Super Scooper: The Remarkable Firefighting Flying Boat Over the Skies of Los Angeles
It's these firefighters and other first responders who will be responsible for bringing this disaster under control.
But their chariot in the sky, a winged ambassador for the hero first responders in California, goes by a remarkably goofy nickname, the Super Scooper.
This is the story of the Canadair CL-415, a Canadian-designed, Canadian-built amphibious aerial water bomber pulling overtime over America's most famous area codes. For some, this may be the first time they've seen a firefighting aircraft in action before. Its current line of work in close proximity to Hollywood tends to do wonders for generating a spotlight. But the CL-415's been a front-line fighter of forest fires for decades before the Santa Ana winds came storming at the worst possible time.
It comes from a lineage of Canadian water bombers that stretches more than half a century. The Super Scooper's convergence with a raging wildfire broadcast around the world is rooted in clever design and a day-one purpose for fighting fires for the first time ever. Before Canadair had the bright idea to design a twin-engine amphibious water bomber from the ground up, the job most often went to aircraft built for service elsewhere and modified after the fact.
The first conceptions for an aerial firefighting vehicle stretch back to the inter-war period, around the mid-to-late 1920s. Around this time, aviator Friedrich Karl von Koenig-Warthausen was attempting a then-unprecedented solo flight around the world. During the stint over the American west coast, the world-famous German pilot observed a wildfire burning from his single-seat Klemm L.20B over the Santa Lucia Range between San Francisco and LA. It's a site not all that far from where one of the most devastating natural disasters to hit California in decades still rages as of mid-January 2025.
Koenig-Warthausen envisioned a large multi-engine aircraft similar to a bomber in size but with a bomb bay designed to dispense water or flame-suppressing chemicals over large areas from low altitudes. After World War II, the US Army Air Corps, soon to be renamed the US Air Force, experimented with dropping literal bombs filled with water over brush fires. Evidently, the inherent irony wasn't lost on the testing parties. This method was quickly axed in favor of the same water bombing techniques we see today over the Pacific Palisades.
By spreading thousands of gallons of potent fire suppressant material or plain H2O, these water bombers can reign in vicious blazes with just a handful of passes when it would've taken ground personnel exponentially longer. These long swooping passes in an "air attack" role are utilized by water bombers all over the world. The first air squadron dedicated to aerial firefighting was the Mendocino Air Tanker Squad, formed in 1956. Among the favorite ex-military warbirds in their arsenal were PBY Catalina amphibious flying boats, PB4-Y2 Privateer patrol bombers, and even Grumman Tigercat fighters and Douglas DC-6 airliners.
These converted surplus aircraft became mainstays of wildfire containment protocols in the latter half of the 20th century. Still, an entirely bespoke airframe platform built for nothing other than air attack water-bombing maneuvers was a novel idea waiting for someone to build it. These people were a relatively small aerospace firm out of Montreal called Canadair.
Formed from the remnants of the old Canadian Vickers factory after World War II, Canadair is likely most well-known for re-designing and re-manufacturing US-spec F-86 Saber fighter jets to the point they achieved better flight performance than the jet that inspired it. They performed similar work to other American jets, like the F-104 Starfighter and the F-5 Freedom Fighter. They also designed domestic-built cargo aircraft, UAVs, and a tilt-wing VTOL prototype before being sold to Bombardier Aviation in the late 1980s.
During the mid-1960s, Canadair was in the process of developing a twin-engine amphibious piston-powered cargo plane intended for air and sea rescue operations or even full-scale commercial passenger service. But at the request of provincial air services longing for a more effective aircraft to combat brush fires, development shifted towards the very first ground-up water bomber flying boat.
Separated from float planes under the larger umbrella of seaplanes by their boat-like hulls, flying boats were practically tailor-made to use as air attack water bombers. Through an integrated rotating scooper apparatus in the case of Canadair's design, flying boat water bombers can scoop and drop thousands of gallons of water with only a limited fuel load being the sole restricting factor.
Ultimately, Canadair decided the tried and true Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp 18-cylinder radial engine was the perfect powerplant for the world's first purpose-built water bomber. As the same engine that powered The F6F Hellcat, F4U Corsair, and P-47 Thunderbolt during World War II, plus several airliners afterward, the Double Wasp was built for big power and impressive durability. With over 2,000 horsepower per engine, there's enough grunt to haul 3,500 lbs of payload as far as 1,300 miles in a single jaunt, cruising around 180 mph.
The production-spec Canadair CL-215 "Scooper" made its global debut at the Paris Air Show in 1965. With novel corrosion resistance techniques and the most modern airframe ever fitted to a flying boat to that point, the CL-215 outclassed any lumbering flying boat retconned for waterbombing service after the war. Over the years, the CL-215 made its way across the globe, supporting militaries and firefighting squadrons, both state and private, in the US, Canada, Spain, Italy, Greece, Thailand, and Venezuela, among others.
Over the years, a handful of CL-215s were modified by having their Double Wasp piston engines replaced with turboprops. Ultimately, it was decided not to put these CL-215Ts into mass production in favor of a clean-slate design. With the Series 5 CL-215 as its rough template, the much-improved CL-415 "Super Scooper" made its maiden flight on December 6th, 1993. With a larger onboard water reservoir, two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW123 turboprop engines, and upgraded control surfaces derived from the CL-215T, the Super Scooper is a strategic bomber that fights fires.
An electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) with digital multifunctional displays in place of old-fashioned switches and dials keeps the Super Scooper air crew's attention focused on scoop-and-drop duty, as many as six passes in one sortie before returning to base to refuel. Perfectly serviceable landing gears help the Super Scooper take off, land, and refuel almost anywhere. However, as a testament to the unmatched upgradability of the platform, the upgrade path doesn't end at the CL-415.
After the acquisition of Canadair's assets by Bombardier Aerospace, a collaboration with the De Havilland Canada firm of Calgary, Alberta, began to turn the CL-415's airframe into the proverbial F-22 of its class. That means it gets a 1,621 US-gallon water tank and a 180 US-gallon foam container, further improved control surfaces for better maneuverability and an impressive water scoop time of 12 seconds from bone dry to full. In 2006, the type certificates for a number of Bombardier Aerospace products were sold to the Viking Air firm out of British Columbia, who applied further upgrades to the CL-415 air frame to extend its service life indefinitely.
There's also the most impressive avionics suite ever fitted to a flying boat on hand, meaning the De Havilland Canada DHC-515 can fly longer, drop more water more accurately, and help stop wildfires faster. All these amazing firefighting capabilities forged over more than half a century of development in Canada converged south of the border in January 2025. Even months before, the State of California kept a CL-415 in reserve in case the upcoming dry grass season turned dangerous.
The one Super Scooper in reserve was soon followed by a second as fires raging through multiple counties burned million-dollar mansions and the more mundane structures alike. On January 9th, one of these $35 million water bombers on loan from the provincial government of Quebec collided with a civilian drone while operating over LA county. The aircraft was able to land safely but was knocked out temporarily while the airframe was inspected top to bottom for damage.
Despite this considerable setback, the work done by Super Scooper aircraft above the skies around Hollywood has showcased one of the most impressive aircraft flying today. It's one of the very few truly "wow"-worthy modern airplanes not expressly built for military service. When the fires are eventually brought under control, the Super Scooper itself will be just a footnote in the larger story of the heroes who flew and maintained them. In a combined effort on land, sea, and in the air by some of the bravest men and women on the continent, the mighty Super Scooper is set to have a pivotal role.
