The Canadair CL-415 (Super Scooper, later Bombardier 415) and the De Havilland Canada DHC-515 are a series of

amphibious aircraft An amphibious aircraft, or amphibian, is an aircraft that can Takeoff, take off and Landing, land on both solid ground and water. These aircraft are typically Fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing, though Amphibious helicopter, amphibious helicopte ...

built originally by

Canadair Canadair Ltd. was a Canadian civil and military aircraft manufacturer that operated from 1944 to 1986. In 1986, its assets were acquired by Bombardier Aerospace, the aviation division of Canadian transport conglomerate Bombardier Inc. Canadai ...

and subsequently by Bombardier and

De Havilland Canada De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited (DHC) is a Canadian aircraft manufacturer that has produced numerous aircraft models since its inception including the popular De Havilland Canada Dash 8, Dash 8. The company's primary facilities were loca ...

. The CL-415 is based on the

Canadair CL-215 The Canadair CL-215 (Scooper) is the first model in a series of amphibious aircraft, amphibious flying boats designed and built by Canada, Canadian aircraft manufacturer Canadair, and later produced by Bombardier Aerospace, Bombardier. It is o ...

and is designed specifically for

aerial firefighting Aerial firefighting, also known as waterbombing, is the use of aircraft and other aerial resources to Wildfire suppression, combat wildfires. The types of aircraft used include fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Smokejumpers and rappellers ar ...

; it can perform various other roles, such as

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

and utility transport. Development of the CL-415 began in the early 1990s, shortly after the success of the CL-215T retrofit programme had proven a viable demand for a

turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...

-powered model of the original CL-215. Entering production in 2003, in addition to its new engines, the aircraft featured numerous modernisation efforts and advances over the CL-215, particularly in terms of its cockpit and

aerodynamics Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of atmosphere of Earth, air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics, and is an ...

, to yield improved performance. By the time the programme's production phase had begun, it was owned by Bombardier, who continued production up until 2015. In October 2016, the CL-415 programme was acquired by Viking Air, aiming to produce an updated CL-515, since renamed the De Havilland Canadair 515, and to be produced in both Victoria and Calgary by De Havilland Canada.

Development

Origins

Introduced during 1966, the CL-215 was the first aircraft specifically designed to be a water bomber."Canadair CL-215."
''Flight International'', 21 November 1968. p. 871. A total of 125 aircraft were constructed prior to the final CL-215 being delivered during May 1990. During 1987, in response to prevailing market trends towards more efficient, powerful and reliable

powerplants, Canadair undertook the task of retrofitting 17 ''CL-215'' airframes with the

Pratt & Whitney Canada Pratt & Whitney Canada (PWC or P&WC) is a Canada-based aircraft engine manufacturer. PWC's headquarters are in Longueuil, Quebec, south of Montreal. It is a division of the larger US-based Pratt & Whitney (P&W), itself a business unit of RTX ...

PW123AF engines. This engine provided a 15 percent power increase over the original

piston engines A reciprocating engine, more often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common features of all ...

, as well as enhanced reliability and safety. The retrofitted aircraft were designated ''CL-215T''.Goold, Ia
CL-215 "Water Jet"
''Flight International'', 31 December 1988. p. 23. Speaking during the new model's development, company officials recognised that market demand for the CL-215T was marginal, and thus not enough to justify developing an all-new aircraft. Despite this, it featured numerous enhancements, including the addition of powered flight controls,

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

in the

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, on the front part of an aircraft, spacecraft, or submersible, from which a pilot controls the vehicle. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls th ...

, as well as various upgraded electrical and avionics systems. The most notable external features of the CL-215T retrofit were the

aerodynamic Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of atmosphere of Earth, air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics, and is an ...

additions to the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

s and

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third ed ...

. Having conducted the relatively successful CL-215T programme, the company decided to develop the ''CL-415'', which would be a new production series. On 6 December 1993, the CL-415 conducted its maiden flight, while the first deliveries commenced during November 1994. One year later, a 180-day sales tour traversing 21 countries commenced using a CL-415 owned by the Quebec Government. That same year, Bombardier stated that it was in the planning phase of a six-point improvement plan for the CL-415, which was principally intended to diversify its capabilities. Orders for the type were promptly received from several countries, which included several

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

and purchase arrangements; by July 1996, 37 examples were reportedly in service with operators in Canada, France, Italy, and Spain. Starting in 1998, the CL-415 was being assembled at Bombardier Aerospace's facility near North Bay/Jack Garland Airport in

North Bay, Ontario North Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat of Nipissing District and takes its name from its position on the shore of Lake Nipissing. It developed as a railroad centre and its airport was an important military locatio ...

, and tested on

Lake Nipissing Lake Nipissing (; , ) is a lake in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It has a surface area of , a mean elevation of above sea level, and is located between the Ottawa River and Georgian Bay. Lake Nipissing i ...

. During the 2010s, according to aerospace periodical

Flight International ''Flight International'', formerly ''Flight'', is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", i ...

