Presently disclosed subject matter integrates a method of using thousands of semi-autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles, herein called drones, to deliver vastly superior amounts of fire retardant over substantially larger and variably-shaped drop patterns. Each drone is able to swap its own batteries with freshly charged batteries and each drone is able to refill its container with water or fire retardant. Once launched, a swarm of drones can perform repeated trips from the water/retardant source to the fire without human involvement other than the high-level tasking of where to drop the retardant. Once a general drop destination and drop pattern shape is designated, the swarm can transport retardant to that location, form itself into the desired drop shape, and deploy retardant. The drone body is designed to be modular so different components can be attached with ease and no special training or knowledge required.

A foldable rim assembly for an aerial fire-fighting bucket, the bucket including a collapsible body, the body having an upper rim surrounding an open upper end of the body, the rim assembly including; a) a plurality of spokes about a central hub, the spokes extending radially outwardly from the hub, each outer end of a spoke being pivotably connectable to the upper rim of the body, and each inner end of a spoke being pivotably connected to the hub; and b) at least one spoke locking member which is engageable when the spokes are deployed to lock the inner ends of the spokes with the hub in an uppermost position and the body expanded;
wherein, in use, when the at least one spoke locking member is disengaged, the hub is movable to a lowermost position, with the spokes folded and the body collapsed.

A discharge valve assembly for opening and closing the discharge opening of a collapsible, aerial fire-fighting bucket, the discharge valve assembly including an upper member and a lower member, wherein: a) the upper member is a disc-shaped closure with a peripheral seal-receiving channel and an annular seal seated in the channel; and b) the lower member is a bucket mounting assembly with a mounting frame and a central shaft, the mounting frame including a central hub and radially extending legs for mounting the central hub to the discharge opening of the bucket, the central shaft extending upwardly from the central hub;
and wherein the upper member is mounted on the central shaft of the lower member for movement along the central shaft from a closed position, where the annular seal is in sealing engagement with a sealing rim of the discharge opening, to an open position allowing filling and emptying of the fire-fighting bucket through the discharge opening.

A system for filling a tank for a firefighting helicopter with water without ground personnel, comprising a pilot controlled valve assembly to selectively permit water to flow into the refill tank upon the receipt of a communication transmitted by a communication device within the helicopter. The pilot controlled valve assembly can include a supply valve configured to move between at least a closed state and an open state, a controller configured to control the supply valve, and a receiver configured to send a signal to a controller to cause the controller to at least open the supply valve upon receipt by the receiver of a communication meeting one or more predetermined criteria. The water tank can be filled from a water source, including a municipal water source, when the supply valve is open to provide a more efficient, semi-autonomous refill tank system greatly improves costly and time-consuming manually refill systems.

The invention relates to an air-transportable device (100) for projecting pressurized liquid over a surface, comprising a rotating washing head and an inspection system (11) with LED bulbs and cameras. The air-transportable device (100) is secured to an aircraft (200, 500) by the upper surface thereof or by means of straps and can be configured for different uses such as cleaning wind and photovoltaic facilities, extinguishing fires or cleaning insulators.

A fluid storing and jettisoning systems with which host aircraft for fighting fires are to be equipped and which makes it possible to limit the dispersion of water in the air. The aircraft fluid storing and jettisoning system comprises a fluid reservoir and at least one tube comprising a closed tank having at least one opening intended to be connected in leak-tight fashion respectively to said one or more tubes for the entry of fluid and at least one opening oriented so as to make it possible to jettison the fluid in a determined direction that is different from the longitudinal direction of flow of the fluid in the one or more tubes. Also an aircraft equipped with such a system.

A modular water storing and jettisoning system which can be easily introduced into and removed from a host firefighting aircraft. To that end, the water storing and jettisoning system for a host aircraft comprises a fluid tank and at least one tube. The tank is connected to said tube or to all of said tubes which extend(s) longitudinally from the tank such that, once installed in a host aircraft, the one or more tubes conduct the fluid to the longitudinal end of a rear door of the aircraft in an open position. Also an aircraft fitted with such a system.

A suspension and control head apparatus for an aerial firefighting bucket comprising: a rigid frame member having an upper cargo attachment portion that is removably connectable to a cargo hook of a hover capable aircraft, the frame member including lower spaced apart cable attachment portions that are removably connectable to support cables that support the bucket; the frame member defining bilateral opposite sides, one side being a solenoid side and the opposite side being a reel side; a solenoid mounted on the solenoid side, the solenoid being coupled to an electrical source and a switch that energizes and deenergizes the solenoid; a spring-loaded reel rotatably mounted on the reel side, the reel having wound thereon a cable when the reel is in a relaxed or nearly relaxed state, the cable having a stop member, wherein the solenoid and the reel are adjacent to each other on the opposite sides; a latch that interferes with the stop member when the latch is in a latched position and the latch being moveable to a released position in which the latch releases the stop member; a linkage that communicates from the solenoid side to the reel side, the linkage on the solenoid side being connected to the solenoid, the linkage on the reel side being connected to the latch, and the solenoid being operable to release the latch to be moved to the released position when the solenoid is energized; and wherein with the stop member being released, the cable may be unwound from the reel against the spring bias of the reel with application of a downward force on the cable.

An accessory for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising a baseplate that is attached to the UAV unmanned aerial vehicle, at least one dispersant canister that is removably attached to the baseplate, a radio frequency receiver, an auxiliary circuit board, at least one battery, first and second wire pairs that supply electrical current from the auxiliary circuit board, a protective housing, and a radio frequency transmitter that is in communication with the radio frequency receiver. In alternate embodiments, the invention further comprises an electric match, linear solenoid, or electric primer.

The instant invention relates to an apparatus and method for enhancing the fire extinguishing properties of water for use with fire fighting aircraft. The apparatus and method includes the steps of, and equipment for, transferring media into a holding tank in aircraft; filling a reservoir hopper with water in the aircraft; calculating the amount of media to be added to the reservoir; drawing the calculated amount of media into the reservoir to form an enhanced fire fighting admixture while the aircraft is in flight, wherein the admixture is offloaded by a controlled discharge for use in fighting forest fires.