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 From September '96 Bronco Flyer 

Broncos Used in Wildfire Suppression
OV-10 Studies Air Turbulence
Baby Bronco on Way

Broncos used in Wildfire Suppression
Dick Williams
Fixed Wing Program Manager, Bureau of Land Management

Terri twisted our arms for information in the last Flyer, but it was the FREE BEER that really got our attention!

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administers over 270 million acres of public land, mostly in the western United States, as one of several bureaus within the U.S. Department of Interior. The Aviation Program has fire aviation bases from Phoenix. Arizona to Fairbanks, Alaska and flies an average of 25,000 hours a year; 90% of that is contracted and 80% is in support of fire suppression. Currently, Alaska operates three Broncos (with agreements with Montana and Minnesota) and California, Nevada and Arizona/Idaho each have one.

BLM obtained OV-10's in 1992. We currently have six operational A models, three others used for parts and a final one currently grounded for wing corrosion. We also have three D models in storage. Our plan for the future is to bring the D models on line and/or upgrade the A models to D performance with props and hot sections.

We have been very pleased with the Bronco for our operations. The visibility, speed and maneuverability make it an ideal platform for our needs. We added air conditioners, tinted glass and civilian avionics to the aircraft and removed the ejection seats, sponsons and much of the armor plating. The average operational weight is about 10,500 pounds.

As the fire seasons wax and wane, the Broncos move throughout BLM and Forestry Service (U.S.FS) lands as the aircraft are used to support wildfire suppression. They are used both in the air attack and the leadplane roles. Air attack planes generally fly above the fire directing air operations that may include leadplanes, air tankers, helicopters and smokejumpers. Leadplanes generally work with the airtankers scoping out firelines, safe entrances and exits for passes. checking for air turbulence and hazards, and actually leading the tanker in for drops. The fire season generally subsides in most of the country by November. Pilot training generally begins in February or March with some crews operational by April 15.

Although we were the first civilian government group to operate the OV-10, BLM welcomes all the other users. The User's Convention last fall was a great idea, as is the Bronco Flyer! Cooperative efforts. both from maintenance and operational standpoints, are crucial in making these programs work effectively. Let's get together on more issues - and stay together.

OV-10 Studies Air Turbulence
Cornealious S. Scott, Jr.
Aircraft Flight Systems Specialist,
NASA Langley Research Center

With sophisticated instrumentation additions to an OV-10 Bronco, atmospheric researchers at NASA Langley are studying wake vortices in an effort to reduce plane crashes and help airports handle air traffic more efficiently. Wake vortices are potentially deadly spirals of air that trail behind all moving objects from ships to birds to planes. Just as a small boat is tossed by the wake of a large ship, a small plane flying too close behind or beneath a larger plane can be upset and forced toward the earth, sometimes with tragic consequences.

While scientists can draw on 20 years of research on the phenomenon in wind tunnels, understanding how wake vortices act in the natural environment is something else. Thanks to the OV-10 Bronco, detailed information about natural and artificial airilows and how they are affected by atmospheric conditions can now be gathered.

The main instrumentation pallet slides in and out of the cargo bay on rails and rollers. This allows easy access to the pallets in the forward section of the cargo bay and to the hydraulic package.

The aircraft is instrumented with several computers which collect information on barometric pressure, dewpoint, atmospheric pressure, wind direction and velocity, airspeed, acceleration and other factors. Video recorders are installed in the left and right sponsons to record the information gathered by cameras in the wing tips and vertical stabilizers.

The front cockpit has been reinstrumented to include a video display unit to enable the pilot to monitor the instrumentation pallet and video.

The rear cockpit was remodeled to include a 15" computer display mounted on the instrument panel plus two video displays and a dewpoint sensor panel. The right console houses the video control panel, a mini-computer key pad and a computer control panel. We removed the engine controls from the left console to make room for the oxygen bottle and dewpoint sensor.

Externally, the new configuration includes two wing booms and a nose boom to aid in gathering other atmospheric information.

Collectively, these additions enable NASA engineers to learn the characteristics of a wake vortex which, in turn, will make the skies safer for all of us to fly.

Baby Bronco on Way

Plans for a Remote Control (RC) model OV-10A airplane will soon be avail- able at a scale of 1:5. Detailed museum scale plans are being prepared by Dan Palmer of Palmer Plans based upon original manufacturer's drawings supplied by Maney Aircraft, Inc. of Ontario, CA.

Palmer Plans has gained a worldwide reputation among RC model enthusiasts for authentic designs of significant historic aircraft based on extensive research into original manufacturer's production drawings and/or careful measurements of available examples.

Stay tuned for more information including the date of release.

If you're interested in other RC plans, check out Palmer Plans on the
Internet and download a free catalog:

http://www.mag-web.com/rc-modeler/palmer/
Phone: 818-348-0879
Fax: 818-348-9204
E-mail: palmerplans@worldnet.att.net