These pilots are my heroes. I am a firefighter and we were up in the woods, the fire kept spreading and coming towards us. Of course, that's when we ran out of water. We called air support and they dropped. Fire was out in no time. I am also 38 hours into my Helicopter training and only about 6 in my fixed wing, but I'm considering this type of flying.
That mayday call must have been the most terrifying moment of your life. These guys are truly heroes (I mean you ground guys are too without a doubt - thank you for protecting the rest of us!). Regular air tractor pilots are insane when you watch them fly under power lines when crop dusting in that huge a plane. And you watch them pull up right at the barn, a perfect plane for getting the pilot out of trouble when flying down a ravine and needing quick escape.
Not a good comparison. To firefight and to attack people on ground in their countries for oil or other economic reason are opposite things, morally, ethically and realistic speaking.
@@Keys879 I made my point, you can not compare a war machine, made with one and just one purpose, i.e. to kill and destroy other people countries for oil and politcs with another made to work and save lives, by preventing fire. EVERYTHING is politics. BTW, who you think you are to tell me what to do? The truth is ugly. Get over it.
@@radar536 Man you're an angry individual. Turn the steam down a bit. Air Tractors have actually been used in several air forces, strapped with guns and rocketry. An airplane is an airplane. It may have a mission today but that could change tomorrow. His comparison of a military built aircraft which supports ground troops on the frontlines with heavy fire support To that of an industrial built aircraft which supports ground crews on the fire line with heavy water/chemical support Really isnt that far off.. But somehow you decided to bring in the entire modern US int'l conflict of politics into it. Bravo I guess.
I learned to fly in the tractor! My father still owns it and I take her up when needed to do water missions on our ranch in CO! If anyone is interested, I am doing a flight tomorrow and can record the technical side of things and showcase how nimble she is, especially when dropping water! LMK!
SEND IT TO AUSTRALIA NOW.!!! ASAP.!!! 😢😢😢 HELP SUFFERING ANIMALS & TREES NEED IT.!!😭😭 SEND IT TO AUSTRALIA NOW.!!! ASAP.!!! 😢😢😢 HELP SUFFERING ANIMALS & TREES NEED IT.!!😭😭
@@jimiemick45 ONLY. 😣😣😣 AUSTRALIA NEED AT LEAST 2000 WATER PLANE RESERVE. TO END THE SUFFERING OF ANIMAL & TREE WILDFIRE. THE KOALAS NEEDED IT. 😭😭😭 SEND IT TO AUSTRALIA. ASAP.!!! 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺
what a beauty and a really excellent application of the Air Tractor airframe. I hope this platform is adopted in high risk areas.... I noticed a 2 seater version in the video,,,, i like that a lot. a fleet for action and one 2 seater for advanced training or put a camera operator / researcher in the back seat for non fire suppression sorties such as forestry or bug spray....
I thought Airtractors were not suitable for dropping the whole payload at once, since some of them have already fallen apart doing so. Maybe this version of the AT is reinforced and designed for this application
Used here in Tenterfield - NSW Terra Australis - over the last 2 weeks we put through 60,000 litres per day to control fires here. Fortunately the rain came at the right time. Admirable performance!
I like how the “ maintenance” guy is just looking at the switches and prentending to push them even though they are already pushed in the direction he is pretending to push them in 😂…
LOL! As an AAO my main group are the CL-415's. This years check-ride.....a group of 6 Tractors! Initial retardant drop run was okay,....but when we entered skim-mode.....my word,...like trying to control a Le Mans race!!! Less capacity is truly exceeded by rapidity! Doing drop evaluations was extremely demanding! Kick-ass tankers that can truly sway a fire!
Do you prefer the Tractors over the CL-415s, Im sure you could operate 3 tractors for the price of 1 CL-415, the problem that I see is the number of young aviators that cut their teeth and learn to fly in a conventional gear aircraft is getting pretty small, although with floats on its no defferent than any other float plane.
