Book 23, Question 98
How Do Firefighting Planes Scoop Up Water From a Lake?
Some planes fight forest fires. They scoop up water without landing. Wow! Water bombers are made in Canada. They use two small scoops.
More fun facts
- Super Scooper planes fill up by skimming across a lake without stopping.
- Two small scoops, only about 4 by 5 inches, drop from the plane's belly to catch the water.
- It takes about 12 seconds to fill the tanks, covering about 1,300 meters of lake.
- One load is about 1,400 gallons, which weighs around 12,000 pounds.
- The CL-415 skims the water at about 80 knots while scooping.
- The lake must be at least 6 feet deep to scoop, and 10 feet is preferred.
- Super Scoopers can also scoop seawater from the ocean.
Sources: Smithsonian, U.S. Forest Service
Questions kids ask
Why do they not fly at night?
Scooping from a lake or fighting a fire you cannot see well is not safe, so they fly in daylight.