I don't know everything about aerial firefighting, but what I do know is that all the different types of airplanes and helicopters have their use. They are all tools in the toolbox, each has it's abilities and limitations.
The SEAT'S, AgCats, and Dromaders, are agile and nimble, can work steep terraine, box canyons and such, and do a run at low altitude, laying a line of retardant in places that the heavy's can't get to or can't safely get low enough to be effective. But even with the SEAT'S agility there are places that even they can't get to to safely in order to lay a line of retardant. Seat's are also great as initial attack resource as the first equipment to show up at the start of a wildland fire.
Helicopters can do things fixed wing aircraft can't, they can hover over a fixed location and do an enormous drop right on a specific spot, also great for initial attack and cleanup after a fire has layed down.
The p-3's and other airplanes in their class also are highly manueverable and can deliver enormous capacities when they drop. They are very effective in many different kinds of applications.
The 747 has it's areas that it is effective, but it's definitely not able to manuever through the rugged mountain terrain as the smaller aircraft would be where most mountainous fires would occur, but for flatter terrain such as grass fires, Oaklahoma, Texas, Florida fires, etc the application would be effective. The drop, even for a larger aircraft still has to occurr low to the ground so the water doesn't evaporate due to the temperatures in a fire, and with the retartdant so it doesn't dispurse or drift too much with the huge winds that occur with large wildland fire, which is harder with mountainous terrain, where the low and slow is not as easy for this aircraft. The 747 probably has the narrowist range of conditions it's able to be effective in, and have close bases to fly out of. And the benificial quick turn around times for reload and return would be longer for the 747 if an appropriate runway is not as near, and they would also take longer to reload due to the volume.
All aircraft whether they're the different fixed winged or helicopter, have their own attributes that are effective for each particular type of mission, and they also overlap where either will provide similiar results. All are tools in the toolbox.
The SEAT'S, AgCats, and Dromaders, are agile and nimble, can work steep terraine, box canyons and such, and do a run at low altitude, laying a line of retardant in places that the heavy's can't get to or can't safely get low enough to be effective. But even with the SEAT'S agility there are places that even they can't get to to safely in order to lay a line of retardant. Seat's are also great as initial attack resource as the first equipment to show up at the start of a wildland fire.
Helicopters can do things fixed wing aircraft can't, they can hover over a fixed location and do an enormous drop right on a specific spot, also great for initial attack and cleanup after a fire has layed down.
The p-3's and other airplanes in their class also are highly manueverable and can deliver enormous capacities when they drop. They are very effective in many different kinds of applications.
The 747 has it's areas that it is effective, but it's definitely not able to manuever through the rugged mountain terrain as the smaller aircraft would be where most mountainous fires would occur, but for flatter terrain such as grass fires, Oaklahoma, Texas, Florida fires, etc the application would be effective. The drop, even for a larger aircraft still has to occurr low to the ground so the water doesn't evaporate due to the temperatures in a fire, and with the retartdant so it doesn't dispurse or drift too much with the huge winds that occur with large wildland fire, which is harder with mountainous terrain, where the low and slow is not as easy for this aircraft. The 747 probably has the narrowist range of conditions it's able to be effective in, and have close bases to fly out of. And the benificial quick turn around times for reload and return would be longer for the 747 if an appropriate runway is not as near, and they would also take longer to reload due to the volume.
All aircraft whether they're the different fixed winged or helicopter, have their own attributes that are effective for each particular type of mission, and they also overlap where either will provide similiar results. All are tools in the toolbox.
