Canadair CL-215

The Canadair CL-215 (Scooper) was the first model in a series of firefighting flying boat amphibious aircraft built by Canadair and later Bombardier. The CL-215 is a twin-engine, high-wing aircraft designed to operate well at low speeds and in high gust-loading environments, as are found over forest fires.

Variants

 * CL-215A: Initial version, with Pratt & Whitney R-2800-83AM 18-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines. Features an internal structure compatible with provisioning water bombing apparatus, which includes a pair of underfloor tanks, belly-mounted doors, and rotating scoops. It was targeted at the water bomber and utility freight market sectors.
 * CL-215B: Near-identical to the CL-215A, this model featured minor adaptations made to suit the needs of the search and rescue and commercial freight industry customers.
 * CL-215C: Largely identical to the CL-215A, but lacks any provision for the water bomber mission. As such, it features a revised underfloor structure, larger side-mounted doors and more windows in the main cabin area. A maximum of 36 passenger can be accommodated, without making any provision for baggage.
 * CT-215T: In 1987, the CL-215T was announced, with improvements in handling brought about by design changes to the wings and empennage, and more powerful Pratt & Whitney turboprop engines. Originally the follow-up CL-215T was to be a simple turboprop-powered development of the CL-215, and Canadair converted two aircraft in 1989 to act as development aircraft. The first of these flew on 8 June 1989. Retrofit kits for CL-215s to the new standard are offered, but Canadair elected not to build new CL-215Ts and instead developed the CL-415. Cascade Aerospace, Canada, offers CL-215 to CL-215T engine retrofits using the Bombardier kit and Pratt & Whitney Canada PW123AF engines.
 * CL-415EAF: Conversion program offered by Viking Air featuring Pratt & Whitney turboprop engines and EFIS avionics suite. The first of 11 used aircraft purchased to be modified should be delivered to launch customer, Bridger Aerospace, in the first quarter of 2020. They will be strengthened to raise its maximum takeoff weight and have new flight controls, hydraulic and fuel systems.
 * CL-515: A relaunched production version, furnished with the CL-415EAF configuration. Viking Aviation has announced plans to hire up to 150 employees to perform those conversions through its dedicated subsidiary, and in May 2018 applied for government support for restarting production of the type.

Users

 * Canada
 * Air Spray
 * Buffalo Airways
 * Conair Group
 * Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
 * Government of Quebec
 * Longview Aviation Asset Management Corp.
 * Longview Aviation Services Inc.
 * Province of Manitoba
 * Province of Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
 * Province of Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment
 * Croatia
 * Croatian Air Force
 * France
 * Sécurité Civile
 * Greece
 * Hellenic Navy
 * Italy
 * Italian Air Force
 * Societa Ricerche Esperienze Meteorologiche
 * Spain
 * Spanish Air Force
 * Ministry of Environment
 * Thailand
 * Royal Thai Air Force
 * Royal Thai Navy
 * Turkey
 * Gokcen Aviation - Turkish Aeronautical Association
 * United States
 * Aero-Flite, Inc. Kingman, Arizona
 * Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
 * North Carolina Division of Forest Resources
 * Venezuela
 * CVG Ferrominera Orinoco
 * Yugoslavia
 * Yugoslav Air Force

Related Development

 * Bombardier CL-415

Comparable Aircraft

 * Beriev Be-200
 * Harbin SH-5
 * Shin Meiwa US-1A