I'm curious as to what the pay is for flying one of these and how much time you had under your belt before you were hired. I'm 90% done with my PPL and I've always been interested in this type of flying.
Omg, there is an armored and armed variant(the 802L)!! That will get rid of whatever infestation your field has! Drop a 500lb jdam on it! “You said get rid of my boll-weevil infestation, not to not turn your beet crop into a smoking crater!”
I am a clasic airplane enthusist but future of military aviation are in drones. In today, modern wars such planes no chances even to takeoff. Maby against totaly inferior enemy. Sad but true.
Even for anyone who has ever seen a forest fire, the amount of water dropped by this plane is too small. Rusty mosquito. After two years in use, there was no part that was not rusted. Salt water destroyed the plane. In the places where there are the most forest fires, there is no fresh water because all around us is the sea. Croatia, Greece, Spain, etc. The water problem is the same everywhere. The plane is only a shadow of its larger brother CL-415, which is robust and much more durable.
I'm curious, to mitigate wild-fire, wouldn't it be appropriate and possible to "water the lawn" ahead of time with like crop-dusting the forest with water when there appears to be drought conditions? The young pilots would likely desire to get more experience and it might reduce damage. Maybe I'm way outta my field of knowledge on this regards forest management.
The structural crews lay out sprinklers on the roof and on the ground providing there is enough water. Water evaporates. Fireayde or Geltech solutiions have foam products that stick to vertical surfaces.
I loved getting knocked out to initial attacks on our home forest, because we always had a SEAT (single engine air tanker) and a helicopter go out with us. It's cool to see the SEAT go whizzing by, with the sounds of the chopper and the chainsaws running, the heat on your cheeks... I miss the shit in the winter, lol.
I'd like to know if AirTractor would reconsider allowing plane models to be created for the flight simulators FSX and P3D ?those simulations have become very good .there are two good programs that are very cool,one allows you to drop retardant,the other is a crop duster,both allow you to create your own situations or scenarios for placing fires or crops.the fire version will also allow you to connect to fire information websites,like NIFC ,and it then uses that data to place a wildfire in the sim,and it will show for you too work,I've read where it will allow the fire to be dynamic,if that's the right term,so you can see a fires spread,and extinguishment .
@@cinnamanstera6388 they are not in the business of flight sims. Sim models are made by the company who releases the sim, or aftermarket downloadable content creators. The latter are often the best, especially the paid-for download options.
Zyler Chapman First. Get your Private Pilot’s License. You might also want to get an instrument rating so you are able to fly in clouds. Then get a commercial license so that a company will be able to legally pay you. Then just get the ratings you need to fly which will be something like Single Engine Land or Single Engine Sea
Denis Ranque I'm just a private pilot but when I fly over a large parking lot at a low altitude I can feel turbulence from the heat rising up. I think it would be fair to say large amounts of heat rising would cause a strong up draft.
Denis Ranque from reading fire fighting news, I know the fire tanker pilots say they get a noticeable "lightening" of the aircraft when they dump. It would be the sane thing as piloting a military aircraft that releases military tanks and other payloads via either skid drops or regular parachute drops. It is also true that there is a noticeable updraft above large fire conditions, due to the fact that hot air rises.
Fires generate massive turbulence, so I doubt the drop would be very noticeable. During the WWII Doolittle raids over Japan they were stopping incendiary bombs and the entire city was a maelstrom. The turbulence from the fires reportedly ripped some pilot's seats free from their bolts and killed them from bouncing them around in the cockpit. Fire is a powerful thing.
Me and a couple of other guys flew above a grain silo fire at Ogden Point in Victoria BC back in the 70's. There was noticeable turbulence over the fire at 1000 to 2000 ft. Buffeting. 3 of us, yes 3 crammed into a C 150.
Another avenue nobody seems to try is removing the oxygen from a strong fire with a small areal explosion coordinated with immediate drops of water and or fire retardant.
Possibly to drop the water faster... kinda like if you take a bottle of water and turn it upsidedown it will just bubble out because of the pressure difference, but if you punch a whole in the bottle it will drain faster.
