Aero Union

For the Mexico City based cargo Airline see AeroUnion

Aero Union P-3A Orion taking off from Fox Field, Lancaster, California, to fight the North Fire.

Aero Union P-2 Tanker 16 at Fox Field in 2003, without jet engines

Aero Union Corporation is an aircraft operation & maintenance company based in Chico, California, United States. They are known for operating fire fighting aircraft, training crews in aerial firefighting and making custom designed fire fighting systems tailored to specific aircraft requirements.

History

In 1960 Dale Newton and Dick Foy participated in their first fire season with a surplus B-25 Mitchell. Newton & Foy operated for that season under the name Western Air Industries. The following year they purchased their first two B-17 Flying Fortresses and changed their name to Aero Union. In 1962 the company moved their operations from Redding, California to Chico.^[1] In June 2010 Aero Union announced plans to move the majority of its operations to McClellan Airfield (formerly McClellan Air Force Base) just outside of Sacramento.^[2] Reasons stated for the move include needing larger, more consolidated facilities, access to a larger labor pool and being closer to its primary customers.^[3][4] A smaller scale Chico operation will continue to be maintained for the foreseeable future to provide additional storage and flexibility. The relocation began in September 2010 and is estimated to be completed by the summer of 2011.

Airtanker scandal

Aero Union was one of the contractors involved in the U.S. Forest Service airtanker scandal. With the grounding of the U.S. Forrest Service's aging C-119 Flying Boxcar fleet in 1987 (some of which were operated by Aero Union) due to safety concerns the Forest Service found its aerial fire fighting capability greatly reduced. In order to quickly replace the retired aircraft and modernize the fleet the USFS, organized a deal with the Department of Defense and the General Services Administration to exchange the grounded planes with more modern C-130a Hercules and P-3 Orion aircraft. The unpublicized exchange program eventually allowed six different contractors to acquire twenty-eight aircraft at no cost, without a bidding process or public access. The exchange of these aircraft was found to have been illegally carried out by the USFS and instead of merely allowing the contractors to operate the aircraft many of their titles were transferred, effectively giving many of the aircraft away for free. Several of the planes ended up being operated for tasks outside of their intend firefighting duties. Some were used for cargo service, dismantled for parts or sold outright at considerable profit. Aero Union exchanged planes with the USFS, with the government retaining the titles and ownership, and was charged with maintaining and operating them for firefighting duties. Instead Aero Union dismantled the planes and sold the parts for a profit. Aero Union made an out of court settlement with the government over its actions but this was later challenged in court.^[5]

MAFFS II

A MAFFS II tank on display in 2008

The company is currently developing an improved version of the Modular Airborne FireFighting System under contract to the U.S. Forest Service. The new MAFFS II system will have a capacity of up to 3,400 gallons, replacing the five retardant tanks with one large tank, and has an on-board air compressor. The original MAFFS has to be pressurized by a compressor on the ground as a part of the loading process. The ability to pressurize the system in the air will cut turn-around time.^[6] The new system will discharge the retardant through a special plug in the paratroop drop door on the side of the aircraft, rather than requiring the cargo ramp door to be opened; this allows the aircraft to remain pressurized during the drop sequence.^[7]

Aero Union delivered the first production unit to the USFS in July, 2007, and will be flight tested during August.^[7] MAFFS II was used for the first time on a fire in July 2010.^[8]

Aircraft fleet

Present fleet

• Lockheed P-3 Orion
• Lockheed P-2 Neptune
• Douglas DC-4/C-54

Historical fleet

^[1]

• North American Aviation B-25 Mitchell
• Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
• Grumman S-2 Tracker
• Douglas A-26 Invader
• Grumman TBM Avenger
• Grumman AF-2S Guardian
• Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar
• Douglas DC-6
• Douglas DC-7
• Aero Spacelines Mini Guppy ^[9]

See also

	California portal
	Aviation portal
	Companies portal

• Aerial firefighting

References

External links

• Aero Union website
• Aero Union on Airliners.net
• Oroville Mercury Register re: move to Sacramento