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SA watches trial of giant waterbomber
bajdas:
From: http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25385931-2682,00.html
SA watches trial of giant waterbomber
A GIANT 747 air tanker that carries eight times as much water as other firefighting aircraft and moves twice as fast is bound for Australia.
The "Supertanker" will undergo its first fire season test in the US this year and authorities from SA, Victoria and NSW will be watching.
US officials have discussed the aircraft with Australian agencies, including Victoria's Country Fire Authority. Manufacturer Evergreen Aviation plans to stage a demonstration in Australia.
The plane is a Boeing 747 modified to carry 75,868 litres of water - more than eight times the usual payload for waterbombers.
It can reach speeds of 965km/h, twice as fast as typical firefighting aircraft, and disperses water with the same pressure as driving rain, the manufacturer claims. It takes about 30 minutes to refuel and refill using high-speed pumps.
The most effective airborne firefighting weapon used in Australia is the Erickson Air-Crane Helitanker, such as the one nicknamed Elvis, which is brought from the US each fire season.
The chopper carries 9000 litres of water, but it takes just 40 seconds to refill by lowering its bucket into a local water source
RescueHazmat:
I hope it can't "mass-deluge".. - 70 thousand ton of water coming down on the 'ground' crews, won't be fun!
Pipster:
Great..it carries 75,000 litres of water.
In summer, with a lack of water supplies, where is it going to fill?
Does it scoop from the sea? I can't see it being able to scoop from any other water supply in SA in summer....
Perhaps the Govt could just give the money they were going to spend on this project, to CFS, for new stations etc....it'd be more effective!
Pip
Zippy:
Can it fly from Queensland when it floods...
rescue5271:
I think you will find it wont be using WATER,but THERMO GEL as that is what the USA is using in it at the moment..But lets face it where will it land and how much will it cost to run?? I can't see it doing any work outside of a capital city unless they are going to make country run ways longer....Nothing wrong with what we have in place now,but its ok to Look but lets get it right sure go see what its all about come back and rather than sit in the city and say yes it would work have some workshops and get volunteers to have their say...
I can tell you already what I would say.....
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