Air Tanker Base |
|
 click photo to enlarge |
The photos on this page are from the Air Tanker Base which is at the old Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino. Since we do volunteer work for the Forest Service they arranged a special tour of the base for us. This plane is a Lockheed Martin P-3A-25 Orion. Aircraft are mostly used to slow a fire down or help contain it while the crews on the ground put the fire out. This model plane was first built in 1969 and is no longer in production. The plane drops fire retardant not water. The fire retardant is a mixture that sticks to and coats plants and helps stop them from catching fire. It is biodegradable and basically turns into a fertilizer over time. |
 click photo to enlarge |
This is one of the heavy lift helicopters. The blades on this thing are 66 ft in diameter. It fills the two tanks by a suction hose and pump and can fill them in 60 seconds. The two tanks hold approximately 1500 gallons of water a little over 12,000 lbs. The helicopters drop water on the fire. We were told the cost of fighting fires for this one chopper was $7000 per hour. |
 click photo to enlarge |
This it the CL 215 called the super scooper. It was designed and built expressly for fighting forest fires. This is a Canadian designed plane. The plane flies over a lake and scoops up 1400 gallons of water. This is one of the few planes that drop water. The others all drop retardant. |
 click photo to enlarge |
This is the tiny scoop that scoops up the water. The scoop is where the hand is. This little opening, one on each side of the plane, will fill the 1400 gallons of water in less then 10 seconds. You can see it isn't any bigger then his hand. The plane is flying at about 80 MPH when it is scooping up water. This plane can drop more water on a fire quicker then any other means. The large doors are where the water is dropped from. |
 click photo to enlarge |
This is inside the super scooper and shows the 2 tanks. It is surprising just how small the tanks on all the planes and helicopters are but water is very heavy. Water weighs 8.34 lbs per gallon so 1400 gallons would weigh approximately 12,000 lbs. So this plane can load 12,000 lbs in under 10 seconds and drop it in less then 3. |
 click photo to enlarge |
These are the viewing stands where the public can come and
watch the planes when they are fighting fires. You can also see why San
Bernardino is the smoggiest place in the USA.
Click for some fabulous photos of firefighters and planes in action. They are not my photos. Click the link and scroll down. |