is the fire shown on FR24.
2020 July 18 Yreka Fire
CalFire is calling it the Badger
Fire.
Heard a Borate bomber take off and of FlightRadar24 saw
another follow him.
They ended up going to what I'm calling the Yreka fire.
It may be closer to Colestin.
The Medford Rogue Valley International Airport is just North of
the fire. But there's an ADS-B blackout over the fire
area. I think the two planes from Ukiah droped on the fire and
then went to Medfore to reload. There's also a
red&white Blackhawk.
N448DF, N428DF, N442DF,
SCPR260 & SCPR263
- bombing near Mt Hoffman, N690JK
circling
TNKR012 & TNKR137
loading at Kalamath Falls flew past the Mt Hoffman action &
heading South
2020 July 25 3pm N428DF heading north, N440DF
heading NW, N421DF
heading NW, TNKR01 at
Klamath
Falls waiting to take off (ADS-B is on), N440DF & N421DF crossed paths near McConaughy Gulch Rd
then N440DF dropped off ADS-B. N450DF
is over flying the same area TNKR912
is on the ground at Medford
Hard to follow with poor ADS-B coverage. N425DF
& N426DF
& TNKR104 heading north TNKR01
has left Klamath Falls and heading SE TNKR912
has left Medford and heading NE
2020 July 31 5:15 pm -
6350 Potter Valley Rd. "East Incident"
air assets called https://www.flightradar24.com/39.28,-123.08/12
5 to 10 acres burning up river, structures above fire 7 - 12
MPH. Air attach here. N434DF
(S-2 # 90) - came from Logan fire. - bombing 5:32 landing at
Ukiah, taking off 5:38, N410DF
(OV-10 #110) - coming from Logan fire N428DF
(S-2 #180) - taking off from Ukiah 5:30
more tankers (total 4)
More copters (total 2)
North Horseshoe Circle
Copter 101 respond to Potter Valley N433DF
(S-2 #86) - on the way N481DF
(UH-1 #104 )- on the way, %:53 turning back N438DF
(S-2 #85) - bombing - 6:08 leaving - room for choppers N433DF
(S-2 #86) - on the way 5:52, 6:08 leaving - room for choppers
N499DF Copter #101 (UH-1 #101) at scene (not on FR24 - locked)
2020 Aug 2 Lodoga Fire - 4:22 planes
over flying my house:
N410DF
(OV-10 #110) - circling N428DF
(S-2 # 180), coming back 5:05, 2nd bombing @ 5:15, 5:21, 5:22
heading to Ukiah, 3rd 5:55 bombing, 6:02 to Ukiah, bombing 6:59,
N434DF
(S-2 # 90), coming back 5:05, 2nd bombing @5:14, to Ukiah 5:20,
bombing 5:50, to Ukiah 5:54, N450DF
(S-2 #93) , 2nd bombing 5:12, 5:17 heading to Ukiah, 5:40
heading to Ukiah,
4:42 all 3 have dropped and are heading back to reload, bombing
6:48, to Ukiah 6:50, http://www.alertwildfire.org/northbay/index.html?camera=Axis-Sites2&v=81e003f Sites2, Target: 281 degrees. Net: Northbay, County:
Colusa, Region: LNU, ISP: DigitalPath, Sponsor: PGE
4:53 N433DF
(S-2 #86) from Santa Rosa, 4:58 bombing, 5:03 heading to Ukiah
reload, bombing 5:38, bombing 6:47, 6:48 to Ukiah, N438DF
(S-2 #85) on the ground at Santa Rosa, ADS-B active, 2nd bombing
@ 7:05 TNKR104 (MD-87 #104) - arriving 5:03,
bombing at 5:04, 5:10 on way back for reload, 5:39 bombing,
bombing 6:25, to reload 6:35 N711GH
(UH-1 #) 5:16 on the way from Vacaville, flying past to the
West? 5:30, 5:35 on the scene, bombing 5:52, bombing 6:46, 6:48
heading home? N795HT
(Sky Crane ) - 5:20 coming from Chico, 5:25 bombing, 5:27
E Park Res, 6:08 bombing, 6:58 going home
N410DF in the upper left.
Lead plane B#20 showing TNKR40 the drop
path.
6:33 TNKR40 or TNKR140
BE20
(Beach King Air #lead plane) 5:32 on scene, TNKR 40
(BAe 146-100 #40) on the way from Sacramento, 6:29 2nd bomb run,
to reload 6:35 TNKR104 (MD-87 #104) bombing 5:48, 5:49 heading
back to Chico, bombing 6:26, T100
(S-2 #100) - from Eureka, bombing 6:44, to Ukiah 6:47, GST944
(747 #944) 6:45 on the way from McClellan, heading back 7:02
2020 August 10 - Hopper
Lane/Crawford Road Fire (CalFire: Mina Fire)
~6PM Facebook
"Be advised of a fire in the area of Hopper Lane/Crawford Road
in the Covelo area. Fire and law will be in the area with large
equipment and apparatus so please avoid this area to help keep
the roads clear for them." [UPDATE
9:15 P.M.] MAJOR FIRE NEAR COVELO
N411DF
- OV-10 N499DF
- UH-1 T90 -
S-2
@1:10 ordering more support 4 ea tankers, 2 ea helicopters T-85 -
S-2 from Santa Rosa arrived 1:17
Water Tender 5290 T86 S-2
took off from Santa Rosa about 1:14
Hard closure for Black Bark, warring for evacuation.
1:42 T-93 -
S-2 - N489DF
UH-1 (C901)
1:48 reverse 911 for Black Bart rather than door to door.
1:58 Release T-90 & T-93.
2:24 - N499DF back to Ukiah airport
@:25 - N499DF
back to fire, C901 to
Ukiah airport, N441DF
heading back to Ukiah.
N441DF - Took off @ 3:00 N499DF - UH-H T85 T100 T90 T91 N487DF
Sikorsky S-70i Firehawk
3:44 second alarm - two additional engines
West Rd closed on Broiler side.
1703: starting to release units.
1735: release T100 & T85
1736: N441DF, N499DF & N487DF still in the air.
1820: release all but N499DF
Tankers heading to N38.52, W121.14?
2021 July 10 -
Fire The Forks
11:28 N441DF and a couple of tankers went to Hwy 1 &
Westside Rd near Hardy, circled a couple of times then headed
back.
N499DF
took off from Ukiah about 6 pm. T91
just flew over my house (6:16 pm) - 6:44 MT return to Ukiah)
Both heading 27 deg.
The fire is near Lowery.
Already at the fire are: A240
- OV-10 @3200' C906
- UH-1H T96
S-2
6:30 ------------ A500
OV-10 @ 1800' - 6:55 RTB T94
S-2 - 6:55 RTB N205BT
UH-1H T95
S-2 - 6:55 RTB
6:45---- TNKR131
C-130 from Chico - 6:46 in holding pattern - 6:52 cancelled
RTB T96
S-2 from Redding RTB
7:00 pm A240,
T96
& N499DF
still working
N410DF - released 16:55
A120 is replacement N499DF - RTB when -
17:58 N499DF
working fire N493DF C906 T91 - 17:59 RTB T90 T96 -
released empty 17:52
4:10 supplies for 100 people requested
4:30pm = 30 acres, moderate spread, Foster Creek Rd (Off Bell
Springs Rd), evacuating a dozen residences
T91 rolling at 16:41. A120
- OV-10 almost there
5:57 down-grade evac order to a warning.
