50 | Pilot September 2017 http://www.pilotweb.aero
conditions are right.” It all sounded
interesting, exciting and very worthwhile,
for although there are a lot of meaningful
flying jobs out there (as well as quite a
few that are rather frivolous) there’s
something about being an aerial fire
fighter that really appeals. You’ve got the
thrill of flying a real aeroplane in a very
tough environment, along with the
camaraderie of operating with a tight-knit
group of total professionals on a mission
that matters.
In many ways flying with a water
bomber unit is probably very much like
being in an elite fighter squadron, but
without the inevitable military bulldust. In
fact, it’s probably considerably more
dangerous than being a combat pilot, as
every year several crews are killed in
action while fighting man’s oldest and
deadliest enemy; fire.
In a review of air tanker operations by
the United States Fire Service after a
C-130 and a Privateer crashed in 2002,
several pilots admitted to the panel that
“risk is one of the most attractive
features of the mission” but then (as the
old English proverb has it) ‘danger and
delight grow on the
same stalk’.
The adrenalin rush
of scooping water
out of a tree-lined
mountain lake, then
flying fast and low
into a narrow canyon
to attack a huge
forest fire must be
immense. And can
you imagine the
sense of satisfaction when landing back at
base after a long and hard day’s flying,
knowing that you’ve just help save an
entire town? That must feel like you’ve
really done something worthwhile!
But the aspect of flying a water bomber
that most appeals to me is that crews
have all the excitement of the scramble
and the thrill of the bomb run, but with a
profound difference: they’re saving
people, not killing them.that not only was the concept viable, it
could potentially save millions of dollars of
forestry every fire season.
Over the years many iconic aircraft
were converted to tankers, including
Avengers, Catalinas, Fortresses, Mitchells,
Invaders and
Tigercats, and of
course the mighty
Martin Mars.
These days
they’re mostly
turbine-powered
and include Turbo
Firecats, CL-415s
and C-130s,
up to BAe 146s,
DC-10s and even
747s. However, the aircraft I’d like to fly is
also the first one specifically built to be a
water bomber, the Canadair CL-215.
Derived from the CL-43, which was
itself loosely based on the Canso — a
variant of the Catalina built by Canadian-
Vickers — the CL-215 ‘Scooper’ is a high
wing amphibian powered by two P&W
R-2800 Double Wasps. I’ve always loved
amphibious aircraft and big round
engines, so a rugged
amphibian powered
by a pair of 2,100hp
twin-row eighteen-
cylinder air-cooled
radials really is my
kind of machine.
My old mate
Patty Wagstaff flew
‘air attack’ in an
OV-10 Bronco
during California’s
fire season, so I asked her recently what
it was like. She said, “air attack is a pretty
cool gig — and being a tanker pilot might
be even better.”
As an air attack pilot she had to loiter
over the fire and direct the tankers,
sometimes for up to five hours at a time.
She also explained that “Fire behaviour is
always changing and it’s amazing to see
how things go from a lightning strike on a
tree to a big fire in a short time when theH
ave you ever thought about
what your dream flying job
would be? Being a Concorde
captain must have been cool,
and I would have loved the
chance to fly the X-15 or Space Shuttle.
Flying old warbirds
around the USA with
the Collings
Foundation looked like
a lot of fun when I
joined the ‘Wings of
Freedom’ tour on
several different legs,
while being the
Shuttleworth
Collection’s Chief Pilot
must be endlessly
fascinating. However, when someone asked
me this very question recently I didn’t
hesitate for a second. The job I’ve always
wanted is to fly fire bombers.
I saw my first fire bombers (or tankers as
they’re known in the US) at Fox Field Air
Attack Base in the Mojave Desert at the
end of the 1980s. I thought that the crews
of the two C-54s on standby would laugh
at the diminutive 7ACA Champ I was flying
but, as is often the case with aviators the
world over, they were amenable, affable
and happy to chat. They quickly confirmed
what I already suspected; they had the
best job in the world.
The idea of fighting fires from the air
originated in America. In 1910, a
catastrophic wildfire destroyed three
million acres of Idaho, Montana and
Washington, and the concept of monitoring
wildfires from the air was originally
mooted. In 1919, the idea was put into
action and its benefits quickly realised.
Some experimental work regarding
dropping water from aircraft was tried in
the 1930s, but it wasn’t until after WWII
that aircraft were sufficiently powerful to
drop a worthwhile load.
A vast number of aircraft were tried
(including even P-47s and B-29s) and brave
pioneers such as the legendary Paul Mantz
persevered with many different approaches
and techniques. It soon became apparent
Regulars | Push to Talk
What’s your aviation dream job?
How about being a fire bomber?
DAVE UNWIN
Pilot’s Flight Test Editor operates a Jodel D.9
from a farm strip and has logged stick-time
on everything from ultralights to fast jets“air attack is a
pretty cool gig...
being a tanker
pilot might be
even better”
I didn’t hesitate
a second... The
job I’ve always
wanted is to fly
fire bombers