Climate Change Cited In New Waterbomber Announcement

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A Canadian manufacturer says climate change prompted its move to build an updated version of a popular waterbomber. De Havilland Canada announced it has received 22 orders from European customers to go ahead with development of the DHC-515 amphibious flying boat waterbomber. The aircraft is an update of the Bombardier CL-415. De Havilland bought the type certificate from Bombardier in 2016 and has been testing the waters for a major update of the legacy airframe ever since. The ferocity of wildfires all over the planet in recent years tipped the balance.

“We understand the important role the previous aircraft have played in protecting people and property and as our climate continues to change and summers increase in both temperature and length, the DHC-515 will be an important tool for countries around the globe to use in putting out fires,” said De Havilland CEO Brian Chafe. The aircraft, which originated with the piston-engine CL-215 50 years ago, underwent a turboprop upgrade to the CL-415 in the 1980s and the new aircraft will incorporate state-of-the-art avionics and systems upgrades.

Russ Niles
Russ Niles is Editor-in-Chief of AVweb. He has been a pilot for 30 years and joined AVweb 22 years ago. He and his wife Marni live in southern British Columbia where they also operate a small winery.

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21 COMMENTS

  1. What about all of the carbon that building and operating those airplanes is going to introduce into the atmosphere?

  2. Climate change…..A term used to define a new governance scheme that seeks to control peoples lives while funneling wealth to ideological special interests that launders the money through political contributions keeping the fraud alive.

    • AMEN !!! Unless this thing is powered by batteries and painted green … it ain’t “green.” Even THEN … it ain’t green.

    • Exactly, hopefully with the current administration going out of control with this nonsense and openly talking about one world government the people will wake up and put an end to it.

      • One hot button term even in something positive about aviation brings out the yayhoos, conspiracy theorists, Flat Earthers, Trumpers, and Jan 6 insurrectionists. All 3 of your antiscience anti-humanity comments should be marked with “disinformation” warnings.
        One would hope aviation would attract a higher percentage of science defenders.

        • Now, now, Wise OldMan. The folks you chastise are just being efficient. It takes time and effort to get a good education, study reputable sources on an issue, and formulate an opinion based on data, science, history, and logic. They are busy people; it’s much more efficient to parrot what they read on pervasive (if specious) social media. Besides, they are doing their part for global warming by not wasting precious energy on independent, defensible thought.

  3. Will someone please let me know when we can expect “longer summers” here in New England, where we have a 4-month growing season? Thanks.

    • Yes, I’m in Canada and still waiting for some of that global warming to show up. 8 month long winters is tiring.

  4. Great news for the firefighters, forests and landowners in countries or areas with a water source suffering from the intensifying and devastating wildfires, burning longer and hotter in so many places worldwide. Probably never see a DHC-515 here in Az though. We’re losing H2O faster than you can say climate-change-is-a-load-of-bull-perpetrated-by-the-illuminati-to-ruin-my-life.

    I’ll try and ‘shovel some heat’ your way this summer, Yars. However, maybe be careful what you wish for…

    • De Havilland is just virtue signalling…. everyone is getting in on the act. If a Greenpeace founder (Dr. Patrick Moore) says it’s all baloney then I believe him!

      • If only AvWeb had “disinformation” labelling you, C340, Larry S, Majane et al would be so marked.
        Moore and you climate change deniers [coincidentally, like Miore, almost always Trump and JAN6 fans] are the pure baloney.
        Moore pretends to have an Ecology doctorate = doesn’t
        Pretends to be a Greenpeace founder = wasn’t
        Moore has worked for the mining industry, the logging industry, PVC manufacturers, the nuclear industry, corporate polluters and clear-cutters.

        • I nominate WiseOldMan to be America’s first Minister of Truth.
          His forebears shut down Galileo and Copernicus, thank goodness.

          • Your splurge is self-contradictory, Yars. Perhaps this riposte can help.
            My posts exposed Moore and his acolytes as liars and ANTI-science.
            I and those ancient heliocentrists G&C are factual and PRO-science. It is illogical and libelous to claim my forebears would have “shut down” my heroes. Apology and retraction eagerly awaited.

    • Dave:
      I don’t need more heat in June, July, or August. But May or September might be nice – that “increased summer” thing.

      • Oh hell, I can get you heat until Halloween if you want…
        Now, I better get back to work coming up with a viable, cost effective plan and work order for a 12in pipe to follow say, Route 66 from Chicago to LA for our severe drought here with all that wonderful fresh Great Lakes water just sitting there, all beautiful blue and cold. Be good for the dying tourism along the route, too. 😁

    • Yes and no Richard. The amount of money the Canadian government is taking out of my pockets in the form of a ‘Carbon Tax’ is killing me and doesn’t do a darn thing for the environment. When has government ever been good at doing anything??

  5. If you fly all day… you leave no ‘Foot prints’… so no foot prints, no carbon foot prints either.
    Everyone needs to be given an airplane or helicopter.
    Save the planet!

  6. This is the usual hype about climate change.
    Look at the statistics that are regularly reported but hidden or suppressed as fast as they are reported to include: The long term review of the data on the number of fires and the land area that has annually burned both in the US and worldwide has shown no trend one way or the other with a few exceptions that the number of acres may actually be going down over the past several decades. There are regions where incredibly stupid long term eco-freak forest and range land management has resulted in failure to manage forests by not allowing logging, thinning, controlled burning for decades until so much fuel has accumulated and too many trees have competed for water resulting in death and insect infestations, adding yet more fuel. We are going through a period of paying dearly for allowing back to nature idiots to control the dialog and the logical proven management decisions.

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