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| C-130 loaded with the MAFF system |
MAFFS (Modular Airborne FireFighting Systems) are portable fire retardant delivery systems that can be inserted into military C-130 aircraft without major structural modifications to convert them into airtankers when needed.
MAFFS are important because they can be used to boost wildfire suppression efforts when commercial airtankers are not readily available. They can discharge their entire load of up to 3,000 gallons of retardant in less than five seconds, covering an area one-quarter of a mile long by 100 feet wide, or make variable drops. Once the load is discharged, it can be refilled in less than 12 minutes.
Well, if you've ever wanted to see what it's like inside the cockpit while a MAFFS equipped C-130 does a drop over a wildfire, now is your chance. Click the linked text below for a video:
The crew of a Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS)-equipped C-130J from the California Air National Guard's 146th Airlift Wing makes a run to drop fire retardant on the Day Fire northeast of Redding, Calif., Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014. The crew members are Lt. Col. Bill Willson, aircraft commander, Capt. Jon-Mark Koetitz, co-pilot, and Master Sgt. Charles Watkins and Sr. Airman Cameron Davis, the loadmasters. (Air National Guard video by 146th Airlift Wing Public Affairs. Released.)
And for more informaiton on MAFFS, check out the US Forest Service site -
http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/aviation/airplanes/maffs.HTML
MAFFS are important because they can be used to boost wildfire suppression efforts when commercial airtankers are not readily available. They can discharge their entire load of up to 3,000 gallons of retardant in less than five seconds, covering an area one-quarter of a mile long by 100 feet wide, or make variable drops. Once the load is discharged, it can be refilled in less than 12 minutes.
Well, if you've ever wanted to see what it's like inside the cockpit while a MAFFS equipped C-130 does a drop over a wildfire, now is your chance. Click the linked text below for a video:
The crew of a Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS)-equipped C-130J from the California Air National Guard's 146th Airlift Wing makes a run to drop fire retardant on the Day Fire northeast of Redding, Calif., Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014. The crew members are Lt. Col. Bill Willson, aircraft commander, Capt. Jon-Mark Koetitz, co-pilot, and Master Sgt. Charles Watkins and Sr. Airman Cameron Davis, the loadmasters. (Air National Guard video by 146th Airlift Wing Public Affairs. Released.)
And for more informaiton on MAFFS, check out the US Forest Service site -
http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/aviation/airplanes/maffs.HTML
