C-130's scooping up water to fight the Bastrop, TX fires

Canadair CL-215 known popularly, though not officially, as a "Scooper", the later turbo-prop CL-415 variant being the "Super Scooper". Unlike the previous aircraft on this page, the CL-215 is a seaplane (or flying boat if you're from the British commonwealth), able to scoop up 1,400 gallons (5,300 liters) of water in just 12 seconds while making a high-speed run across a lake. The extremely large tail and other control surfaces make this a very maneuverable aircraft, a critical commodity when flying at low altitude in canyons and other obstructed areas. Like all aerial fire-fighting, it's still a very hazardous occupation, and there have been 21 fatal accidents around the world involving this aircraft type.
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COOL!
 
WoW,,,,,,,, look how low that lake is, they must scoop a lot of water.
 
They don't seem to climb too quick after filling...
 
JeffDG said:
They don't seem to climb too quick after filling...
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Heh, I was thinking the same thing... take on a little weight did they? ;)

Was wondering if the second aircraft was going to clear the treeline.
 
Tom-D said:
WoW,,,,,,,, look how low that lake is, they must scoop a lot of water.
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The lake level is due to the drought across TX. Back in June when we spent a weekend at Lake Travis the water level was 30' low. Looking at the lake level now, they're 47' low. The island visible behind the plane 10s into the video is under water when the lake is full. The vegetation on the island is a pretty clear indication of how long the lake has been low.
 
smccray said:
The lake level is due to the drought across TX. Back in June when we spent a weekend at Lake Travis the water level was 30' low. Looking at the lake level now, they're 47' low. The island visible behind the plane 10s into the video is under water when the lake is full. The vegetation on the island is a pretty clear indication of how long the lake has been low.
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We knew that :)

you folks needed Irene...... would have filled that lake in 3 days and put out them fires in 3 hours or less.
 
Another big bruiser is the Martin Mars. Two of them operate on Vancouver Island. They are BIG.
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See this video:
http://www.engravingdragon.com/MartinMarsFlyingTanker.html

Dan
 
We flew up to Beeville, TX today, and the smoke layer went up to 6500 feet.
 
As for the shallow climb out, sure they are heavy, but they are also trying to get back to the fire as fast as possible so keeping the airspeed up is the goal.
 
They did. Someone posted the FlightAware track on Twitter two evenings ago as it was inbound.
 
smccray said:
The lake level is due to the drought across TX. Back in June when we spent a weekend at Lake Travis the water level was 30' low. Looking at the lake level now, they're 47' low. The island visible behind the plane 10s into the video is under water when the lake is full. The vegetation on the island is a pretty clear indication of how long the lake has been low.
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It was impressive (in a bad way) to see the lakes from the air this week flying DFW-AUS.
 
denverpilot said:
They did. Someone posted the FlightAware track on Twitter two evenings ago as it was inbound.
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That's interesting. N479EV didn't show up on Flightaware when I checked.

I think you're confusing it with N450AX.
 
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