Buffalo Airways

The water bomber

Canadair CL-215

Seven purpose-built amphibious water bombers, scooping from the lakes of the Territory to hit fires within minutes of them starting.

Ask About This Aircraft

The CL-215 was designed from a blank sheet to fight fires, and it still does it like nothing else — scooping 1,400 gallons from a lake in a 10-second run and putting it straight back down on the fire line.

The scooper fleet has grown to seven aircraft — the original Buffalo four, an ex-Saskatchewan machine, and recent additions from the Government of Newfoundland & Labrador program — equipped for land or water year round.

Registry

  • Seven aircraft — registrations to follow

Specifications

RoleAmphibious water bomber
Fleet7 aircraft
Scoop1,400 gallons in a 10-second run
Powerplant2 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800
Max take-off weight43,500 lbs (land)

On the ramp and in the air

In Pictures

  • Tanker 291 taxiing out with more water bombers lined up behind
  • Tanker 292 — Round Two! — in the Buffalo hangar beneath the yellow N3N
  • Tanker 290 in Buffalo yellow and red, boarding ladder down
  • Tanker 296 in Northwest Territories colours in the hangar for winter maintenance
  • Tanker 294 — Fire Cracker — outside the fire hall doors
  • The crew and the dog in front of Tanker 292 before a ferry flight
  • Two crew grinning from the cockpit window of Tanker 292, Round Two! nose art below
  • Straight down the hull of a CL-215 — the boat that flies
  • Tanker 284 taxiing in — a film shot from the family album
  • Crew in front of the newly arrived CL-215 C-FYWO in Yellowknife, cargo door open
  • Buffalo Joe walks past the newest CL-215 as it is towed in, a Buffalo 737 beyond
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