Siskiyou Smokejumper Base Aircraft
The First Ten Years
Stories from the historic Siskiyou Smokejumper
Base, Cave Junction, Oregon
Smoke jumping was still a new and
dangerous technology when the Siskiyou Smokejumper Base was
established in 1943 near Cave Junction, Oregon. They had many
challenges but the biggest problem they faced when the program
started was, literally, how to get off the ground. It was the
height of World War Two, airplanes were scarce, and the Forest
Service had little experience with setting up and managing air
operations. Regardless of the difficulties, the smokejumper
program proved itself to be an effective fire fighting program
and its success resulted in rapid growth and expansion of
operations. The airplanes used in the first ten years of
operations were essential to the achievements of this program.
The first
aircraft to be used for transporting smokejumpers at the
Siskiyou Base was a Fairchild 81, a privately owned airplane
contracted by the Forest Service. The arrangement worked O.K.
but the fact that the contractor lived and kept his plane in a
community located about 300 miles away, made it difficult for
fire crews to respond quickly to fires. The airplane had a slow
air speed and smokejumpers recall did not run very well. The
plane crashed at Illinois Valley airport in 1944 killing the
pilot. It may be the first smokejumper airplane fatality in
history.
In 1945,
the Army gave two airplanes to the
Forest Service. These were both Canadian-made Noorduyne Norsemen,
a single engine plane with fabric covered wings and
fuselage. The landing gear had a distinctive, wide frame that
inspired smokejumpers to nick-name these planes the “bow-legged
buzzards” The Noorduynes were reliable aircraft but not free of
problems. There was at least one account of engine trouble
forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in a field near
Cave Junction.
In 1953,
the Noorduynes were replaced by the faster flying Twin Beech.
These proved to be a reliable and faster plane but in 1954, when
a new barracks was constructed and the number of crew working at
the base almost doubled, the plane became too small to handle
the increased number of crew members. A larger, but slower DC-3
was added to the fleet to handle the larger number of
smokejumpers.
The base
continued operations for another three decades and, although
modern planes replaced the older ones with better technology,
the fact will always remain that the planes used in the first
ten years of operations faced the greatest challenges in forging
the success of the Siskiyou Smokejumper Base, one of Oregon’s
greatest adventure stories.
Smokejumpers crank to start the engine of a Fairchild 81 while
others wait to board for a training jump. Illinois Valley
airport, circa 1944.
In the left photo, the military
emblem of the Air Army Corps can be seen on the back part of the
Noorduyne Norseman fuselage where smokejumpers prepare to board.
Illinois Valley airport, circa 1945-1949.
The Ford Trimotor was a slow but
reliable airplane. These were occasionally sent to the Siskiyou
Smokejumper Base from California when
no other planes were available to fly smokejumpers to fires.
Photo to the right shows Ford Trimotor taking off and Noorduyne
Norseman on the tarmac. Illinois Valley airport, circa 1948.
The Twin Beech was a much faster
aircraft but soon became inefficient for carrying all of the
crew that was hired when the base expanded in 1954. Illinois Valley
airport, circa 1954-1965.
The DC-3 a slower flying aircraft but could carry more
smokejumpers.
The L5 was used as an observation plane at the Siskiyou
Smokejumper Base as early as 1945. One of the first structures
at the base was a hanger that was constructed to
house this airplane (circa 1945).
References
Application for placement of the Siskiyou Smokejumper Base on
the National Register of Historic Places, 2005
Photos from Siskiyou Smokejumper Base Museum
Project archives.
Story by Roger Brandt
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