747 firebomber web site

"BUFDRVR" wrote...

96 tons of water!!!!!

The hell with that, how about 400' AGL and only 140 KIAS?

OK. I don't know where you saw 140 knots (I skimmed tie site, and didn't
notice it). Numbers are for a -400, but -200 numbers should be similar:

Call it 159 tons of airplane and 96 tons of water for ZFW of 255 tons. For
a short cycle (2 hours airborne, plus reserve) try 35 tons of fuel, 1/3 of
which has already been burned. GW at beginning of drop is about 280 tons.

VREF for flaps 25 is 158 KIAS, so 170 KIAS is about the slowest I'd want to
try. That is also the number given in a story in the Portland newspaper
this morning.

Cycle time between load and discharge and reload. To see a real water
bomber go to the Martin Mars Web site. Things are neat to watch. Talk
about an overcast dropped just outside my town a couple years ago. Put out
a 2 1/2 acre fire in about an hour. Dropped about 15 loads of water. Far
more efficient than a 747.
"Leadfoot" wrote in message
news:Chpqc.69469$Fl5.45597@okepread04...
http://tinyurl.com/2ejag

96 tons of water!!!!!

Cycle time between load and discharge and reload. To see a real water
bomber go to the Martin Mars Web site. Things are neat to watch. Talk
about an overcast dropped just outside my town a couple years ago. Put out
a 2 1/2 acre fire in about an hour. Dropped about 15 loads of water. Far
more efficient than a 747.

But keep mind, not even considering the 747, dropping retardant and dropping
water are two different operations with two different purposes.

Water is put directly on a fire, retardant is typically put in the fires path
to make a line...


Ron
Tanker 65, C-54E (DC-4)
Silver City Tanker Base

Oh and BUFDRVR, you might note of interest that the USFS aviation officer who
is determined to kill of the airtanker program, is an ex-Bone driver

Guess we should have heeded your words about them earlier


Ron
Tanker 65, C-54E (DC-4)
Silver City Tanker Base

John R Weiss wrote:

The hell with that, how about 400' AGL and only 140 KIAS?

OK. I don't know where you saw 140 knots

I watched the mpeg on the site. The narrator said; "at 400' and 140 knots, the
747 can....."


BUFDRVR

"Stay on the bomb run boys, I'm gonna get those bomb doors open if it harelips
everyone on Bear Creek"

Ron wrote:

Oh and BUFDRVR, you might note of interest that the USFS aviation officer who
is determined to kill of the airtanker program, is an ex-Bone driver

Before JB asks, I will...what's his name?

Guess we should have heeded your words about them earlier

The ex-BUFF type Bone guys are ok though....right JB?


BUFDRVR

"Stay on the bomb run boys, I'm gonna get those bomb doors open if it harelips
everyone on Bear Creek"

Ron wrote:

Oh and BUFDRVR, you might note of interest that the USFS aviation officer
who
is determined to kill of the airtanker program, is an ex-Bone driver

Before JB asks, I will...what's his name?


LtC Tony Kern, from "Darker Shade of Blue" and "Rogue pilots" fame...




Ron
Tanker 65, C-54E (DC-4)
Silver City Tanker Base

"BUFDRVR" wrote...

I watched the mpeg on the site. The narrator said; "at 400' and 140 knots,
the
747 can....."

What do they call that in Marketing 101 -- "puffery"?

John R Weiss wrote:

I watched the mpeg on the site. The narrator said; "at 400' and 140 knots,
the
747 can....."

What do they call that in Marketing 101 -- "puffery"?

Seemed awful slow to me for a half million pound jet, but having never flown an
aircraft with slats, I hear they're a wonderful device.




BUFDRVR

"Stay on the bomb run boys, I'm gonna get those bomb doors open if it harelips
everyone on Bear Creek"

Ron wrote:

96 tons of water!!!!!

The hell with that, how about 400' AGL and only 140 KIAS?


BUFDRVR

We were a heck of a lot lower in the C-54 on our drops..I think with the
pressuization system, they plan on dropping higher, but it will be hard to be
precise at all, or go into canyons.

The 747 will be good for a deluge from around 600-800 AGL, but its going to
be a deluge, and not something that will be precise or that you can do with the
"grubbies" nearby


i know its an old thread, but why not? The Martin Mars can drop 7200 gallons in one
go. You
don't need to be precise with that sorta load. And have you seen a mars? They make
the C-54 look
small.