Firefighting Aircraft

[bullcurr]

Funny how many former anti-submarine warfare aircraft are being used for fire fighting.

[pwnage0013]

Rumor has it that a fleet of Q400s is due to be fitted for these kinds of jobs.

[pwnage0013]

I would LOVE to do this, flying one of these things fighting fires like that.

[kickZtailout]

GREAT video. Man, it was windy... everyone was getting blown around. Notice all the corrections Tanker 96 had to do, and you can see he's getting blown sideways quite a bit. The SEAT's drop looks like it was blown to heck. Coverage level one. LOL

[djzombieking]

what was he dropping at 0:11

[EcilopRus]

red water ))

[Air420]

Beautiful!

[DXVBHHTR]

1 of the aircraft in here looks like that anti-submarine plane known as a NEPTUNE.

I was surprised they are still flying.

[kickZtailout]

It is, a P-2V7. Tanker 55, owned by Minden Air Corp. They recently lost her sister ship, Tanker 99 in a crash that killed the 2 crew. :( Minden now has only two Neptunes, the other being Tanker 48, an SP-2H (not a bob tail). ;)

[bobesdrumskill]

Phos-Chek

[chaseterrance]

what is the red stuff they drop?? i need to know for a project. thanks!

[SteelEagle33]

its flame retardant

[lmsasquatch]

I like the T-55 drop. PV-2s are so cool.

[rap9206]

I would LOVE to be a firefighting pilot!

[lmsasquatch]

Me too!

[R5H4D0W]

@rap9206 its a dangerous task, as you risk engine stall if you ingest too much smoke. While helicopters seem better for the purpose the smoke causes a upward rise in air and trust me, Helicopters are no fun to ride in with conditions like that =P

[lmsasquatch]

Great footage!

[jtimmins17]

i just wanted to say that my boyfriend, the greatest american hero, flying T-55, is the greatest pilot EVER.

[sunsetreptiles]

@jtimmins17 how old are you lady like 50

[escueladeleyi]

@sunsetreptiles you speak as if you will never be 50. we'll see what tune you sing if you live that long!

[a2g6d4k8]

The twin engine plane at 1:22 looks like an anti-submarine warfare plane from the Navy.

[sasquatchsatan]

It's a FireCat, a firefighting adaption of the Grumman S-2 Tracker.

[Bullseye569]

Not quite, but close. Yes, the one in the video is a Grumman S-2 Tracker, converted into a turbine-powered airplane by an American firm (Marsh Aviation?) but is not a Firecat.

A Firecat is the proprietary name given to a Canadian (Conair) firefighting conversion and it may have piston radial engines (in Canada) or turbine engines (in France).

[Schmangy]

Great footage...you even got a shot of Tanker 55 a Lockheed SP-2H Neptune. That plane was built in 1955! For two months we heard these brave aviators fly over our homes. Thank you to all of the brave men & women who fought California's second largest wildfire in California history. Thank you for posting this. I personally photographed 3 Neptunes, 2 Orions, 4 Air Tractors and 2 Grummans that fought this fire.

[xygomorphic77]

is that stuff supposed to be dropped on the fire or near it?

[sasquatchsatan]

Near it. Retardant(the red stuff) is dropped before the fire in order to stop it from spreading. It is very thick in consistency and soaks anything in its path. Water, on the other hand, is usually put directly onto the fire.

[9aspengold5]

thanks for the info. I had wondered about that.

[sasquatchsatan]

Any time.

[Fireexp73]

Very Nice Footage I liek the Drop at the end crazy i thought it was dry powder stuff but apparently not lol

[yarddogh]

Excellent video . . nicely put together showing various elements at work.

[MikeMora]

Good stuff. Nice editing.

[viperq]

Cool footage.