Boeing 747-200 (N744ST)

Actually built on a 747-400 Airframe, N744ST

Beautiful catch and capture!

Outstanding photo - wonderful shot of a great airplane.

Thank you for a nice photo and informative comment. That deserves a 5 from me.

I can haul more water or retardant then any of those little guys. Bring it on.

This beauty was painted right outside my office. :) I got to watch the daily progress as they did the paint, and would get to climb aboard and watch them install the internal systems. I even saw a couple of the ground tests and one of the low flyby water drops they did right by our facility in Marana.
http://globalsupertanker.com/b747-400-supertanker/gallery/

Super sexy. :-)

When I worked at NASA’s Ames RC, I watched some of the R&D being done on our 747 simulator to develop SW to assist the flight crew to maintain control as the plane rapidly changed gross weight & balance during the dump of the fire retardant. Not the type of handling characteristics a 747 pilot would normally encounter.

Correct me if I'm wrong that even though the aircraft is airworthy per the FAA the Forest Service won't let it fly yet. If that is the case it may have helped in the Yosemite fire recently. Perhaps I missed something.

Cannot fathom why the forestry service does not want to use more 747's in fighting the wild fires. It is critical to life & property to get fires put out as quickly as possible!

Need you so much to flight from GEG to FRU ! (503)367-7664--SMS

The Forest Service has granted flight status for this lady. Now the company is trying to get contracts. She has fought fires in Chile, and Israel.

http://www.wildlandfirefighter.com/2017/07/27/supertanker-gains-approval-to-fight-u-s-wildfires/

Just browsing today and viewed recent activity. It appears to have been flying daily in support of the current tragic fires in California.