Stunning video shows C-130 pilot’s view of the California’s Rim Fire

Recorded from the cockpit of a 146th Airlift Wing’s C-130J on Aug. 22, 2013, at 5.50PM, the following video provides a stunning view of California’s Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park from the California Air National Guard‘s firefighter pilot’s point of view.

The C-130J equipped with MAFFS (Modular Airborne FireFighting System) hence the callsign MAFFS 6 is “vectored” by an operator on the ground to airdrop the fire retardant onto a specific place more or less in the same way an attack plane is described the target to hit with its bombs by a JTAC (Joint Terminal Air Controller).

Noteworthy, as MAFFS 6 slows down to 150 Kts to perform the drop of the retardant you can clearly hear the computer in the background warning about the landing gear: since the aircraft is flying at low altitude and speed, the system assumes that it is about to land and reminds the aircrew to extend the landing gear.

H/T to Bjorn Broten and Shawn Piess for the heads-up

 

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About David Cenciotti
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.