If It Can Fly, It Can Float!!!

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Cub flies at full throttle at a few hundred feet.

The Mars flies just a little lower and using flaps creeps up on the Cub, positions the wing underneath, and climbs slightly catching the Cubs wheels in the chocks and killing a bit of speed at the same time.

Simple.........................................................................




Somebody want to expand that to a fiction short story?
 
That is intelligent fire fighting which is why a European consortium has just bought 22 of the new version that carries 6.5 tonnes instead of 6 from most of the earlier aircraft

In Aus the NSW government has bought a 737 fire bomber which can typically drop eight 15 tonne loads (120t) in one day.

Last I heard the record for a single Canadair and 2 crews alternating in sorties was 207 drops delivering 1200 tonnes on one day (Italy July 8th​, 2018).

Larger jet aircraft are required to fly at a higher altitude while dropping retardant. Dropping at high altitudes will not attack the fire directly as the water disperses before it reaches the fire. Because its turbo-prop engines that provide instant trust the Canadair can safely attack the fire at a lower altitude and lower speed with higher precision. It's drop pattern and the much higher water density when it hits the ground is such that it can lower the level of energy far faster so that ground crew can safely finish the work.

Although it only carries 6 tonnes per drop delivering 6 tonnes every few seconds or minutes using a fleet of Canadairs like many of the European countries aim to is way more effective than delivering 15 tonnes once every couple of hours like the 737 does. There is some good youtube video of a fleet of Canadairs operating in Croatia - one every 20 seconds so delivering more tonnage per minute than the 737 can typically deliver in two hours and the same daily 120 tonnes in under 7 minutes.

Aus authorities like to say that the Canadair cannot find water in Aus but a 1980s or 90s review of a deadly NSW Blue Mountains fire found multiple water sources within 15 minutes of the fire including the ocean where it is capable of refilling in rough waters with waves up to two metres. That particular fire started in inaccessible country and burned for two days before it reached towns and destroyed them in minutes. The Canadair can deliver to inaccessible country.
 
The Global 747 fire tanker (944), which has been retired, saved the nearby town of Lewiston back in 2018, stopping the Carr Fire in it's tracks with a single tree-top pass.
The retardant it and others (737, MD-11, BAe 146, etc.) drop, is a mixture of water and "phoscheck", which creates a slurry that won't dissipate into aerosols due to speed/height or vaporize in the fire's heat.
 

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