Orion Aerial Firefighters Hopes To Buy The Aircraft Before They Are Destroyed

A group of pilots and engineers have established a crowdfunding campaign on Indigogo to buy several P-3 Orion airplanes that have been retired from firefighting service and restore them so that they can get back on the job.

According to the site set up by the Orion Aerial Firefighters, in 2011, after 20 years in service as the backbone of the US Forest Service’s large airtanker fleet for fighting wildland fires in the United States, the USFS cancelled the contract for six P-3 airtankers due to a contract dispute between Aero Union, the owner of the P-3 fleet, and the USFS.  When the negotiations came to an impasse, the USFS cancelled the P-3s, who were in the middle of a firefight in Texas, and the pilots flew these six airworthy aircraft home.

Orion Aerial Firefighters (AFF) has assembled a unique team of engineers, maintenance experts, and pilots who stand ready to return these aircraft to aerial firefighting. The familiarity of our maintenance experts with these particular aircraft position Orion AFF as the only company capable of returning this P-3 fleet to service within a year of funding.

The best way to get these critical airtankers back into service is to solicit community support allowing this fleet to return to its wildland firefighting mission.

The funding will initially be used to buy the aircraft from a dismantling company before they are scrapped. Then engineers will determine the necessary repair and maintenance to return the fleet to aerial firefighting service; lease a maintenance facility, and perform the repair and maintenance work.

The group says it went the crowdfunding route because "To a typical investor or bank, our mission does not make sense, because they cannot operate on faith that they will get a return on their investment.  This project is about much more than financial gain – it is about taking an opportunity to save a US national asset from destruction."

(Image from file)

FMI: www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-fight-wildfires-save-the-p3-orion-airtanker