N410DF
- N499DF
- T90 - T91 -
14:31 call for two more tankers and another helicopter.
Broadcastify: Mendocino
County Sheriff, Fire, EMS, Cal Fire and CHP
Alert Wildfire: axis-ridgewoodgrade
- axis-redwoodvalley
- axis-clelandmtn2
-
2:45 All PG&E lines East of bridge powered off. T85 -
3:00 pm
1591 4,000 Gallon water tender responding T86 -
15:09 40 to 50 acres. Hwy 20 and Lake Mendocino, Marina
Dr. - Jumped Marina Dr. might run to the Lake.
15:40 split into two divisions. N811KA
- Bell 212 N471CH
- CH-47D N4717V
- 690A at 10,000 ft mapping heat REC17V
- at 10,000 ft mapping heat?
4:28 300 acres.
5:17 N487DF
- S-70i Firehawk
5:47 pm A140
replacing N410DF
6:09 pm N410DF RTB
6:07 pm T85 & T86 heading home.
6:11 pmN811KA, N499DF & N487DF still working fire with A140
circling
7:12 pm A140 RTB
7:28 pm N499DF - RTB
10 Nov. 3pm N414PJ
- Bell 407 - flew to P.J. Helicopters Inc. in Red Bluff. 3:57
sitting on their ramp.
- USGS: Airborne
geophysical surveys - Calif Water Resources: Airborne
Electromagnetic (AEM) Surveys - Schedule:
Ukiah Valley Nov 11, 2021 -
12 Nov around 1:30 N414PJ
took off from Red Bluff PJ Helicopters and flew North along
I5. I called PJ Helicopters and they said N414PJ was
doing LIDAR work and not AEM. I've asked the California
Water Resources Board, but so far they have not called back.
No helicopters near my house on 12 Nov. (PS 11 Nov was
Veterans Day, a holiday)
The accuracy of the repeated flights
seems to indicate some type of automated control.
2022 May 29 - Firehawk N476DF
Brand new Sikorsky S70i made for CalFire. YouTube:CalFire "Fire Hawk!"
Brand New Sikorsky S70i (Wiki,
Fact
Sheet) - based at McClellan Airport - plan to
use water rather than retardant from either snorkel or
ground hose. PS N499DF a UH-1H out of Ukiah Airport is
practicing over Lake Mendocino (Call: C910)
also practice yesterday.
Medical Rescue: 39:08.02 -123:07.02 for extraction
11:55 C901
- rigged for lift assist (RE06 can land on roof, but C901
needs to land on the ground) - Ground pad no longer
active. Would need to shut down the Hospital Way.
C901 can not land at hospital, will land at airport.
12:16 at airport. RE06
- go to airport.
12:22 Ambulance taking patient to hospital.
12:22 Mountain incident canceled.
C910 -
T96 -
Headed North - 5:50 back at scene - 6:14 at scene - TNKR96
- Headed North T90 -
Headed North T91 -
Headed North REH01
- in area, related - no A120 -
5:09 circling - 6:14 at scene
5:30 - low rate of spread, no evacuations
---------------- almost out -------------
2022 July 17 - Brooktrails, Sky View Road, Gate incident
Big Call Up: E1183, E1172, E1173, T1143, U5240, U5290,
12:21: N410DF C910
- getting water from pond near Anderson Valley Historical
Museum T90 -
12:41 taking off for another run T91 -
12:45 T85 -
from Sonoma county N477DF
- CalFire S70I
1:40 TNKR132
- T100 -
N43U -
Beech 200T Super King Air probably IR mapping
2:30? Tankers RTB
37.48N 119.87W
Broadcastify -Mariposa Mt
Bullion2 TV - Miami
Peak 1 TV - started more than 12 hours prior to noon 23
July 22 CalFire
- Oak-fire A505 -
12:45 on the way to Fairfield A504 -
N4717V
- 690A mapping N795HT
- CH-54A N39HX
- Kaman K-1200 N555AS
- Bell 407 doing what?
12:20 TNKR01
- back @1:20
12: 25 LEED71
- Beech C90GT - some heavy planes coming
12:30 TNKR162
- back @ 1:35 - back @ 2:30,
12:45 T83 on
the way - back @1:30 - back @2:26
12:48 T82 on
the way dropping 1:02- back to reload @2:20
--------------------------------------------- There may be a
smaller fire near Groveland A440, C404
S70i, T83,
-------- N719HT
-
1:05 N404AJ
CH-47D - on the way
2:22 request for a couple of Type 1 choppers N877XL
H125-
2022 July 24 - Banks
Fire, Covolo
4:38 Watch Duty 790
-
4:50 Call up engines Alert
WIldfire TV Big John 1 -
4:53 Ukiah Planes taking off N410DF
- 5:05 start circling 4700', CW, 5:35 RTB T90 -
5:09 frozen, poor ADSB reception?, 5:35 heading back, T91 -
dropped and 5:08 RTB, 5:30 overflew my house, heading to fire,
6:08 heading to fire
4:57 Mendo
Action News -
Rx 156.1950 Tx 151.0850 Tone 27: 167.9 (Wiki) AA2CG
- Cessna 550
5:20 fire stopped, may or may not be contained
6:11 Release T91 & T91 - Dump 200 gallons retardant
Alert Wildfire: Hopland1
- 3:13pm black smoke, 3:23 white smoke, 3:38 no smoke Mendocino
County Sheriff, Fire, EMS, Cal Fire and CHP - N410DF
- circling 3pm. 3:35 RTB C910 -
3:40 working fire T90 -
released, Ukiah ETA 15:43 T91 -
3:30 tanker on ground, Ukiah & forward progress stopped
about 4:30 pm power outage - related to this fire?
2022 Sep 6 C910
- directing dozers
Fire heading to water treatment plant.
4:20 - Requesting Tankers N410DF
- 4:27 Just leaving Ukiah airport
4:32 at fire
4:40 circlingCW @4300' T91
- 4:34 at fire -4:38 RTB reload
4:44 landing
4:52 heading North to fire
5:09 landed
5:17 heading North T90
- 4:39 RTB reload
4:46 landing
4:55 heading North to fire
5:11 landed
5:20 heading N. T85-
4:49 on the way from Santa Rosa
5:22
heading N.
5:00 3 tankers circling T96
- 5:19 has dropped and now heading to U.
5:33 heading N.
