Fire Fighting to the K-Max!

While not one of the most eye catching aerial vehicles ever built, it is probably one of the most versatile. On Oct. 14th, the KAMAN Corporation and Lockheed Martin did a demo for the US Forest Service and US Dept. of Interior to demonstrate the autonomous K-Max's ability to fight fires. They performed a series of water bucket and cargo drops near Boise, ID.

The unmanned K-MAX is capable of aerial fire suppression 24/7, and offers hotspot detection. K-MAX maintains its capabilities in hot temperatures, delivering a measurable performance advantage for operators. Even when conditions limit visibility for pilots, the K-MAX UAS can provide automated water pick-up, delivery, and line-building.

www.lockheedmartin.com...

a reply to: Sammamishman

The aircraft can fly at higher altitudes with a larger payload than any other rotary wing UAS.

Very versatile.

This type of helicopter has been around for 50 years. I remember seeing the Kaman Husky while I was in Vietnam in the 1970s. The Kaman helicopter could indeed lift higher weight but were very slow. They were used for airfield rescue because they didn't have the speed to make long range rescues like the HH3s or the HH53s.

The prevailing joke was the airspeed indicator was a calendar.

a reply to: buddah6

I love me some Husky though. That was such a neat design.

originally posted by: buddah6
This type of helicopter has been around for 50 years. I remember seeing the Kaman Husky while I was in Vietnam in the 1970s. The Kaman helicopter could indeed lift higher weight but were very slow. They were used for airfield rescue because they didn't have the speed to make long range rescues like the HH3s or the HH53s.

The prevailing joke was the airspeed indicator was a calendar.

Interestingly Kaman was one of the first to radio control a helicopter..although not the Husky you make a great reference.

More than 30 years ago, while I was a wildland fire fighter, our crew was a test crew for one of the first heli bucket systems, on a small fire in Northern cal.
We were on the line and the heli, cant remember the model, but it was an old one with the tube frame and full bubble cockpit, picked up a bucketful of water from a small pond a 1/4 mile away, and was going to drop right in front of us.
As it came into the clearing, the updraft from the fire unsettled the bird, and she got kinda of sketchy coming right at us.
The bucket was a swingin and jerking the bird around as it approached, and I dove behind a granite outcrop, as did my supervisor, a viet nam vet.
The bucket swung about 50' over the crew before the pilot got it all back. It sure looked like it was ready to go down.
The rest of the crew was laughing at me calling me a chicken, but my supervisor dressed them down about it, saying my reaction was just the thing to do, just as he had, and that if the bird did come down on top of us, my supervisor and I would have likely been the only survivors.
I believe it was the first time a fully mechanical bucket was used.

a reply to: punkinworks10
I've also experienced getting a full salvo drop from a C130.

We were on the line and the crew leader got a call on the radio, and he turned to us and called out the imminent airdrop, and pointed the likely direction of the drop.
We all jumped to the ground, belly down feet towards the drop, face tucked into the crook of your arm holding your tool under you, while the other hand went to the hardhat.
The impact of the retardant was akin to doing a belly flop, from the roof onto the ground, it was pretty rough.
It destroyed the pumper truck working with us by tumbling it about 20 feet to land on its roof.

How practicable would it be to have a few UAV's flying around above a wide area, automatically detecting fires - then having this helicopter automatically fly and put them out?

a reply to: C0bzz

That would be an ideal scenario during the fire season. Don't think the Dept. of the Interior has that kind of budget though.