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National Guard Pilots Preparing For Fire Season

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May 9, 2008 10:33 am US/Pacific

National Guard Pilots Preparing For Fire Season

VENTURA (AP) ― National Guard pilots are training in Ventura County for this year's wildfire air wars, and new equipment will give the C-130 Hercules aircraft more versatility.

Demonstrations Thursday at the Air National Guard Channel Islands station at Point Mugu gave a peek at aerial firefighting capabilities as the region faces another grim wildfire season.

Major Bryan Allen says the new generation of firefighting equipment should be installed by this fall.

The new system has a single 3,400-gallon tank with a nozzle extended out the left side. Instead of waiting on the ground to pressurize the tank, the new technology will allow in-flight pressurization.

Additionally, pilots will no longer have to drop the entire load of retardant at once. They will be able to "box in" a fire, dropping a portion of the tank on each of a fire's four sides.

(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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