Evergreen's 747 water tanker

[VEGAS]

Hi all,

Just finished watching a short film about this remarkable 747. What an incredible bit of kit. :o

http://www.evergreensupertanker.com/

[Garry Russell]

Hi Eddie

We duscussed this a while ago and from what I can remember it was abandonded as being unsuitable but I forget what the reason was :think:

Gary

[VEGAS]

Hi Garry,

Did'nt know it had been abandoned. I actually did think about the handling characteristics of it especially with all that water sloshing around inside it.

[Garry Russell]

I think it was structral problem with low level bumpy flying.

There are DC 1o tankers and there was even once an HS.748 Tanker

Garry

[DispatchDragon]

The DC10s have been in action in California this week....I dont think the 747 has ever been used.


Leif

[Garry Russell]

Hi Leif

Yep I don't think it went beyond the testing :think:

The DC 10 are quite a site.there is video on YT

Garry

[Garry Russell]

DC 10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-EJZqVI4GQ&feature=fvw

Garry

[DispatchDragon]

Tanker 99 doing what she does best -- Chris can probably say better than I but I believe that has onboard mixing for Mud-- rather than load retardant on the ground it loads water and retardant and the amount to be delivered is mixed prior to drop -- love the spotter getting the hell out of the way when she starts her run.


Leif

[Chris Trott]

99 has a "foam additive" similar to what the CL-214 and CL-414 aircraft have or she can drop standard retardant. The red mix is done on the ground because it's dispensed that way from the tanks. They only change how much is being dumped on the fly by changing the door sequence and how far the doors open to give more or less coverage. There is a video of them doing the calibration and testing of the 747 last year where you see them putting sample cups on top of stands about 3 feet tall and then dropping on them. This is how they make sure that when they're called to make a "4" drop, that they have a "4" coverage.

The 747 was not "pursued" last year only because no one contracted them to do work. However, this year it looks like they may get a contract since the DC-10 has done well in the last 2 seasons. These size aircraft don't do especially well in tight spaces (but then again, they're just as if not more maneuverable than the DC-6's and DC-7's which are the next smallest other than the Martin Mars birds), but their real advantage is that they can lay very long, very dense fire lines in front of fast moving fires or grassland fires (which tend to move fast and have long fire fronts). I would expect to see the 747 used first in places like Florida and here in Texas before you see it used in the California mountains because of this.

The DC-10 did get a bit dirty though last year when they got a little low on a drop and encountered a downdraft and clipped a couple of trees. No major damage, but definitely gave the crew a bit of a wake-up call and they lifted the drop altitude a little bit.

[VEGAS]

The DC-10 did get a bit dirty though last year when they got a little low on a drop and encountered a downdraft and clipped a couple of trees. No major damage, but definitely gave the crew a bit of a wake-up call and they lifted the drop altitude a little bit.

Holy smoke.. :o