The government of Manitoba, Canada, has purchased four CL-415 air tankers from Bombardier which will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2010 and will continue into 2012. Manitoba currently has seven CL-215 air tankers, some of which will be replaced by the new aircraft.
The difference between the CL-215 and the 415 is that the 415 has turboprop engines, and has an updated cockpit, aerodynamics enhancements and changes to the water-release system.
Since 1994, Bombardier has delivered 75 CL-415 air tankers to the governments of Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Malaysia, Ontario, Quebec and Spain. In addition, 64 CL-215 piston engine aircraft are still in service.
Loadmaster Bill Whitlatch operates a new MAFFS 2 unit aboard a C-130J aircraft with the Channel Islands Air National Guard. Photo by Stephen Osman, Ventura County Star.
This morning the Wyoming Air National Guard’s 153rd Airlift Wing in Cheyenne, Wyoming is loading their two Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems (MAFFS) into a couple of C-130J aircraft in preparation for annual recertification of the equipment and the pilots and crews operating them. They will join six other C-130J’s at the South Carolina Technology and Aviation Center in Greenville, South Carolina from April 24 until May 1.
Up to 400 military and civilian personnel will participate in the recertification for the air tankers, including both classroom and flight training for military flight crews, civilian lead plane pilots and various support personnel. MAFFS support specialists and aviators from the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, North Carolina Forest Service, and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection will lead the week-long training.
In addition to the Wyoming MAFFS, the other six, two from each base, will come from the 145th Airlift Wing of the North Carolina Air National Guard in Charlotte, N.C.; the 146th Airlift Wing of the California Air National Guard in Port Hueneme, Calif., and the 302nd Airlift Wing with the U.S. Air Force Reserve of Colorado Springs, Colorado.
A few months ago the MAFFS bases began accepting delivery of a new generation of the equipment. Called MAFFS 2 (photo of MAFFS 2 test), they are also designed to be rolled into the back of C-130 aircraft, but they hold 400 more gallons, for a total of 3,400 gallons of retardant. However the main difference is that the nozzles, instead of exiting out the rear loading dock, are routed through a sealed portal (a modified paratrooper door) on the plane’s left side. This makes it possible for the plane to be pressurized; in addition, the crew and the rear door will no longer be coated with retardant. Wildfire Today wrote more about the new MAFFS 2 back in January.
MAFFS is a partnership between federal land management agencies and the military to provide supplemental air tankers to assist in fire suppression efforts nationwide during times of high fire activity. The system itself is a portable fire retardant delivery system that can be easily inserted into military C-130 aircraft, converting the vessel into an air tanker when the civilian fleet is fully committed.
Congress established the authority for the MAFFS program in the early 1970’s to support wildland firefighting through an agreement with the U.S. Forest Service. The military aircraft are requested by the National Interagency Fire Center and activated through the U.S. Northern Command, based on an agreement with the Department of Defense. The most recent MAFFS mission was mobilized in June 2008.
UPDATE April 22, 2010:
The Herkybirds.com site, which is devoted to C-130’s, has more information about the benefit of pumping the retardant out the side paratroop door, rather than out the back. According to “Maxtorq”:
The glory part about the system is hardly any clean up after flights . With the old system it would just cover the tail section , beaver tail, elevators and mist inside the ramp doors. All of our birds after so many hours had to be sent to depot to have the aft end of the aircraft removed and stripped and painted.
After MAFFS during the fire season it would come home for aircraft wash, the ramps floor deck would all have to come out along with D/Rails to be cleaned.
The Russian-made Be-200 air tanker made a demonstration drop at Santa Maria, California yesterday. The ship dropped 3,000 gallons of water in a field near the airport and also performed a series of maneuvers. As Wildfire Today reported earlier, the aircraft is on a world tour in a marketing effort. A company in Santa Maria hopes to buy 10 of them which will be leased to U.S. air tanker operators.
If anyone has any videos or photos of the demonstration, please let us know. Here is a photo taken last weekend during a static public viewing.
BE-200 air tanker at Santa Maria, California. Photo courtesy of Michael Lynn.
BE-200 air tanker at Santa Maria, California. All photos courtesy of Michael Lynn.
The Russian-made amphibious BE-200 air tanker arrived at Santa Maria, California, as promised, on Wednesday. It is open for viewing by the public at the Radisson Hotel, 3455 Airpark Dr., from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. today and from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday. On Monday it will make a demonstration flight and water drop at the airport, according to David Baskett, president of TTE International Inc., who hopes to acquire a fleet of 10 BE-200’s and lease them to air tanker operators in the United States. A press release from the company says the aircraft will scoop water from Lake Cachuma on Monday if permits can be obtained.
