Canadair CL-215

Canadair CL-215
Type:	amphibious fire-fighting aircraft
Design country:	Canada
Manufacturer:	Canadair
First flight:	October 23, 1967
Commissioning:	1969
Production time:	1969-1990
Number of pieces:	125

A French civil defense CL-215 in front of the Roquefavour aqueduct (1975)

The Canadair CL-215 is a multi-purpose amphibious aircraft from the Canadian aircraft manufacturer Canadair Group (a current subsidiary of Bombardier Aerospace ), whose development was primarily aimed at fighting forest fires as a fire-fighting aircraft . The rights were sold to Viking Air in June 2016 .

history

The specifications for this type were established in 1963 at a symposium on forest fire fighting in Ottawa, Canada . At the beginning of 1966 it was decided to manufacture this type in series. The first flight took place on October 23, 1967. The Canadian province of Québec and the French civil defense were the first buyers with twenty and ten copies respectively. They were used to monitor forests and fight forest fires. Production was discontinued in 1990 and the successor Canadair CL-415 , which was available from 1993, was converted to the successor Canadair CL-415 - apart from the engine, which was essentially identical . Up until then, 125 pieces had primarily been delivered to Canadian provinces, but were also exported. Ten machines were delivered for rescue operations and coastal surveillance, two for passenger transport. They are still in use today.

variants

Type and short name

CL-215-1A10: the original CL-215 with Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp CA3 double radial engines
CL-215-6B11 variant CL-215T : using a retrofit kit, the original CL-215, in which the piston engines were replaced by PW123AF turbo props. Wing tips and tailplane were also changed (correspond to CL-415).
CL-215-6B11 variant CL-415: see article Canadair CL-415 , the successor model.

Users

Greece Greece

Greek Air Force , 355 MTM: 21 CL-215

Italy Italy

Societa Ricerche Esperienze Meteorologiche (SoREM): five CL-215 leased abroad

Canada Canada

Conair Group , Abbotsford , British Columbia : four CL-215P
Government Air Services, Manitoba : seven CL-215P; five were abolished and gradually replaced by four CL-415s from autumn 2010.
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador : two CL-215P
Buffalo Airways , Yellowknife , Northwest Territories : six CL-215P
Ministry of Natural Resources , Ontario : nine CL-215T
Bombardier , Montreal , Québec : four CL-215T
Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife , Québec : four CL-215Ps, two CL-215Ts. They also operate eight other CL-415s
Ministry of the Environment, Saskatchewan : six CL-215P

Portugal Portugal

two CL-215s, in operation by SoREM

Spain Spain

Ejército del Aire , 43 Grupo
Ministry of Environment (CEGISA): five former Spanish Air Force CL-215T

Thailand Thailand

Royal Thai Navy: a copy of two CL-215s delivered in 1978 for reconnaissance and rescue flights.

Turkey Turkey

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality: two CL-215s in operation by SoREM
Turkish Ministry of Forestry : two CL-215s, former Buffalo Airways planes from Canada, in operation by SoREM
Türk Hava Kurumu : seven CL-215s

United States United States

No exact figures are available.

Former operator

France France

Sécurité Civile: 15 fire-fighting aircraft were in operation from 1969 to 1996, and have now all been replaced by CL-415. The French civil defense was among the first to use the CL-215. In 1975 2 of these French CL-215s were used in the above-mentioned fire in the Lüneburg Heath.

Venezuela Venezuela

CVG Ferrominera Orinoco: two CL-215s, one crashed in 1989, the other has been mothballed since then.

