Precision DC-4 Pilot Performs Water Bombing Target Practice! | Ice Pilots

Video from the channel Ice Pilots about Douglas DC-4, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 12:05. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

A segment from the documentary series Ice Pilots in which a group of young Buffalo Airways co-pilots sets up a target practice exercise for Captain Devin Brooks. They buy inflatables and a rubber dinghy and place them on a lake as targets for the company's DC-4 firebomber, Tanker 15, which Devin is flying for the first time. After a low pass, the first drop falls well past the target, possibly due to a stuck trigger, and the second lands much closer. Then engine number two starts backfiring and vibrating, the crew shuts it down as a precaution and returns to land with some of the water still on board.

The scene takes place two days before the start of the fire season, with the aircraft committed to a firefighting contract. The crew insists they cannot show up with a broken aircraft and hope the fault is minor, such as a cylinder change.

According to the video, the DC-4's tank is divided into eight compartments each with its own door and holds 9,000 litres, about 20,000 pounds. Each pass opens two doors, a quarter of the load. Shutting down an engine costs the aircraft a quarter of its power while it still carries about 10,000 pounds of water, making it less manoeuvrable at low altitude.