Aerial firefighting aircraft play an essential role in combating wildfires, and the crews that pilot them save countless lives every year across the globe.
With numerous fires raging across California, we thought we would share some stunning videos of the aircraft being used by the premier aerial firefighting force in the world: the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE).
DC-10s were active in the fight against the River Fire in California. When this blaze joined the Ranch Fire to become the Mendocino Complex Fire, it became the largest wildfire in California history. At over 283,800 acres, it has burned an area far larger than New York City—larger even than Los Angeles. CAL FIRE says it doesn’t expect the fire to be fully extinguished until September.
The modified DC-10 can drop 12,000 gallons of fire retardant. It’s the CAL FIRE workhorse, but they also have something much larger in their arsenal.
The Global Supertanker, a modified 747 airliner, is the largest aerial firefighting aircraft in the world. Its massive fuselage, which used to hold 600 passengers at a time, is now home to pressurized tanks that hold 19,000 gallons of retardant.
In one pass, it can lay a fire line of 1.5 miles. The Global Supertanker isn’t just the largest aerial firefighting aircraft in CAL FIRE’s fleet, it’s also the fastest. At 600 miles per hour, it can fly much faster than a traditional 747 airliner.
Meet the rest of the CAL FIRE Fleet
CAL FIRE currently has 23 air tankers, 11 helicopters and 14 air attack aircraft or tactical aircraft in service. The bulk of the fleet is made up of:
– Air attack aircraft (OV-10A “Bronco”) which are small planes that are used to coordinate with firefighters on the ground and to direct air tankers to the critical areas of the fire.
– Initial attack aircraft (Grumman S-2T) which are used to deliver a fast initial attack. They can drop 1,200 gallons of retardant and have a crew of one – the pilot.
Aerial firefighting aircraft come in all shapes and sizes
Wildfires crop up the world over, and private companies as well as municipal, state and federal governments use different aircraft to help them beat back the flames.
Fixed-wing aircraft, like those mentioned above, are filled with water or retardant at tanker bases and flown to the site of the fire. Amphibious aircraft, also called “scoopers,” are filled by skimming water from the surface of lakes and reservoirs.
Helicopters are also used around the world to control blazes, dropping water from specialized buckets and delivering supplies to firefighters on the ground.
Aerospace Manufacturing is a AS9100 and ISO:9001 accredited manufacturer that is proud to manufacture high strength, close tolerance fasteners for Air Spray, one of the world’s oldest and most experienced private operators of aircraft for aerial wildfire suppression, as well as leading OEMs and aerospace organizations like Bombardier, DLA, Lockheed Martin and NAVICP.
Ph13-8Mo aerospace fasteners are made from PH13-8Mo, an incredibly versatile and resilient martensitic precipitation-hardening stainless steel. Ph13-8Mo exhibits excellent strength, superior toughness, good corrosion resistance even in severe environmental conditions.
PH13-8Mo has the highest combination of corrosion resistance, strength and toughness of all the stainless steels. So perhaps it’s no surprise that Ph13-8Mo aerospace fasteners are used in critical aircraft components, in landing gear parts, in the undercarriage, where resistance to stress cracking is essential. They’re even stronger than 17-4 PH stainless bolts.
What is PH13-8Mo made of?
Like other stainless steels, PH13-8Mo is an alloy, which means it is iron-based and contains a combination of other elements that give it desired characteristics for specific applications.
The most common elements in PH13-8Mo (in order of abundance) are chromium, nickel, molybdenum, and aluminum with trace amounts of manganese, silicon, and carbon depending on the exact specifications.
PH13-8Mo Aerospace Fasteners from AMI
Aerospace Manufacturing creates several different kinds of PH13-8Mo aerospace fasteners for industry-leading OEMs like Boeing, Bombardier, DLA, NASA, General Electric, and Lockheed Martin, including:
We are AS9100 and ISO:9001 accredited and QSLM approved, and our unique manufacturing flexibility and expertise gives us nearly unlimited capabilities in customization.
Then taxi over to booth 2586 to schmooze and talk shop with Ryan and Philippe of Aerospace Manufacturing!
Or if you’d like to set up a time to chat sometime during Farnborough, just reach out to rbrown@aero-space.us and let us know what time is most convenient for you!
What do we do?
Aerospace Manufacturing is a AS9100 and ISO:9001 accredited manufacturer that creates a diversified line of high strength, close tolerance fasteners that are trusted by the world’s largest OEMs.
Our clientele includes the likes of Boeing, Bombardier, DLA, Lockheed Martin, and Sikorsky. We recently won the contract to create fasteners for Boeing’s KC-46 Pegasus tanker—and there’s more exciting news on the way.
