Wildfire
Bombers As California experiences its fourth year of drought, firefighting resources have been stretched to the limit. A familiar sight during the North American fire season is large fixed-wing firefighting aircraft. Roger Cain looks at some of the modified old military and propliner aircraft still used to help control the blazes. 44 | F L I G H T PAT H
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he 2015 fire season has been particularly bad along the length of the west coast of Canada and the United States. Along with thousands of acres of woodland, hundreds of homes and structures have been lost and, tragically, several firefighters have been killed. The fixed-wing aircraft employed during California’s 2015 fire season ranged from the purpose-built single engine Grumman AT802 Fireboss to the Douglas DC-10. With the exception of the Fireboss (and perhaps the OV-10 Bronco since its ‘Bird Dog’ role is very similar to its military Forward Air Control application), it is fair to say none of the designers of the aircraft could have envisaged the role their designs now perform. Despite issues with airframe fatigue, causing the Consolidated PBY Catalinas and PB4Y-2 Privateers’ withdrawal from the role and the collapse of several companies, there are still a number of vintage aircraft working the