World’s Largest Aircraft Tanker Approved For Wildland Fires
World’s Largest Aircraft Tanker Approved For Wildland Fires
25 March 2009
published by news.opb.org
USA — The worlds largest aircraft tanker has received approval to fight fires. As Kristian Foden-Vencil reports the plane is built by Oregon-based Evergreen International.
Evergreens B747 is basically a second-hand jumbo jet thats been retrofitted to carry 20-thousand gallons of water.
It has two or three times the capacity of other air tankers and can reach a fire at 600 miles an hour.
Evergreen spokesman, Jim Baines, says itll douse a fire like nothing before.
Jim Baines: Its not like a typical drop that they do right now, which comes down in a big clump. Picture an aerosol effect. Its coming down like a hard rain. And Its not going to do any damage to anybody on the ground, any structures. And thats what youre trying to achieve to get an even coverage in the vegetation.
Current firefighting aircraft tend to be World War II era planes. Theyre often at maximum capacity and showing signs of age.
Baines says Evergreen doesnt have any supertanker orders yet. But the federal government and states are anxious to see how it performs when this years fire season starts.