9 Sep 2022 - 5:20 - smoke dying down
5:10 N487DF
- S-70i - passing Ukiah airport
5:18 at fire
N487DF
2022 Sep 7
8:54 T91-
heading 11 deg - maybe not the Walker Fire - Probably the
Mosquito fire.
discovered at 5:05 pm https://www.flightradar24.com/39.62,-123.45/14# Mendocino
County Fire and CalFire - N410DF
- C910 -
T91 - T93 -
from Santa Rosa?Chico T90 -
5:20 all 3 tankers headed back to Ukiah to reload
5:26 request 1 water tender
5:45 T93 back
then heading to Chico
5: 48 - 6290 responding, 5464 available, 6881 pickup personnel,
7051 responding, 6881 available,
5:52 - T90 back
5:55 - N57B -
Beech C-12 @12, 30 miles out - coming from Mosquito fire
6:00 - T90 -
RTB
CalFire: Mosquito
Fire Incident -33,754 acres, 0% contained, started: 09/06/22
6:00 PM
Facebook: CalFireNEU - Alert
Wildfire TV Antelope Yreka 2
5:25pm Heard T91
overfly my house and is heading 11 deg. 6:02 arrived at fire. A500 -
OV-10 N32WS -
Rockwell 690 @8,550' A503 -
Beech A200CT - 13,625' mapping T96 - S2 Blocked
- 54 mph, 4,900' - chopper? - 5:30 both Blocked choppers flying
South along highway 5 and landed at the Weed airport. Blocked
- 44 mph, 4,950' - chopper? CFCNU -
Bell 212 N4TV -
H125 N809PJ
- UH60A TNKR167
- Avro RJ85 -
2022Sep12 Firecrest Fire
Reported 4:35 Mendocino
County Fire and CalFire - N410DF
- circling C910
(N499DF) - on the way T91 -
powered up on runway @4:40 - turned back to ramp T90 -
turned back to ramp
pretty much over 4:45
Escaped Control Burn
2:37pm
Almost all the cameras at AlertWildfire are down! N479DF
- Sikorsky S-70i Firehawk T90 -
Marsh S-2F3AT Turbo Tracker
3:20 pm - fire is out
5:30 pm N410DF
- 5:39 feet wet Clear Lake - circling over water - T90
- T91
-
all heading SW (125 deg) N487DF
-
5:50 RTB
2023Jly5 - Concow Fire
3:45 pm https://www.broadcastify.com/webPlayer/6248 N410DF
- CW circle T91 - CCW
circle - returning to fire @ 4:30 after reload. C101
(S-70i Firehawk)
15:57 1184 at scene (CalFire Mendo: Engine 1184-
2018 International 7400 4x4 / BME Type 3 wildland (500/500/20F)
15:57: N410DF & T91 circling T96 - from
Fortuna - overflew my house 4:36 after reloading
4:42 T91 & T96 released.
may have been started by chain on boat trailer - RAM 2500
3:45 pm Watch Duty Philo
1 Camera (almost no smoke 5:19)- Philo2
- Hawkeyeranch
- Broadcastify
CFR90
- S-2 CFR652
- OV-10 - 3:51 passing Ukiah Airport - going home 5:57 TKR210
- (Santa Rosa) - 737-3H4 - 3:51 passing Ukiah Airport CFR85
- S-2 CFR605
- S-70i - divert to Howard Forest pick-up crew TKR167
(Santa Maria) - Avro RJ85
4:06 call for water tenders CFR86
- S-2 CFR85
- S-2
4:30 CFR605
back w/crew - 4:33 landed next to 128? 4:33 took off? CFR91-
S-2 N4035S
(Chico) - S-64E sky crane, arrived 4:44 - going home 5:40
4:42: 128 mile marker 25 - both sides TKR210
- returning @ 4:48 CFR90
& CFR91
(N428DF) arriving 5:01 RTB 5:08
PG&E power lines on fire CFR85
& CFR86
arriving 5:09 CFR85 RTB 5:17, CFR86 RTB 5:18 TKR167
arrive 5:10 depart 5:16 CFR91
& CFR90
Take off 5:18, working fire 5:27 TKR210
working fire 5:30 - on way home 5:55
switch to Cal Law
for unit to unit coms
120 acres = 50 + 70 CFR110
- OV-10 - on the way, arrive 5:49 -
5:58 CFR110 & CFR605 only two aircraft working fire, TKR167
arriving CFR86
& CFR85
working fire 6:01 - TKR167
- leaving 6:08 - CFR91
arrive 6:11
2024Jly26 7:30am: 80 acres, 5% containment, active status
N461DF(Super King Air
#86) and N410DF (OV-10 #110) heading toward him.
This fire to the right with N485DF (UH-1 Firehawk)
& N421DF
(OV-10 #240) T100 (S-2 #100) N448DF (S-2 #95)
N690AR (Aero Commander) circling to the
right N77HS
(AC90)
2020 Aug 15 Fire & S. Cow Mtn.
Rescue
2:27 pm N410DF
(OV-10 #110) N434DF
(S-2 #90) - Ukiah N428DF (S-2 #180) - Ukiah
all heading North T100
(S-2 #100) - from Eureka heading SE - North Covolo - 2: 55
turned back before arriving https://www.flightradar24.com/39.78,-123.29/12# N499DF
(UH-1 #101)
3:09 holding at 10 acres - N428DF on the way to Ukiah
3:10 N434DF on the way to Ukiah
Releasing tanker truck 9051? loaded back to Ukiah
N499DF & N410DF still there.
3:13 N410DF on the way back to Ukiah - detour helping with
rescue at S. Cow Mtn.
3:20 N499DF (UH-1 #101) - copter 101 is airborne -
3:42: expects to land at @ 3:47
4:05 all units released from Covolo fire. South Cow Mountain Rescue
N410DF N976HP
(Airbus H125) Reach - S. Cow Mtn rescue - 4:14 on the way to
UVMC
second patient extracted, will need assistance at UVMC
airborne 4:00 pm for UVMC arrived about 4:21
Nearby fire? N142Z
(Dept of Forrestry Sherpa #05) 9:20 am till about 11:20 pm
N499DF (UH-1 #101) - yesterday &
this morning at Covolo fire. Now where N142Z was.
Nevada County Air Park (Wiki)
White line is aprox location of runway.
In FR24 if you zoom in a lot it shows up, but at this
scale there is no Blue dot marker icon.
Broadcastify https://www.flightradar24.com/39.18,-123.14/11# N434DF
(S-2 #90) - overflew my house on way back to Ukiah. Takeoff @
4:36, heading North (not here) N442DF (S-2 #94) - bombing fire reloading take
off @ 4:26 heading North (not here) N414DF (OV-10 #140) - circling C906
(UH-1 #205) N490DF - leaving area @ 4:39 - return to Howard
Forest N499DF (UH-1 #101) -
Howard Force Base at peak on 101
between Ukiah & Willits
Wildland fire engine
types (Wiki)
Aerial Firefighting (Wiki)
2020 Aug 22 LNU
Lightning Complex
N410DF(OV-10 #110) been over
fires to the East and West of Santa Rosa today. N425DF
(S-2 #89) N421DF
(OV-10 #240) at Ukiah 5:05 pm TNKR911
(DC-10 #911) 4:59 39 mi from Rock ID (heading West 8600' 287
knots) 5:07 dropping. N470DF is lead plane. TNKR912
(DC-10 #912) 5:25 approaching again (6100' 270 knots 270 deg
track) 15 km out 5:34 dropping.
