Big Juicy – R.K. Smithley battles the Los Angeles Wildfires in a DC-10 fire bomber

Tanker 910, one of four DC-10-30s operated by Albuquerque-based 10 Tanker, releases a load of Phos-Check fire retardant from its external belly tanks. (Photo by Austin Beede)

“When you’re in a holding pattern flying over a thousand houses that are now just foundations, it kind of slaps you in the mouth,” Capt. R.K. Smithley says, describing his emotions and the view from the cockpit of the DC-10-30 as he was flying for 10 Tanker Air Carrier just above the fires that devastated Los Angeles in January. “But when it’s your turn to go in and drop, it’s all business for the three...

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