The Canadair CL-415 is a twin-turboprop amphibian built specifically to fight forest fires, first flown on 6 December 1993 and derived from the piston-engined CL-215 that was the first aircraft ever designed as a water bomber. It scoops 1,621 US gallons of water from a lake in a twelve-second run without landing, and 95 were built before production ended in 2015. Developed by Canadair.
The Canadair CL-415 is a twin-turboprop amphibian built specifically to fight forest fires, first flown on 6 December 1993 and derived from the piston-engined CL-215 that was the first aircraft ever designed as a water bomber. Developed by Canadair.
Photo: Yebaco (wikimedia), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsSee Specifications for full detail.
The Canadair CL-415 is a twin-turboprop amphibious aircraft designed specifically to fight forest fires. It first flew on 6 December 1993, entered service in November 1994, and 95 were built by Canadair and then Bombardier before production ended in 2015. [1]
It descends from the CL-215 of 1966, which was the first aircraft anywhere designed from scratch as a water bomber rather than converted from a transport or a retired bomber. The CL-415's defining trick is scooping: it takes 6,137 litres of water aboard in a twelve-second run across a lake without ever landing, then drops it on a fire and comes back for more. [1]
Aerial firefighting before the CL-215 meant converting something else - surplus bombers, transports, agricultural aircraft - and accepting whatever compromises came with it. Canadair's 1966 CL-215 was the first purpose-built answer, an amphibian shaped around the specific job of picking water up off a lake and putting it on a fire. 125 were built through 1990. [1]
The turboprop conversion came first as a retrofit. From 1987 seventeen CL-215 airframes were re-engined with PW123AF turboprops as the CL-215T, giving 15 percent more power than the piston engines along with the reliability and hot-day performance turbines bring to an aircraft that works in summer heat by definition. That programme proved the demand, and development of a new-build turboprop aircraft began in the early 1990s. [1]
The CL-415 is a high-wing amphibian with a boat hull, two PW123AF turboprops of 2,380 shp each, and four-blade Hamilton Sundstrand propellers that are fully reversible - useful on a lake, and useful again on a short strip. Over the CL-215 it added higher operating weights, more speed, powered flight controls, an updated cockpit and a revised water release system. Crew is two. [1] [2]
The weights tell the story of what the aircraft does. Maximum takeoff weight is 43,850 lb on land, but the aircraft is certified to 47,000 lb after scooping - it is allowed to become substantially heavier in flight than it is permitted to leave the ground, because the water comes aboard once it is already airborne. Water is held in tanks under the cabin floor and in header tanks either side of the fuselage, managed from a status panel on the flight instruments that lets the pilots select drop patterns and sequences directly. [1]
The scooping run is the whole design case, and it is more demanding than it looks. The aircraft needs about 1,340 m of usable water to descend from 15 m, run 410 m along the surface at 70 knots with probes down for twelve seconds while 6,137 litres come aboard, and climb back to 15 m. Everything about the hull, the power and the control response is shaped by that sequence. [1]
It is also flexible in ways that matter on real fires. The aircraft can take partial loads where the water is too short for a full run, and can turn while scooping if the lake will not give it a straight line. Foam concentrate can be mixed in as the water is taken on. Bombardier's claim of 6.9 drops per flight hour is the figure that decides whether a scooper or a conventional tanker is the right tool: when there is water within a few minutes of the fire, nothing else comes close for sustained delivery. [1]
The type's natural home is anywhere with both serious fire seasons and plenty of water. Canada operates around 54 CL-215s and CL-415s across provincial fleets in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan plus private operators Air Spray and Buffalo Airways. Around the Mediterranean, France flies twelve with the Securite Civile - each one named as a Pelican - Italy eighteen through the contractor SOREM, Greece ten alongside ten surviving CL-215s, Spain four with ten CL-215Ts, and Croatia six. [1]
The United States came late and by a different route: Bridger Aerospace operates eight CL-415EAFs, rebuilt CL-215 airframes rather than original CL-415s, after launching that programme with a $204 million contract in May 2018. Spain's forest-fire association awarded the type its Batefuegos de oro in 2006, naming it the most efficient tool for fighting forest fires from the air. [1]
Fourteen hull losses are documented across the CL-415 fleet, which is a significant proportion of 95 aircraft built, and by December 2007 seven had already been withdrawn from service as a result of accidents. The clustering is not random: losses fall heavily on the French Securite Civile, the Italian SOREM fleet and the Hellenic Air Force, the three operators that fly the hardest Mediterranean seasons. [1]
The reason is the mission rather than the machine. Firefighting means flying low and heavy in turbulent air over terrain, in smoke that hides obstacles, repeatedly, for hours - the accident locations read as a list of that environment, from a lake in Provence to hillsides in Tuscany, Corsica, Abruzzo and Sicily. Any aircraft doing this work carries an accident rate that would be unacceptable in transport flying. [1]
Production stopped in 2015 with 95 aircraft built, at exactly the point demand began to climb. Viking Air bought the type certificate from Bombardier on 3 October 2016, and on 31 March 2022 renamed the planned new-build aircraft the DHC-515 under the revived De Havilland Canada name, holding 22 letters of intent from European customers. Water capacity rises to 7,000 litres with a fourteen-second refill. Parts are built at North Saanich in British Columbia and assembled at Calgary. [1]
Orders are now substantial: Greece signed for seven in March 2024 at $530 million, the European Union ordered 22 for its rescEU reserve, Canada's provinces have committed to fourteen, and Spain, France, Italy, Croatia, Portugal and Indonesia have all ordered. Assembly of the first aircraft started at Calgary in March 2026 with delivery planned for 2028 - which means roughly thirteen years between the last CL-415 and the first DHC-515, a gap that fell across some of the worst fire seasons on record. [1]
The CL-415 is straightforward to track and genuinely interesting to watch, because the flight profile gives away exactly what it is doing. Filter for type CL2T and look at the Mediterranean through summer - southern France, Corsica, Italy, Greece and Croatia - where the tight repeated racetrack between a lake or the coast and a fire inland is unmistakable. Canadian provincial aircraft show the same pattern from May onwards.