4:00pm TNKR40
(BAe 146-200A #40) 30 km behind TNKR911 @5pm (4425' 265 knots)
5:13 dropping N470DF
(OV-10 #505) N421DF
(OV-10 #240) N295EA
(MD-87 #105) N623PD
(Airbus H125)
4:59 A501
(OV-10 #501, N407DF)
N433DF
(S-2 #86) Type 3 tanker
Evacuation order on Nixle at 5:03 TNKR40
(BAe 146-200A #40) - not VS but Doe Trail fire Lake county N450DF(S-2 #93) flew over then on
the way to Spring Valley, Lake county fire
Evacuation resended
5:26 water tender released
2020 Aug 26 - Spring
Valley
N410DF
(OV-10 #110) N450DF(S-2 #93) N426DF
(S-2 #88) on the way to Spring Valley - 5:55 heading 197 N425DF
(S-2 #89) - 5:55 heading 197 N442DF (S-2 #94)
5:41 CMD4
(Airbus H135) - then heading for Clear Lake?
2020 Sep 7 - First
Gate (Oak?) Fire& N. of Lake Pillsbury
This morning I heard an overfly and it was related to the fire
North of Lake Pillsbury. A search of CalFire showed it
might be the Hull Fire (but it's supposed to be out).
Also this morning there was an OV-10 flying the outline of Lake
Sonoma (maybe because it's Labor Day and a fire danger?) https://www.flightradar24.com/N414DF/2570170c
- there were no fire fighting planes in the area.
A503
(King Air N461DF) @Ukiah 4:46, 4:48 heading 115 N433DF
(S-2 #86) N438DF
(S-2 #85) N499DF
(UH-1, #101) N434DF
(S-2 #90) T100 (S-2 #100) N481DF
(UH-1) on the way @ 1:34
2:10 since evacuation complete ordering Type 1 tankers. N212HP
(Bell 212)
2:28 VLAT tankers Maps 9 and maps 2 requested.
2:31 N410DF (OV-10 #110 ) left McCellan, heading
304 3:05 arrived. (161 knots)
(do the VLATs have their own lead plane?)
2:43 N450DF
(S-2 #93)
2:49 N414DF (OV-10 #140) left Santa Rosa,
heading 339, arrived 3:10 N428DF (S-2 #180)
3:23 N804PJ
(UH-60) from Red Bluff
3:24 TNKR911 (DC-10 #911) at McCellan - went to Shaver
lake fire. https://www.flightradar24.com/37.04,-119.44/12#
4:42 @ McCellan GST944
(747 #944) at McCellan 3:37 takeoff to South, CCW turn,
3:40 over McCellan heading 305, 286 knots, probably arrive
in 20 minutes or 4:04. 4:38 @ McCellan. N57112
(Rockwell 690A) circling @7300'
C501
(Cessna 501 ) N450DF
(S-2 #93) N561AJ
(CH-47 ) TNKR01
(BAe 146 #01) - was working this morning along with T100
01 back @ 2:19
1:39 N295EA
(MD-87 #105) N690AR (Aero Commander) N407CF
(King Air)
4:13 N804PJ
(UH-60)
First Gate & Lake Pillsbury @ 3:13
N805PJ
(UH-60) heading 270 circling near Abhayagiri (Wiki)
3:32 after a half dozen circles heading 5.
3:34 about 5 clicks East of the Gate/Oak fire.
First Gate & Lake Pillsbury @ 3:58
Note the row of planes coming and going to
Ukiah to reload.
GST944, the 747 is on the way. I expect a drop a little
after 4 pm.
N690AR, N561AJ are working above Lake Pillsbury.
4:58 Release hold on VLAT #944 GST944
(747 #944) at McCellan 5:27 in the air.
(slowed down on the way, 5:55 circling nearby
6:03 bombing one U turn then heading home
5:10 N295EA
(MD-87 #105) 5:33 in area circling
5:22 TNKR911 in the air, heading 129 BE20
(King Air) - circling
A503
is circling near Rumsey N425DF
(S-2 #89) N426DF
(S-2, #88) N485DF
(UH-1 Firehawk #205)
5:19 they all are heading West. N485DF
(UH-1 Firehawk #205) - made one circle
6:10 from recon: 851 acres
6:12 AA500
(OV-10 #500) heading to Oak, approaching from the South
East. A500 (5600') following N414DF (4600')
Clockwise. Attack planes around 3000'
Counter-Clockwise.
6:26 N414DF heading South to Ukiah.
6:28 N410DF (OV-10 #110 ) heading N from Ukiah
6:32 GST944
@ McCellan 6:39 released
6:53 T100
(S-2 #100) - joining from North 7:03 released
Notice that some of these are black, i.e.
they were embers that burned out. The color balance
is close to how it looks with eyes because of the yellow
sky color.
For the past couple of days there has been no air attack
on the fire because the Visual Flight Rules require 3 or
more miles visibility and it's not there.
The Alert Wildfire cameras are showing a lot of smoke.
2020 Sep 13 -
Multiple Fires
Hull Fire
Around 1 pm heard overfly, it was N434DF
(S-2 #90) working the Hull fire (CalFire)
just above Lake Pillsbury. N442DF
(S-2 #94). In addition N4717V
(Rockwell 690A) and 50 HV
(King Air), N57112
(Rockwell 690A). The interesting part is the three AT-802s FB211
(AT-802) ,FB 212 (AT-802) and FB214 (AT-802) are working the
fire getting water using floats on Lake Pillsbury then landing at
Ukiah.
2:33 TNKR01
(BAe 146 #01)
2:35 BE20
(King Air)
2:37 N434DF
(S-2 #90) is circling near the Ukiah airport. The last that
that happened there were fires. Maybe just touch and gos?
2:25 FB211 (N825DA AT-802 #211) is moving at Ukiah
airport.
2:48 FB212 (N21DA AT-802 #212)
There's a lot of smoke.
When they go low they disappear from FR24.
On the way from Ukiah to the Hull fire.
3:25 2:49 FB214 (N779DA AT-802 #214) is in the air.
3:29 A503
(King Air) overflew my house, heading 156 (not the Hull
fire?). Circled to the East of the Willits valley and
heading 352.
3:36 REH3
(Airbus H135 REACH chopper N34RX) arriving at hospital from Napa
airport.
Creek Fire
Checking McCellan TNRK107, TNKR911 & TNKR912
are working different parts of the Creek fire (CalFire).
Oak Fire
Checking the Oak Fire near Willits - no aircraft.
2020 Sep 14
Has the look and feel of training.
Overfly about 10 am N51BH
(HH-60L (Wiki)
medical and precision lift up to 9,000 pounds)
He's landing in a field off Frod Rd and near the Russian River
(Heli Base for August complex).
about 11 am: CGWGK
(Eurocopter AS350) from Canada CFZQB
(Bell 212) from Canada TNKR107
was active at McCellan about the same time a Trump was
there. Now (11:40) it's at the August Complex. But
what will be the lead plane? C501
(Cessna 501 Citation) CGWGK
is nearby the August Complex. Here to help fight the August
Complex.
11:42 TNKR01
(BAe 146 #01) is a few minutes away.
They are working in a circle around Big Signal Peak.
11:58 N51BH
(HH-60L) in the air N82BH
(UH-60) in the air.
N51BH
Blocked helicopter takes off from field.
