Faster. Cheaper. More Efficient. Unwanted.
Forest fires happen every year. Thousands of acres burn, homes are lost, and, in some cases, lives are lost. But every year, fire fighters hit the front lines, and with the aide of planes and helicopters, they do their best to put out these fires as fast as possible. Or, at least that's what we're supposed to think.
Now imagine if someone designed a plane that was faster to respond to fires, cheaper to run, and fought these fires more efficiently. You'd think that people would jump at the chance to use this new technology. That appears to be the case in countries like Mexico and Turkey, but, at this point, the U.S. appears to be content to fight fires the old fashioned way.
Today I was joined by Sam White from Evergreen Aviation. He told me about a plane that is a revolution in fire fighting, but, for some reason, the U.S. Forest Service doesn't appear to be interested in using it.