Giant fire fighting planes

[ExMachina]

Originally Posted By: Wheel
Have any C5 Galaxies been retired that could be used ?

There will be about 19 C-5 Galaxies retiring within a couple of years, Yes.
However, since only 131 C-5's were ever built, there were never that many crews trained on it compared to the 747, which had 1,510 built. Spare parts network, crew training, and the fact that the 747 carries nearly as much retardant as a C-5 means a C-5 firefighter is a bad idea.

 

[CT8]

The maintenance is a killer on the C5. The 747 is one of the greatest planes designed,

 

[KD0AXS]

Originally Posted By: ExMachina
Originally Posted By: another Todd
......On the other hand, helicopters with bambi buckets and their 80 gallons are pretty much useless on a large fire. Larger helicopters with 375 gallons or so are good for immediate crew safety and mopping up fires, but fixed wing tankers are king.


Are Chinooks used for fire duty? Seems like those could carry a bit.
Looked it up, off one page anyway: Columbia Model 234 Chinook deploys a 2,650-gallon bucket, as the max available with the badest Chinook you can get. So that compares with about 12,000 gallons from a DC-10, BUT the Chinook will be more accurate!!!!

The Sikorsky Sky Crane can also be outfitted for firefighting duty with a 2,650 gallon capacity.

The big tankers don't need to be as accurate because they're usually dropping retardant out ahead of an advancing fire to slow it down. Helicopters are usually dropping water directly on the fire.

 

[BusyLittleShop]

Back in 1966 a Willy Fudd with dropped 850 gallons of pink fire
retardant right in the path of me and my Honda S90... I hit that wall
of pink slime going 60mph and the combined force about knocked me
right into the ditch... mercy!!!

 

[tom slick]

Here's some video from the Cuesta fire about 20 miles away. It's from the USFS spotter plane.

 

[Inspecktor]

Originally Posted By: ExMachina

I like the idea of using a big turbo-prop plane, since they get more thrust at low speeds to climb out of canyons. Perfect airplane: A bigger, wider, longer C-130-shaped turbo-prop high wing airplane. I guess the C-17, even with turbofans, would come pretty close, and the AF might retire some of theirs soon.
I read somewhere in an aviation magazine a company wants to convert P-3 Orion sub hunters into fire fighters.

 

[CT8]

The B52 it really is an out dated POS [amazing for what is is] costs so much to keep it in the air only the slush fund called the taxpayer can fund it. The private industry fire planes are on contract and have to be commercially viable.

 

[Exhaustgases]

All the good planes were grounded years ago. Funny seeing a swept wing and slow to come up to thrust fuel guzzling jets now doing the job. What they need is some new martin mars type planes on the job. A swept wing is very unstable at low speeds and especially with a lot of cargo.

 

[road_rascal]

Martin Mars

 

[expat]

The Mars can be amazingly effective, and people were screaming for it to be brought into service this last summer, and it was.

But most people do not realise the logistics of providing fuel dumps, maintenance etc. for these aircraft.

I think we are down to one operational boat now, the other was on it's way to a museum in the US. A crying shame.

I have seen them pick up water from the sea in front of my house. The sound of those engines is somthing you FEEL as much as you hear.

 

[IndyIan]

We use the Bombardier 415 in Ontario, but probably 99% of valuable timber is within 5 miles of a lake they can use so under ideal conditions it can move a lot of water.

 

[BusyLittleShop]

To counter the growing threat of forest fires to people and property I
support a Federal funded Air Arm on par to the Coast Guard which would
buy and maintain a large fleet of new water bombers and make it
literally rain from the skies at amounts notice... I feel the current
State run systems lack the necessary funding power and most aircraft
lack target forcefulness to hold a fire line... more water equals less fire...