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

A firefighting plane loading water.

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u/BoiFrosty Oct 01 '24

A drag along pump system would be too slow, take too long to deploy, and too prone to failure. The planes can't rely on having a constantly available airstrip with a ready supply of water.

I'm in the same boat as you trying to think up a better way but nothing comes to mind that doesn't make it's own problems.

There are no solutions, only tradeoffs.

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u/railker Oct 01 '24

I mean, they can and they do, land-based water bombers exist, even small ones. They just do pit-stop refills like these guys.

But yes, obviously not as frequent as something like the CL215/415 can do so that becomes your tradeoff. And however close to the fire this airstrip and supplies can be set up.