Canadair CL-415 water bombers, and idiots with boats 

I was on Corfu in 2007 and the fires in the hills behind Kassiopi burned all night and was very scary to see how quickly they came down the hill towards our villa. Very early next morning 4 water bombers and a huge Russian helicopter were filling with water from the bay in front of us. They did a fantastic job, but they had much to do elsewhere on the other Ionian Islands. About a week after we returned to the UK, we heard that one of these aircraft had crashed whilst collecting water and all the crew were lost. So sad for such brave guys.

Having spent 6 years in the US Coast Guard doing SAR, Drug Interdiction, and Boarding Inspections, I can attest to the fact that there are MANY idiots that own and operated small boats.

Wow, some amazing flying and even more amazing coverage of the reloading !!! Thank You for sharing.

Canadair pilots are HEROS and crazy as well !!! They are amazing any way...

Reminds me of the opening scene of "Always" where the tanker loads up and sends those two fishermen diving.

should have come back afterwards and given the sailboat a load or two

#1 came in low "were all on this flight path, boats please move over", then came around again and filled up. Nice flying!

I think the people in the boats got the message. Very skillful piloting by the 415 crews!

So how are these boats supposed to know a heard of planes are coming over the hill? I'm sure none of them wants to be an obstacle to fire bombers, but what are they supposed to do? Boats can't move out of the way very fast.

After years in the Coast Guard I can tell you there are people that shouldn't be allowed to have a toy boat in the bathtub.

I have been there once, in a racing rowingboat. I dont think you guys have Any idea how fast these planes are oll over you.

Drop 100 gallons of water on them they’ll get the message

We had 2x italian CL- 415 last week for 3 days in Vienna and they took water from the "New Danube" (Highwaterprotection- Channel parallel to the Danube). The river was closed for boats and the waterpolice secured the area. What did happen? A guy thought it is a good day to test his Neopren- swimmingsuit and went swimming there! Hundreds of people stood nearby and looked at the "flying boats", then the police had to take this sportsman out of the water!

The skill on these pilots 🤯

best flight video i have seen for a while......thanks for sharing.

These Pilots are Pretty Damn awesome. Takes some CAST IRON NUTS to this.

Avoiding obstacles, manuvering the plane, the weight and speed change.... Holy cow! These pilots are amazing! Godspeed!

Saw this on Gran Canaria this year. Harbour police kept all shipping and hobby Captains out of the way.

I've never took the time to watch a water bomber refill before, and I must say, it's quite impressive when you think of a *plane* that hits the water surface and is able to fly back up afterwards, technology is on hell of a thing. When are those flying submarine coming ? xD

The Canadair CL-215 was designed in Québec in the 1960s The CL-415 is pretty much the same design, but with 5 times the water capacity and more efficient.

Wow, great pictures. It´s the bay of Bakar in Croatia, isn´t it?

I heard a story awhile back about a water bomber who scooped up a load that had a diver inside. The diver was later found dead in a tree

That sailboat does 7knots, he's got it pinned already

Do these people in pleasure craft have warning that water bombers are coming in? Are they on air traffic control frequencies ? When you're In a boat on a lake are you looking up at the sky constantly, waiting for planes to land? Pretty easy to arm chair judge the boaters.

Man! Would I love to fly those things. :)

The thrust to weight ratio on those things must be astounding, that is really cool

Knowing the Croatian waters as a skipper since more than 25 years and knowing the local habits I see nothing wrong in the behaviour of the sailboat, the small motorboat or the pilots. 1. The Croating fire fighting pilots know what they do, even if it sometimes looks a bit risky. But in this case with a speed clearly above stall speed they could react in time if a boat is in their line of flight. 2. The discussion about "right of way" gets pointless when an encountering vehicle (aircraft or ship) moves at a speed that is a multiple of the speed of your own boat. In this case the rule is: Stay on your course and keep your speed and do not make any erratic maneuver. A slight change of course nearer to shore could have been okay in the discussed case. 3. For starting airplanes from water a rippled surface has its advantages, but for landing or taking up water at a higher speed a smooth surface is favourable. Apart from the discussion about distances the fire fighting pilots prefer the smoother water near to shore or in bays. 4. The village Bakarac in the south-east corner of the bay has (or used to have, since I wasnt there in the last few years) two quite good and well-known restaurants. So I see nothing wrong if the crew of the sailboat is going there.

