Dc-10 Firebomber

[cap]

Got the video and the Q & A section. It appears that the drop height is 600' - 800' at 140kts and that's 30% higher than their stall speed of 100kts. It prompts some questions:

 

(1) At $1M per engine, I wonder how those engines will like eating embers and what effect they might have?

 

(2) I wonder how they would do in the tight places like Castlegar, BC. They can always dump higher and compensate for it with their system apparently, but how would they compensate for the ridge winds and mechanical turbulence down below amongst the rocks?

 

Thanks SC....they are impressive videos.

[mtnhopper]

I would love to see both of those beasts in action :up: But I just don't see it happening in B.C The mars has touble on most of our fires. Great vid and pics wonder what they'll come up with next

[cap]

Oh they'll use the a/c for sure. I doubt greatly that this was just an Evergreen experiment. I smell Boise, ID, the BLM and the Dept of the Interior's wallets behind all this. They had two bad crashes down there and they're definitely looking for something whose A/F isn't on the "tired side" and can sustain them for quite some time. I don't know if this is the one, but I bet that that is the driving force behind the idea.

[skudkid]

I spent some time in North Bay working at the airport. I got a real close up look at the CL 415. They were doing final assembly and testing. They were just about to stop production because of a lack of orders. With bubble windows and fwd facing infra red radar this aircraft should be in high demand not just for search and rescue but for it's unmatched fire fighting capability. With it's ability to "reload" quickly the federal gov should be buying a swack of these and have them stationed across the country.