BE-200 air tanker at Santa Maria, California in April, 2010. Photo courtesy of Michael Lynn.
Shortly after the European Aviation Safety Agency issued an approval and Type Certificate for the Be-200 amphibious aircraft to the Beriev Aircraft Company on September 9, the Russian Emergencies Ministry signed a $330 million contract to purchase eight of the aircraft configured for wildland firefighting. This made good on a promise Russian President Dmitry Medvedev made during their August fire siege to acquire more air tankers, including the Be-200. Medvedev went along as a “co-pilot” on a Be-200 last month and pushed the button to make a drop on one of the fires burning in Russia.
In April a Be-200 visited Santa Maria, California in an effort to sell a few of the air tankers in the United States. At about $41 million each, how many would you like to order?
Here is a video of a demonstration of the Be-200.
The Beriev Aircraft Company was founded in 1934 and has built dozens of models of aircraft, including the Mil Mi-26 helicopter, the largest and most powerful helicopter ever to have gone into production. It can carry 44,000 pounds, equivalent to about 80 troops or 60 litters.
We just found out about this incident that occurred in Portugal. From Wikinews:
The Russian Beriev 200 [air tanker] leased to the Portuguese Government suffered an accident last Thursday (July 6, 2006) afternoon, after one of its engines was damaged.
The accident occurred after a refueling operation at the dam of Aguieira, near Santa Comba Dão. As the aerial firefighting aircraft took off at the end of the refueling maneuver in the water – designated as ‘scooping’ – its “left wing hit the top of the trees and the aircraft suffered some damage” to its fuselage, said Colonel Anacleto dos Santos, director of the Cabinet of Prevention and Investigation of Accidents with Aircraft (GPIAA), to the Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manhã.
While hitting the top of the trees, leaves and some wood entered the left engine, which didn’t blow up, but that had to be turned off and the pilot was forced to release fuel for safety reasons. The release of the fuel started small wildfires across the area, reaching some houses, which were quickly extinguished by firefighters and helitack units of the GNR’s Intervention, Protection and Rescue Group.
The airplane was able to do an emergency landing at the Monte Real Air Base, where it’s currently operating from, thanks to the flight experience of one of the Russian pilots. When contacted by the Lusa news agency, National Service of Firefighters and Civil Protection, vice-president Lieutenant-Colonel Joaquim Leitão explained that the repairs will be made by the aircraft company and that all the parts necessary to repair the damages will have to come from Russia, by which the solution for the problem will take “some days”.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sat in the copilot’s seat of a Beriev Be-200 air tanker on Tuesday and pushed the button to drop water on two vegetation fires in Russia.
After pushing the button, he looked at the pilot and said, “Was that OK?”
The pilot said: “A direct hit!” (what else could he have said?)
Putin rode in the air tanker in an effort to demonstrate to the Russian people, suffering from numerous devasting fires and record-setting heat, that he is in charge and personally doing everything he can to put out the fires.
The Prime Minister is known for grabbing every possible opportunity to star in publicity stunts. In the past he has copiloted a fighter jet, ridden a horse bare-chested in Siberia and descended to the bottom of Lake Baikal in a mini-sub. In July he drove a Harley Davidson motorcycle to a biker rally.
The narration for this video is in Russian, but the pictures tell the story.
This CNN video shows a close call when four people in a vehicle find themselves surrounded by a fire in Russia. (Update: Fire Geezer has the long YouTube version of the vehicle close call video.)
The CNN video also has some EXCELLENT footage (at 2:05) of the Russian amphibious jet-powered air tanker, the Be-200, dropping on some active fire. It is one of the most spectacular videos of a drop that I have ever seen. As we reported on July 30, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called for proposals to be drawn up on the purchase of additional firefighting equipment, including Be-200 aircraft.
Be sure and click on “full screen”, the icon at the lower-right.
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.
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.
A Be-200 makes a demonstration drop, using the colors of the Russian (and U.S.) flag
A purpose-built, amphibious, Russian-made air tanker will be at Santa Maria, California on September 26 looking for work. Well, not looking for work right away exactly, since the Be-200 has not been approved by the FAA or the Interagency Air Tanker Board, both of which could be large hurdles to overcome. It is expected that the aircraft will do some demonstrations while it is at Santa Maria.
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 U.S. 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.
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 can also land on a runway and refill with retardant.
The aircraft was designed specifically in the 1990s as an air tanker, one of the few large air tankers that can make that claim. It made its first flight in 2003.
Here is a 17-second video of the aircraft making a drop in Athens, Greece. The video was uploaded to YouTube in 2007.
(THE VIDEOS ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE)
The 6.5-minute video below appears to be a promotional video about the plane. I want one.