I talked with an air tractor pilot. It´s about pressure. If that cap doesn´t exist, the pressure of water going out the tank will brake the structure. It´s like the bottle example commented before ;)
Why can we not re-arm these planes in the air with water or fire retardant like we re-fuel planes in the military. Landings and take offs place so much strain on a plane... keep it in the air longer will be cheaper.
@@SgtJoeSmith the mars will still drop more water over a period of hours , it takes several hours for the super tanker to drop , refill and then drop again ..... the mars can do this every 10 minutes . .... the mars records of most water dropped in a hour and most water dropped in a day have not been beaten to date .
Get this into Flight Simulator 2020 so everyone can do some virtual firefighting :-D
Yes! Both for rotor and fixed wing ! Great idea lol
You kind of can in fsx
@GG king have to look for the mod and there are planes you can download that you can do drops anywhere
@GG king The name is FireFighter X
It's coming in MSFS2024 ruclips.net/video/rvzlC4iCtns/видео.html it's shown at the minute 27 second mark.
These pilots are my heroes. I am a firefighter and we were up in the woods, the fire kept spreading and coming towards us. Of course, that's when we ran out of water. We called air support and they dropped. Fire was out in no time. I am also 38 hours into my Helicopter training and only about 6 in my fixed wing, but I'm considering this type of flying.
Chase that dream! Go get 'em!
Hey man its been six years. Did you reach your goal? This is also my dream job so someone reply to this in a few years.
I hope you achieved what you wanted after 7yrs.
I want to fly for, at least for me a Cali resident, CalFire
That mayday call must have been the most terrifying moment of your life. These guys are truly heroes (I mean you ground guys are too without a doubt - thank you for protecting the rest of us!). Regular air tractor pilots are insane when you watch them fly under power lines when crop dusting in that huge a plane. And you watch them pull up right at the barn, a perfect plane for getting the pilot out of trouble when flying down a ravine and needing quick escape.
stop lying you work at walmart
The Air Tractor dropping water is the civilian version of the A-10 Warthog on a gun run.
Not a good comparison. To firefight and to attack people on ground in their countries for oil or other economic reason are opposite things, morally, ethically and realistic speaking.
@@radar536 No one dropped politics into it until you did. Hold your fire.
@@Keys879 I made my point, you can not compare a war machine, made with one and just one purpose, i.e. to kill and destroy other people countries for oil and politcs with another made to work and save lives, by preventing fire. EVERYTHING is politics. BTW, who you think you are to tell me what to do? The truth is ugly. Get over it.
@@radar536 Man you're an angry individual. Turn the steam down a bit. Air Tractors have actually been used in several air forces, strapped with guns and rocketry. An airplane is an airplane. It may have a mission today but that could change tomorrow.
His comparison of a military built aircraft which supports ground troops on the frontlines with heavy fire support
To that of an industrial built aircraft which supports ground crews on the fire line with heavy water/chemical support
Really isnt that far off..
But somehow you decided to bring in the entire modern US int'l conflict of politics into it.
Bravo I guess.
@@radar536 Well at least you were polite enough to acronym your vulgarity, i guess. Please, don't have children.
Is that Dusty Crophopper? I was wondering what happened to him.
I learned to fly in the tractor! My father still owns it and I take her up when needed to do water missions on our ranch in CO! If anyone is interested, I am doing a flight tomorrow and can record the technical side of things and showcase how nimble she is, especially when dropping water! LMK!
Do it
You're as late as I am. @@TheJustinJ, you thought right though.
please post!
Dusty Crophopper!!
Amazing, congratulations to Air Tractor and all the crews involved in these operations.
We need a few more of these over here right now!! (South-east Australia, bushfires everywhere).
what a plane! these pilots know their stuff, thanks for your service.
After seeing the 1989 movie Always when I was a kid with Richard Dreyfuss and John Goodman. I have always wanted to become a water bomber pilot.
I remember that one. Wasn't Holly Hunter in that movie?
Yes she was.
