The CANADAIR® CL-415 is an amphibious twin-engined aircraft designed and manufactured by BOMBARDIER® Aerospace and used in woodland firefighting activities. It currently operates in Canada, France, Spain, Greece and Italy and it constantly demonstrates its valid firefighting features.
The aircraft is equipped with two water tanks located internally alongside the wings. The integral tanks have a total capacity of 6137 litres (1621 gal). The aircraft fills up water while skimming surfaces of nearby water sources such as lakes, rivers or sea.
A full load of the water tanks occurs in just 12 seconds. Water is acquired through two small low drag probes located under the keel. This is generally referred as the scooping action; the aircraft remains at flying speed throughout this phase (about 70 Kts) and no pumps are needed for acquiring water.
Water dropping is normally performed at 100 ft altitude (40 meters), with an aircraft speed ranging between 95 Kts and 130 Kts (175 Km/h and 240 Km/h). It is the combination of these parameters that determines the drop extensions within the interested area.


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