Russian Firefighting Planes Arrived in Sumatra

Two Russian Beriev Be-200 amphibious firefighting aircraft has landed at Sultan
Beriev Be-200.
Photo: Beriev.comBadaruddin II Airport of Palembang, South Sumatra Monday (30/10) in order to help fighting forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan which has escalated to a regional disaster scale this year.
Russian Embassy's representative who met the crews who flew the planes from city of Khabarovask in the Russian Far East told Mikhail Tsyganov of Russian news agency Novosti Jakarta Bureau and Yuri Zaitsev in Moscow that the crews would starts working immediately starting Tuesday (31/10) onward in extinguishing the fires.
Tsyganov told Angkasa last week on Friday (27/10), Dino Patti Djalal, the Indonesian presidential's spokesman said that Indonesian government "is delighted" to have signed a contract on leasing of these two Be-200s.
"We badly need this aircraft because our air fleet is insufficient for fighting such fires as are raging in Kalimantan and Sumatra," said Djalal.
"In addition to this contract we also hope to develop constructive long-term cooperation with Russia in this area because fires happen in Sumatra and Kalimantan every year," he added.
"I hope that our cooperation will continue to develop, and I am sure this contract will not be the last one," Rachmat Witoelar, state minister for the environment said further.
Russian fire fighting planes have an extremely practical capability of scooping water up directly from a storage basin, told RIA Novosti Kusmayanto Kadiman, Indonesian State Minister for Scientific Research and Technology. The minister accentuated the fact that the Russian Be-200 was the only large plane capable of this.
Yevgeny Filatov, a spokesman of the Russian Emergencies Ministry told Novosti in Jakarta that the contract had been signed 10 days ago by his ministry and Indonesia's National Disaster Coordination Agency (BAKORNAS) with the assistance of the Irkut aerospace holding.
"The tentative duration (of the operation) is six weeks," Filatov said. "It is not the first time we help Indonesia to cope with the consequences of natural disasters," he added. He said the ministry has dispatched a mobile hospital and a search and rescue group to Nias after a destructive earthquake in March 2005. Russia also sent a fully stocked and equipped military hospital to Aceh Province after tsunami had claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in December 2004.
Angkasa's source mentioned that the government allocated a budget of Rp 5 billion (around US$500.000) for leasing the water bomber planes. He further revealed, beside fixed-wing, Russian helicopter-manufacturer, Kamov, also offered its Ka-32A firefighting helicopter to Indonesia.
The first Be-200 made its maiden flight in September 1998, featured special equipment for scooping up water at aquaplaning speeds equaling 90-95 percent of its take-off speed. This greatly reduces structural loads and fuel consumption and extends the service life of the plane and its engines.
The uniqueness of the plane, it can take off from 1,800-meter runways, lakes, rivers and inland seas. It can land in choppy seas with 1.2-meter waves and scoop up 12-13 metric ton of water in eight tank sections in just 12-14 seconds at aquaplaning speeds of 150-190 kph.
Its first appearance in this area was during the prestigious LIMA 2001 air show in Langkawi, Malaysia.(source :Dudi Sudibyo - Angkasa Magazine)

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