Ascent Helicopters Bell 212 C-GWWL

Photographer's remark
(6.8.2017, 22:10 CET)
The beautiful Bell 212 is one of my favorite helicopters in the world. She looks amazing in her blue color and has so many after market modifications making her one of the best 212's in the world. She has a large bubble window for the pilot who flies in the left seat. This allows them to look directly under the helicopter to see the load slung below the helicopter, to see where they are dropping on a wildfire etc. You can see the sharp metal blades sticking up near the front above and below the pilots. That is a wire strike protection kit so if the helicopter accidentally contacts a wire it will be cut by these blades and the helicopter may be able to safely land under control. This machine also has a large belly tank installed that holds water as well as a retractable hose for sucking water from lakes and ponds to fill the tank. The dropdoors can open all at once or one after the other allowing for 4 drops, one long line or a large salvo drop from the hover. You can see that she has high skid gear installed to allow room for the water tank under the helicopter when it is on the ground. She has satcom, mapping and a rescue hoist for lowering gear and firefighters as well as for retrieving the fire crew and their equipment from locations where landing is not possible near a fire. You can see the poor girl has been working hard. She is covered in ash and foam from the fire and from making multiple fire drops and reloading at low level over water sources resulting in her getting misted each time. It must be a heck of a job for the crew to clean her each night. Thanks for all your hard work guys.

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