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A helicopter bucket or helibucket is a specialized
Buckets can be collapsible or rigid and vary in capacity from . The size of each bucket is determined by the lifting capacity of the helicopter required to utilise each version. Some buckets can include fire retardant foam or the ability to pump water from the bucket into an internal tank. Smaller collapsible buckets can use water sources as shallow as . Worldwide, the term ''monsoon bucket'' is widely used and accepted as a generic term. In the United States, this type of bucket is officially referred to as a ''helibucket''. The trademarked ''Bambi Bucket'' is also commonly used informally by firefighting crews to describe buckets developed by other manufacturers.
A number of companies produce buckets, including A-Flex Technology, SEI Industries, IMSNZ Ltd., Absolute Fire Solutions, Rural Fire Service, and Aerial Fire Control Pty. Kawak Aviation Technologies,
bucket
A bucket is typically a watertight, vertical Cylinder (geometry), cylinder or Truncation (geometry), truncated Cone (geometry), cone or square, with an open top and a flat bottom that is attached to a semicircular carrying handle (grip), handle ...
suspended on a cable
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
carried by a helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
to deliver water 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 ...
. The design of the buckets allows the helicopter to hover over a water source—such as a lake
A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...
, river
A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
, pond
A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...
, or tank
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...
—and lower the bucket into the water to refill it. This allows the helicopter crew to operate the bucket in remote locations without the need to return to a permanent operating base, reducing the time between successive drops.
Each bucket has a release valve on the bottom which is controlled by the helicopter crew. When the helicopter is in position, the crew releases the water to extinguish or suppress the fire below. Each release of the water is referred to as a drop.
Design
Buckets can be collapsible or rigid and vary in capacity from . The size of each bucket is determined by the lifting capacity of the helicopter required to utilise each version. Some buckets can include fire retardant foam or the ability to pump water from the bucket into an internal tank. Smaller collapsible buckets can use water sources as shallow as . Worldwide, the term ''monsoon bucket'' is widely used and accepted as a generic term. In the United States, this type of bucket is officially referred to as a ''helibucket''. The trademarked ''Bambi Bucket'' is also commonly used informally by firefighting crews to describe buckets developed by other manufacturers.
Variants
A number of companies produce buckets, including A-Flex Technology, SEI Industries, IMSNZ Ltd., Absolute Fire Solutions, Rural Fire Service, and Aerial Fire Control Pty. Kawak Aviation Technologies,
See also
* Helicopter rescue basket * Helitack — helicopter-delivered fire resources *Cargo hook (helicopter)
A cargo hook is a device suspended below a helicopter and allows the transport of external loads during flight. Common terms for this operation include slingwork, underslung loads, external loadwork, and external load operations.
Hook types
...
References
External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Helicopter Bucket Aerial firefighting helicopters Wildfire suppression equipment Aerial firefighting Helicopter equipment