Want to learn about MP35N™ aerospace bolts manufactured by AMI? You’re in the right place.
The drive for greater thrust output and fuel efficiency are never ending in aerospace, and that means greater stresses on the fasteners that hold everything together and the need for exotic materials with unique characteristics.
At Aerospace Manufacturing, we work with these superalloys to create high strength, close tolerance bolts that are trusted by industry leading organizations like Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky, the US Navy and others.
Characteristics of MP35N™ Aerospace Bolts
MP35N™ aerospace bolts are made of MP35N™, which is a nonmagnetic, nickel-cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloy that exhibits tensile strength (up to 300 ksi), superb ductility, and excellent corrosion resistance.
MP35N™ generally consists of 10 percent Molybdenum, 20 percent Chromium, 35 percent Cobalt, and 35 percent Nickel. Among corrosion resistant fastener materials, it has the highest fatigue strength.
More about MP35N™:
– Highly corrosion resistant to hydrogen sulphide, saltwater, and chloride solutions
– Performs exceptionally well under extreme pressure
– Resistant to stress corrosion cracking and crevice cracking
– Tensile strength of 227-294 ksi at room temperature
– Maximum operating temperature of 800°F; typically used between 700°F and 750°F
– Can be cold and hot worked and formed by several different processes
– Machinability slightly better than that of Waspaloy™
MP35N™ Aerospace Bolts are used for…
– Structural components on the Space Shuttle
– Tie rods
– Airframes
– Marine equipment
– Submersibles
– Petrochemical equipment
– Leading edge strips
– Any other application where high strength and good corrosion resistance are demanded
Procure MP35N™ Aerospace Bolts from AMI
Aerospace Manufacturing is AS9100 and ISO:9001 accredited, QSLM approved and trusted by organizations like NASA, Sikorsky, the U.S. Navy, Lockheed Martin and DLA to deliver high strength, close tolerance aerospace fasteners.
As the company that creates a critical fastener for Boeing’s anticipated KC-46 Pegasus tanker, we like to stay up to date with everything coming out of Boeing. Which is why we couldn’t overlook Boeing’s first-ever concept for a hypersonic passenger plane, one that may, in 20 or 30 years, take you from New York City to Tokyo in just 2 hours.
The hypersonic race is on. Apart from China and Russia, other US companies (and Aerospace Manufacturing customers) like Lockheed Martin are racing to see who can create the first viable hypersonic passenger jet. Boeing has been breaking speed records for decades, but they haven’t won this race just yet.
Travelling at Mach 5 presents unique problems that even the best aeronautical engineers are struggling to overcome. Here’s a primer.
How Boeing’s hypersonic jet would work
The first problem with hypersonic air travel is the engine. Traveling at Mach 5 — about 3,800 miles per hour — normal engine fans would disintegrate. Still Boeing’s design includes traditional engine fan blades. Why?
According to the design, the jet will take off like an ordinary aircraft, carried to higher altitude at traditional speeds with a turbine engine before being propelled to Mach 5 by a ramjet. A ramjet is a jet engine in which the air drawn in for combustion is compressed solely by the forward motion of the aircraft. When the ramjet is activated, air will be valved such that it bypases the turbofan engine and goes straight into the ramjet.
The other hurdle? The laws of aerodynamics. The faster an airplane goes, the lower the ratio of lift-to-drag must be to stay airborne. Hence the dramatically shallow angles and sweptback leading edges. At such speeds, wings create very-low-pressure zones that hinder the function of the tail — that is, stabilization and steerage. Therefore, the tail of Boeing’s hypersonic jet is split in two so it can catch high-pressure air.
The other major challenge has to do with altitude. To travel safely, Boeing’s hypersonic jet would need to travel at around 95,000 feet. A hypersonic jet would disintegrate from the high air density and dynamic pressure of the typical cruising altitude of 30,000 feet. To safely travel at 95,000 feet, new rules will have to be created regarding tolerances, new materials will need to be developed and selected. It’s even been suggested that the first hypersonic jets will not have windows, and that the passengers and pilots would experience the outside world through digital screens.
Boeing’s Nevada-Based Competitor
At the moment, Aerion Corporation, a company backed by Airbus and located in Nevada, is Boeing’s primary competitor. Their AS2 supersonic business jet is farther along in development, but it would travel at just Mach 1.5 and carry just 12 passengers. As Kevin Bowcutt, Senior Technical Fellow of hypersonics in Boeing Research & Technology said, “There is an inherent value in speed.”
