S2-T Tracker air tankers are being used by the French Securite Civile in much the same way CalFire uses them in California. Their piston engines have also been replaced with turbine engines. A French site has an article about local air tanker pilots training for the upcoming fire season with ground-based firefighters. Here is how Google Translate translated the article that was, obviously, in French. It’s a little rough, but you’ll get the idea:
Air fight against the fire in Haute-Vienne
A year well watered!
A tracker was available to men of fire Hte-Vienne for a full scale exerciseThe choice of location for the exercise of air fight against the fires had not been chosen at random: the airport of Limoges is a basic pélicandrom ”
This means that the aircraft water bombers are likely to land on the tarmac to take full of water before they speak sometimes even in the south of France. Men fire must therefore know the manipulations necessary for this operation. Moreover, they are also obliged to intervene on the ground, with the support of the Tracker. They therefore scale maneuvers in a forest near Nedde. The water bomber aircraft was refueled in Lake Vassivière and dropped its cargo under the guidance of men on the ground.
HERE is a link to a video associated with the article. I speak about three words in French, but the pictures tell the story.
