"Morgans" wrote in message
...

"patrick mitchel" wrote in message
...
After watching the multiplicity of ac doing their jobs on the southern
cal fires this last week and hearing that the guvmint C130 had the wrong
sized tanks and the forestry dept and said guvmint were haggling over
what should be done, I thought I'd ask what is the opinions of others
regarding what current - or hypothetical craft would be considered for
the role. Thanks Pat

The ideal fire bomber is the CL-415.

There is nothing out there that can put more water on a fire per hour than
this plane. A small but to make this statement true is a lake or river
nearby that can be used for airborne scooping.

A CL-415 with a nearby water source can put as much as 63,000 gallons on a
fire in an hour. Other planes have to return to an airstrip and refill,
taking 30 minutes or more for one trip. A CL-415 can put a full load on a
fire and scoop up 1400 gallons and be back to the fire ready to drop in 1
1/2 minutes, or less. 45 trips per hour X 1400 gallons = 63,000 gallons
per hour. Impressive.
--
Jim in NC

Watching a team of CL-215/415s doing circuits is really impressive, they are
much more graceful in the air than they look on the ground or in the video
Dave linked. Real retardant is more effective than plain water but the
CL-215/415 can deliver a lot of plain water. They seem to be able to work
out of quite small lakes.
http://ww.airliners.net/info/stats.main?id=119

Happy landings,