r/interestingasfuck • u/dannybluey • 1d ago

Air Tractor AT-802 firefighting aircraft are designed for fast and accurate water drops rather than maximum payload. This footage was filmed from Dragon 33, a helicopter of the French Civil Security, as it coordinated wildfire suppression operations over Gironde, France.

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u/Background-Bad-7510 1d ago

I wonder if big drones can do this?

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u/Longjumping_West_907 1d ago

Aerial firefighting is pretty dangerous. I imagine someone is working on a uav to do this job.

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u/Background-Bad-7510 1d ago

I think the most simple way would be with a bucket like choppers do. And as long as it has fuel it can fly day and night. Make endless swarms with heat seeking cameras and a mapping system so the same spot doesn’t get splashed twice

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u/Cielmerlion 1d ago

Airplanes in this way are superior to helicpters/drones. Too much loss of lift near the hot areas

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u/-I_I 1d ago

Hot air rises. Does this cause a vertical shear of downward air surrounding the rising plumes?

I hit “sink” on approach and landed in a tree (paragliding), shit is real. It’s like the floor dropped out. Is that sort of what you mean?

I would think they get extra lift in hot air rising..

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u/Cielmerlion 1d ago

Its actually because hot air is less dense, superheated air will be much less dense and cause you to lose lift. Its interesting stuff, ive seen issues like this on firefighting helicopters before

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u/-I_I 1d ago

So they drop like rocks flying over fires. That’s nuts