Saab’s fourth aerial firefighting aircraft has touched down at Skavsta Airport, its home base, near Nyköping in Sweden. The AT-802F is an aerial firefighter capable of delivering up to 50,000 liters of water per hour.
Aerial firefighters are elite multitaskers who understand the terrain and the effects of weather in close proximity to the fires, learn to execute low-level flying techniques, and have a firm grasp of fire control strategies and tactics.
Victor Trotter and his team at Haltom City-based Trotter Controls develop onboard technology that’s been called “the gold standard” in aerial firefighting.
The Burnett River is doubling as a runway as water bombers queue to refill while deployed to combat bushfires in the region.
Many of the most lucrative jobs in aviation are held by airline pilots, positions thought to be highly secure and in-demand just last year as a wave of older pilots retired. The pandemic has upended that assumption, for a few years at least. In its wake, anxiety and a search for alternative employment is pervasive among air transport pilots.
Aircraft capability has evolved from the early simple mechanical “pull the lever” designs, to today’s computer-controlled “drop by wire” firegate systems equipped with advanced telemetry and data gathering capability.
Heinen Brothers Agra Services operates more than a dozen bases outside of its home in Northeastern Kansas.
Air Tractor produced and donated more than 1,600 masks to Olney Hamilton Hospital along with schools in the Olney Independent School District.
Fire Boss LLC announced the purchase of a new Fire Boss by Arkansas-based AirPro Aviation for delivery in December of 2020.
Initial response with smaller single engine air tankers such as the Air Tractor AT-802F has proven to be an effective and less costly strategy in other countries. Bill Derr makes a compelling case that it’s time for the SEAT to lead the attack here in the U.S.