two water bomber planes collecting water

[Bear Dale]

Hope this is alright posting up some vid's I took the last couple of days.

Here's some videos that I thought people may find interesting that I took the last couple of days of two water bomber planes collecting water from Lake Conjola for the bushfire fighting effort West of Milton in New South Wales, Australia which is burning out of control. The planes have been picking up water for three continuous days now.Great effort and skill from the pilots skimming along the water and filling up their pontoon tanks full of water without stopping and doing a terrific job in fighting these bushfires by water bombing. Today is the first day that the gale force winds have abated and we aren't be showered with embers and burnt leaves. The smoke is still pretty thick though.


Here's the links, the videos where shot with my D850 and 200-500mm lens using a monopod, first time I have used the camera to take video -


1,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7yWlJ1TQOI


2,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7ic7hRC8rM


3,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5m-RKom290

 

[Asher Kelman]

Yes, the videos are wonderful.

But let me try this

Firefighting Plane #1

Fire Fighting Plane #2

Loading Water on three Lake

Yes, this works!

Asher

 

[Bear Dale]

Thanks for hyperlinking them for me Asher, appreciated!

 

[Peter Dexter]

Very interesting. help us understand how that works.

 

[Bear Dale]

Thanks Peter.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Very interesting. help us understand how that works.

I wondered whether the plane drags a pipe sucking up water as it taxis?

Asher

 

[Bear Dale]

The planes come in pretty fast, come down onto the water at a fair pace and without stopping fills up the two pontoons. You can really hear the engine getting gunned by the pilot as the pontoons fill and he ups the revs for take off. The whole process takes like 10-15 seconds.


From what I have gathered the is a flap in the pontoons that allows water to enter and when full automatically shuts off. The pilot then flys to the bushfire and water bombs the fire.


Very impressive to watch, there's a lot of helicopters filling up large (huge) canvas bags of water to water bomb as well.


The lake is a salt water estuary, the National Parks & Wildlife (who started the fire when a winter hazard reduction burn got out of control) has jacked up that they are dumping saltwater on the bush.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Well, I thought these might be special pontoons. Just felt it might make tgrvpontones no longer float the plane!

Salt water drops are pretty damaging to the ecosystem! “Water Bombing” is the term used in Australia, New Zealand and Canada for attack on fires using foam/retardant/water-dropping airplanes.

In the USA, do not generally use the word “Water Bomb” except perhaps kids with water-filled balloons at a party!

I add below the terminologies used around the world.

Asher




Terminology. (Wikipedia)

A wide variety of terminology has been used in the popular media for the aircraft (and methods) used in aerial firefighting. The terms airtanker or air tanker generally refer to fixed-wing aircraft based in the United States; "airtanker" is used in official documentation.[2] The term "waterbomber" is used in some Canadian government documents for the same class of vehicles,[3][4] though it sometimes has a connotation of amphibians.[5]

Air attack is an industry term used for the actual application of aerial resources, both fixed-wing and rotorcraft, on a fire. Within the industry, though, "air attack" may also refer to the supervisor in the air (usually in a fixed-wing aircraft) who supervises the process of attacking the wildfire from the air, including fixed-wing airtankers, helicopters, and any other aviation resources assigned to the fire. The Air Tactical Group Supervisor (ATGS), often called "air attack," is usually flying at an altitude above other resources assigned to the fire, often in a fixed-wing plane but occasionally (depending on assigned resources or the availability of qualified personnel) in a helicopter.A wide variety of terminology has been used in the popular media for the aircraft (and methods) used in aerial firefighting. The terms airtanker or air tanker generally refer to fixed-wing aircraft based in the United States; "airtanker" is used in official documentation.[2] The term "waterbomber" is used in some Canadian government documents for the same class of vehicles,[3][4] though it sometimes has a connotation of amphibians.[5]

Air attack is an industry term used for the actual application of aerial resources, both fixed-wing and rotorcraft, on a fire. Within the industry, though, "air attack" may also refer to the supervisor in the air (usually in a fixed-wing aircraft) who supervises the process of attacking the wildfire from the air, including fixed-wing airtankers, helicopters, and any other aviation resources assigned to the fire. The Air Tactical Group Supervisor (ATGS), often called "air attack," is usually flying at an altitude above other resources assigned to the fire, often in a fixed-wing plane but occasionally (depending on assigned resources or the availability of qualified personnel) in a helicopter.

 

[Bear Dale]

Interesting read Asher, thanks mate.