Helicopter pilot Perri Hagen could be rushing to the scene of Napa County wildfires this summer in One Charlie Hotel to drop a load of flame-quenching water.
Missions in One Charlie Hotel — a former U.S. Army Boeing Chinook helicopter retrofitted to hold water — won’t be just a drop-and-done. The aircraft can fly to reservoirs, ponds, even streams, suck more water into its tank and keep on dropping.
One Charlie Hotel can suck up 2,500 gallons a minute through a hose and hold up to 2,800 gallons. It carries less water at the beginning of a mission and more later on as the fuel weight drops.
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“If you have a good water source and you’re close to the fire, you can be dropping every three minutes,” Hagen said.
And the name One Charlie Hotel? That’s not really a name at all, but rather a phonetic version of the helicopter’s tail number 1CH used to dispatch the helicopter.