Canadair CL-215 Water Bomber Flying over Our House in Portugal During Fire Fighting Service

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Free07Style

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Added: 21-Jul-09

This shot was taken from our house in the north of Portugal when the famous Canadair CL-215 (Bombardier) where flying over to load water from a lake near us. Unfortunately forest fires are very frequent in Portugal during summer time. The areas are hardly accessible by vehicles from the ground and therefore the fire fighters are using helicopters and water bombers to fight against the fire.

This air plane has retractable landing gears that move up on each side of the fuselage. This concept is necessary to keep a maximum of the volume available. It can start and land from solid ground and water. The fire fighter version has been developed in 1963 and performed its maiden flight in 1967. Until 1090 a total of 125 units have been produced and a total of 27 airplanes have been lost in accidents.

The sound of these engines is spectacular enjoy!

Characteristics of the Canadair CL-215:
Length: 19,82 m
Wingspan: 28,60 m
Height: 8,92 m
Engines: Dual Star-engine Pratt & Whitney R-2800-CA3 (each with 1.566 kW)
Cruising speed: 291 km/h at 3.050 m altitude
Range: 2.092 km with 1.587 kg of load
Dry weight: 12.161 kg
Water load: 5455 litres

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CL-215 for more information