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Latest Grand Renaissance Prepares for

California Fire-Fighting Mission

The 38th Grand Renaissance Twin Commander has been completed and delivered to its owner, the Kern County, California, Fire Department.

Eagle Creek Aviation Services in Indianapolis built the TPE331-10T-powered Grand Renaissance for the county, devoting more than 8,000 hours to the project. (See story.)

Kern County becomes the third government entity to opt for a Grand Renaissance. The Arizona Department of Transportation bought a pair of Grand Renaissance Twin Commanders soon after the program was introduced in 1993. (One of the airplanes has since been sold.) The San Bernardino, California, Sheriff’s Department also operates a Grand Renaissance Commander.

Kern County’s mission for its Grand Renaissance will be to direct air and ground personnel and equipment in battling wildfires in the 8,000-square-mile county, the state’s third largest. It will also be made available to other government agencies in the U.S. for fire suppression duty. “We circle a fire and control everything that goes on in the air and on the ground,” county Air Operations pilot Scott Beck explained. “It’s the command and control ship for fighting a fire.”

Beck and a second Kern County pilot, Joe Koller, did initial flight training in the Grand Renaissance at Eagle Creek, and later flew the airplane to Houston to complete the pilot initial course at FlightSafety International’s Twin Commander Learning Center. “It was very beneficial for systems knowledge, and a great IFR tune-up for us,” Beck said of the FlightSafety training.

The final step before the county puts its new Grand Renaissance to work is obtaining Aviation Management Directorate (AMD) certification as a Type 1 Air Tactical Group Supervisor (ATGS) platform, commonly called an Air Attack platform. Beck and Koller also must take check rides to qualify as Air Attack pilots.

Beck said that for the Kern County Grand Renaissance to be certified as a Type 1 platform it has to meet minimum communications and navigation equipment requirements. “Our Grand Renaissance exceeds all the agency requirements in every category and will have the ability to data downlink aerial images and mapping to any email recipient,” he explained.

“Another utility of our new airplane is that an ATGS trainer can sit in the back of the plane while training an ATGS Trainee, have an incredible view through the long cabin window, and through use of the observer/trainer station have access to all of the radios and an additional mapping display for increased situational awareness.”

Eagle Creek designed and built the observer/trainer station (Beck and his colleagues affectionately call it R2-D2) using a seat frame that locks in place over a worktable. The design makes for “an incredibly comfortable work station in the cabin,” Beck said. “Eagle Creek did an excellent job creating this whole aircraft.”

Beck commented that, based on initial operational experience, the airplane’s speed, comfort, and fuel economy “have thus far demonstrated that choosing the Grand Renaissance was by far the wisest choice we could have made for this operation.”

Beck said that he and Koller flew the Grand Renaissance from its base at Meadows Field in Bakersfield to Houston Hobby nonstop (approximately 1,243 nmi) in 3.9 hours at FL270, “and we had enough fuel on board when we landed to make it to New Orleans. Very impressive!”

Early indications are that Beck and other Kern County pilots will log plenty of time in the Grand Renaissance. “This year we have received a pretty good amount of rain and snow in the county and the grass has grown over a foot tall in virtually every area of the county,” he said. “A tall grass crop means great potential for fire. Even the deserts are green with vegetation right now so the fuel load is definitely there. Time will tell about how hot and dry it’s going to be.”

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