A120, BLOCKED, N51BH all near August Complex fire
shortly after this he landed?
Noon: GST944 left McCellan heading 131. Probably going to
the Creek Fire (CalFire) N623PD
(Airbus H125) A120
(OV-10 N413DF #120) working August Complex BLOCKED
- a helicopter taking off from the same field.
1:30 pm N234BH
from the North coast seems to be going to Ukiah airport N234RF
from Eureka seems to be following N234BH
PS BOE2
(777-9 Wiki)
on test flight from Seattle, loop at Tomalas Bay near S.F. and on
the way back. Overflying Ukiah. N805PJ
(UH-60) is near BLOCKED - a few clicks East of Island Mtn. near
Old School House Rd.
A different BLOCKED
coming from Chico.
Heli Base
A field off Ford Rd and near the Russian River.
The main Base Camp is at the Ukiah Fairgrounds.
The BLOCKED choppers are that way because the owners choose it.
Many of the choppers are hired by CalFire and with each is a
ground crew.
C-CWGK
(Eurocopter AS350)
N82BH
EH-60A
N51BH
(HH-60L (Wiki)
medical and precision lift up to 9,000 pounds)
2pm N16TV
(UH-1H Iroquois) from Heli Base N407WF
(Bell 407) working August Complex N1698
(King Air) working August Complex N410DF
(OV-10 #110) wording A.C. A120
(OV-10 N413DF #120) working August Complex
3:05 landing at Ukiah, N428DF
(S-2 #180) working the Fork fire (CalFire)
There does not seem to be an air arm attacking the Oak fire near
Willits.
2020 Sep 15
The West side of the August Complex (CalFire)
is being fought from Ukiah.
The fire is moving West toward Willits (Wiki)
and Brooktrails (Wiki).
Compare the below map with the one from 2020 Sep 7 above.
WLDLD28
(Pilatus PC-12) at 16,000' drawing flower?
4:05 FB212 (N21DA AT-802 #212)
Larger scale view of three flowers
GUARDIAN
327 - "DFPC operates 2
airplanes that are outfitted with state-of-the-art
infrared (IR) and color sensors (EO) operated by sensor
operators from the Division of Fire Prevention and Control
Wildland Fire Management Staff. The PC-12 is a high
performance turbo-prop aircraft that can cruise and
work safely at altitudes above 20,000 feet. Based out of
Centennial Airport, the PC-12 can takeoff and be over a
wildland fire almost anywhere in Colorado in less than an
hour."
WLDLD28
going home 5:38 N57112 is retracing path
above the one just finished.
1:30 N410DF
(OV-10 #110) back to Ukiah about 2:48 N4717V
(Rockwell 690A #AA15) A501
(OV-10A N407DF #501) arriving 2:30 WLDLD28
(N328SF Pilatus PC-12) N57112
(Rockwell 690A) - mowing the grass 4 to5 pm TNKR01
(BAe 146 #01) - at Chico about 5:30 - bombing 6:20 TNKR107 MD-87 #107) - at Chico about 5:30 - bombing
6:20 TNKR911
(DC-10 #911) SCPR260
(CL-415 SuperScooper #260) - water from Lake Pillsbury YouTube: How
The $30 Million 'Super Scooper' Plane Was Built To Fight
Wildfires, 8:15 SCPR263
(CL-415 SuperScooper #263) - water from Lake Pillsbury FB211
(N825DA AT-802 #211) - water from Lake Pillsbury FB212
(N21DA AT-802 #212) - water from Lake Pillsbury FB214
(N779DA AT-802 #214) - water from Lake Pillsbury N82BH
(QXE2285 UH-60A) N672MP
(EH-60A) T100
(S-2 #100) N450DF
(S-2 #93) N493DF
(Bell EH-1H #902) N51BH
(HH-60L) N242BH
(Bell 206L-1) N16TV
(UH-1H Iroquois) - fill bucket from Lake Mendocino CGWGK
(Eurocopter AS350)
2:20 N493DF
(Bell EH-1H #902) flying along CA 101 North of Willits
2020 Sep 17
Tankers
12:30 Noticed a new plane: N922AU
(P-3A #22, these were sub hunters) -
from Santa Rosa
1:26 on the way 7,200', 264 mph, track 349.
following (6650') A501 (5500'), 1:35 going back to Santa
Rosa N923AU
(P-3A #23, these were sub hunters)
- on thw way from Santa Rosa 1:00 pm at 7,500' (304 knots) TNKR911
(DC-10 #911) was here earlier
1:25 on the way 8000', 399mph, track 312
1:32 holding circle 6,950', 205mph.
1:34 Following (5875', 197 mph following A501
(5000' 165 mph) N434DF
(S-2 #90) working fire at 5700'
12:55 on the way from Santa Rosa TNKR01
(BAe 146 #01) at 7,450. GST944
(N744ST, 747 #944) on the way from McCellan 1:03 at 9,400' (275
knots). 1:08 staging circle at 7,450'.
working fire 1:14 following A501. 4,900' (168
knots) TNKR01
(BAe 146 #01) 7350', 204moh, track 351, 1:50 following A501,
1:54 following A501, 2:00 going home N428DF
(S-2 #180) 1:38 heading to fire N434DF
(S-2 #90) 1:56 leaving Ukiah for fire TNKR160
(Avro RJ85 #160)
Control A501
(OV-10A N407DF #501) circling CCW at 7,000' N77HS
(Rockwell 690D) circling CW at 8,500' N414DF
(OV-10 #140) N417V
(Rockwell 690A)
Interlopers N12AK
appears heading to August Complex fire? 12,000' 157 mph track 263
- going to Ukiah Airport. Not fire related N389KT
appears heading to August Complex fire? 8,550', 82 mph track 247 -
going to Ukiah Airport. Not fire related 2:00 on ground Choppers N51BH
(HH-60L) working fire at 4,125'
1:37 heading back to Heli Base, 1:42 at Base N82BH
(UH-60A) working fire at 4,100' C-GWGK
(Eurocopter AS350) working fire at 5,000' N672MP
(EH-60A) working from at 4,650' C-FZQB
(Bell 212) on the way at 2,400' BLOCKED
on the way from Santa Rosa landed at Ukiah airport 1:22 N988B
Bell 206 - working along highway 20 at Ukiah Airport 1:43 N401AJ
(CH-47, Billings) 1:50 on the way from Bast to fire N850PJ
(UH-60A) BLOCKED - BLOCKED
- N611AC
(Bell 407) -
OV-10 A501 sitting on compass rose at Ukiah
Airport
Pyrocumulus cloud over August Complex fire
2020 Sep 17
as seen from Deerwood Dr.
N350FV
(Beech 300 Super King Air 35) was mowing the lawn around
midnight at 27,000'.
Over the past few days I've noticed that the helicopters are
filling their Bambi
Buckets from the North East corner of Round Valley.
But there's no body of water there. So how are they
filling up?
Note that many helicopters have a track
that makes the same loop over the North East corner of
Round Valley. Since there's no body of water shown
on the map, how are they filling up?
2020 Sep 27 Glass fire (CalFire).
It was 800 acres in the morning, by 1pm 1200 acres.
