Not a more beautiful aircraft than

[Dominique_K 10,149]

the Canadair CL415 of the French Civil Security which are dropping water on a forest fire on a ridge slope at a mere 1 km from my home . Four of them relentlessly circling the fire and fetching water out of a nearby lake. Firemen on the ground (a hundred of them) and in the air, thanks !

[birdguy 3,943]

Yes, they are a beautiful sight when they are dumping retardant next to a fire.

Here in New Mexico a month or so ago we had our largest forest fire in history.  A lot of air tankers were at work.  The problem was that on some days it was so windy the tankers were grounded and the wind helped the fire spread.

As the hot season approaches we will be seeing more and more of these scenes; especially in the drought areas of the American Southwest.  Here in New Mexico a couple of our National Forests have been closed to the public.

Noel