SEND IT TO AUSTRALIA NOW.!!! ASAP.!!! 😢😢😢
HELP SUFFERING ANIMALS & TREES NEED IT.!!😭😭
SEND IT TO AUSTRALIA NOW.!!! ASAP.!!! 😢😢😢
HELP SUFFERING ANIMALS & TREES NEED IT.!!😭😭
There is 45 of them here, mainly operated by local companies.
@@jimiemick45 ONLY. 😣😣😣
AUSTRALIA NEED AT LEAST 2000 WATER PLANE RESERVE.
TO END THE SUFFERING OF ANIMAL & TREE WILDFIRE.
THE KOALAS NEEDED IT. 😭😭😭
SEND IT TO AUSTRALIA. ASAP.!!! 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺
what a beauty and a really excellent application of the Air Tractor airframe. I hope this platform is adopted in high risk areas.... I noticed a 2 seater version in the video,,,, i like that a lot. a fleet for action and one 2 seater for advanced training or put a camera operator / researcher in the back seat for non fire suppression sorties such as forestry or bug spray....
I thought Airtractors were not suitable for dropping the whole payload at once, since some of them have already fallen apart doing so. Maybe this version of the AT is reinforced and designed for this application
I thought this narrator voice died in the 1980s ! “Learn to be a radio DJ at the Columbia Broadcasting School - not affiliated with CBS television “
I flew an 802f for two seasons. 2004 2005
Used here in Tenterfield - NSW Terra Australis - over the last 2 weeks we put through 60,000 litres per day to control fires here. Fortunately the rain came at the right time. Admirable performance!
She thinks my tractors SEXYYYYYY!
The copyright says 2012, but the video screams 1982. Good planes, though.
I like how the “ maintenance” guy is just looking at the switches and prentending to push them even though they are already pushed in the direction he is pretending to push them in 😂…
LOL! As an AAO my main group are the CL-415's. This years check-ride.....a group of 6 Tractors! Initial retardant drop run was okay,....but when we entered skim-mode.....my word,...like trying to control a Le Mans race!!! Less capacity is truly exceeded by rapidity! Doing drop evaluations was extremely demanding! Kick-ass tankers that can truly sway a fire!
Do you prefer the Tractors over the CL-415s, Im sure you could operate 3
tractors for the price of 1 CL-415, the problem that I see is the number of
young aviators that cut their teeth and learn to fly in a conventional gear
aircraft is getting pretty small, although with floats on its no defferent than
any other float plane.
To be totally honest...I prefer the CL-215T's.
I'm curious as to what the pay is for flying one of these and how much time you had under your belt before you were hired. I'm 90% done with my PPL and I've always been interested in this type of flying.
I heard Harbour air wanted 10 k hrs in order to fly the Beavers or Otters.
Omg, there is an armored and armed variant(the 802L)!! That will get rid of whatever infestation your field has! Drop a 500lb jdam on it! “You said get rid of my boll-weevil infestation, not to not turn your beet crop into a smoking crater!”
SEATs rule. I miss the P2Vs tho.
He said Forrest rehabilitation... Soil exhaustion maybe? Big Reggie 😁
being a student pilot is fun now doing this for a living seems even better
Succesfull people always have goals
This looks like the A-10 for firefighters :)
Check out the AT-802U in that case!
These 802f’s cost over 2 million new in 2023. That’s crazy.
Godsend for firefighters on the ground. Amazing piece of engineering!
I am a clasic airplane enthusist but future of military aviation are in drones. In today, modern wars such planes no chances even to takeoff. Maby against totaly inferior enemy. Sad but true.
Apologise for my wrong coment. I thought on close support version of Airtractor. Sorry
Even for anyone who has ever seen a forest fire, the amount of water dropped by this plane is too small. Rusty mosquito. After two years in use, there was no part that was not rusted. Salt water destroyed the plane. In the places where there are the most forest fires, there is no fresh water because all around us is the sea. Croatia, Greece, Spain, etc. The water problem is the same everywhere. The plane is only a shadow of its larger brother CL-415, which is robust and much more durable.