While still dark it smelled of smoke so I closed the
windows. In the afternoon I took the new air quality meter
outside where it measured PM2.5: 66 outside, 22 inside, 4 coming
out of the Rabbit Air filter. Time Lapse (11:00) of
the first 10 h0urs of the Glass fire.
11:41 FlightRadar24 is down. It may be very popular to
the point that the server effectively has a DDoS (Wiki
Unintentional DDoS) problem. FlightAware - is a
similar ADSB service, but shows nothing for this fire.
It's aimed at tracking commercial airliners. ADSB
Exchange is about raw data, not a usable map.
FlightRadar24 status: https://mobile.twitter.com/flightradar24
- Note emailing will not work when their server is down.
This image of N57112
was from a history yesterday morning.
2020 Sep 29 Glass fire (continued)
FR24 is working. Retrieved the above plot of N57112 from
yesterday's archive.
12:46 N57112
is working the Glass fire and the North Complex fire.
Pattern
When a fire first starts the air attack is in full force,
that's to say planes of all sizes and helicopters are working to
help the ground crews establishing fire breaks at the heel and
flanks of the fire.
But in half a day the winds reverse.
After a couple of days for a fire that's large enough (maybe
over 10,000 acres) there's too much smoke for VFR flying
rules. That's the case now (2020 Sep 29). There's
only a few helicopters in the air.
2020 Oct 2 Glass fire
(continued)
N57112
(Rockwell 690A) -17,600' mowing the lawn over Glass fire. RCN112
(?) -17,700' mowing the lawn over Glass fire.
Why the duplication??? almost identical ground
tracks. Maybe to do a comparison test or validation test
of RCN112? This is the first time I've seen it.
Both left of the Redding airport 2 minutes apart. 10:57
both on the way back.
2020 Oct 3
The smoke has cleared enough for the heavy aircraft to resume
operations.
August Complex The largest fire in California History (YouTube) (CalFire) N242BH
(Bell 206) C-GWGK
(AS350) N401AJ
(CH-47) N82BH
(H-60A) N561AJ
( CFZQB
(Bell 212) N316LH
(Bell 212) WLDLD28
(Pilatue PC-12) - drawing flowers at 23,025 feet (has been
operation most of the day) CONDR26
- at 17,600 feet mapping (out of Redding) FB212
(N12DA, AT-802 #212) FB211
(N825DA, AT-802 #211) FB-214
(N779DA, AT-802 #214) N840PJ
(H-60A) N118MB
(H125) N672MP
(H-60A) N316LH
(Bell 212) N690AR
(Rockwell 690)
2020 Oct 4
1:25 pm WLDLD28
(Pilatus PC-12/45 - flowers at 23,050' - August Complex &
North Complex N690TG
(Rockwell 690A) - moving the lawn at 8,450' - August Complex
Don't see any fixed wing planes on neither the August Complex or
Glass fires.
around 3:45 Mt
Helena is showing the fire getting very near the towers
and there appears to be lots of fixed wing aircraft nearby.
12:21 N410DF
(OV-10 #) - takes off from Ukiah Airport and circles Ukiah Rifle
& Pistol Club.
While the OV-10 was flying there was a
helicopter pinging ADS-B at the HeliBase.
But he did not take off, and the ADS-B shut down.
Maybe on stand-by?
I didn't see any S-2s ADS-B signal from the Ukiah Airport.
That indicates the ground crew has it under control.
12:32 I receive a Nixle alert: Alert Message: VICHY SPRINGS RD/
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
12:48 plane lands at Ukiah airport
01:02 Nixle" "THE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS BROADCAST HAS BEEN
CANCELLED. FIRE CREWS ARE MOPPING UP, PLEASE USE CAUTION IF YOU
ARE IN THE AREA. THANK YOU."
2020 Oct 9 - August
Complex Mapping
N57112
(Rockwell 690A) - is mowing the lawn, i.e mapping the August
complex in order to draw the fire map.
2020 Oct 12 -
August Complex Mapping
For the past couple of days there has been extensive mapping
activity at the August Complex
noon
N57112
(Rockwell 690A) - flying at 16,450', not mowing the lawn,
but rather defining the perimeter?
RNC112
- flying at 16,700' and following N57112 - maybe
calibration or time difference study? 12:10: Lat 41.338,
Lon -123.429 Forks of Salmon which seems above the August
complex. (poor ADSB coverage here). This is about
the same Lat as Mt. Shasta.
FRESH68
(KC-135R, 62-3537, MLAT position (FR24)) -
out of Vacaville 11:53. 9800', 357 mph, Track 300 deg -
appears to be on the Great Circle route to
Japan/Korea. I expect the MLAT tracking to fail as
soon as the plane is out of line of sight range of a few
receivers. Does FR24 have receivers on the coast such as
at Ft Bragg or Mendocino?
2020 Oct 13 - Lake County Fire
(centered on Sutter Lakeside Hospital)
2:55 pm N410DF
(OV-10 # ) takes off from Ukiah airport - at 3500' there's good
ADS-B coverage. 3:54 on the way back to Ukiah airport . . . so
under control?
3:17 Nixel email "EVACUATION ORDER for North Lakeport in the area of
Lakeside Heights, Hill Road East, and Penelope Court Area. Residents are advised
that there is an IMMEDIATE threat to life and property from a
wildfire, and are urged to evacuate. Please leave the
area. "
at 2600' there's poor
coverage of the S-2s.
3:27 N434DF
(S-2, #90) - returning to airport for reload - N428DF
(S-2 #180) 3:46 on the way back to reload, N433DF
(S-2 #86)
3:33 CalFire Incidents has no info
3:36pm
3:59 24 acres.
4:01 holding at 24 acres.
CONDR26
(N410DF) - to the North mapping the August Complex
4:03 Nixel "Update on the Lyons Fire in North Lakeport
Fire. Forward progress has been stopped and fire crews are
working in the area to make it safe for people to return home."
2021 April
27 - N499DF Training over Lake Mendocino
Flying over my house on the way out and back.
Loon LLC Balloons
A company called X (Wiki) was
started in 2010 as a spin off from Google. Later Loon LLC
(Wiki) spun
off from X.
Official Loon web site.
These fly between 50,000' and 70,000' altitude. 10162044
Balloon-based positioning system and method, Richard
Wayne DeVaul, Waleed
KADOUS, Eric
Teller, Cliff
Biffle, Edward
Allen Keyes, X
Development LLC, - A way to know position when GPS does
not work. Loon balloons are below the ionosphere so Total
Electron Count is not important and a single balloon-ground
frequency will provide accurate range information.
Balloon-balloon communications may be by optical link.
Balloon-ground may be: 802.11 (WiFi), GSM, CDMA, UMTS, EV-DO,
WiMAX and/or LTE.
COMMUNICATIONS PROVIDED BY UKIAH
RADIO ON FREQ 123.6 & 255.4. MHz
APCH/DEP SERVICE PROVIDED BY OAKLAND
ARTCC ON FREQS 127.8/353.5 MHz (UKIAH RCAG).
