Tanker 101 Service History
Lockheed PV-2D Harpoon as a Fire Fighting Air Tanker
The main reason that this Harpoon survived is because she was converted to a fire bomber. All but 7 of her flight hours were fighting fires or flying in support of that mission. Many different people flew her throughout her tanker career and thankfully many of these wonderful folks took photos of her. Here are those photos. If you happen to have any shots of Tanker 37 or Tanker 101 please let us know as we would love to add them to this page.
If you also have any stories of flying Harpoons while fighting fires please write those experiences down and send them to me and I will post them here for everyone to enjoy.
These are the first photos of N6657D taken by Milo Peltzer just after she was converted from a Warbird to a civilian aircraft. She has not been converted to an air tanker as yet as you can see she still has her bomb bay doors. Just click on any image to see a larger picture.
She first became Tanker 37 and received a fiberglass tank
This shot which was provided by Peter Marson, who authored the wonderful book called Lockheed Twins. It shows the early fiberglass tank and the Wenair Company nose markings when she was at Bill Dempsay's field in Kansas.
These next two shots were taken in Missoula, MO (MSO) in 1976. Notice that she changed from Tanker 37 to Tanker 101
These two photos was taken in Brainard, MO in April of 1979. Thanks for loaning me the slides to copy Dick
These next two photos were taken during the fire season of 1980. The first one shows Tanker 101 in the background framed by another Harpoon Tanker 38 and B-17 Tanker 68.
Notice the change of markings on the tail, nose and engine nacelles
These next two shots show her in Kinney Tanker markings. She has spray booms attached to the trailing edges as she was a sprayer for a while reportedly flying against grass hoppers. The one on the right shows John Hirth servicing the Harpoon.
The next two photos were taken by Byron Sunwall who was a copilot on T-101. Thanks Byron for sending me these photos for me to copy. Notice that the Kinney Air Tanker markings on the nose have been removed. The names of the people in the photos, from left to right, is: Guy (Rusty) Shoemaker, John Hirth, Connie Hirth,...
From Craig Stebbins:
"Some of the individuals, standing in front of the airplane in the two pictures are identified on your webpage:John and Connie Hirth, Byron and Rusty, (dressed in blue). Guy, Rusty Shoemaker was an A&P/IA who worked for Kinney Aviation/Kinney Airtankers and also worked for several other operators at the GDV airport over the years.Rusty passed away back in 1994. I would guess the picture was taken somewhere in the 1984-1985 timeframe. The other two individuals in the pictures, depict a man and a woman.The man in the tan pants is none other than Bruce Kinney himself, and the woman is, I'm assuming, his girlfriend, but I'm not sure which one... As you know, Bruce Kinney was killed in a mid-air collision in Idaho back in the late 1990s."
Thanks Craig!
Notice the gun nose in the extended position. This sure was a nice way to access the nose and the area behind the instrument panel. Byron Sunwall took this picture at Hazelton, Pennsylvania. You can also see that the nose and the speed rings on the cowling had been repainted. Craig Stebbins believes these were taken at taken at the Glendive airport, GDV, in Montana. The right photo shows Byron standing next to the right engine.
Here she is during an engine change. Her left propeller and cowling can be seen under the right wing in the left photo, and in the right photo, the front office of the Harpoon.
These shots were taken during the preparation for her trip to California by Bill Hyler. Bill was a copilot flying air tankers for John and Connie Hirth. He was asked to fly right seat on Tanker 101 for her flight out to California. Bill said it was a trip of a lifetime and thankfully he brought along a camera. Thanks so much for sharing your photos Bill.
John and Connie were hired by Ralph Johnson to prepare 57D for her trip across the country to the Johnson Ranch. They also provided the flight crew for the trip. The two card board boxes just inside the door were the old carburetors that were replaced with fresh overhauled ones. The two barrels of oil were brought along to supply the oil needed for the long trip!
Here is Bill Hyler, John Hirth and Gene Akers just before Gene and Bill departed for California
She is all ready to go, with Connie and the late John Hirth.
These next shots were taken by Bill on the trip across the country. Bill reports that they flew from Hazelton, PA to Mid State, PA to Findlay, OH to Peru, IL to Ames, Iowa to Columbus, NE to Kearney, NE to Lyman, WY to Elko, NV to Truckee, CA and then to the Johnson Ranch near Middletown
Bill in the right seat
Gene Akers at home in any Harpoon
Gene and Bill fly the required low approach before they land at the Johnson Ranch. You can see the hangar at the end of the runway on the right
A proud and happy new owner, Ralph Johnson, poses for a photo with Gene Akers on the right and Bill Hyler on the left
The day she arrived at the Johnson Ranch. This was the first day of her 16 year slumber
If you have any Tanker 101 stories that you might like to share please write them down and e-mail them to me and I will be happy to post them for everyone to enjoy. Send them to tanker101@twinbeech.com.
Here is our first e-mail. Thanks Ken for writing!
"I happened up on your piece regarding restoration of Tanker 101 and was delighted to see the photos of its rebirth. I knew Tanker 101 during its wild land firefighting days as a contract tanker for the SC Forestry Commission during the 1980s. The plane was operated by Kinney Air Tankers out of Washington or Oregon and was commanded by a veteran pilot named Jim Keel. During the 1985 spring fire season, Tanker 101 was based in Walterboro, SC. It flew more than 100 missions for us over the course of about six weeks. Your piece brought back lots of memories. SC Forestry Commission (Retired)"
To skip ahead 16 years to see the next chapter of her awakening click here.