Firefighters battling recent large fires across the Western U.S. have received help from new, American-made helicopter firefighting technology. 

Kentucky’s Recoil Aerospace Inc. (Recoil), designer of the world’s most advanced aerial fire suppression systems (AFSS), has seen heavy usage of its Tsunami Internal AFSS 790-gallon tank for the UH-60 Black Hawk series helicopters.

From Colorado to California, Recoil-equipped firefighting helicopters are making positive impact on major blazes.

For several weeks in August, aviation and ground crews fought the lightning-caused Lee Fire and Elk Fire, near Meeker, Colo.  The Lee Fire became the state’s fifth largest fire in history, burning more than 138,000 acres. 

Recoil-equipped aircraft from Montana’s Central Copters brought high-volume, accurate water drops with rapid turns, a significant help in eventually containing these fires and other new fires.

“Crews were able to switch rapidly from external longline bucket operations to the high volume, rapid turnarounds with the Recoil AFSS tank,” commented Chief Pilot Will Jacobs from Recoil launch customer Central Copters.  “It’s a key ‘flex’ in our operations on these major fires as well as emerging fires.”

 

Aggressive initial fire response - known as ‘Initial Attack or IA’ - keeps wildfires from spreading out of control, as seen in Garfield County, Colo. on August 23rd during the Lee Fire operations.  A new fire started north of Rifle Gap and with rapid response and high-volume drops, the Central Copters aircraft with Recoil tank ‘smashed’ the flames.

That same aircraft recently moved into the Lake Tahoe region in northern California, successfully suppressing lightning-caused fires across the Sierra Nevada mountains and Lassen and Tahoe National Forests.

U.S.-based Recoil’s Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) SR12058AK for the UH-60 Black Hawk series helicopters represents the only carbon fiber construction of this design approved for UH-60 operations. 

Recoil’s breakthrough STC is applicable to all UH-60 type certificate holders as well as all model variants of the UH-60 and S-70 Black Hawk.

Importantly, the Recoil AFSS tanks are designed and manufactured exclusively in the United States of America and are available for immediate acquisition.

Given high-volume water drops and rapid turnaround time, the UH-60 AFSS tanks help control new wildfires and protect homes in an urban interface fire outbreak.

 “Fire aviation operators here in the U.S. and globally are seeing strong performance with our tanks in an active fire season,” states Recoil President and pilot Joseph Rice.  “We stand ready to assist our friends in Australia and South America with upcoming fire seasons, offering tanks with fastest approved airspeed, high volume water delivery and rapid turnarounds.”

Recoil AFSS tanks are backed by the company’s U.S.-based Recoil Training Academy program as well as U.S.-based customer support and service.

Key features of the Recoil UH-60 Internal AFSS tank include: 

790-gallon Capacity

Fastest Airspeed Available - 140 Knot VNE

Left or Right Side Snorkel Option/Drop

5-7 Second High-Volume Salvo Drops

Rapid Fill - Ground or Hover

US-manufactured & Supported

Comprehensive Tsunami AFSS Training Program

Aerospace Carbon Fiber Construction

No Airframe Modifications

Install/Removal in 15 Minutes          

External Load Hook System Remains Intact

Rapid Transition from Tank to Longline Operations

The lightweight, stronger than steel carbon fiber design means the tank can be left in the aircraft when external load ops are needed.  “We may reconfigure several times per day and in more than one instance the firefighters on the ground remarked how rapidly we were able to return to continue the water dropping and aid their efforts,” adds a senior pilot from Central Copters.

Increased airspeeds can bring more efficient aerial suppression operations, more gallons of water per hour, with rapid response to incidents and faster turnarounds between drops. 

Kentucky-based Recoil adds the Internal UH-60 FAA STC SR12058AK to a wide-ranging list of existing international approvals.  The Recoil T1000E External AFSS STC is already in place in the United States and Canada as well as the Republic of Korea, Brazil, Morocco, Australia and South America.

And a second UH-60 firefighting helicopter from Central Copters proved vital in stopping a dangerous fire near Missoula, Mont. the last week of August.  The Corral Fire ignited in the mountains north of Interstate 90, however thanks to rapid, high-volume water drops and hard work of crews on the ground, the fire was limited to approximately 350 acres burned.