, there was a downturn in sales of the type. A total of ninety-five CL-415s had been completed when Bombardier closed down the production line in October 2015, although the company continued to actively market the type as well as to provide support for the existing fleet beyond this date.

Viking era

For several decades, Bombardier had experienced a period of significant expansion until encountering financial hardship during the 2010s, largely brought on by the very high costs involved in developing the CSeries narrow-body

airliner An airliner is a type of airplane for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. The modern and most common variant of the airliner is a long, tube shaped, and jet powered aircraft. The largest ...

. The much smaller Viking Aircraft started off as a component manufacturing specialist, which came to include the

licensed production Licensed production is the production under license of technology developed elsewhere. The licensee provides the licensor of a specific product with legal production rights, technical information, process technology, and any other proprietary compo ...

of parts of several of Bombardier's discontinued aircraft range, helping operators to keep them in service. During 2008, Bombardier and Viking Air reached an arrangement under which the former sold the design documents and all intellectual property rights of all out-of-production de Havilland aircraft from the DHC-1 Chipmunk through the DASH-7 50 passenger STOL regional airliner to Viking. Its unit cost in 2014 was million US dollars. On 20 June 2016, it was announced that Viking Air was in the process of purchasing the CL-415

type certificate A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). Certification confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production is in compliance w ...

from Bombardier, along with the older CL-215 and CL-215T models. The acquisition was finalised on 3 October 2016. Shortly following the acquisition, Viking began work on the design of a modernized ''CL-515'' version. In May 2018 Bridger Aerospace of Bozeman, Montana became the launch customer for the CL-415EAF "Enhanced Aerial Firefighter" with a $204 million contract for up to six aircraft. During December 2018, a full-flight CL-415 simulator, capable of simulating water scoop and bombing operations, received

European Aviation Safety Agency The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Commission with responsibility for civil aviation safety in the European Union. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs inve ...

(EASA) certification. Prior to this a full flight simulator was built and establish in Sault Ste Marie Ontario in May of 2013. Certified to FTD Level 6 by Transport Canada, the Mechtronix CL-415 FFT X has been acquired to allow provincial CL-415 pilots and engineers to train in Ontario on a simulator tailored to their needs rather than travelling outside the province, saving considerable time and costs for the Ontario Government. On 21 June 2019, the Indonesian Ministry of Defense announced it was purchasing six CL-515s and one CL-415EAF for delivery in 2024. On 31 March 2022, Viking Air through De Havilland Canada renamed the CL-515 as the DHC-515, planning for production and final assembly in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

, Alberta, Canada, where the CL-215 and CL-415 are supported, with 22 letters of intent from European customers. On 25 March 2024, Greek prime minister

Kyriakos Mitsotakis Kyriakos Mitsotakis (, ; born 4 March 1968) is a Greek politician currently serving as the prime minister of Greece since July 2019, except for a month between May and June 2023. Mitsotakis has been president of the New Democracy (Greece), New ...

and Canadian prime minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

announced a deal to purchase $530-million worth of DHC-515s from De Havilland to help deal with the country's severe wildfire seasons.

Design

The CL-415 has an updated cockpit, aerodynamics enhancements and changes to the water-release system as well, creating a modern

firefighting Firefighting is a profession aimed at controlling and extinguishing fire. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter or fireman. Firefighters typically undergo a high degree of technical training. This involves structural fir ...

amphibious

flying boat A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. Though ...

for use in detecting and suppressing

forest fires A forest fire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a bushfire ( in Au ...

. Compared to the CL-215, the CL-415 has increased operating weight and speed, yielding improved productivity and performance. Due to the increased power of its pair of Pratt & Whitney Canada PW123AF

engines, each capable of generating up to 1,775 kW of power, these are located closer to the fuselage in comparison to the CL-215's arrangement. While this repositioning would typically reduce lateral stability on its own, this is rectified via the addition of an inverted fixed

leading edge The leading edge is the part of the wing that first contacts the air;Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. alternatively it is the foremost edge of an airfoil sectio ...

slat forward of the righthand horizontal stabiliser. Furthermore,

winglet Wingtip devices are intended to improve the efficiency of fixed-wing aircraft by reducing drag. Although there are several types of wing tip devices which function in different manners, their intended effect is always to reduce an aircraft' ...

s have been adopted on this model for the purpose of improving directional stability. The CL-415 can scoop up to of water from a nearby water source, mix it with a chemical

foam Foams are two-phase materials science, material systems where a gas is dispersed in a second, non-gaseous material, specifically, in which gas cells are enclosed by a distinct liquid or solid material. Note, this source focuses only on liquid ...

if desired, and drop it on a fire without having to return to base to refill its tanks. The CL-415 was specifically developed to provide the capability to deliver large quantities of suppressant in quick response to fires. This is stored within large tanks which are located mostly beneath the cabin floor within the hull, although a header tank above this level is present on either side of the fuselage. The airframe is built for reliability and longevity, making extensive use of

corrosion Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engine ...

