NativecatNRM Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Hi there. Here in Australia our current govt has decided to get rid of their c130H aircraft and make the flight and ground crews redundant. As a natural resource manager I've been trying to lobby the govt about utilising the aircraft in aerial bushfire fighting. We current hire two heavy lift helicopters, but I see practicality rather than politcis and the cost doesn't make sense. So I need to build up a knowledge based research by those who use c-130h or J series for aerial firefighting. I was looking at the procedure to use infred scoping of fire fronts, tank engineering and rear door water release systems, using gravity and planes momentum and the experience of using the aircraft in high convection updrafts. Our canopy high intensity forest fires are the equivalent of your Pine forest high intensity fires so procedures would be closely related. We have many resevoirs, large farm dams and coastal rivers, all with alluvial flats that can have excavated runways. Ground support vehicles can carry pumps, foam and hoses to each runway location and tight formation flying can dump water/foam mixtures across a fire front over a quantified length to satisfactory suppress the fire fronts high intensity canopy habit. I know there's a world of C130 lovers out there, I also thought of Caribou aircraft being utilised in remote steep sided valleys and spot spraying. Co-ordinating both fixed wing and then secondary helicopter drops could suppress several hundred metres of fire front with each pass. So can anyone help me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Herk Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Your best bet is probably to contact one of the MAFFS units directly. They can probably provide contact information for the equipment and may (or may not) be able to provide operational information. Here's a wikipedia entry about MAFFS that might get you started... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modular_Airborne_FireFighting_System Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C130Hcc Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Here are some other links: http://www.af.mil/information/factsheets/factsheet_print.asp?fsid=10566&page=1 This one is a good document from the USForest Service (it is a Word Document). http://www.nifc.gov/PIO_bb/Agencies/USFS/maffs/MAFFSTrainingcomplanTemplate.doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdaley Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 MAFFS is flown by 115 AS CA ANG, 156 AS NC ANG, 187 AS WY ANG, 731 AS AF Res at Peterson CO. You might try to get in touch with Fritz Wester at TBM at Castle AFB in CA. He has a lot of experience with Aerial Fire Fighting. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jflimbach Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Contact Bill Grantham at International Air Response, http://www.internationalairresponse.com. They operate a fleet of C-130s configured to fight fire and have been doing it around the world for over 40 years. I believe they also hold a certificate to operate in Australia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NativecatNRM Posted January 16, 2013 Author Share Posted January 16, 2013 Thanks people. I new there was a modular system available in the US and you all have providied me with a start. I'm currently researching c130 utilisation in the US to try and convince Aussie politicians about the feasability vs loss of life and property, Being we are in the middle of a major fire season, I've taken the opportunity to lobby the govt to establish a specific c130 firefighting squadron for each summer fire season. Any info I consider relevent as I'm a non fiction sponge when it comes to learning. Cheers!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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