A Better Belly Tank?
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Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Oz. Mahgni
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A Better Belly Tank?
I'm curious to know what the experienced fire-suppression pilots think about this new system.
It comes in at about 2/3rds the weight of a conventional rigid system with less of a drag penalty and it looks to me like it'd have a better drop pattern as well.
The photos should give you an idea but basically the vinyl bag extends down out of the belly tank when loaded and retracts every time it's emptied.
Any comments?
It comes in at about 2/3rds the weight of a conventional rigid system with less of a drag penalty and it looks to me like it'd have a better drop pattern as well.
The photos should give you an idea but basically the vinyl bag extends down out of the belly tank when loaded and retracts every time it's emptied.
Any comments?
Interesting. Do you have a link for more info?
The first thing that comes to mind is there appears to be a significant drag penalty when the tank is loaded.
Secondly can you do split drops? The Isolair I ran for several years on an Astar allowed split drops, partial drops, and and variable flow rate on both doors. This system appears to be all or nothing a la Bambi where your drop pattern options are limited to airspeed and altitude variations
The first thing that comes to mind is there appears to be a significant drag penalty when the tank is loaded.
Secondly can you do split drops? The Isolair I ran for several years on an Astar allowed split drops, partial drops, and and variable flow rate on both doors. This system appears to be all or nothing a la Bambi where your drop pattern options are limited to airspeed and altitude variations
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There's no link at the moment. This is still under development. Having said that, the first flight test went faultlessly. The doors are operated hydraulically so split drops are definitely possible, though not yet refined. A salvo drop (full on the test stand) takes about 3 seconds.
The pilot tells me they got to 60kts but thought it felt faster and wondered if there might have been some interference to the static air system by airflow around the bag. I've seen a video which looks pretty good.
This particular tank can hold up to 1400 litres for an empty weight of just over 100 kg, so would suit most machines from the LongRanger to 205/212.
The guy who's designed and built this built the pump himself as well and tells me it tested on the stand at 1400 litres in 40 secs for 120 amp draw.
I'll try to get a link to the video when I figure out how to do that.
The pilot tells me they got to 60kts but thought it felt faster and wondered if there might have been some interference to the static air system by airflow around the bag. I've seen a video which looks pretty good.
This particular tank can hold up to 1400 litres for an empty weight of just over 100 kg, so would suit most machines from the LongRanger to 205/212.
The guy who's designed and built this built the pump himself as well and tells me it tested on the stand at 1400 litres in 40 secs for 120 amp draw.
I'll try to get a link to the video when I figure out how to do that.
