Warbird Registry
Aerial Visuals
Early History
United States Navy. TBM-3. Construction number 2534.
TBM Inc, Bakersfield/Tulare, CA, 1963-1969. Registered as N1369N. Flew as tanker #E36.
Sis-Q Flying Service, Santa Rosa, CA
#E27 N1369N 1970-1974
Aerial Spray Program – NB
1971 – Flew as #E27. Pilot Sward. 1972 – Flew as #27. Pilot Payton. 1973 – Did not fly in NB. 1974 – Sis-Q Flying Service sold #E27 in 1974 to Forest Protection Limited, one of 5 in total.
Forest Protection Limited, Fredericton, NB
#E27 / #8 C-GLEF 1974-1994
Aerial Spray Program – NB
1974 – FPL purchased #E27 in late 1974 for $25,429 from Sis-Q Flying Service Inc., Santa Rosa, California, then dry leased it from Evergreen Air Services of Montreal. Martin Kyburz’s image at the Warbirdregistry is dated October 1974, just before sale to FPL. The Sis-Q logo has been removed from the fuselage. Did not fly in NB. 1975 – Dry leased from Evergreen. Pilots Popham and Lippott. 1976 – Dry leased from Evergreen. Pilot Payton. 1977 – Pilot Payton. 1978 – Repainted and renumbered (#E27 to #8) to fleet standard prior to 1978 spray season. Pilot Furry. 1979 – Pilot Clayton. 1980 – Pilot Hutchings 1981 – Pilot Hiebert. 1982, 1983 – Pilot Harrison. 1984 – Pilot Popert.
Inactive/Sold – NB
1985-1994 – In storage at FPL. 1994 – Sold to owner in USA.
Post-spray History
Jeff Thomas/Vintage Wings, Seattle, WA, July 1994. Trucked to Seattle, dismantled, July 1994.
Ozark Management Inc, Rolla, MO, Feb. 28, 1995-1998. Registered as N65VC.
Wes Stricker, Rolla, MO, July 11, 1998-2002.
Here is TBM Inc. Tanker #E36 N1369N (BuNo 85715) at Hollister Municipal Airport, CA, in August 1965. She later was tanker E27 with Sis-Q FS. [photographer not known]. This photo is incorrectly labeled. This TBM was actually landing at the U.S. Forest Service’s Air Attack Base at Fresno’s Hammer Field in July of 1961. This base was opened by Forestry in 1955. The photo is one of the series I took during the 1961 fire season.
Thank you, lance. Second photo corrected. Was the first photo as at the same location?
Yes, that one is correctly labeled, same plane, same location during the 1961 fire season in the Sierra Nevadas east of this fire base. This base was opened here in Fresno back in 1955 by the US Forestry service to provide air tankers an efficient location to refill their tanks and quickly return to the fires.