Yugoslavia Socialist Federal Republic Yugoslavia

RV i PVO : five CL-215s had been in operation with the 676th Fire Fighting Squadron since 1981 until four were sold to Greece in 1995.

technology

Cockpit of the CL-215 C-GDHN (" Buffalo 296")

The CL-215 is a twin-engine shoulder- wing amphibious flying boat in all-metal construction . It has a single-stage hull and rigidly mounted support floats under the wings. A retractable three-legged landing gear is available for landing on land, whereby the nose wheel retracts completely into the fuselage and the main landing gear wheels are moved into a high position under the wings , but remain outside the fuselage contour. For fire fighting, the CL-215 can hold 5,455 liters of water or extinguishing agent; in addition, 710 kg of foam concentrate can be loaded into separate tanks. The extinguishing water is usually taken up in a kind of touch-and-go maneuver on the body of water from which the water is taken. While the flying boat glides over the water at almost lift-off speed (approx. 80 kts / 150 km / h), the tanks are filled in a few seconds by the dynamic pressure of the water through special, extendable hoods on the underside of the fuselage . This time-saving process enables a large number of deployment cycles to be achieved in fire fighting. The water is also released through flaps on the underside of the hull.

Technical specifications

Canadair CL-215T
(CL-215 converted to turboprop with the same engine as CL-415)

Canadair fire fighting aircraft	Canadair CL-215 (piston engines)	Canadair CL-215T (converted to turboprop)
Type	Multipurpose amphibious aircraft
length	19.82 m
span	28.60 m	28.61 m
height	8.92 m	8.98 m
drive	Two Pratt & Whitney R-2800 -CA3 radial engines with 1,566 kW each	Two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW123AF propeller turbines with 2,380 WPS each
Cruising speed	291 km / h (at an altitude of 3,050 m)	287 km / h
Range	2,092 km with a 1,587 kg payload and long-range engine power	2,427 km
Empty mass	12,161 kg	11,789 kg (as a fire-fighting aircraft: 12,043 kg)
Max. Takeoff mass on land	19,731 kg	19,800 kg
Max. Takeoff weight on the water	17,100 kg

Web links

Commons : Canadair CL-215 - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Sample approval sheet NAA-TCDS for CL-215 / -415 (PDF; 31 kB)

Individual evidence

↑ Bombardier says goodbye to water bombers , accessed on June 23, 2016
↑ Jürgen Schelling: The fire brigade comes from the sky In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung of July 27, 2017
↑ Hoyle Flight International 13. – 19. December 2011, p. 39.
↑ ^a ^b Keijsper 2008, p. 42.
^ "Canadian Civil Aircraft Register: Canadair CL-215" ( Memento of May 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). Transport Canada. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
↑ "Canadair CL-215 T (UD.13T)." ( Memento of February 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Ejército del aire . Received: January 8, 2012.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Keijsper 2008, p. 43.
^ Hoyle Flight International December 13-19, 2011, p. 49.
^ Air International October 1978, p. 188.
↑ Keijsper 2008, pp. 40-41.
↑ Aircraft accident data and report for Canadair CL-215-1A10, YV-O-INC-2, Puerto Ordaz in the Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on April 26, 2012.
↑ Keijsper 2008, p. 44.

[1] Bombardier says goodbye to water bombers , accessed on June 23, 2016

[2] Jürgen Schelling: The fire brigade comes from the sky In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung of July 27, 2017

[fiwaf11_p39-3] Hoyle Flight International 13. – 19. December 2011, p. 39.

[p42-4] Keijsper 2008, p. 42.

[5] "Canadian Civil Aircraft Register: Canadair CL-215" ( Memento of May 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). Transport Canada. Retrieved May 23, 2012.

[6] "Canadair CL-215 T (UD.13T)." ( Memento of February 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Ejército del aire . Received: January 8, 2012.

[p43-7] Keijsper 2008, p. 43.

[fiwaf11_p49-8] Hoyle Flight International December 13-19, 2011, p. 49.

[AIOct78_p188-9] Air International October 1978, p. 188.

[10] Keijsper 2008, pp. 40-41.

[11] Aircraft accident data and report for Canadair CL-215-1A10, YV-O-INC-2, Puerto Ordaz in the Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on April 26, 2012.

[p44-12] Keijsper 2008, p. 44.