Helitanker can drop 3,000 gallons of water on a wildfire
By Orange County on September 30, 2020
Fire authorities showcased on Wednesday, Sept. 30, a water-dropping helicopter with a 3,000-gallon capacity that will be available to combat the ever-growing blazes erupting in the region.
“This helitanker is a force multiplier,” Orange County Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy said at a press conference at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos. “This literally is the largest tanked helicopter in the world.”
A pilot prepares a CH-47 twin-engine, tandem rotor helicopter during a press event at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Beach in Los Alamitos, CA, on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. The RADS (retardant aerial delivery system) on the VLHT (very large helitanker) allows pilots to adjust water/retardant flows based on speed an altitude. Ot can also fight fires at night. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Workers affix a new OCFA sticker to the side of a CH-47 twin-engine, tandem rotor helicopter during a press event at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Beach in Los Alamitos, CA, on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. The RADS (retardant aerial delivery system) on the VLHT (very large helitanker) allows pilots to adjust water/retardant flows based on speed an altitude. Ot can also fight fires at night. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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A pilot prepares a CH-47 twin-engine, tandem rotor helicopter during a press event in Los Alamitos, CA, on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. The RADS (retardant aerial delivery system) on the VLHT (very large helitanker) allows pilots to adjust water/retardant flows based on speed an altitude. Ot can also fight fires at night. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A CH-47 twin-engine, tandem rotor helicopter during a press event at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Beach in Los Alamitos, CA, on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. The RADS (retardant aerial delivery system) on the VLHT (very large helitanker) allows pilots to adjust water/retardant flows based on speed an altitude. Ot can also fight fires at night. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A Bell 412 demonstrates dropping water during a press event for the CH-47 twin-engine, tandem rotor helicopter demonstrates dropping 3,000 gallons of water during a press event at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Beach in Los Alamitos, CA, on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. The RADS (retardant aerial delivery system) on the VLHT (very large helitanker) allows pilots to adjust water/retardant flows based on speed an altitude. Ot can also fight fires at night. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A CH-47 twin-engine, tandem rotor helicopter demonstrates dropping 3,000 gallons of water during a press event at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Beach in Los Alamitos, CA, on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. The RADS (retardant aerial delivery system) on the VLHT (very large helitanker) allows pilots to adjust water/retardant flows based on speed an altitude. Ot can also fight fires at night. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Brigadier General Michael Leeney talks the CH-47 twin-engine, tandem rotor helicopter during a press event at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Beach in Los Alamitos, CA, on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. The RADS (retardant aerial delivery system) on the VLHT (very large helitanker) allows pilots to adjust water/retardant flows based on speed an altitude. Ot can also fight fires at night. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A CH-47 twin-engine, tandem rotor helicopter sits next to a Bell 412 during a press event at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Beach in Los Alamitos, CA, on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. The RADS (retardant aerial delivery system) on the VLHT (very large helitanker) allows pilots to adjust water/retardant flows based on speed an altitude. Ot can also fight fires at night. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A CH-47 twin-engine, tandem rotor helicopter during a press event in Los Alamitos, CA, on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. The RADS (retardant aerial delivery system) on the VLHT (very large helitanker) allows pilots to adjust water/retardant flows based on speed an altitude. Ot can also fight fires at night. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Orange County Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy talks about their new CH-47 twin-engine, tandem rotor helicopter during a press event at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Beach in Los Alamitos, CA, on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. The RADS (retardant aerial delivery system) on the VLHT (very large helitanker) allows pilots to adjust water/retardant flows based on speed an altitude. Ot can also fight fires at night. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Workers affix a new OCFA sticker to the side of a CH-47 twin-engine, tandem rotor helicopter during a press event at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Beach in Los Alamitos, CA, on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. The RADS (retardant aerial delivery system) on the VLHT (very large helitanker) allows pilots to adjust water/retardant flows based on speed an altitude. Ot can also fight fires at night. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A CH-47 twin-engine, tandem rotor helicopter demonstrates dropping 3,000 gallons of water during a press event at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Beach in Los Alamitos, CA, on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. The RADS (retardant aerial delivery system) on the VLHT (very large helitanker) allows pilots to adjust water/retardant flows based on speed an altitude. Ot can also fight fires at night. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The soak-it of a CH-47 twin-engine, tandem rotor helicopter during a press event in Los Alamitos, CA, on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. The RADS (retardant aerial delivery system) on the VLHT (very large helitanker) allows pilots to adjust water/retardant flows based on speed an altitude. Ot can also fight fires at night. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A CH-47 twin-engine, tandem rotor helicopter during a press event at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Beach in Los Alamitos, CA, on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. The RADS (retardant aerial delivery system) on the VLHT (very large helitanker) allows pilots to adjust water/retardant flows based on speed an altitude. Ot can also fight fires at night. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A pilot prepares a CH-47 twin-engine, tandem rotor helicopter during a press event in Los Alamitos, CA, on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. The RADS (retardant aerial delivery system) on the VLHT (very large helitanker) allows pilots to adjust water/retardant flows based on speed an altitude. Ot can also fight fires at night. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
During Wednesday’s demonstration, the twin-propeller aircraft dropped a massive 2,600-gallon curtain of water to the ground, far exceeding the drop made as comparison from a regular OCFA helicopter, which showered about 250 gallons.
Starting Oct. 1, the aircraft will be manned around the clock and be available to regions serviced by Southern California Edison, including Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Edison has provided funding to help lease and operate the CH-47 Helitanker.
“This helitanker will help strengthen the daytime and nighttime fire suppression activities within (Southern California Edison’s) service area and beyond if needed,” SCE President and CEO Kevin Payne said during the press conference.
Fennessy said dropping water onto wildfires greatly helps slow down their spread and authorities hope to use the massive helitanker to combat the growing fires in the region: the El Dorado fire in the San Bernardino National Forest – which has claimed the life of a firefighter – and the Bobcat fire in Angeles National Forest, the second-largest blaze to ever burn in Los Angeles County, should they still be burning.
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