Always amazing to b v watch how those guys drop those planes down into canyons and valleys to scoop and drop water

Reminds me of the Dambusters!

Great Video thank you for the upload 👌🙏

Incredible skill from those water bomber pilots. North America is skilled in this work. That would not be possible in Europe. As far as pleasure boaters are concerned, I don't think they are doing the wrong thing. Who would expect such watercraft to come from the sky?

That is some flying . To keep your airspeed down like that and then land like that !

Amazing flying skills

Tolle Piloten Danke aus Deutschland für euren Mut und Hilfe.

I decided to bring the kayak out, on an Idaho lake at sunset and had one of these fly right over top of me, really fun to see them land from the water and this video brought me back to that cool moment I almost forgot about

I saw French pilots doing this in the South of France. Skimming the sea to collect water, over and over again - great skill and bravery.

Que gran avión es mi avión preferido para combatir incendios por su tecnología y capacidad y rapidez de carga de agua muy efectivo.desde Chile te esperamos gran pajaro

Pilots exhibited extraordinary skill.

they should fit a siren on the wing like a Stuka, that would get the message across

When the water bombers fill up from the lake by my house I bring my boogie board to the beach and ride the waves that the bombers make. I'm quite a waysa away so I'm not in their way. If you have a beach parallel to a refill touch and go route I highly recommend it😉

To be fair, stuff filmed through a telephoto lens makes everything seem closer together. You'll often see this in televised motor sport where approaching cars seem only inches apart, but as they pass broadside it's clear they're 20 to 30 feet apart.

Pretty skilled pilots there!

What are you supposed to do if you are in a small boat that cannot move with great speed and a water bomber shows up from low over a hill and is ontop of you in far too little time to get out of the way?

They reminds me the cartoon show called Tale Spins. Loved that show.

I would have been in hog heaven watching that in person!! I am surprised the people boating weren't a little more courteous to them.

Glad they could all keep going.

There's no gable markers on water. The boats are transient obstacles and unless the channel is a dedicated landing area, the pilot has to avoid them.

Looked to be an awfully big lake and it sure looked like they could have refilled outside that narrow waterway crowded with boats.

This video assumes those boats knew for sure the planes were landing. I'd think you'd have someone on the ground to clearout and warn the boaters that planes are coming in.

Bomber Guys: Will you please move guys, we're trying to work here? Boaters: We were her first dude!

Damn must be big fire there

Bakar bay, north Adriatic, Croatia. It is even smaller in reality so this is ace flying!

Супер профессия-летчик пожарной авиации! Уважаю.

From what I was seeing it looked like they had more space further down in that lake to scoop up some water. Not sure why the pilots decided to get the water so close to the inlet when there was open water ahead.

First, I don't know how their NOTAMs system works, but if they wanted the landing area restricted without posting a NOTAM they should have expended the resources required to reroute traffic. Second, I'm not certain that they were aware of the impending operation. Third, there appeared to be adequate seperation between the watercraft and the aircraft. If there wasn't, the pilots would have certainly executed a longer landing or a go around. Much ado about nothing. Also, @Rick Davis, while I appreciate the job the USCG does, and they may well have to save my bacon some day, I do agree with your statement about some boaters, but I certainly hope you aren't referring to the individual in this video. ADDED: NOTAMs = Notice To All Mariners

Mi reconosimiento a la lavor de estos intrepidos pilos.

If you're talking about the sailboat, what would you like him to do?

