Forest fire fighting

[Knucklehead]

Can the Air Corps assist with fighting the forest fires in Mayo. Do they have that capability?

MOD Edit

[apod]

Yes the AW139's have the use of "bambi buckets" for fire fighting.

[paul g]

Nope

We rarely have forest fires and usually have lots of rain.

[RoyalGreenJacket]

now thats a decent bucket compared to that gallon drum under the AW-139:

[Goldie fish]

It isn't something we would need much. The Bambi bucket looks more like something they use on building sites to bring the tools up to the 4th floor.

[DeV]

It isn't something we would need much.

You'd be surprised, there is a number of Coillte and private forests near me and there are probably 6-12 forest fires on them every year.

[CS Gass]

That bambi bucket thing must be a joke, if the crew took a piss out the window it'd do more good

[paul g]

We may have small forest fires, but nothing on the scale of those found in other countries, for example Gtreece in 2007.

Having specialised aircraft, or equipment for fighting forest fires is really unecessary, usually our summers are wash outs./

[GoneToTheCanner]

That is not a Bambi Bucket.It's a weight for proof-loading the hoist cable. The device under the Blackhawk is a proper Bambi Bucket, which is not a bucket but a reinforced, waterproofed canvas or rubber bag.Also, the aircraft used for fighting fires are often stripped out of anything deemd unwanted for fire-fighting, such as doors, seats, weapon mounts, etc.
regards
GttC

[Barry]

That is not a Bambi Bucket.It's a weight for proof-loading the hoist cable. The device under the Blackhawk is a proper Bambi Bucket, which is not a bucket but a reinforced, waterproofed canvas or rubber bag.Also, the aircraft used for fighting fires are often stripped out of anything deemd unwanted for fire-fighting, such as doors, seats, weapon mounts, etc.
regards
GttC

That makes an awful lot more sense - you wouldn't be able to have a bath in what's contained in that bucket, and there's no visible mechanism for dumping the water. Stripping out anything unnecessary makes sense too, as every kg you lose from the inside of the helicopter means another litre (ish) of water you can lift.

[Flamingo]

I heard a story a few years ago (from a friend who worked for the Forestry Commission) of a helicopter crew in Wales filling their bucket from a lake/reservoir, and the local scrotes on the side of the water throwing rocks at the chopper. Apparently, the pilot flew over, and emptied the bucket on them (and then refilled it without any interference!)

[Goldie fish]

Seems water bombing causes huge stresses on airframes.

That said did I see here a while back someone was converting a 747 to do the job?

[radovandragon]

[Barry]

That said did I see here a while back someone was converting a 747 to do the job?

Some capacity, but can't exactly hop over to the nearest lake to refill. I'd say doing 140 knots at 400 feet in a heavily loaded 747 would be an interesting experience though!

[DeV]

We may have small forest fires, but nothing on the scale of those found in other countries, for example Gtreece in 2007.

Having specialised aircraft, or equipment for fighting forest fires is really unecessary, usually our summers are wash outs./

Yes and no.... we have smaller forests so it would probably be a higher percentage loss of forestry, they have also in the past in dangered private & public property.