Penticton to wave goodbye to Convair air tankers as new models are due to arrive next year

Photo: Penticton Regional Airport

The Convair air tanker attacking a wildfire.

The iconic Conair Convair air tankers which have called Penticton home most summers during wildfire season for 25 years are being retired this year.

The tankers will leave Penticton Regional Airport for the last time on Sept. 6, due to be replaced by Conair's new new Dash 8-400 airtankers.

“Over 20 years ago the Convair CV580 represented a significant step forward in performance and reliability when Conair transitioned from the radial engined Firecats and DC6 airtankers. Now the Convairs are hitting their retirement age," said Jeff Berry, director of business development with Conair.

The air tankers were converted from commercial airliners. They are a skeleton inside the cabin, with everything designed to maximize the load the planes can carry.

"The Convair is from the age before computers were designed. It’s extremely rugged and overbuilt for safety. If the Air Tractor is like a Swiss Army knife – can do anything – the Convair is like a sledgehammer. Anytime you have a plane with more power than you need, the pilot is happy,” explains pilot Anthony Ussher, as quoted in a City of Penticton blog post.

The new planes will have hydraulic steering and autopilot, where as the Convair planes are manual and the pilot is two hands on the wheel the whole time.

The old Convairs do have a future as well. One is destined for the BC Aviation Museum in Victoria, and the other the Kelowna Flight Centre Museum.