Cool "water bomber" helping with fires

[Moostang]

With all these fires, there is something pretty neat, if we knew exactly when it would be picking up water we would go out to watch. This plane is over 60 years old but is still going strong.

Water bomber lands on Lake Shasta : zFeatured : Redding Record Searchlight

A massive water bomber finally landed on Lake Shasta Sunday morning after three days of delays caused by mechanical problems.
Now the wait has begun for the Martin Mars flying boat’s first mission on a north state fire.
“The visibility is just too bad, and no one is flying at the moment,” Mary Loan, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Forest Service, said Sunday afternoon.
Officials at the Shasta-Trinity National Forest are anxious to get the plane in the air as hundreds of fires sparked by lightning storms on June 20 and June 21 continue to burn, Loan said. Depending on the weather, that could be today. It will be the first time the plane will be used in Northern California, although it has fought fires in Southern California.
Everything about the plane is big.
It carries a load of 60,000 pounds (7,200 gallons) of water that is mixed with a gel or foam to make it more effective. Its wingspan is 200 feet. Its four Wright Cyclone engines have 2,500 horsepower each.
But some plane aficionados at Bridge Bay during the bomber’s Sunday morning landing said comparing the plane to a Boeing 747, as some officials have done, is off-base.
The two planes have a similar wingspan, but the Mars is shorter and lighter than the famous jumbo jet, said Mike Payne of Mountain Gate. That didn’t mean that seeing the plane drop out of the smoke over the Pit River Bridge on its descent wasn’t dramatic.
“It was quite a sight coming in,” he said.
The plane on Lake Shasta, the Hawaii Mars, originally was designed by the U.S. Navy as a long-range bomber and flew for the service as a cargo carrier from 1946 to 1956, said Roy Copeland, the plane’s chief flight engineer.
The plane and other Martin Mars ships were destined for the scrap yard before being purchased by Canadian timber companies that converted them into water bombers. Coulson Flying Tankers, based in Vancouver Island, has two of the planes.
Copeland, who also served in the Canadian military on a submarine hunter plane, said he has been flying in a water bomber for 29 years, and the runs have become routine. Although the drops and swoops down to the lake to scoop up water may seem intense, he said they are smooth inside the Mars.
“The old girl is pretty big,” he said. “... Nothing happens that quick.”
That included getting the plane to the north state after it originally was ordered for Thursday. Copeland said engine problems slowed the trip, as the Mars took off to then turn back around a couple of times between Thursday and Saturday.
It had been expected to land at 10 a.m. Saturday, and about a hundred onlookers packed Bridge Bay, hoping to a get a glimpse of the bomber as it came in, said Sandi Driscoll of Redding, who was among the crowd with her husband. On Sunday, the couple returned to watch the plane’s arrival.
“We just happened to come back,” she said.
Cathy Combs of Shasta Lake said she was considering camping out by the lake to make sure she sees the plane take off.
“I think it is a once in a lifetime event,” she said.

More on the Mars

Originally designed to be a long-range bomber for the U.S. Navy, the Martin Mars water bomber uses scoops on its underbelly to fill its 7,200-gallon tank with water in less than a minute, according to Coulson Flying Tankers, the Canadian company that operates the plane under contract with the U.S. Forest Service. The reloading skims require a 3-mile stretch of water.
The best place to view the Martin Mars as it comes in on reloading runs will likely be along Lake Boulevard near Shasta Dam, said Mary Loan, spokeswoman with the U.S. Forest Service. She said the plane should be refilling in the wide stretch of Lake Shasta just north of the dam.
Here are some more details about the plane:
• Built by Glenn L. Martin Company.
• Length: 120 feet.
• Height: 48 feet.
• Wingspan: 200 feet.
• Water load: 7,200 gallons, or 60,000 pounds.
• Cruising speed: 190 mph.
• Drop speed: 138 mph.
• Drop height: 150 to 200 feet from ground.
• Drop coverage: 3 to 4 acres with water.

Pictures
Submitted photos of the Martin Mars bomber News : Redding Record Searchlight

If you watch the video you can get an idea of how bad the smoke is out here
Water bomber lands on Lake Shasta : Related : Redding Record Searchlight



Just awesome!

[mudseeker]

mmmmmmmmmmm, smoked Salmon

[75K30]

Pretty awesome. All I can say is that thing carries some serious water, and those pilots are not afraid to get that bird close to the fires. Much of the terrain is often real difficult to get at, and the heat from the fire is intense enough to evaporate water before it reaches the ground. That means to maximize a drop they have to get close.
The hot air does not provide much lift, so speed is important.
Talk about big brass ****, pardon me, but these pilots are simlpy amazing.
Unfortunately I was able to whitness first hand these super tankers, and bombers in action. The sight is amazing, but is also unfortunate, because property is often lost, and the most unfortunate part is the loss of life.
They say necessity is the mother of invention, and the use of these aircraft proves this.
Crazy cool to see, but unfortunate that necessity even requires such a beast.
Many hopes that they get those fires under control.

[03chevy]

moostang have the started using it yet?

[Moostang]

Yep, they have been for days now. Its starting the clear up so we may have to drive out this weekend if they are flying it.

[03chevy]

that is a sight to see one come down and scoop up water and keep on going. make sure you have your video camera with you so you can get it.

[mudseeker]

they actually "scoop" it up!?! i was thinking they landed and pumped it into the plane.

[Moostang]

It says the skim a 3 mile stretch of water.. good thing the lake is huge