USFS awards scooper contract to Aero-Flite

The U.S. Forest Service awarded a contract today to Aero-Flite of Kingman, Arizona for one scooper air tanker.

CL-415. Photo by LA County Fire Department.
File photo of CL-415, courtesy of LA County Fire Department.

The U.S. Forest Service awarded a contract today to Aero-Flite of Kingman, Arizona for one scooper air tanker, an aircraft that can refill its tank by skimming along the surface of a lake. As Fire Aviation reported at the time, the solicitation was posted August 5, 2013 and closed August 19. In spite of the two week federal government shutdown it was awarded about 5 weeks after closing, a remarkably quick turnaround for USFS aircraft contracting. It took over 500 days to award the “next-gen” air tanker contracts.

The solicitation required the following: amphibious and scooping capability, turbine engines, 180-knot cruise speed, 1,600-gallon capacity, and 7 days a week coverage. It also has to have previous approval by the Interagency Airtanker Board. The specs appear to limit the qualifying aircraft to only the CL-415. The Be-200 could possibly meet the operational specs, but it does not have FAA or IAB approvals.

According to FedBizOpps.gov the dollar amount of the contract is $57 million. It is a five year deal with a provision to add a second aircraft if both parties agree.

Aero-Flite’s website says they have five Canadair CL-215 aircraft, and does not list a CL-415 in its inventory. Calls to company President Matthew Ziomek to obtain more details about the contract were not returned.

The CL-415 will be leased from TENAX Aerospace by Aero-Flite. It is a brand new aircraft and will be the only CL-415 in the United States.

In June Aero-Flite also received a contract from the U.S. Forest Service for two Avro RJ85 “next generation” air tankers but Conair has not yet completed the conversions for TENAX who will lease them to Areo-Flite. One of them, Tanker 160, has been seen in Canada undergoing flight tests in recent weeks.

UPDATE May 5, 2014: Aero-Flite’s CL-415 was designated Tanker 260.

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14 thoughts on “USFS awards scooper contract to Aero-Flite”

  1. I echo that, Bill

    Their SMS system and their “safety system” has strangled them to heights never seen by the military or real world aviation.

    If aviation spooks them……then what are they doing in forestry and fire.

    All the aircraft that has been out there even before aerial wildland fire fighting has been proven somewhere BEFORE it was ever contracted in the USFS system including jet technology. Now it’s time for The USFS speed up the process and get that IATB up to 21st Century speed and not jack around in the world of no wind conditions….if you get my DRIFT…

    1. It is interesting that the USFS acts like taking the baby step of contracting for ONE is a major, risky experiment. (Like contracting for ONE night flying helicopter.) But the CL-215/415 has been proven around the world to be a very valuable and effective aerial firefighting tool.

  2. Wow… culture change!
    No more excuse from Park Rangers saying that scooping in various lakes could mix and alter eco systems?

    1. Wow! They really say that? Last year an aviation fire manager in Quebec told me that his province doesn’t allow the use of retardant (only water and foam) on fires for environmental reasons!

    2. Eco-system mixing is a concern even with current helicopter-bucket technologies. The USFS supposedly has plans that address this. Especially for invasive creepy crawlies like Zebra Mussels!

    1. The 215T has the same tank system as the 215 with a capacity just over 1400 USG. It does not meet the requirements of the USFS solicitation which calls for a minimum of 1600 USG.

  3. If the USFS is really interested in scoopers, they better get busy. “Bombardier recently delivered the 87th CL-415 to Morocco, and they are scheduled to get one more this year. After that, although another has already been produced at the North Bay, Ontario facility, there appear to be no more outstanding orders. ” aviation week Jun 11, 2013

    1. The Aviation Week story was inaccurate. There are several more aircraft currently in various stages of final assembly at North Bay and on the production in Montreal. The 415 production rate has always been slow with pauses waiting for potential government customers to place orders.

    2. The Royal Moroccan Air Force took delivery of another CL-415 in September. Tenax competed with Spain recently for one and had to put down a retainer to get the rights to purchase it. Tenax will lease it to Aero Flite for their new contract with the USFS. Spain will receive another one later this year.

  4. Or, even worse, a contract to provide study information the GAO said was needed, with parameters that can’t be met…

    Since the USFS has the appearance of being biased against scoopers, that would be my fear. OTOH, if they use a single plane contract to study how to use them most effectively, and truly have an open mind, this could be a good thing. Documentation to take to planners is a first step.

  5. Good on AeroFlite…….

    USFS making up for the lost revenue and time of $840K (RAND) one contract at a time…….hehehhehehe

    Those 9-11 Airtanker studies are finally coming due after ALLLL that AP press coverage of the weak Airtanker program and it’s lack of contract over the last several fire seasons

    I would imagine some of that is fueling the speed of these contract before the proverbial Spring contract season……maybe the Big LMA is finally being tasked to prove its worth in all the studies that did not get the country anywhere.

    Like the political mess in DC ……….the Airtanker debacle is just like everything else in shambles…..looking for ways to hook the taxpayer once again for products promised and not delivered….except delay…….

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