AFPCNT Sécurité Civile Nîmes Canadair

Video from the channel Association AFPCNT about Canadair CL-415, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 10:05. Language: French. Video type: Onboard.

A Sécurité Civile pilot shows a Canadair in Nîmes from the outside, the inside and from the cockpit, while answering an interviewer's questions about the aircraft and its work fighting wildfires.

On the outside, he points out the amphibious aircraft's boat-like features: a keel-shaped hull with a step that keeps the water from sucking it down as it skims, mooring fittings and wingtip floats that keep a wing from sinking when the aircraft is stationary on the water. When scooping water, the aircraft must stay level, since about 3 degrees of tilt is enough for a float to touch the surface. The two intakes, the size of a hand and protected by a grille, draw in about 6,000 litres in around 12 seconds. In the hold, the tanks can be seen, about 3 cubic metres each, with four compartments matching the four doors. The system that injects retardant foam, operated by the co-pilot, is also shown.

In the cockpit, the pilot explains that the drop requires great precision due to speed, wind, turbulence and terrain. They usually operate in a patrol of several aircraft, sometimes up to ten. They are limited to 8 hours of firefighting and 60 scoop-and-drop cycles a day, and before scooping from a body of water they survey it to avoid objects that could damage the hull.