I'm curious, to mitigate wild-fire, wouldn't it be appropriate and possible to "water the lawn" ahead of time with like crop-dusting the forest with water when there appears to be drought conditions? The young pilots would likely desire to get more experience and it might reduce damage. Maybe I'm way outta my field of knowledge on this regards forest management.
Water evaporates far to quickly in the dry hot conditions of a bush fire.
The structural crews lay out sprinklers on the roof and on the ground providing there is enough water. Water evaporates. Fireayde or Geltech solutiions have foam products that stick to vertical surfaces.
Look up Geltech solutions or Fireayde.
California needs a fleet of these.
Super great video, great story. These guys and gals are some of the best pilots anywhere!
I love the meme that all mechanized military assets ostensibly begin as "farm-equipment"
What is the purpose of the hatch opening at 6:04 ?
Top loading of the tank
@@johnconner9149
Did they forget to latch the hatch?
@@TqSNv9R0iG5Ckxew I don't know
It opens to allow air into the hopper as the water or retardant rapidly exits through the gates. Otherwise it would create a suction.
@@jamesriordan7
Thank you, James. I never thought of it that way.
I loved getting knocked out to initial attacks on our home forest, because we always had a SEAT (single engine air tanker) and a helicopter go out with us. It's cool to see the SEAT go whizzing by, with the sounds of the chopper and the chainsaws running, the heat on your cheeks... I miss the shit in the winter, lol.
The tractor I want to drive o rather fly
Ferry speed is not cruise speed. Ferry speed is for when youre NOT hauling a shit ton of payload.
It's amazing how an application can make a silly looking aircraft look gorgeous!!
What about the marsel veins and the flux capacitors?
GE wouldn’t license the incabulator….
It looks like a crop duster how big is it for those who know? Looks to small for any serious work.
I see nothing but Aspen Dental ads. What is going on. Sick of all the ads I am
What's the speed on water scooping?
Nice ad, but I need one like I need a hole in my head - I think I'll pass......
from dropping water on fires to dropping fires
ahh... reliabidldee
The Ford F250 and industrial Leatherman of the air.
God bless the fire fighters who risk their lives for us
do they have water bombs like gaint water ballons to drop on the fire like napom?
ARTILLERY CRUISE MISSILE WATER BOMBER
THAT CAN RETURN BACK TO SEA WATER SHIP.
OR SWARM BOT B2 WATER BOMBER DRONE.
WATER BALOON is TOO SLOW. :(
MAYBE ITS GOOD FOR BAYSIDEFIRE.
What tha.....a freakin sales commercial? Lame
A P51 would be better, well more fun anyway
ARTILLERY CRUISE MISSILE WATER BOMBER
THAT CAN RETURN BACK TO SEA WATER SHIP.
OR SWARM BOT B2 WATER BOMBER DRONE.
Vamos, Air Tractors..
hey dont forget about me🚒🚒🚒🚒🚒🚒🚒🚒🚒
How much does it cost
hey look crophopper made it to real life
I'd like to know if AirTractor would reconsider allowing plane models to be created for the flight simulators FSX and P3D ?those simulations have become very good .there are two good programs that are very cool,one allows you to drop retardant,the other is a crop duster,both allow you to create your own situations or scenarios for placing fires or crops.the fire version will also allow you to connect to fire information websites,like NIFC ,and it then uses that data to place a wildfire in the sim,and it will show for you too work,I've read where it will allow the fire to be dynamic,if that's the right term,so you can see a fires spread,and extinguishment .
Interesting. Any I deas why they don't want digital models?
@@cinnamanstera6388 they are not in the business of flight sims.
Sim models are made by the company who releases the sim, or aftermarket downloadable content creators. The latter are often the best, especially the paid-for download options.
We need these instead of 747 s.
Looks excellent
Viking CL515 better
How can I become a firefighter pilot who flies these type of airplanes?
