Fire Boss amphibious single engine air tanker: - Department of ...

Scooping aircraft
Scooping type fire-suppression aircraft
have been around for many years.
The early 1960’s saw the development
of the Martin Mars, a floating hull
aircraft which still operates today. The
Martin Mars was the first large scooping
aircraft developed which skims across
the water surface to refill its’ tanks with
the ability to deliver 27,276 litres in a
single or multiple drops. Refer to Plate 5.
During the late 1960’s the Bombardier
Canadair CL-215 was the first model
in a series of firefighting aircraft able to
land and take off from short, unpaved
airstrips. It has an internal tank system
that can hold up to 6137 litres of
water/foam mixture and refills by
skimming. The latest variant is the
CL-415 ("Superscooper") which is
turbine powered. Refer to Plate 6.
In the 1960’s float equipped de
Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otters were
developed and used for fire fighting
operations. The aircraft were equipped
with amphibious Wipline 13000 floats
which were modified with water
holding tanks and probes. The probes
were located on the bottom of the
floats and were extended to provide
the filling points for the water tanks.
The drop doors, two on the bottom of
each float, and the probes were electrohydraulically
operated. Refer to Plate 7.
Plate 6.
Bombardier CL-415,
"Superscooper".
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Plate 5. Martin Mars
scooping floating hull
aircraft.
Coulson Flying Tankers
Plate 7. Amphibious
scooping de Havilland
DHC-6-300, 1960’s.
Ministry of Natural Resources
Ontario Canada
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Fire Boss amphibious single engine air tanker: Final Report, November 2008