| Performance | |
| Max Speed | 194 kn (223 mph / 359 km/h) |
|---|---|
| Cruise SpeedCruise Speed — The economical speed an aircraft sustains for the bulk of a flight - lower than maximum speed, chosen for the best balance of time and fuel burn. Glossary → | 207 mph |
| RangeRange — How far an aircraft can fly without refuelling. Quoted figures vary with payload, speed and reserves - see also ferry range and combat radius. Glossary → | 1,508 mi ferry range; endurance around 3 hours working 200 nmi from base |
| Service CeilingService Ceiling — The highest altitude at which an aircraft can still climb at a useful rate (typically 100 ft/min). Above it, the air is too thin to keep climbing meaningfully. Glossary → | 17,500 ft |
| Airframe & Weight | |
| Wingspan | 93 ft 1 in |
| Length | 66 ft 11 in |
| Height | 29 ft 7 in |
| WeightMTOW — Maximum Take-Off Weight - the heaviest an aircraft is certified to be at the start of its take-off run, including fuel, crew, payload and the aircraft itself. Glossary → | empty: 30,000 lb; MTOW: 43,850 lb on land, rising to 47,000 lb after scooping |
| Power & Payload | |
| Engines | Two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW123AF turboprops, 2,380 shp each, driving four-blade Hamilton Sundstrand propellers that are fully reversible and can be feathered |
| Crew | 2 |
| CapacityPayload — Everything an aircraft is carrying that isn't the aircraft or its fuel: passengers, cargo, or weapons. Payload and fuel usually trade off against each other. Glossary → | 1,621 US gal (6,137 litres) of water, optionally mixed with chemical foam, held in tanks below the cabin floor and in header tanks either side of the fuselage; various dispersal patterns and drop sequences are selectable from a water status panel on the flight instruments |
| Program & Service | |
| Manufacturer | Canadair |
| Origin | Canada |
| First Flight | December 6th 1993 |
| Service Entry | November 1st 1994 |
| Number Built | 95 |
| Unit Cost | $36.9M (2014) - roughly $52M in 2026 dollars, adjusted for CPI inflation |
8 notable events involving the CL-415 Superscooper, 1997 to 2022. Curated rather than exhaustive.
CL-415 serial 2025, registered F-ZBFQ and carrying the Pelican 43 callsign, was lost near La Ciotat in southern France - the first hull loss of the type.
CL-415 serial 2008, registered I-DPCN and operated by SOREM on behalf of the Italian civil protection service, was lost near Esine in Lombardy.
CL-415 serial 2018, registered F-ZBEZ as Pelican 41, was lost at the Sainte-Croix lake in Provence - one of the water bodies French crews routinely scoop from.
CL-415 serial 2011, registered F-ZBEO as Pelican 36, was lost near Pietra Maggiore in Corsica during the summer fire season.
The Hellenic Air Force lost CL-415MP serial 2055 near Styra, and on the same day SOREM lost CL-415 serial 2045, registered I-DPCX, near Roccapreturo in Abruzzo.
CL-415 serial 2076, registered C-FIZU, was lost at Moosehead Lake.
The Hellenic Air Force lost CL-415 serial 2050, one of three Greek aircraft written off over the type's service life.
CL-415 serial 2060, registered I-DPCN, was lost at Linguaglossa on the slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily, reducing the Italian fleet from 19 aircraft to 18.
| CL-215 | The piston-engined original and the first aircraft anywhere designed from the outset as a water bomber rather than converted from a transport or bomber. Introduced in 1966, 125 were built through 1990, and a good many are still working - several operators fly CL-215s alongside their CL-415s, and Morocco has had its aircraft modernised to CL-415EAF standard. |
| CL-215T | The turboprop retrofit that proved the concept for the CL-415. Seventeen CL-215 airframes were converted from 1987 with PW123AF engines, giving a 15 percent power increase over the original piston engines along with the reliability and hot-and-high performance that turbines bring. Its success is what persuaded Canadair to develop a new-build turboprop aircraft. |
| CL-415 | The production turboprop version, 86 of the base model built out of 95 airframes in total. Over the CL-215 it added higher operating weights and speed, an updated cockpit, powered flight controls, aerodynamic refinements and a revised water release system - the combination Bombardier translated into a claimed 6.9 drops per flight hour. |
| CL-415MP / CL-415GR | The two specialised production sub-variants. The CL-415MP is a maritime patrol version equipped for search and rescue and surveillance rather than firefighting, of which three were built. The CL-415GR is a higher-weight version produced for the Hellenic Air Force, six aircraft, reflecting how hard Greek fire seasons work the type. |
| CL-415EAF | The Enhanced Aerial Firefighter, a modernisation programme by Longview Aviation Services that rebuilds existing CL-215 airframes to a current standard rather than producing new ones. Bridger Aerospace was the launch customer in May 2018 with a $204 million contract for up to six aircraft, and now operates eight - the only substantial American fleet of the type. |
| DHC-515 Firefighter | The new-build successor, renamed from CL-515 on 31 March 2022 after Viking Air acquired the type certificate from Bombardier in October 2016. It raises water capacity to 7,000 litres with a fourteen-second refill. Fuselage and wing parts are made at North Saanich in British Columbia and final assembly is at Calgary; the first aircraft entered assembly in March 2026 for delivery in 2028. |
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