Denne bringer tilbake gode minner fra perioden 1980 - 1983, altså tiden jeg fikk anledning til å fly Cessna 550 for Helikopter Service A/S. Den fløy høyt, men søren så sakte.... (Red.)
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Coulson Presses Citation IIs into Fire Service
Coulson Aviation is expanding its global aerial firefighting capabilities with the acquisition of four Cessna Citation 550 High-Performance Aircraft (HPA) previously operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to lead tankers to retardant drop points and collect intelligence for fire commanders on the ground. “It’s a growing piece of our industry that we plan to expand into,” president and COO Britt Coulson told AIN.
The company chose the Citation IIs because of their special-mission configuration, as well as their speed and range compared with older turboprops used by competitors. “While we started to get into the lead plane and aerial intelligence business on the fixed-wing side…we purchased these four from Border Patrol specifically for the unique mission suite that they have in them,” he said.
As a lead aircraft, Coulson explained, they will be equipped with smoke kits. In advance of the tanker dropping its retardant or water, the Citations will fly a dry run with the tanker crew watching, rejoin, and lead the tanker through the drop using the smoke to signal to the tanker when to begin dropping its retardant. In terms of intelligence gathering, Coulson will use the Citations to gather information from fire scenes—including weather, maps, drop analysis, and video—and transmit it to fire agency command centers.
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