BOEING 747 Super Tanker

La Cie britannique Air Carter Services sera le représentant d'Evergreen Itl Aviation pour le Boeing 747 transformé en bombardier d'eau. Près de 80 000 litres de capacité !

Sur Flight :

Evergreen International Aviation has appointed the UK's Air Charter Service as European agent for its modified Boeing 747 Supertanker. Oregon-based Evergreen has been developing the advanced aerial firefighting aircraft since 2002. It won US certification last November.

"With a 77,600 litre [20,500USgal] capacity, it is capable of carrying almost twice the amount of retardant than any other firefighting aircraft. It is also the only aircraft to have a variable pressure delivery system, and is able to perform segmented drops, meaning it can fight more than one fire in a single mission. It also has loiter capability enabling ground control to direct it to specific areas," says Air Charter Service.

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The Supertanker also has the ability to respond quickly to a variety of environmental and homeland security threats. Wide area decontamination, soil stabilisation, oil spill response and radiation knockdown are all within the response capability of the Supertanker, making it the most versatile aerial application vehicle in the world.

The Supertanker - which will be operated by Evergreen - is being targeted at governments, forestry commissions, and firefighting agencies "in all countries in Europe", says Air Charter Service.

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Une video du 747 Super tanker d'Evergreen

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Evergreen Super Tanker reste tenace sur son Boeing 747 "Fire fighter". Pour les sapeurs, mieux vaut ne pas être au dessous.

Sur le NewsMiner :

Peter Kelley, hard at work at Alaska USA Insurance Brokers, glanced out the window this afternoon and saw an unusual Boeing 747 above Birch Hill on a landing pattern for Fairbanks International Airport.

“The only markings were a large 979 on the vertical tail,” said Kelley, who is a specialist in aviation insurance.

He looked it up and it turns out the plane in question is the Evergreen Supertanker, which can carry 20,500 gallons of water to drop on fires.

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To put this in perspective, Hamme Pool holds about 250,000 gallons.

A spokeswoman for the company said the firm has had the plane on a tour of France, Spain, Germany and Alberta since mid-July.

An Evergreen crew flew from Edmonton to Fairbanks today.

The supertanker might be used for a demonstration dumping water on the fires southwest of Fairbanks, displaying its
capabilities. The details on how it might be used are still being worked out.

Evergreen won approval earlier this year from the federal Interagency Air Tanker Board for the 747 tanker, the first of its kind. The company wants to develop a fleet of planes for use in firefighting.

The company has spent $50 million developing the project.

The plane can drop water or retardant while flying from 300 to 600 feet off the ground, at about 160 mph, about 30 percent faster than the 747 stall speed.

The water or retardant can be dispersed at a rate equivalent to rainfall or all at once, the company says
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Une vidéo de l'appareil :

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J'avais lu quelque part qu'il avait été essayé en Espagne lors des récents incendies mais ques les résultats n'avaient pas été probants à cause du fait que la largage de l'eau se faisait à une altitude trop élevée par rapport aux flammes et donc que l'eau arrivait vaporisée.

C'est juste le contenu de l'article que j"avais vu.

Je suis d'accord Jeannot sur l'altitude.

L'avantage du 747 Tanker est qu'il peut être utilisé de nuit contrairement, je crois, aux CL 415 et Tracker.