As Wildfire Today reported earlier, the BE-200 can carry up to 3,000 gallons of retardant loaded at an airport, or water it scoops from a lake. A couple of media outlets are getting a little too excited about the aircraft. KEYT states in an article that it can carry 270 tons of water, which would convert to 67,000 gallons, a remarkable feat, if it were true. The manufacturer claims this purpose-built air tanker can drop that amount on one fuel cycle, if a scoopable water source is nearby. A reporter on a KSBY video, Ariel Wesler, said the aircraft can drop 5,000,000 gallons on a fire without refueling, which would entail scooping and dropping 1,666 times. Another remarkable feat, if it were true.
Michael Lynn with the Be-200 at Santa Maria, April 10, 2010. Photo by Mr. Lynn.
Wildfire Today thanks Michael Lynn who took these photos of the Be-200 at Santa Maria, published here with his permission.
BAe-146-200 makes its first drop on October 28, 2009. Tronos photo.
I’m not sure how we missed this before, but on October 28, 2009 the BAe-146-200 that is being converted to an air tanker by Tronos made its first drop over Prince Edward Island in Canada. According to the company “The aircraft performed flawlessly as did the tank and delivery system.”
Here are some stats about the aircraft, taken from the Tronos web site:
The aircraft Tronos is converting is number N608AW, serial number E2049, manufactured in 1986.
UPDATE:
In a comment, Ken mentioned the fact that Minden Air, at Minden, Nevada, is also converting a BAe 146-200 into an air tanker. In 2004 and 2005 Minden and Tronos were talking about working together to convert a BAe-146-200 into an air tanker, but that project fizzled out. Minden acquired one, number N606AW, serial number 2033, but now it has been turned into scrap at Minden.
N606AW scrapped at Minden Air
The company did some low-level flight testing in 2004 with a BAe 146-200, flying a total of nine sorties with the aircraft configured much like an air tanker.
Minden’s low-level flight test of a BAe-146-200 in 2004.
But in January, 2009 Minden acquired another BAe-146-200, number N446MA, serial number E2111, manufactured in 1989. Minden intends to have this aircraft converted into an air tanker for the 2010 fire season. Some of the approvals they will have to get include a Supplemental Type Certificate from the FAA, and certification from the Interagency Air Tanker Board. BAE Systems, the manufacturer of the aircraft, is consulting with Minden, and will stand by any design and technical contributions they are asked to make. BAE Systems hopes the conversion will be successful so that a new market for their aircraft can be created.
Here are a couple of interesting facts about the BAe-146.
In spite of the fact that it has four turbofan engines, it is one of the quietest jet airliners, producing only 80 decibels when taking off. This meant that in the 1980’s and 1990’s, before other manufacturers reduced the noise from their aircraft, the BAe-146 could land and takeoff at noise-restricted airports when others could not, or at certain times, such as late at night, when others couldn’t.
Some of the earliest BAe-146’s had problems with the engines, resulting in the joke that BAe stood for “Bring Another engine”.
A Berieve Be-200 amphibious air tanker scoops water in a demonstration.
An entrepreneur in Santa Maria, California is promising for a second time that a Russian-made amphibious air tanker will appear at the Santa Maria airport for a demonstration. As Wildfire Today reported last August, David Baskett, a Santa Maria businessman and founder of the now defunct Pacific Skyway airline, has been working with the Russian government to bring the plane to the United States. Mr. Baskett envisions the air tanker, also known as Altair, replacing the aging air tankers presently being used that have an average age of 50.
In August Mr. Baskett announced the Be-200 air tanker would be at Santa Maria on September 26 for a demonstration and a month-long visit, but it never showed up. Baskett later blamed “bureaucracy” as the reason, since the approval of the U.S. government is required before it arrives. Now Baskett is saying the Be-200 will arrive at the Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) on April 7 April 10 for a week-long visit and a demonstration, and possibly scooping water out of Lake Cachuma, if permission can be obtained.
On Wednesday, the ship cleared customs in Anchorage and was on its way to visit several countries in South America before it re-enters the United States in Miami. When it arrives at Santa Maria the plans are for it to park in front of the Radisson Hotel which is adjacent to the airport ramp.
A Be-200 air tanker, if I did the conversions correctly, can carry up to 3,000 gallons of water or retardant. It also can carry foam concentrate which can be mixed with the water in the tank. The amphibious plane has scoops on the bottom much like the amphibious CL-415 making it possible to skim across a body of water to refill its tank. The Be-200, powered by two turbofan engines mounted above the wings to avoid water spray, can also land on a runway to refill with retardant. It has a maximum cruise speed of 435 mph, an economic cruise speed of 348 mph, and a minimum drop speed of 124 mph.
Baskett envisions purchasing 10 of the Be-200’s, and then leasing them to air tanker operators.
Santa Maria has had an air tanker base for a long time, but a year or so ago it was downgraded from a fully functional base to a call when needed base, only open if air tankers were working a fire nearby. Wildfire Today has written about that issue previously.
