Type 1 helicopter loading retardant from dip tank

I came across this video on you tube the other day. I a am pretty sure that this is a type 1 helicopter, possibly one of Columbia Helicopters tandem helicopters loading retardant from a dip tank. The helo was fighting fires in 2008 (I believe) in or near Tahoe National Forest in CA.

Type 1 Helicopters: fire fighting with Columbia Helos

To be honest, I am not quite sure which one of Columbia's tandem rotor helicopters is the star of the video, the Boeing Vertol 107 or the Boeing 234 Chinook. But you will get an idea of the fire fighting capabilities of Columbia's heavy lift, tandem rotor, helicopters. The video is shot from a camera on the pilot's helmet. In addition, you will hear audio feed of radio communications.

In addition, you might want to go and watch this video from Columbia. Here you will see more footage demonstrating the bucket operations.

Enjoy!

Type 1 Helicopters: Boeing Vertol 107

direct link to video

Columbia helicopters has a smaller tandem rotor helicopter, the Boeing Vertol 107. This is the civilian version of the CH-46 Sea Knight. Some pictures and a video of the CH-46 may be found here. Go to this location for the wikipedia entry for the CH-46 Sea Knight. I think that the tandem helicopter shown in the video that I embedded here is the Boeing Vertol 107.

Columbia purchased the type certificate to the Boeing Vertol 107 in December 2006. The 107 can carry a 1,100 gallon bucket. Spend a little time exploring the Columbia Helicopter webpage and you will find some photos of the Boeing Vertol and a video gallery featuring the Boeing Vertol 107 and its bigger brother, the Boeing 234 Chinook.

Specifications for the Boeing Vertol 107 may be found here.

Update on October 6, 2014:  The video that I originally embedded here of a Boeing Vertol 107 on wildland fire operations is no longer available. I found a video on the start up and departure of Vertol 107 that I thought you'd enjoy.

Type 1 helicopters: Boeing 234 Chinook

A while back, I was visiting a friend who had spent some time in the military and was familiar with some of the helicopters then in use by the military, including the CH-47 Chinook helicopter. At some point the subject of my blog came up, he briefly mentioned the afore mentioned chinook helicopter, and suggested that I check out Columbia Helicopters.

I did so, and found that Columbia Helicopters uses the civilian version of the CH-43 Chinook, the Boeing 234 Chinook, for fire fighting operations. That was when I decided to spend a little time writing about the Boeing 234 Chinook and other type 1 or heavy firefighting helicopters. According to the Interagency Helicopter Operations Guide (chapter 6), a type 1 or heavy helicopters is defined as:

having at least 15 passenger seats or 5,000 lbs payload, 700 gallon retardant/water capacity, and maximum gross takeoff/landing weight of at least 12,501 lbs.

In the video you will see two of Columbia's heavy lift helicopters in action, the Boeing 234 Chinook and the Boeing 107 Vertol. I will be writing about the Boeing 107 Vertol in a later post. As you can see from the above video, both are tandem rotor helicopters.

The wikipedia entry on the CH-47 Chinook may be found here. More information, including some photos of the Boeing 234 Chinook may be found here.

Columbia has three variants of the Boeing 234 Chinook, the utility, combi, and the LR:

234 utility specifications
234 combi specifications
234 LR specifications

If you go the main page of the Columbia Helicopters web page (sorry that I can provide a direct link, and click on the operations menu and then on flight operations you will find their "fighting wildfires" page. You will see that the Boeing 234 Chinook carries a 3,000 gallon bucket, has a foam tank and is capable of carrying what Columbia calls long-term retardant.

I'd like to thank my friend and aviation historian, T, for his assistance in helping me find the links that I have included here and for the links in upcoming posts.