Sometimes it had to be tilted to pass through the narrowest of lanes, between dwellings and obstacles in its path... The transport of a historic Tracker aircraft over the 130 kms separating the Nîmes Garons airport from that of Aubenas-Lanas, carried out a few days ago by Capelle Oversize, was complex, not so much because of the weight as because of the dimensions of this historic water bomber, and the route. Constraints that required meticulous preparation to overcome every difficulty.
Measuring 12 meters long, 8.5 meters wide and weighing 8 tons, the Tracker was loaded onto a Nooteboom 3-axle low-loader, towed by a Mercedes 8x6x4 truck. The semi low-loader, extendible with controlled steering, was fitted with a pit lift table to gain height, tiltable to 50° laterally. The exceptional manoeuvrability of this equipment enabled us to overcome tricky obstacles and avoid numerous interventions to move street furniture or other items.
Over 30 people were mobilized for the two-night operation. On the first part of the route, between Garons and St Brès, complex passages such as the Rocade de Nîmes, Alès, St Julien les Rosiers, and bridges were negotiated. On the 2nd stage, several towns were crossed, such as St-Paul le Jeune, Grospierres, Ruoms... again involving narrow roads...
Civil security emblem
The SOS Tracker 07 association called on Capelle Oversize for this mission, to recover and save one of the civil security's water bomber aircraft, an emblematic Tracker in the colors of their department, the Ardèche. This historic aircraft has an extraordinary past, discovered and revealed by the Association SOS Tracker 07. Indeed, for this association, 90% of which is made up of firefighters, it has been a mascot, recognizable by its number 07, and an ally in their fight against fires during its 36 years of service to the civil security service. The association also discovered that he had previously had a military career in the US Navy, as a submarine hunter! Built in 1957, during the Cuban missile crisis, for example, it flew daily over the Atlantic Ocean to detect the possible presence of Soviet submarines off the American coast.
Discover this historic aircraft at its exhibition site at the Aubenas-Lanas airfield in Ardèche.
