A 3-year study commissioned by the US Forest Service has determined that Scooper Planes are better suited for combating wildfires than Tankers. The study found that the majority of wildfires are within 10-miles of a body of water large enough to use scoopers and that the speed with which these planes can load and return makes them a better option than heavy tankers, that must land at an air base, reload and take off again.
Correct me if I have misunderstood this. You can't make fire lines with water like you can with retardant, right? Scoopers drop water on the flames, tankers drop retardant on the edge of the fire. I would think a mix of both would be a better option.
In reading the article, I came away with the impression that while the scoopers can deliver a lot of water in a short period of time, the prevailing sentiment is that the heavy tankers with fire retardant slurry are more beneficial.
I believe scoopers could be one more tool, one more arrow in the quiver, so to speak, allowing incident commanders additional options when developing their action plans.
Thanks for the link to the article. Wanted to see what scoopers are as I am not familiar.
Have to agree with Raees - a combination of both.
IN NOVEMBER 2014, WE HAVE A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY TO CLEAN OUT THE ENTIRE HOUSE AND ONE-THIRD OF THE SENATE! DONT BLOW IT!
“When white man find land, Indians running it, no taxes, no debt, plenty buffalo, plenty beaver, clean water. Women did all the work, Medicine man free. Indian man spend all day hunting and fishing; all night having sex. Only whit man dumb enough to think he could improve system like that.” Indian Chief Two Eagles
They're nothing new. They've been used successfully for years in Canada and Russia. A half dozen of these guys scooping up a belly full of water in three seconds and dumping it can turn a wildfire into a swimming pool in no time.
Yes, the Forest Service is still sold on Heavy Slurry Tankers. I won't pretend to have the knowledge to argue the case, one way or the other.
But I did add a great video of the Super Scooper in action on our FaceBook page. With a nearby water source, (within 10-miles +/-) one of these planes can (according to the video), load and drop, load and drop, up to 28,000-gallons of water in 1-hour!
One of my friends in Nebraska had a wildfire get within one mile of his home. the firefighting helicopters drained his pond but he didn't mind. Plus the local wildlife got to snack on the leftover fish.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
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