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After months of development
and the hard work N450AX has successfully dropped over 10,000 gallons of water.
ATS would like to thank the following groups for their hard work and dedication.
Jordan
Aircraft Services Inc Fabrication and assembly of the tanks, including the
physical tanks, and the hydraulic system; including sourcing, fabrication and
assembly of most of the components.
Erickson Air
Crane Company, LLC: The 10-Tanker evolved from their helicopter based tank
system, which was used on the “Proof of Concept” by attaching one of their
helicopter drop tanks to the aircraft. The program evolved with a requirement
for very specific tanks and hydraulic and control system, including their
proprietary drop control system
Victorville
Aerospace LLC: Structural modification of the aircraft and installation of
the tanks.
Aeroshear
Aviation Services: fabrication of components and support of our sometimes
ridiculous manufacturing schedule.
Independent
Measurements & Tooling: Set up and inspection of the aircraft for critical
alignment of tanks to aircraft.
A & M
Engineering: calibration of the Erickson (helicopter) electrical drop
control system to function at aircraft speeds and drop rates.
Tim Engle
Aircraft Electrical Services: Fabrication of external harnesses and control
panels.
Omni Test
Services: Flight test instrumentation services.
10-Tanker LLC: Without the
support and funding of 10-Tanker LLC this program would never have gotten of of
the ground
Aircraft Technical Service
handled all of the structural modification engineering including fuselage
reinforcement and tank redesign and reinforcement. Aircraft Technical Service
also is handling all of the FAA certification work. |