San Bernardino Mountains, CA, February 7, 2015 – Orion Aerial Firefighters is a company dedicated to return the P-3 Orion aircraft to aerial firefighting service. It is currently raising funds to bring these aircraft back to the fleet of air tankers.
Dale Head, CEO of Orion Aerial Firefighters, says, “The US Forest service has a shortage of large air tankers, which dangerously reduces its firefighting capabilities. Pilots feel that the maneuverability and relatively short wingspan of the P-3 allows it to get to places other airtankers just cannot.”
In 2011, after 20 years in service as the backbone of the US Forest Service’s large airtanker fleet for fighting wildland fires such as we’ve experienced here in the San Bernardino Mountains, the USFS cancelled the contract for six P-3 airtankers due to concern over maintenance practices by Aero Union, the owner of the P-3 fleet.
Orion Aerial Firefighters has assembled a unique team of engineers, maintenance experts, and pilots who intend to return these aircraft to aerial firefighting. Their familiarity with these particular aircraft put Orion AFF in a unique position to return this P-3 fleet to service within a year of funding.
If you would like to help return the fleet of P-3 Orion large airtankers as a critical component of the US Forest Service’s national firefighting fleet, got to orionaff.com.
