With the ferocious bush fires that devastated huge tracts of Australia still fresh in the memory, the arrival of the world's only dedicated fire bomber aircraft is timely.
The Bombardier 415, which the manufacturer says is the world's only firefighting aircraft in production, is scheduled to arrive at the show today and remain until the end of the week.
The visit is part of a 53,000km, 90-day tour of Asia- Pacific. The 10-country tour will see the aircraft demonstrated to government officials and senior firefighters.
Countries to be visited include Malaysia and Australia, where thousands of square kilometres of land were destroyed by bush fires a few months ago.
"We're confident this tour will demonstrate the unique capabilities of the Bombardier 415 under the region's challenging conditions," says Tom Appleton, president, Bombardier Amphibious Aircraft.
Testing
"The Bombardier 415 is best known as a firefighting aircraft but today it is being developed into a very capable and proven multi-mission platform suited to a wide range of special missions inland, in mountainous terrain, as well as in coastal waters."
One variant – the Bombardier 415MP-Multi-Purpose – is designed for search and rescue, civil protection, customs and immigration control, fisheries and environmental protection. Flight testing has begun on two aircraft being equipped for search and rescue work for a European customer.
Last week, the 415 was demonstrated to the Royal Thai Navy. The aircraft did water landings and take-offs as well as water drops. Bombardier sees Thailand as a key prospect for the MP variant as that country has been operating two Bombardier 215s for more than 20 years.
The 415 in its firefighting role is already in use in Mediterranean Europe and North America.
Source: Flight Daily News