17-4 PH stainless bolts are made of 17-4 PH, the most widely used of all precipitation-hardening stainless steels. They are stronger than A-286 aerospace bolts and boast a 4x greater yield strength than 316 stainless steel bolts.
Though they are less corrosion resistant than Inconel bolts and MP35N™ bolts, they are by far the most corrosion resistant of any bolts made of standard hardenable stainless steel. They maintain their strength and hardness in temperatures as high as 572 degrees Fahrenheit but should not be used in applications that involve exposure to extremely low temperatures.
17-4 PH stainless bolts are considered cost-effective. For example, NASA encourages, whenever possible, the use of numerous 17-4 PH stainless bolts rather than fewer higher-strength bolts.
Aerospace Manufacturing creates several different kinds of 17-4 PH stainless bolts, the most popular being: MS9733, MS9734, MS9735, MS9736, MS9737, MS9739, and the MS9795 series, like the MS9795-16 and MS9795-14. These are made of the highest quality American steel.
Our clientele includes the likes of Boeing, Bombardier, DLA, Lockheed Martin, and Sikorsky. We recently won the contract to create fasteners for Boeing’s KC-46 Pegasus tanker, and more exciting announcements are also on the way!
With just one month left until we take off for the famous Farnborough Airshow in the United Kingdom, we thought we would take a look back at the very first air show, when the Wright brothers put their “flying invention” on display for a skeptical audience of U.S. military brass, a few low-ranking politicians, and a few newspapermen. Needless to say, they liked what they saw.
Meet the Wright Flyer: The First Airplane
The first successful flight of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft (an airplane and not a balloon, in other words) occured at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903. It took six more years, however, for the public to believe it had really happened.
In 1903 the world was in the early years of the Zeppelin Era. Rigid airships, what we today might ball a blimp, were commonplace. They stayed aloft thanks to hydrogen cells that made the crafts lighter than the surrounding air. Numerous heavier-than-air flying inventions had been tried and all of them had failed, some spectacularly so. The U.S. military had spent $50,000 on a contract for the Langley Aerodrome. It had been constructed by the nation’s leading engineer, and spent just seconds airborne before plunging into the Potomac River. Simon Newcomb, America’s most prominent scientist, agreed and published extensively on the subject, demonstrating with “unassailable logic” why man couldn’t fly.
The Wright Flyer, meantime, was coming together in Orville and Wilbur Wright’s bicycle repair shop in southwest Ohio. A biplane made of giant spruce with a bicycle-inspired sprocket chain drive that powered the twin propellers, the Wright Flyer was a breakthrough — the first airplane with three-axis control, which allowed the pilot to steer the aircraft and to effectively maintain equilibrium. After testing the flight and proving the concept in Kitty Hawk, NC they returned to Ohio and looked for a place to improve the design.
A Skeptical Public
Though news of their maiden flight had leaked out, the Wright brothers were reluctant to show anyone their airplane, fearing patent theft. Anyhow, people were not inclined to believe that it worked. By 1905 they were flying serious distances — 20 or 30 miles at a time. School children would report seeing the flying machine circle the field for up to five minutes, as would local farmers. Yet local and national newspaper editors were convinced that the local brothers were con artists.
According to Luther Beard, managing editor of the Dayton Journal, “I used to chat with them in a friendly way and was always polite to them because I sort of felt sorry for them. They seemed like well-meaning, decent enough young men. Yet there they were, neglecting their business to waste their time day after day on that ridiculous flying-machine. I had an idea it must worry their father.”
Frank Tunison, another of the editors, who also represented the Associated Press, had turned down the story of the first flight at Kitty Hawk. Whenever he saw an occasional reference to them in local papers, would comment “Why do we print such tripe?”
Another reason the Wright brothers invention did not receive the attention it deserved was that an executive of the Scientific American, the biggest scientific journal in the country, was friends with another aspiring aeronautical engineer, and was convinced that his friend was on the verge of a breakthrough. Even after receiving eyewitness testimony from Ohio, he refused to print the story.
The First Air Show
The tide shifted when the governments of France and Germany began showing interest in the Wright brothers airplane, and the U.S. government hastily offered the brothers a contract to prevent the technology from falling into foreign hands. Still, the Wright brothers would have to demonstrate their invention before a skeptical crowd at Fort Myers in Virginia. Most in the government were in attendance for no other reason than put “this Wright brothers business” to bed once and for all so they could devote their time and resources to more promising projects.
The moment Orville Wright lifted the plane off the ground, the crowd gasped in astonishment. After flying at 40 miles per hour, maneuvering in any and every direction, for over an hour non-stop, Orville landed the plane. He was immediately rushed by several newspapermen for an interview. Each of them had tears streaming down his cheeks.
