Air Tanker 124 in Warbirds International Magazine

Warbirds International magazine has an article this month on the PB4Y-2 Tanker 124. Tanker 124 has operated out of Fox Tanker Base in Lancaster along with other PB4Y-2's Charlie 30 and Tanker 123. In the 1980's I worked at Fox and loaded all three aircraft with fire retardant. The Goleta Air and Space Museam has a page of Privateer photos.

In 2002, Tanker 123 had a structural failure and crashed while fighting a fire in Colorado. A photo from the Denver Post of the aircraft crashing is here. The PB4Y2's have been grounded since that time. Hawkins and Powers when faced with this crash and the later crash of a C-130 folded and the aircraft are being auctioned. Yanks Air Museum in Chino acquired Tanker 124 and flew the aircraft to California from Greybull Wyoming in 2008.