"Morgans" wrote in
:


"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.


I've watched one put out a real fire in france. Amazing. But the key here
is nearby water source. without one how good is it compared to anything of
similar size and weight?


Bertie