Conair Firecat

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conair_Firecat

The Conair Firecat is a fire-fighting aircraft developed in Canada in the 1970s
by modifying military surplus Grumman S-2 Trackers. The modifications were
developed by the maintenance arm of the Conair Group, which became a separate
company called Cascade Aerospace.

The Firecats are retrofitted Grumman S-2 Trackers. Conair bought a large number
of Trackers formerly operated by the Canadian Navy and a small number of
ex-United States Navy aircraft as well. The Trackers are modified for aerial
firefighting as Firecats by raising the cabin floor by 20 cm (8 in) and fitting
a 3,296 litre (870 U.S. gal) retardant tank where the torpedo bay is normally
located. All superfluous military equipment is removed and the empty weight is
almost 1,500 kg lower than a Tracker's. The first aircraft was modified in 1978.
Some examples have been re-engined with turboprop engines and are known as Turbo
Firecats, these feature a larger tank and extra underwing fuel tanks; the
Maximum Take Off Weight (MTOW) is increased by 680 kg (1,500 lb) to 12,480 kg
(27,500 lb), while the lighter turbine engines also reduce the empty weight. The
first Turbo Firecat was produced in 1988.

Role
Fire-fighting aircraft

National origin
Canada

Manufacturer
Conair

Introduction
1978 (Firecat)
1988 (Turbo Firecat)

Retired
Retired in Canada 2012

Status
Active in France with Sécurité Civile (Turbo Firecat only)

Primary users
Conair
Sécurité Civile

Number built
35

Conair commenced Firecat operations in 1978. Firecats and Turbo Firecats were
previously in service with Conair and the Government of Saskatchewan in Canada
and were also used by the Government of Ontario. The Sécurité Civile
organisation in France took delivery of 14 Firecats over a period of five years
commencing in May 1982. It has had its examples further converted and is now
standardized on the Turbo Firecat. A total of 35 Firecat and Turbo Firecat
conversions have been performed; four Firecats and three Turbo Firecats have
crashed in France. As of 2016; a total of 9 Turbo Firecats remain in service for
Sécurité Civile in France.

Similar conversions are performed by another company Marsh Aviation in the
United States. These are known as Marsh Turbo Trackers and feature Garrett
AiResearch TPE-331 turboprop engines.

Variants

Firecat
Original version, fitted with Wright R-1820 radial piston engines as fitted to
standard Grumman Trackers

Turbo Firecat
Version fitted with two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67AF turboprop engines

Specifications (Turbo Firecat)

General characteristics
Crew: 1
Capacity: 3,395 l (897 U.S. gal) of water, plus 173 l (46 U.S. gal) of foam
concentrate
Length: 13.26 m (43 ft 6 in)
Wingspan: 22.12 m (72 ft 7 in)
Height: 5.05 m (16 ft 7 in)
Empty weight: 6,803 kg (15,000 lb)
Gross weight: 12,473 kg (27,500 lb)
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67AF, 761 kW (1,220 hp) each

Performance
Maximum speed: 407 km/h (253 mph)
Endurance: 5 hours 6 min




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