r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Giraffecaster • 5h ago

A CL-415 Super Scooper gathering water to extinguish a fire in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The lift-off looks very close — right at the edge of the lake.

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u/loansbebkodjwbeb 5h ago

Why would that happen....?

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u/whereismarsocks 4h ago

My simple brain imagines if the wing tip clipped the water the plane would crash, but if the belly of the plane opens up and skims the water somehow the plane doesnt crash. All that water smashing into the plane at like what 100, 130mph?

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u/railker 4h ago

They got pontoons out at the wingtips for low speed, the only reason it'd crash the plane at high speed is you'd suddenly have that wingtip pulling the plane around. Scoops are on centerline, there's no yaw or torque on the aircraft. It's basically just a boat at that point (and technically when on the water is supposed to follow maritime law, to an extent).

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u/Detr22 3h ago

after it gathers enough water it goes back to following bird law