Seaplane operating areas are clearly marked on navigational charts but some boat owners/operators don't even bother to buy a chart let alone look at one

As a society, most of us understand the benefit of yielding to emergency service vehicles and personnel; ambulances, fire trucks, police... water bombers. Some of us have even been taught enough consideration to curb our sad little commuter lives on the odd occasion that it happens to intersect a funeral procession. The aircraft in this video clearly need to avoid the edges of the channel, which is only 380m at its narrowest point, but the water is quite deep here and boats under motor are easily able to skirt the coastline. The operators of the large sailboat, which motored straight down the centre of the channel, and the skiff crossing the channel apparently don't understand that they are interfering with emergency operations, and that's because they are giving no consideration to others. The water bomber pattern here was short and frequent, 6-10m, and had been established quite a while before these two clueless boat owners decided showed up and block the channel. There is no defensible reason for these boats to not be skirting the coastline.

1:46 damn THATS ONE BIG BODY OF water

I've experienced a similar situation this year near Makarska - I think the captains of both ships would shout the most if their house burned - I don't wish it on anyone, but these pilots are really heroes! I wish them the same number of landings as takeoffs :-) respect to theis job!

Very nice place !

Maybe the boaters were not aware that the planes were coming in.

perfect

Anyone tell you that when it comes to rules of the road seaplanes are on the bottom of the list when it comes to right of way.

do these guys come from the military or coastguard or are they especialy trained as recruites for these planes?

No worries about wake turbulence from the aircraft ahead then?

Based on the wingspan of the planes, the boats weren't all that close to the planes. The pilots would not have attempted the re-fill procedure if there was any danger. Give these professional pilots some credit for knowing what they're doing!

So where are the crazy boaters?

Nice video really.

The sail boat go on the part is the small boat the problem but i think he don't know the arrive of bombardier!!

Just as we pull over for police or ambulance we should also move out of the way for water bombers. They are probably going to put out a fire, maybe your house. Please have respect for the pilots who devote their lives to saving people, our forests and animals.

Did these 'idiots in boats' have any prior warning of aircraft approaching? How is air and water traffic controlled in this situation?

Believe me the boats were never in any danger, these boys know there stuff and can get water in tighter spots than this.

Credit to pilot skill...

airplane : move it you punks! fish boat : huh ..

Nice work by pilots.

Can't believe it..... how?!?!?!

Can those boaters be ticketed for not moving and hindering a critical service?

I feel like these people on the boats were not aware of the situation... Hopefully, I never meet one of them in street traffic, because I would have to fear for my life.

IGUALSINHO AQUI NO BRASIL.

Interesting seeing comments by people that know zip about either boating or water bombers. Funny stuff. There is NO problem with boats or anything else in this clickbait video.

Those boats will not stand up to those pilots' guts.

Woah it’s dusty crop hopper

I wonder if John Goodman was in one of those planes...

While air is for birds and planes, water is for fish and boats.. Plane is the intruder here!

Photographer on sailboat actually using flash.

Poetry in motion.

That was cool... loved the steep descent and level off at the lake, and each one was a little different so it looked more organic than mechanical. Yes, Stupid boats, the tall mast should have gotten wacked.

Ok, so are we sure they knew about the panes?

Why do I keep expecting a Barnes Wallis bouncing bomb?

Fun fact: The police were supposed to be maintaining a presence from pretty much the crack of dawn to ensure there were no recreational boats on the water in the event this was needed as an active pickup. Problem was, they weren't. Moreover, they didn't get there until long (around 90 minutes) after the emergency was declared. This was a police fuck up, which is why they were everywhere during the forest fires in 2017.

Need these in oz.

Awesome

I WAS THERE IN BAKAR!

Wrong place wrong time

Need to change the name of the company from Canadair to Canadare.

My Dream Cargo Ship since I was a child. I hope to 1 day owner operate it

cool

Didn't really see the issue making big deal about nothing water bomber pilots know what they are doing.