Firefighting aircraft

[Dr Jekyll]

https://www.skiesmag.com/features/conair-group-hot...

[Eric Mc]

I'm disappointed that Nicholas Cage isn't the CEO.

[anonymous-user]

Interesting that the 146 is good for them.

[irocfan]

cool article

[2fast748]

El stovey said:

Interesting that the 146 is good for them.

Also intrigued to see the Dash 8 in the fleet too, I suppose high wing, short take off/landing capability makes sense.

[Scotty2]

No Martin Mars then. Did Kermit ever complete the purchase?

[MarkwG]

Scotty2 said:

No Martin Mars then. Did Kermit ever complete the purchase?

They've not flown for a couple of years now, doubt they will. Superseded by the jet fleet I guess.

[BrettMRC]

Thanks for sharing that - interesting

[Nickyboy]

Fire fighting aircraft you say

[Europa1]

MarkwG said:

Scotty2 said:

No Martin Mars then. Did Kermit ever complete the purchase?

They've not flown for a couple of years now, doubt they will. Superseded by the jet fleet I guess.

That is a huge shame. I do hope that at least one of them can be preserved, preferably in flying condition.

[Eric Mc]

Europa1 said:

MarkwG said:

Scotty2 said:

No Martin Mars then. Did Kermit ever complete the purchase?

They've not flown for a couple of years now, doubt they will. Superseded by the jet fleet I guess.

That is a huge shame. I do hope that at least one of them can be preserved, preferably in flying condition.

I( don't think any of the old piston engined fleets survive now. In the past they sued Boeing B-17s, Grumman Avengers, Catalinas, the Mars, the Lockheed Neptune and the Privateer.

[Dr Jekyll]

Eric Mc said:

I( don't think any of the old piston engined fleets survive now. In the past they sued Boeing B-17s, Grumman Avengers, Catalinas, the Mars, the Lockheed Neptune and the Privateer.

But never any Lancasters, despite that huge bomb bay.

[Eric Mc]

After World War 2, firefighting aircraft fleets were drawn from the thousands of surplus American aircraft that were sitting around all over the US waiting to be scrapped . There was plenty to go around without looking for surplus aircraft from other parts of the world.

As a result, there was no need or incentive to use aircraft such as Lancasters, Halifaxes or Stirlings - all of which might have been suitable.

[DrDeAtH]

Eric Mc said:

I'm disappointed that Nicholas Cage isn't the CEO.

This needs recognition..

[MarkwG]

Eric Mc said:

After World War 2, firefighting aircraft fleets were drawn from the thousands of surplus American aircraft that were sitting around all over the US waiting to be scrapped . There was plenty to go around without looking for surplus aircraft from other parts of the world.

As a result, there was no need or incentive to use aircraft such as Lancasters, Halifaxes or Stirlings - all of which might have been suitable.

Indeed, Lancasters were put to other uses, photo reconnaissance etc. They weren't "surplus" in the same way the American fleet was.

[Dr Jekyll]

MarkwG said:

Eric Mc said:

After World War 2, firefighting aircraft fleets were drawn from the thousands of surplus American aircraft that were sitting around all over the US waiting to be scrapped . There was plenty to go around without looking for surplus aircraft from other parts of the world.

As a result, there was no need or incentive to use aircraft such as Lancasters, Halifaxes or Stirlings - all of which might have been suitable.

Indeed, Lancasters were put to other uses, photo reconnaissance etc. They weren't "surplus" in the same way the American fleet was.

That makes sense, there were plenty made in Canada and serving with the RCAF which is why I thought they'd be an obvious choice. But presumably most of them made a one way trip to Europe, and of course the ones they kept were in maritime reconnaissance roles until the 1960s.

[Eric Mc]

Very few of the Canadian Lancs remained in North America - and those few that did stayed on in service with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Out of the 7,000 odd Lancasters produced overall, only 400 came off the Canadian production line.

[pete]

El stovey said:

Interesting that the 146 is good for them.

I suspect most people have seen this, but there's an amazing video of the RJ85 air tanker having a *very* near miss with a ridge after dropping a load of fire retardent. Watch the shadow...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2KCYhULWZ8

Having worked on 146s and RJs briefly at the start of my career, it's lovely to see them still out there filling niche roles.

[Eric Mc]

I went to a lecture a couple of weeks ago about atmospheric research aircraft in the UK. Most of us are familiar with the specially converted Hercules (XV208 "Snoopy") that was sued for such research in years gone by. What many may not know is that there is a current research aircraft in use - and its a 146.

[nikaiyo2]

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