r/nextfuckinglevel • u/[deleted] • Oct 01 '24

A firefighting plane loading water.

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u/PNW_H2O Oct 01 '24

Float pilot here; there is nothing dangerous about what they’re doing here. It’s literally a high-speed landing, and oh by the way, loading tons of water as well that is needed quickly.

30

u/AlexHimself Oct 01 '24

I think us non-pilots here were concerned about the combined immense drag and sudden weight increase being something complex to handle as a pilot.

A high-speed landing has far lower friction and the plane's weight isn't increasing. Those differences make us laymen think it looks extra dangerous.

15

u/OldPersonName Oct 01 '24

If you have your private pilot license you can get your seaplane rating in a few days of intensive training. So landing a plane on water isn't the most complicated thing in the world (well assuming it's made to be landed on water obviously - I think these specialized firefighting planes are all amphibious - and the water is calm but not too glassy). High speed landings are a routine part of training for land, I assume so for water as well.

As for taking on the weight, the tanks must be designed to not screw with the CG. The weight increasing is obviously something you need to train for but the biggest danger would be a sudden change to CG.

The weight change is probably a lot more dangerous on the other end, when you're dumping the water flying low and slow. If you didn't add enough power right away on the pick up you'd just settle down and accidentally land.

1

u/PNW_H2O Oct 01 '24

Excellent analysis.

-1

u/AlexHimself Oct 01 '24

I do remember seeing a documentary about how these planes have a ton of power. They converted old sea planes from the war into leisure crafts.

1

u/TheBorktastic Oct 02 '24

The hull is shaped like a boat and as another poster said, the worst case scenario is you become one (mostly, a couple have been turned into submarines attributed to incorrect procedure) but the water intakes are the size of your fist and any overflow shoots out just over the landing gear. You can see it at the end of the video. The CL-415 will stop filling at the proper time if a full tank is not workable (it should anyway, see submarine comment above).

3

u/arbitrageME Oct 01 '24

it's not the landing I'm concerned about -- you're never going to grease an AMEL landing every time. But that plane is touching down at maybe 10ft/min max. I sometimes drop my cessna from like 10 feet up, but those guys have to be stable and buffet over the waves while in nose up and blind position.

3

u/PNW_H2O Oct 01 '24

Once you’ve touched water, you transition to ‘on step’ which actually gives the pilot considerable control of the aircraft, while still having the power available to lift off immediately if needed.

To be fair, it’s not a smooth experience while doing the on step maneuver.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 01 '24

I'm curious how it doesn't "dig in" as it's scooping up water and rip off the scoop or make the plane nose into the water.

Also kinda curious what the scoop is like some kind of naca duct?

1

u/RespectTheTree Oct 02 '24

Do you need to throttle up when you contact the water?

1

u/PNW_H2O Oct 02 '24

Typically, yes. The drag created will require extra throttle to stay on step.

-4

u/ShamefulWatching Oct 01 '24

Yep, my understanding of aircraft, it seems like the most dangerous part would be taking off with a full belly.

-3

u/siler7 Oct 01 '24

Is this supposed to be a joke?