Re: Fire Update

That's the problem when you get a fire burning on a steep hillside, such as the one that Jerry's photos depicted yesterday. If proper terrain clearance doesn't exist for a reasonable run-in parallel to the ridgeline, the only way to fight it from the air is with a helo and a basket. The large fixed-wing tankers just aren't maneuverable enough and don't have the performance to get the drop close enough to the ground to be effective.

I wonder how much water bombers are being used these days? Perhaps the retardant slurry is more effective (water evaporates big-time during the drops), but the nice thing about amphib water bombers is that they can reload quickly by doing a "splash & dash" on a nearby lake, and be right back on target, sometimes within minutes. The recycle time on retardant bombers is much longer. The turboprop Bombardier CL-415s can turn circles around an MD-80. They are much more maneuverable at low altitude.

Jerry, do you see any CL-415s in the tanker fleet out there? This is what they look like: [url=

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Of course the King Kong of all water bombers are the Martin Mars.....unfortunately, the two survivors are no longer flying fire suppression missions.

/Kevin Madore



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/08/2018 03:43PM by KevinM.