Wednesday, April 11, 2012

How It Works: A Futuristic Fire Truck Puts Out Airplane Fires

How It Works: A Futuristic Fire Truck Puts Out Airplane Fires:

Airport-Fire Truck Daniel Schumpert and Jason Briney
A plane engulfed in flame is about the hardest fire to extinguish. How does this truck do it?
Aircraft fires pose unusual challenges for first responders. Extinguishing jet fuel requires thousands of gallons of flame-smothering foam, and the fuel burns so hot (up to 2,500°F) that firefighters typically have only three minutes to respond before passengers would be overcome by heat and smoke inhalation. Aircraft Rescue and Fireghting (ARFF) vehicles, then, must balance a heavy payload with quick acceleration. Since its release in 2001, the Oshkosh Striker has become the industry-leading ARFF; today it's used at the White House, nearly every Air Force base, and more than 200 U.S. airports. In 2010, Oshkosh revamped the $600,000-to-$800,000 vehicle for the first time, streamlining the design and refining the controls. See how this fire truck works here.

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