On average, every airplane in the U.S. commercial fleet will be struck by lightning more than one time a year.
This seems problematic. Engines, wing flaps, landing gear, etc., are controlled by computers and instruments that are highly susceptible to power surges. Commercial airliners also carry tens of thousands of gallons of (highly flammable) jet fuel. Yet lightning strikes actually pose very little risk to passengers or the airplanes themselves.
Airplanes are carefully designed to direct lightning currents away the plane’s most critical regions. For instance, lightning diverter strips made of highly conductive material are applied along the outer surface of the nose cone, which contains radar and other flight instruments. If lightning strikes the nose, the current will be diverted back through the highly conductive exterior skin of the aircraft where it will exit through one of the plane’s extremities, like the wing or the tail. All structural joints and fasteners are carefully designed to prevent sparking.
And despite all of this, lightning strikes still cost airline companies millions of dollars a year. An aircraft that has been hit by lightning often requires follow-up inspections and safety checks that may delay the next flight. Physical damage to the plane, which sometimes occurs, may result in planes being taken out of service.
Ironically, the use of advanced composite materials that reduce the likelihood of airplanes being hit by lightning, have also multiplied the costs associated with lightning strike repairs. So scientists are trying to figure out ways to reduce lighting strikes even further. A recent MIT study identified a novel way to do just that: an onboard system that would protect a plane by electrically charging it.
Like the earliest transatlantic steamers and transcontinental railroads, the first passenger jets were more about grandeur than economy. The seats were large and comfortable. There was plenty of legroom. It was about traveling in style more than just traveling.
Airbus, one of the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers, is trying to bring back some of that glamour. Kind of.
Snuggling up in the Cargo Hold
Airbus teamed up with Zodiac Aerospace to create passenger modules that are the exact size and shape of a cargo container. They look something like an old-fashioned sleeper car but are white and glossy. Each module contains bunk beds that are stacked two high. Claustrophobic passengers are discouraged from trying to bed down below deck, however. There are no windows and space is very limited.
Airbus will begin by deploying these “sleeper pods” on their A330 widebody jets, the workhorses responsible for most medium- to long-distance routes with more than 300 passengers.
Sleeping “below deck” in the cargo container isn’t actually as strange as it may sound. Large aircraft, like the A330 and A380 have bunks downstairs where crew members can rest on long flights.
Where does it go from sleeper pods? We’re glad you asked. Airbus also released designs of kids play zone modules, a conference room, a lounge, and a medical suite. Check out the possibilities in the video below.
Procure from Aerospace Manufacturing
Aerospace Manufacturing is a AS9100 and ISO:9001 accredited manufacturer that creates a diversified product line of High Strength, Close Tolerance Aerospace Fasteners for large OEM Aerospace and Defense contractors.
Aerospace Manufacturing is excited to be taking part in the famous Farnborough Airshow in the United Kingdom in July. Dating all the way back to 1920, it’s the world’s second largest public airshow and one of the largest aerospace and defense industry trade shows. We will have a booth and are looking forward to learning the latest in terms of innovation and expanding our European presence!
In anticipation of our trip to the UK, we thought we would take a look at the most famous British fighter plane: the Supermarine Spitfire.
How the Supermarine Spitfire Saved England
Perhaps the most distinguished fighter of all time, the Spitfire was a single-seat WWII-era fighter aircraft. Originally designed by British engineers to be a short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft, the Spitfire had an extremely thin cross-section, which gave it a higher speed than other contemporary fighters. It also had a revolutionary design that made it easy to make alterations. These two features would be decisive during the Battle of Britain during World War Two.
The Battle of Britain was the first major military campaign fought solely by air forces. Pitting the German Luftwaffe against the British Royal Air Force over the skies of London, the outlook was not good for the British: 2,600 Luftwaffe fighters and bombers against 640 British planes. Worse still, the Spitfire was totally outgunned by the German Messerschmitt Bf 109s. The Germans predicted it would be over in a few days.
It was the Spitfire’s design, which made it easy to make alterations at the point of production, that ended up tipping the battle in favor of the British. In one example, both planes could reach speeds of around 350 miles per hour, but the Spitfires had an alteration, a booster that increased their speed by 25-34mph for five minutes. It made a critical difference.
To this day the Spitfire remains a powerful symbol of national unity and determination in the UK. One need look no further than the recent movie Dunkirk to see what we mean. In the video below you’ll see an original Mark 1 Spitfire that, after two painstaking years of restoration, is flying the skies over England today.