-resistant materials, predominantly treated aluminium, that facilitates its use in salt water. According to Flight International, the CL-415 has good handling on the water, being relatively easy to operate in comparison with several other amphibious aircraft. The CL-515 can hold up to 7,000 litres (1,850 US gallons), and has a refill time of 14 seconds. The aircraft requires of flyable length to descend from altitude, scoop of water during a twelve-second run on the water at , then climb back to altitude. The aircraft can also pick up partial loads in smaller areas, and can turn while scooping if necessary. Management of the water bombing system is centralised via a water status panel on the flight instrumentation, giving direct control to the pilots; various dispersal patterns and sequences can be selected. A manually operated emergency dump lever is also present, bypassing this system. Bombardier have claimed that the type performs 6.9 water drops for every flight hour of the type. The ''CL-415GR'' variant features higher operating weights, while the CL-415 multi-role model is available for purposes in a paramilitary

role and utility transport.

Operational history

Derived from its predecessor's nickname, the aircraft is known as the "Superscooper" in light of its greatly enhanced performance as a water bomber and fire suppressor. In recognition of its abilities, the aircraft was awarded in 2006 the (gold fire extinguisher) by the (APAS) in Spain; the award citation in part read "This is the most efficient tool for the aerial combat of forest fires, key to the organization of firefighting in a large number of countries. The continuous improvements to meet the needs of forest firefighting have made these aircraft the aerial means most in demand over more than 30 years." By 1999, a total of 51 orders had been secured for the type; operators have reportedly predominantly used the CL-415 for firefighting and maritime search and rescue purposes. Of the 95 built, seven had reportedly been removed from service as a result of several accidents by December 2007.

Variants

;CL-415: The original model, 86 built. ;CL-415MP: Maritime patrol version, three built. ;CL-415GR: Improved version for the

Hellenic Air Force The Hellenic Air Force (HAF; , sometimes abbreviated as ΠΑ) is the air force of Greece (''Hellenic'' being the endonym for ''Greek'' in the Greek language). It is considered to be one of the largest air forces in NATO, and is globally placed 1 ...

, capable of higher operating weights. Six built. ;CL-415EAF: Enhanced Aerial Firefighter. In 2019, six CL-415EAF Superscooper aircraft were ordered by launch customer, Bridger Aerospace, due for delivery in April 2020. ; De Havilland Canadair 515 (formerly CL-515 & DHC-515): Updated version by Viking Air, later renamed as the DHC-515. Parts of the fuselage and wings will be manufactured in North Saanich,

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

near the

Victoria International Airport Victoria International Airport serves Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is north northwest of Victoria on the Saanich Peninsula, with the bulk of the airport (including the passenger terminal) in North Saanich, British Columbia, North Saa ...

, while final assembly will be done in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Operators

In 2016/2019, there were 164 in-service CL-215 and CL-415s in 11 countries.

Accidents

Out of the 95 CL-415s built, 14 have been destroyed in the following accidents: * 11 November 1997 – s/n 2025 – F-ZBFQ/Pelican 43 – Sécurité Civile France, near

La Ciotat La Ciotat (; ; in Mistralian spelling ''La Ciéutat''; 'the City') is a Communes of France, commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southern France. It ...

(France). * 16 August 2003 – s/n 2008 – I-DPCN – SOREM Italy, near Esine (Italy). * 8 March 2004 – s/n 2018 – F-ZBEZ/Pelican 41 – Sécurité Civile France, at Sainte Croix Lake (France). * 18 March 2005 – s/n 2051 – I-DPCK – SOREM Italy, near Seravezza (Italy). * 1 August 2005 – s/n 2011 – F-ZBEO/Pelican 36 – Sécurité Civile France, near Pietra Maggiore -

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

(France). * 25 April 2006 – s/n 2039 –

. * 23 July 2007 – s/n 2055 (CL-415MP) –

, near Styra (

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

). * 23 July 2007 – s/n 2045 – I-DPCX – SOREM Italy, near

Roccapreturo Roccapreturo is a frazione of Acciano, in the Province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo, region of Italy The regions of Italy () are the first-level administrative divisions of the Italy, Italian Republic, constituting its second Nomenclature of Ter ...

(Italy). * 3 July 2013 – s/n 2076 – C-FIZU – Canada, at Moosehead Lake (Canada). * 5 May 2014 – s/n 2050 –

. * 27 Oct 2022 – s/n 2060 – I-DPCN – Linguaglossa, Sicily, Italy

Specifications (CL-415)

References

External links

Airliners.net The Canadair CL-215 & 415

Bombardier's homepage of the SuperScooper
* Canadair Waterbombers scooping water during the wildfires of 2022 in Gironde, France at *
Beautiran on the Garonne river
(YouTube) - Beautiran *
Cambes on the Garonne river
(YouTube) - Cambes, Gironde *
the Étang de Cazaux et de Sanguinet
(YouTube) - Étang de Cazaux et de Sanguinet {{Spanish liaison aircraft 415 1990s Canadian special-purpose aircraft Flying boats Amphibious aircraft High-wing aircraft Aerial firefighting aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1993 Twin-turboprop tractor aircraft De Havilland Canada aircraft Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear