That's a Grumman S-2 Tracker. It was a carrier based aircraft that was designed, and built, in the 1950s for anti submarine warfare. My father flew them in the early 1960s. But back then he wasn't putting out fires. Instead he was looking for Soviet submarines. I'm glad to see that the plane has found a new use.
That’s the plane I flew during Vietnam. It’s a great plane to land on an aircraft carrier in a storm at night. (Seriously). Stable, steady , predictable, reliable. A pair of 1550 hp radial engines in a 25,000+ pounds. High wing aircraft. Fire bombing must be very similar to the rockets and bombs audition we did.
This pilot makes this job look easy... near misses from smoke covered hills, timing of release of fire retardant, all while keeping this aircraft flying to peak performance. I’m hangin’ on to my chair just watching this guy!
They're fire fighters, so they are a fine line between nut crazy and compassionate. My husband has fought on many wildfires so that's how I know.😁. I guess that makes me part crazy too.
The most stunning flying I ever saw, was a DC-6 borate bomber climbing out of a steep mountain draw at 300 feet, after a drop. The sound of those big radials thundering off the surrounding hills was impressive. These pilots earn every penny.
Just spectacular!!! This guys a pro, when the stall warning goes off, its touchdown in a second. Textbook perfect. Glad to have these folks around. Can't thank them enough.
@@lisarenee3505 If you push the tail up that means the nose goes down. What these guys are talking about is the change in pitch when he drops the water.
@@Sturmovik1946 Ahh, I wasn't thinking about that. Compensating for the change in CG. Thanks for the correction. Cool name BTW. The IL-2 was a badass flying tank.
lisarenee3505 When you drop the load your aircraft weight drops quickly so your aircraft “jumps up into the sky” so you have you push the nose down to maintain altitude.
Totally awesome flying skills! Grumman's S2T. Originally the USN Anti-Submarine purpose built aircraft. About 1954. Over 60 years old, to boot! And in the capable hands of this amazing pilot its been repurposed to combat fiery destruction instead of creating it. Thank You!
Jeeeeeeeeeeeesussssss!!!! The amount of elevator input required when he made the drop around @3:00 !!! Talk about a massive change in CG, I hadn't thought of that. That's wild!
Yep.... minus the enemy fighters trying to shoot your arse out the sky or the triple A (anti-aircraft artillery) batteries trying to blast you out the sky with flak shells blowing up so close to the airframe the plane is buffeting through every maneuver you are trying to pull out of your butt to keep your plane in the sky and also kinda unlike the dead tail gunner that has his shot up body removed from the turret every time a plane does happen to make it back. Other than that just like WWII BUDDY!!!
It's great to see what the men flying these planes see. I think it helps the average Joe to understand just how dangerous the job is. Thank you for posting this and I hope to see more videos like this.
This shows incredible skill and I can't help but feel grateful for these guys risking their lives in order to protect the lives and property of others.
Rusty Climber Flow with the tides of life or blinded by you’re own “spotlight” you will be! Young strength has no value without experience my young child!
I have an old friend who after 35 years in the RCAF flew A26 aircraft with no copilot fighting fires .The A26 is a much larger aircraft than the Grumman .I was always amazed at his age flying the A26 fighting fires.After he retired from flying A26s around age 70 he then flew ex RCAF T33 jets for the next 5 years or so.Now that is an amazing guy.
Can't beat a Grumman C-1 as a trustworthy and rugged platform. US Navy 1966-70. I loved that mighty little airplane and glad to see so many of 'em still in service. Carry on!
I just can't stand the fact that the throttle quadrant is up on the ceiling. I have only flown one type of plane where the trim is up on the ceiling and that bothered me enough.
It's sad to see everything on fire, but at the same time some of these fire fighting videos shot from helicopters and airplanes have been absolutely amazing
Love it. A grumman tracker conversion. From inside cockpit. Use to crawl around these at Conair firefighting base in Abbotsford BC. Even help reassemble a Canadian navy sub hunter for a museum. Love these old workhorses
Ahh, I was looking to see if anyone could ID the aircraft. At first I thought OV-10, but remembered those are only used for spotting & control, I think.
Flying against your instincts. When most would be climbing for altitude, you are diving to get on top of the flames. You Sir are a true Hero. God Bless you and your fellow firefighters.
Same, would think these guys would fly dual all the time being so close to the ground. I would at least. Even just a low time guy to handle the radios.
The slightly tilted camera kept making me learn my head while watching. Great video though. I too was impressed with how much the flight characteristics changed when dumping.
Shattered Official I’m going for this too, I called cal fire and talked to the head of aviation there and he gave me a list of how many hours I need (for different airframes) in order to be competitive in the application process! Have you started flight training yet?
I wondered what he was doing. I noticed him push in on the yoke really good at one point. I thought that was kinda crazy that close to the ground, with the rising terrain in front of him.
It's because of weight loss, no so much weight shift. All of that excess lift after dumping the fire retardant makes the plane suddenly want to climb hard when he pushes the button... nose down on the yoke quickly stops generating this excess lift.
@@JuliusCaesarr_ its that petroleum is the remains of dinosaurs, and prehistoric plants, that have been compressed, and petroleum is used to make fuel, so it kinda makes sense, still a wierd way to call fuel but creative i guess
My dad trained in this aircraft back in the 50's, said it was an "interesting" plane to fly and super nimble. He said it was a plane they used to teach nose-dive recovery's.
That pilot looked as cool and calm as could be right up to the point he hit turbulence from the fire then you see him grab that steering wheel with both hands. Lol He still has more guts than me and has my complete respect. These guys are amazing!
Are you kidding?? That may be the only way he can stay so calm doing that. My butt would be locked to the seat of that plane the whole time if I was up there! Lol
Get the CL-215 or 415. No messing around. Air programs need the best fire fighting aircraft to bring fires under control in the quickest time. This smallish Grumman is a Cold War-era sub killer converted to drop fire retardant. The CL-215, way bigger, more powerful and agile, can fly circles around the S2T. The 215 is a flying boat, can reload in lakes, oceans, even twisty rivers in seconds. No need to return to base. Huge wingspan, flaps and tail enable rapid response.
The CL-215 and 415, while great planes, aren't as much use to Cal Fire as others because most of its ops are done in extremely dry regions (nowhere to utilize that flying boat feature. Or that's what a Cal Fire guy told me at least. Plus in my humble opinion, the S2T is wayyyy cooler.
The s2t is much more agile better climb and is smaller (that’s a plus) only needs one crew member aka if it crashes you will only loose one pilot instead of 2 or more crew also cheaper
Very cool. I was wondering does the smoke or fire mess with the instruments or engines ? I would guess that pitot tubes need to be specially designed for aircraft like this.
We lost a friend in an OV-10A. It was 15 years ago next month. Rob Stone was the youngest Battalion Chief in the History of the CDF (now CalFire). And it was an Arson Caused fire and NO the perp did not get the sentence he deserved. Rob was a great guy. Dang fair Cowboy too.
