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Chinese Water-bomber Under Development |
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Water Aircraft Lands in 2013
The first Chinese-made large amphibious aircraft is scheduled to
take off in 2013, and ready for mass production in 2015, a senior
engineer for the manufacturer said.
The amphibious aircraft, about the size of an Airbus 320, will
handle emergency services and military tasks that are difficult or
impossible with current aircraft in China today.
 Read the full article in the China Daily News on 10-20-2009
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Missoula crash victim: ‘Great Christian young man' |
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Saturday, September 6, 2008
By KATIE OYAN Associated Press
HELENA - The 25-year-old Missoula man who
died this week in an air tanker crash in Nevada was a “super guy” who
loved aviation and moved to Montana to pursue his dream, friends and
family members said Thursday.
Zach VanderGriend, an airplane
mechanic, was one of three men aboard the Lockheed P2V-7 that went down
shortly after taking off from Reno-Stead Airport on a firefighting
mission. Also killed in the crash Monday were pilot Calvin Gene
Wahlstrom, 61, of Hunstville, Utah, and co-pilot Greg “Gonzo”
Gonsioroski, 41, of Baker.
The plane was owned by Neptune Aviation Services Inc. of Missoula.
VanderGriend
was a “great Christian young man who lived his faith every day,” said
his father, Steve VanderGriend of Gig Harbor, Wash. He became
interested in flying as a child and developed a passion for it, earning
his private pilot's license at age 17.
VanderGriend studied at
Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and Moody Aviation in Spokane before
graduating from Grace University in Omaha, Neb.
He started looking for jobs and found one at Neptune. He moved to Missoula in late May.
“The
first time he came in contact with Neptune, he knew without a shadow of
a doubt that's where he wanted to be,” Steve VanderGriend said. “He was
passionate about it. He loved the people he worked with and the good
that he was doing in the world through fighting fires.
The full Missoulian article...
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Missoula man among 3 killed in crash |
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Saturday, September 6, 2008
By MICHAEL MOORE of the Missoulian
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Neptune Aviation chief pilot Gene Wahlstrom,
right, is shown with pilot Terry Johnson in the company's hangar in
March 2008. Wahlstrom was killed in the crash of an air tanker on
Monday evening. Photo by TOM BAUER/Missoulian |
The three men who died in Reno, Nev., Monday evening in the crash of an air tanker all worked for Missoula's Neptune Aviation.
The
three were identified Wednesday by the Washoe County, Nev., coroner's
office as 25-year-old Zachary Jake Vander Griend, of Missoula;
41-year-old Greg Gonsioroski, of Baker; and the company's chief pilot,
Gene Wahlstrom, 61, of Hunstville, Utah.
Wahlstrom spent a lot of time in Missoula, but his family had its permanent home in Utah.
The
men were all aboard Neptune Tanker 09 as it rumbled out of Reno-Stead
Airport to drop a load of fire retardant on a small fire burning in
Calaveras County, Calif. The plane, piloted by Wahlstrom, crashed
shortly after taking off and experiencing fire in one of its engines.
The crash came as a stunning blow to the company and its employees.
Neptune
President Kristen Schloemer-Nicolarsen said she appreciated the care
and concern shown by Missoulians toward the company over the past few
days.
“We appreciate so much the support of the community,” she
said. “Right now, we just need to be spending time with the families.
We'll talk about everything else later.”
Wahlstrom, who joined
the company in 1999, was the subject of a Missoulian story in March,
shortly after Neptune's 22 pilots finished a training course in Seattle.
“This
business has inherent risks,” said Wahlstrom. “You're taking an
80,000-pound plane and flying at low altitudes and low speeds of about
140 mph. You're working in mountains and around hazards of power lines,
antennas and trees.”
The full Missoulian article...
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Jet engine fire downs Neptune aircraft, killing 3 |
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Tuesday, September 2, 2008
By SCOTT SONNER of the Associated Press
RENO, Nev. - A jet engine fire engulfed the wing of a
Neptune Aviation air tanker moments after takeoff, sending the plane
rolling into the ground and killing all three members of the
Missoula-based firefighting crew, a federal investigator said Tuesday
night.
The Lockheed P2V-7 aircraft, on the way to drop retardant
on a California wildfire, was between 100 and 300 feet off the ground
when it crashed less than two miles from the Reno-Stead Airport on
Monday evening, said Tom Little, lead investigator for the National
Transportation Safety Board.
Little said nothing indicates pilot
error played a role in the crash, which brings to 27 the number of
deaths in fatal crashes of firefighting air tankers in the U.S. since
1991.
“Two witnesses confirmed the fire was from the jet engine,” Little told reporters at the airport north of Reno on Tuesday night.
Investigators
recovered several large pieces of metal north of the runway that appear
to have come from the burning engine, he said.
“It appears it
had disintegrated and subsequently left the aircraft. We know there was
a fire on board the aircraft,” Little said.
“We just are at a
loss right now as to why, No. 1, the engine caught on fire, and No. 2,
what caused the loss of control of the aircraft?” he said. “That is
what the focus of the investigation will be over the next six to nine
months.”
Casey Meaden, who lives near the airport, said she was watching the plane take off when she noticed an engine was on fire.
“It
didn't seem like he was getting much altitude,” she said. “It was a
little while after it got into the air. I could see it was off the
ground. I said, ‘Oh, my God! That thing is on fire.' ”
The full article in the Missoulian September 2, 2008
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