Nearby radio navigation aids
VOR
radial/distance
VOR name
Freq Var -------------------
-----------------------
------ ---
ENIr022/5.5
MENDOCINO VORTAC 112.30 MHz 16E
NDB
name
Hdg/Dist Freq Var ID -------------------------- --------
---- --- -------------------
LAMPSON
282/16.7 217 16E LOP .-.. ---
.--. I think Lampson is long gone, replaced by
UKiah
371 kHz UK ..- -.-
This is an airport for Model Airplanes, it's just
South of Ukiah surrounded by vinyards.
Accident
NTSB Acd # Date
Location
Regi
Make Model
Severity
LAX04FA093 Apr 04, 2004 Ukiah,
CA N4130D Piper
PA-32R-301T Fatal
Bus
Amtrack
has a bus station at the Burger King at the intersection of
Perkins and the 101 highway.
Radio & Televison Stations
KUKI
1400 AM -Station
Data - tower near N. State St. & CA101 KOZT 95.3 & 95.9 FM -
Mendocino has a lot of rock musicians, great programming, on the
coast in Fort Bragg K-wine 94.5 FM -
Adult Contemporary KZYX 90.7 FM & KZYZ 91.5 FM
- PBS with a great variety of programing KMFB - 92.7 coast 96.7 Ukiah
valley - oldies KMKX - 93.5 classic and new
rock
Mendocino
County - Geographic
Information -
around my House - Deer,
Turkeys, Chicks,
Rabbits, Squirrels (they bark), Quail (they
click), Dove, Bear (they get into the garbage), Rattle snake,
brightly colored millipead, Raccoons and all kinds of birds, Buzzards, Old
Oak Root Fungus, New Oak Root
Fungus (Or is it something else? brooke@pacific.net)
Bats.
4 Dec 2006 - Tried using an ultrasonic converter to listen for
bats at dusk (5:30 pm) but did not hear any. They are not
active when it's cold, but in the summer they are.
Animals & Plants
Bats
2020 Oct 23
Discovered after opening a patio umbrella.
Cone shaped head with white
on both sides and a tail that's curled down in a vertical
plane. Walks slowly. Just under 3 feet long.
Didelphis marsupialis---the Virginia opossum. It's a
long way from home.
Snake
head at left.
When I took photo saw body,
but not head.
Orchid
When indoor plants like
Gardenias or Orchids are placed by the master bath window
that faces south east they get morning sun and do
well. Photo on left is of a Red Dove orchid in bloom
for the second time.
June 2007 same orchid has two flower stalks this year.
Experiment stacking two
images to improve focus using CS4
Violet Wild Flower
Growing wild outside back
door intermixed with California Poppies.
White Water Lily Lotus
Flower
at forest end of tub
Red Water Lily Lotus
Flower
at house end of tub
Olive Harvest 2013
Ukiah
9 Nov 2013 the Mission and Manzanillo olives were
picked and taken to Olivino in Hopland, California to make
olive oil. The oil was picked up the next day. They
used the blade crusher rather than the stone mill because
of the type of olive and how ripe they were. See the
Olivino
Mill web page
for an explanation of the various machines used on the
olives. They use Vitone
olive processing equipment.
Azolla growing in pond aka: Mosquito fern (Wiki)
Leaves float, long parts are roots.
maybe each clump s 1/4" across. Covered all of the
surface of pond.
7
May 2008 a couple of bucks that are borthers and less than
one year old
10May14 Fawn 4 days old
10May14 Nursing Fawn 4 days old
Maybe around December a
deer was found dead behind my garage. No sign of
injury or other cause of death. It was moved about
10 feet away and although the outside temperature was near
freezing some turkey vultures had a meal or two.
Then the carcass disappeared.
1 May for the first time
since winter I was walking on the gravel covered path
around my house and there were most of the deer bones, all
white and clean. I think they are so well preserved
because of being on the gravel. In cases where they
are in the dirt they tend to vanish.
I'm 99% sure a bear dragged the carcass and then eat what
meat there was. Later maggots cleaned the bones.
Buck at Salt Lick
two fawns in back yard 18
Sep 2011
19 Oct 2014 Buck
Photo taken through beveled glass front door
Oct 2016 Buck -
probably the one who broke Coyote
Bush.
Note 2 new points at lower right.
14 Oct 2017 - old 6 point buck in back yard
Looks like the same buck of Oct 2016 (above right)
Notice that all 3 buck photos were taken in October (2014,
2016 & 2017)
Pileated Woodpecker (maybe 10" tall?)
basis for Woody Woodpecker
House Finch
Woodpecker eating seeds?
Purple Finch (female)?
13 Oct 2014 New small Nyger seed bird
feeder & new Lesser Goldfinchs
three birds in photo (click on photo for larger image)
Sprouted Nyger seeds
30 Mar 2015
Squirrel eating from sunflower seed bird feeder
Cracking sunflower seed and eating
Can climb fence as fast as a tree
After awhile the squirrel climbed down and moved
away maybe ten feet. A couple of ring neck
pidgins
landed on the post six feet away and the squirrel
came back and claimed the seeds. Later the
pidgins
were on the ground below the feeder eating the
leftovers.
Rear feet hold fence, front feet
hold birdfeeder
Brewer's Black Bird 3 May 2015
Squirrel's eat more seeds than the
birds.
This is the first time I've seen them on the
feeder at the right with the yellow seeds on the
right.
In the past they have only gone after the
Sunflower seeds on the left.
Tried moving the sunflower seed
feeder to a stand along
pole, but the squirrel climbed up the pole like an
inch worm.
26 Oct 2017
So added the cone and thought that solved the
problem, but NO.
I'm guessing he jumped from the ground to above
the cone.
Will try raising the cone.
Turkeys were making a lot
of noise, but by the time I got the Nikon
D300s with the 300mm Lens and tripod outside they were
just leaving. Over 100 feet away.
June 2014 Bear
photographed next door & Bear Scat in my backyard.
Taken at neighbor's place
2014 Deer in the
Forest Eaten by Vultures & Bear - YouTube -
30 Aug 2016 Bear here
Lion
Around 2009 - 2013 there have been a number of sightings
by neighbors. Just as the sun was setting I went out
the front door. From the sound of the lion's roar,
that sounded pretty much like those from the movie Cat
People (IMBD),
this was a full sized lion. Looking to my left where
the sound came from all I could see was black forest since
the setting Sun was to the lion's back.
They make new nests in the spring when water, mud and
plant material is available. They do not reuse last
year's nest.
These are under the second story eves, a location very
hard to get to be any predator.
mud dauberes make their nest on the ground.
Paper wasps make there nest under the eaves.
Ants
When confronted with indoor ants I tried Raid
Double Control baits, but the ants seemed to recognize them and
stay away, not one ant had gone inside after many hours. You
can see the active area has not one ant in photo at left although
there are at least 16 ants in the photo. Using the ant
identification guide at U.C. Davis showed that these were
Odorous House Ants and that I needed either Fipronol or
Hydramethylnon baits. After trying 4 local stores Combat
Source Kill was found with Hydramethylnon. Ants gone in a
couple of days. Combat Source Kill is made under U.S.
patent 4563836
which covers the design of the bait, not the chemical used.
Once you know what type of ant you have THEN look up which
bait has the needed active ingredient using Table
2 lists common names and what active ingredient they have.
