Firefighting DC-10 Available to Lease

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from FlightGlobal:

By Kate Sarsfield
A McDonnell Douglas DC-10 firefighting-configured aircraft is available for lease to European governments. The US-registered aircraft - the second of only two DC-10s available in this configuration - is owned and operated by Victorville, California-based 10 Tanker Air Carrier and is being promoted through international air charter broker Air Partner.

"This additional capacity means that one of the jets is available for seasonal summer charter to any interested countries, or groups of countries, who are at risk of destructive and costly forest fires," says Air Partner.

The DC-10 supertankers took four years to develop and can fly as low as 200ft (60m) above ground level, hold 45,500 litres (12,000USgal) of fire retardant or water - up to 10 times more than other mainstream firefighting aircraft - that can be released in a continuous 800m line as wide as a football pitch, says Air Partner.

"Flying at speeds of up to 400kt (740km/h), the DC-10 can reach a disaster zone considerably faster than any other aircraft used for a similar purpose, none of which are jets," says the London Gatwick-based company.


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[Fighting_falcon_51]

Cool, but arent C-130's just as effective?