Canadair CL-415 / DHC-515 “Water Bombers”
- Amphibious aircraft that scoop water directly from lakes or rivers.
- Capacity: ~1,600 gallons.
- Widely used in Europe and Canada.


... Would countries like, eg Hong Kong with such close proximity to sea, and high density in super high skyscraper be equipped to right these type of fire in the sky?

We need solution rather than pointing fingers.


/K pilots got... Experience with Fire fighting water bombers?

if outside..maybe.. but in a packed city..very limited effectiveness...

This post has been edited by Baconateer: Dec 7 2025, 03:27 PM

can

but,

no place to land in city in case emergency

Can use but residents flush out of their units or drowned by the water.

I think those are for forest fires (wide sqft coverage, not really for tall buildings)

Largest is AG600 from CCP

https://www.chinaerospace.com/article/show/...ca5662320ecf459

Won't that amount of water damage the structure and can cause it to fail?

for forest fire use, buildings in city not effective, that's why buildings got there sprinkler systems

/k pilots are like king kong..

their oonly experience in aviation is in beating aeroplane

I imagine its not effective when the aim is a vertical structure and the busy perimeter filled with people and buildings

Well for one, water cannot fight gravity.

Secondly a wall of water hitting a solid object with small openings. You are trying to put out a fire under a colander.

You are also looking at property damage from other buildings.

Imagine a ton of water and people below. Hail storms are probably more safe.

Those water bomber effective for forest fire only, if ada concrete literally it is useless

No, it is generally not feasible or effective to use large water-scooping planes to fight skyscraper fires. These aircraft are designed for fighting widespread wildfires in open areas and are unsuited for the unique challenges of urban high-rise fires.

Key reasons why they are not used include:

Inaccurate Targeting: Water-scooping planes drop massive amounts of water over a large area, which lacks the pinpoint accuracy required for a specific floor or section of a skyscraper. This imprecision poses significant risks to the public, surrounding buildings, and ground personnel.

Structural Damage Risk: A sudden drop of thousands of gallons (tonnes) of water from a height would exert immense force, likely causing severe structural damage to the building's walls or roof, potentially leading to a partial or total collapse.
Fire Location and Access: Most skyscraper fires originate inside the building, not on the roof. The building structure would block the water from reaching the actual flames, making the drop ineffective.

Operational Constraints:

Water Source: Water-scooping planes require a large, unobstructed body of water (like a large lake or a section of the ocean, typically needing about a mile of clear space) to skim the surface and fill their tanks. Such a source is rarely available in dense urban environments.

Flight Conditions: Dense smoke columns and turbulent hot air rising from a high-rise blaze create hazardous flying conditions, impacting visibility and aircraft control.

Logistics: The time required to get the aircraft to the scene, find a suitable water source, and execute a drop makes them impractical for the rapid response needed in urban emergencies.

Fanning the Flames: The powerful downwash from helicopters (and to a lesser extent, the air disturbance from low-flying planes) could introduce fresh oxygen to the fire, potentially intensifying the blaze rather than suppressing it

no sprinkler meh?

nop

The whole freaking building above certain floors is burning.

Do a curve flight profile and it will spread the water over a wide range of the building?

Those planes and pilots would be trained to fight fires on hills and mountain wild fires anyway.


Limitations being densely packed buildings where no access for planes to fly.

Plus the water release nozzles, could be redesigned to shoot water at an angle so the pilot flys a straight path, but water shoots out at a 45Degree angle.?


To me personally... I do not like skyscraper...it feel very un-necessary.

It is a major cluster ferk...when ever everyone is getting in or out.



This post has been edited by skywardsword: Dec 8 2025, 09:04 AM