Within a few days the ant population was noticeably lower and
after about a week there were no ants to be seen in the house.
This ant stake (all of
them?) contains hydramethylnon and is the recomended
ingrediant for an ant bait for the Pavement Ant that's
here 4 Sep 2010. Used a toothpick to stir some water
into the bait and wiped it on the wall next to the spot
where they were coming into the house. Within an
hour the swipe was covered with ants. After four
hours there are still ants at the bait, as shown in the
photo.
2 Apr 2011
Chicken Hawks (Wiki)
After the 9 October fire we have removed a lot more
undergrowth. Now there's clear flying under the
trees so a half dozen Chicken Hawks are now here.
Flower Ants
These ants appear to have a white flower pointing
forward. It's like an inverted umbrella and they can carry
it open or furled. There were thousands of them migrating
toward the Sun on 31 Aug 2012.
In this photo there are at least 3 flower ants. One at the
left center with the flower furled (point at left). One at
the center with the flower open, and one just below where the
flower looks like a cylinder (not pointed).
Our Curator Assistant, Stefan Cover, identified the ants thus:
The ants look like Messor
andrei to me, a common California harvesting ant. The
ants in the picture are carrying seeds.
Professor Edward O. Wilson | Harvard University
| Museum of Comparative Zoology | 26 Oxford Street
| Cambridge MA 02138-2902 | FAX 617-495-1224
Bath Drain Bugs
There insects (6 legs) seem
to move from the bathtub drain.
about 10 mm overall length.
What are they? Let me
know.
27 Sep 2013 - moth (Wiki) lands
on stapler and poses for photo op
Frogs
There's a pond in the fenced part of the back yard and this time
of year (April 2016) they croak, sometimes all night. This
frog is about an inch long and somehow he got into the kitchen and
on top of the hot water pot.
Frog on Hot Water Pot in kitchen
maybe 1" long
2020 March 18 a lot of Frog croaking noise
This guy is much bigger than the tree frog at left.
Maybe 4" long. Note filled air sack.
October 2016 Some animal broke a few branches. Then
a day or two later more branches were broken. Then some
days later more branches broken and a smaller nearby bush had
it's branches broken.
I haven't seen other plants broken like this before. What
animal and why? Let me know.
One idea is that this is a narrow passage between a fence and
steep slope, so a bear walking on all for legs might just step
on the bush, but no signs of scat nearby.
Another idea is that it's been cold (40s F) at night and the deer may be in rut (Wiki).
But why break only the Coyote bush?
Poison Oak
Nov 2023 - easy to see this time of year.
Nature's Rototiller
This probably caused by Ground (black) squirrels (Wiki)
which do a lot of damage. But maybe something else?
In past years I've seen tracks, like where a ditch is located,
but this is the first time I've seen large areas covered.
Note we have plenty of tree (gray) squirrels (Wiki)
which are fun to watch.
Katie, who used to live in the French Alps says pigs may be the
cause. I've since heard that there are wild pigs here, but
this is the first time I've seen this.
Many years ago there was a government Lattitude
observatory here in Ukiah on Observatory road. It was
one of a handful of observatories characterizing the wobble of the
Earth. It had a mederian telescope and the elevation angle
of stars was measured at the precise time that they crossed the
meridian. The night sky here is still awesome.
It turns out the California has
banned small tractors that can do these things. The only
small tractors now available are "garden tractors" that do NOT
have provision for working attachments.
A small tractor would be handy for:
Using a front loader (scoop) to move material like gravel or
dirt
Using a rope or chain to pull fallen trees or parts of trees
to somewhere else
Using a scraper to shape the ground (flat and/or level)
Using a post hole digger
Using a small weed sprayer
Using ? to mow weeds
Two Axle Tractor
Bobcat - skid-steer
loaders - small sizes don't accept many accessories Kubota - they own the small
tractor market - Lampson Tractor, North Bay Tractor
Bush Hog - Makes
front loaders, back hoe, tiller, post hole digger, etc.
attachments Rainbow Ag on Perkins st -
John Deere tractors - John
Deere - Gator
- Kawasaki - Mule - AGCO -used to make
Allis Chalmers - I had a B12 (12 hp) with front loader
& tiller
Single Axle Tractor
These are also known by many other names.
In Taiwan you see these on the side of the road with a large
trailer filled with agricultural products. I'm sure that in
the field other attachments are used.
UN - Single
axle Tractors -
Two-wheel tractor (Wiki)
They are much more maneuverable than a four wheel tractor.
When you live in a forest a chain
saw is one of the common tools. SAFETY is very important!
Aug 2009 - need chain saw
(my old McCullough was given away some years ago) since
there are now more dead trees both still standing and
laying on the ground. The trees are mostly under
8" diameter so a chain saw that's gas powered, light and
with a short bar would be much easier to use than a big
lumber jack type. After a lot of searching I found
the Echo CS-330T.
It came with a small bottle of 2-stroke oil (enough to
make 1 gallon), a bunch of manuals, a combination tool,
and an anti-kick-back tip. In addition I bought a
2 gallon gas container, spare chain, 5/32" chain file,
chain oil. When the chain gets dull I'll swap
chains and sharpen the dull one.
In the photo the chain is too loose. The
anti-kick-back bar tip has not been installed for a few
reasons: (1) it prevents plunge cuts and (2) with a
blade this short the actual remaining cutting length is
very short, (3) may lead to jamming (not chain but tip
and saw body).
Note: it takes some force pulling back on the red chain
lock to free the chain but only a slight forward force
to lock the chain.
Note: The grease guns for lubing the chain wheel at the
tip of the bar could not be found after searching a
number of the local stores that sell chain saws and the
manual does no mention a need to grease the wheel, so
I'm hoping it will be OK without grease.
This is a 17 1/4" x 11
1/4" x 6 inch box modified
to hold the chain saw and all it's related accessories
except for the gas.
The box is a size that happens to fit well on the storage shelving I
use. By using a box this size much more can be
stored on the same set of shelves.
Starting Tip
After sitting for over a year my
McCullough chain saw would not start. Removing the spark
plug showed small water drops. The fix was to use canned
air and blow dry the plug and also the cylinder. After
that a few pulls on the starting cord with the plug out to clear
out the cylinder and it started on the first pull after the plug
was installed.
It's best to run out the gas the last time you use an small
engine that has a carburetor so that no gasoline is left in
it. A gas shutoff is now common on many generators for
just this reason. Fuel injection is another way around
this problem, like on the Honda EU7000iS.
Dirt
If the chain touches dirt it will
become dull instantly. This applies even when stopped,
i.e. the oil will hold the dirt and at the next cut the dirt
will dull the blade.
Gravel
The there is an inlet
off of the Russian River where soil setteles out. In the
past they used an excavator to remove the dirt so that it could be
trucked away, now they have a tower
machine with an engine
at it's base.
Self Propelled String Trimmers
Bear
Cat - 73350, 73265 & 73455 have 3 speeds forward Troy Bilt - manual push
only
Taiwan
In Taiwan June through August 2008.
Weather
26 Sep 2005 Thunder
storm. Photo taken looking East at sunset.