Zyler Chapman First. Get your Private Pilot’s License. You might also want to get an instrument rating so you are able to fly in clouds. Then get a commercial license so that a company will be able to legally pay you. Then just get the ratings you need to fly which will be something like Single Engine Land or Single Engine Sea
My dream job is to fly them for firefighting
I’ll take it.
You could say these are fire fighters
cabibidldees ?
what a plane
Cool.
Is it true that violent upward force is felt by the pilot and airplane when unloading over fire???
Denis Ranque I'm just a private pilot but when I fly over a large parking lot at a low altitude I can feel turbulence from the heat rising up. I think it would be fair to say large amounts of heat rising would cause a strong up draft.
Denis Ranque from reading fire fighting news, I know the fire tanker pilots say they get a noticeable "lightening" of the aircraft when they dump. It would be the sane thing as piloting a military aircraft that releases military tanks and other payloads via either skid drops or regular parachute drops. It is also true that there is a noticeable updraft above large fire conditions, due to the fact that hot air rises.
Fires generate massive turbulence, so I doubt the drop would be very noticeable. During the WWII Doolittle raids over Japan they were stopping incendiary bombs and the entire city was a maelstrom. The turbulence from the fires reportedly ripped some pilot's seats free from their bolts and killed them from bouncing them around in the cockpit. Fire is a powerful thing.
Me and a couple of other guys flew above a grain silo fire at Ogden Point in Victoria BC back in the 70's. There was noticeable turbulence over the fire at 1000 to 2000 ft. Buffeting. 3 of us, yes 3 crammed into a C 150.
awesome :D !! haha anyone know the song at the start
midltary ?
Genial herramienta para Bomberos
Thanks
Ease off the stock music
I understood every word, without straining. MUCH better than a lot of videos, where the voice is below the music level.
@@shredders3881 thank you for the reply. You are absolutely correct! I’ve had a change of heart
very cool!
Another avenue nobody seems to try is removing the oxygen from a strong fire with a small areal explosion coordinated with immediate drops of water and or fire retardant.
Cool
How much cost this plane?
+TheCobra011 Israel paid around $7 million a plane for a sale of 6 aircraft.
Much money cost this plane!
What´s opened in engine hood at 6:05 ?
I guess when he goes into smoke its just a vent or something. I don't know shit about planes tho, but it seems like a logical explanation ;)
Possibly to drop the water faster... kinda like if you take a bottle of water and turn it upsidedown it will just bubble out because of the pressure difference, but if you punch a whole in the bottle it will drain faster.
aah, okay ;)
I talked with an air tractor pilot. It´s about pressure. If that cap doesn´t exist, the pressure of water going out the tank will brake the structure. It´s like the bottle example commented before ;)
So you are telling me this thing has a 6,970lb payload!?!
Not even close
Why can we not re-arm these planes in the air with water or fire retardant like we re-fuel planes in the military. Landings and take offs place so much strain on a plane... keep it in the air longer will be cheaper.
James Sercu kind of hard to do when you've got a prop plane
real fight fighting airplanes are able to skim across lakes and rivers to refill , like the martin mars
Real? I guess all those helicopters and standard fixed wing aircraft that make up a majority of the fire fighting aircraft are totally fake.
PZL M18 DROMADER IS THE BEST!!!!
I like the cl415 more
visibidldee ?
The absolute best way to fight and put out the fire is to live for and turn your life to JESUS CHRIST 😊👍👍👍
i see you child's toy and raise you the martin mars bombers .
I see your mars water bombers and raise you to a 747-400 global tanker.
I'd take the Mars, they are just up Island from me. Their turnaround time would be less than the 747 if there was a lake that could handle it.
@@SgtJoeSmith the mars will still drop more water over a period of hours , it takes several hours for the super tanker to drop , refill and then drop again ..... the mars can do this every 10 minutes . .... the mars records of most water dropped in a hour and most water dropped in a day have not been beaten to date .
@@charlesboston1 Cool. See you in another year? Lol. Have a good weekend
the plane is good but the pilots are even better.