Hemet-Ryan Airport (HMT/KHMT) (Hemet, California)

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In 1957 the United States Forest Service commenced air tanker loading operations and in 1959 California Division of Forestry (now the California Department of Forestry) began their operation at Ryan field. Both agencies maintained separate parking, loading and mixing areas but the initial stages of a joint base operation had begun. In 1969 the United States Forest Service (USFS) and the California Division of Forestry (CDF) truly merged into a joint agency air attack base sharing the base operation, responsibilities and facilities. The joint base concept successfully continued operation until 1998 when the USFS moved their air tanker base operation to the larger and recently vacated Norton Air Force Base.

Ryan Air Attack Base is one of 19 tanker bases strategically located throughout California. Because of climate, weather, fuels, geography and fire occurrence Ryan is strategically located. The base provides initial attack aircraft service to over 17 thousand square miles of private, state, and federally owned lands. Up until 1998, Ryan was statistically the busiest air tanker base in the United States delivering an average of 1.5 million gallons of retardant annually. With the USFS moving to San Bernardino, these statistic have dropped dramatically.

From the beginning of Ryan Air Attack Base, CDF and the USFS used privately owned contracted WWII vintage aircraft. The type and sizes of aircraft varied based on vendor, availability of flyable airframes and spare parts. As the years counted off and the flight hours increased these airplanes became static museum displays or were robbed for parts to keep the dwindling fleet flying. Because of the dwindling air tanker fleet, CDF acquired excess U.S. Navy Grumman S-2A submarine hunting aircraft. These planes were converted form military use to firefighting aircraft using a design developed by Hemet Valley Flying Service. The first two aircraft build-ups were completed by Hemet Valley Flying Service and tested at Ryan Air Attack Bases. The basic aircraft design has been in continuous state service since 1975.

In 1977 CDF began a two-week pilot helitack program utilizing a contracted helicopter. Headed up by Captain Emil Derdowski and two firefighters the program was extended to a total of four weeks. The success of this pilot program brought on line Hemet-Ryan Helitack Base using a full time contract helicopter staffed with three captains and nine firefighters operating out of Ryan Air Attack Base.

In 1981, CDF acquired Bell UH-1F Huey helicopters through the Federal Excess Property Program (FEPP) leasing them from the Air Force through the USFS for one dollar a year. This program allowed CDF to operate and manage its own fleet of fixed wing and rotor wing aircraft.

In 1992 CDF acquired several of the larger Bell UH-IH helicopters through FEPP with Hemet-Ryan Helitack stationed at Ryan Air Attack Base receiving one of the first buildups. These helicopters were further upgraded with larger engines, main rotor and tail boom assemblies making them the “Super Huey” model. CDF now has eleven of these helicopters in service with nine based throughout the state. In 1993, the OV-10 replaced the older Cessna 337 as Air Attack 310 base at Ryan. In June 2001, CDF replaced the older S-2As at Ryan with S-2F3AT Turbine Tanker conversions. The upgrades include constant flow 1200 gallon tanks and turbine engines allowing, for better capabilities and performance.

In June 2007, The Hemet-Ryan Airport was approved $2.5 million from the Riverside County Board of Supervisers and over $25 million from the state for the redevelopment of the air-attack facilities. An additional $417,000 will be used for an environmental-impact study on the expansion of the runway. The runway will be extended from 4,300 feet to 6,000 feet to accommodate heavier firefighting aircraft and increased corporate jet traffic. The runway expansion would take place on the south-west portion of the complex and require re-alignment of Stetson Ave. and Warren Road.

The 12-acre base will contain a 5,842-square-foot, 22-bed barracks building, a 4,812-square-foot three-bay vehicle storage facility and shop; a 4,646-square-foot, two-story operations building containing pilot facilities, administration and dispatch center; a 15,300-square-foot, two-bay open-shade canopy and an 8,211-square-foot helicopter/ OV-10 enclosed hangar. Also planned are new public and secured staff parking areas, six fire-retardant loading pits to handle inter-agency aircraft, along with equipment tanks, pumps and piping used to mix and deliver fire retardant. Construction is expected to begin in October 2008.

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