Crowdfunding Campaign Established To Return P-3 Aircraft To Firefighting Status | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-03.24.25

SunnFun-DayOne-04.01.25

Airborne-Unlimited-03.26.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-03.27.25

Airborne-Unlimited-03.28.25

DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT Miss Monday's Historic (Really) SUN n FUN Innovation Preview: www.airborne-live.net, 1600ET!!!

Sat, Feb 07, 2015

Crowdfunding Campaign Established To Return P-3 Aircraft To Firefighting Status

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

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (03.29.25)

Aero Linx: Beech Aero Club The Beech Aero Club (BAC) is the international type club for owners and pilots of the Beech Musketeer aircraft and its derivatives, the Sport, Super, Sun>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (03.29.25)

"Congratulations to the entire Parker Solar Probe team for this well-earned recognition. This mission's trailblazing research is rewriting the textbooks on solar science by going t>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Fuel For The Future? – A Swift Fuels Update

From 2016 (YouTube Edition): Leading The Charge Towards “Getting The Lead Out”… The issue of providing a sustainable supply of Avgas for our piston powered aircr>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (03.29.25): Dead Reckoning

Dead Reckoning Dead reckoning, as applied to flying, is the navigation of an airplane solely by means of computations based on airspeed, course, heading, wind direction, and speed,>[...]

NTSB Final Report: Tecnam P2010

Loss Of Engine Power Was Not Preceded By Any Abnormal Signs Or Engine Indications Analysis: The pilots reported the engine suddenly lost power during the initial takeoff climb at a>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC