The Flickr Hawkinspowersaviation Image Generatr

Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer (c/n 44094)
Hawkins & Powers Aviation
Fairbanks-Fort Wainwright Army Airfield (FBK/PAFB)
25 June 1986

The PB4Y-2 was a navalized version of the B-24 Liberator, and more than 700 were built by Consolidated between 1943 and 1945. This particular frame was built in 1945 for the US Navy as BuAer 60260, and later flew with the US Coast Guard before being retired in 1956.

In 1969 the aircraft was acquired out of storage by Greybull, Wyoming-based Hawkins & Powers Aviation as N7620C, and converted to tanker 123. As such it was seen based at Fort Wainright for the summer, on lease to the Alaska Bureau of Land Management.

N7620C continued service with H & P until July 2002, when it was lost in a tragic accident. During a firefighting operation near Estes Park, CO, both wings folded up and broke off, after which the fuselage broke in half and crashed into the ground. The 2 crew on board were killed. The accident was attributed to fatigue cracking in the left wing's forward spar, which led to an in-flight structural failure.

Hawkins & Powers Aviation
Fairchild-Hiller F-27F
HGR
10/17/24
Shot at Hagerstown Aviation Museum

Hawkins & Powers Aviation
Fairchild-Hiller F-27F
HGR
10/17/24
Shot at Hagerstown Aviation Museum

Do I see a little irony in the placement of the logo plaque and the notice on the museum door?

In any case, this was a very interesting stop on my loop tour of the Greater Yellowstone-Bighorn Basin, where the tiny town of Greybull, Wyoming sports a remarkably informative and interesting "bone yard" of air craft, most retired first from military service, and then from fire-fighting service.

From the Website (www.museumofflight.us/)

For many years Hawkins & Powers Aviation, Inc. conducted firefighting operations from the South Big Horn County Airport, in Greybull. They also repaired active Air Force aircraft under a civilian contract.

Transcriptions are verbatim except where noted:

From the Museum brochure:

Welcome to the Museum of Flight and Aerial Fire Firefighting. The Museum…was founded in 1987 and incorporated in 1992. It was staffed by Hawkins & Powers employees until 2004 and then was run by volunteers until 2008. The museum reopened in 2014 with the help of the Greybull Area Chamber of Commerce.

Aerial Firefighting
Many types of aircraft and many different designs have been utilized to combat forest fires since the late 1920s. In the early 1950’s, the first modern air tankers were developed and began testing in the Western United States. Mel Christler and Morris Avery started an aerial firefighting company in Greybull [Wyoming] in the 1960’s with Hawkins&Powers taking over in 1969. They went out of business in 2004 and the planes you see here are what were left and later auctioned off.

I decided to play with an archived image from a couple of years ago (7-28-2021) taken while visiting the Museum of Flight and Aerial Firefighting in Greybull, Wyoming. This is a Fairchild C-119 that once served the Royal Canadian Air Force, eventually arriving in its later years in the hands of Hawkins & Powers Aviation in Greybull as an aerial tanker. I first discovered this little museum years ago when passing through Greybull and making a pit stop at the local rest area, behind which is the South Bighorn County Airport. The museum was still closed for the winter on this first occasion but I looked over the aircraft through the fence behind the rest area, noting the red stains around doors at their bottom. It then dawned on me what kind of service these aircraft had seen in their final years and several years later (this visit in 2021), I finally visited when the museum was open. For aviation enthusiasts, it's well worth the visit if in the area.

Shooting images of these aircraft is a bit of a challenge owing to cluttered backgrounds behind each, so I resorted to a bit of artistic license in Photoshop to clean things up a bit.

Fort Wainwright, AK 6.5.00

copyright © 2000 Chris Chennell

Fort Wainwright, AK 6.5.00

copyright © 2000 Chris Chennell

Fort Wainwright, AK 6.5.00

copyright © 2000 Chris Chennell

Fort Wainwright, AK 6.5.00

copyright © 2000 Chris Chennell

Fort Wainwright, AK 6.5.00

copyright © 2000 Chris Chennell

Fort Wainwright, AK 6.5.00

copyright © 2000 Chris Chennell

N1365N Boeing C.97G Hawkins & Powers Aviation. Not so sure about the Location, but it seems to have based in the Region at the time - could be Ft. Wainwright as well. Former USAF KC.97L 52-2698 (with the jetpods), but converted to a firebomber. Lingers on at Greybull, Wyoming (slide scan from my collection - not taken by myself).

N2871G Consolidated PBY-2G Super Privateer Hawkins & Powers Aviation - the only still airworthy Privateer. Nowadays sporting an USAF color scheme (scan from my collection - not taken by myself).

pictionid66052239 - catalogconsolidated pb4y bd 8.jpg - title consolidated pb4y - filenameconsolidated pb4y bd 8.jpg---Born Digital Image. .Note: This material may be protected by Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.)--Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum