Ground forces for airports
Published: 01 January, 2008
With air traffic increasing, protection of flight domes and aircraft needs to be enhanced. Ann-Marie Knegt checks out the latest demands and developments in crash tenders.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is expecting scheduled passenger traffic to grow at an average annual rate of 4.6 per cent up to the year 2025, while freight traffic is expected to grow at a higher rate of 6.6 per cent a year. The total number of departures and distance flown on domestic and international services is also expected to double over the next 18 years, which will have great implications for safety at airports.
Additionally, the introduction of mega airplanes such as the Airbus A380 brings its own set of challenges to an ARFF team. To handle the A380, the airport needs to be ICAO (International Civil Aviation Authority) category 10, which also demands larger run and taxiways that are able to carry more weight.
However, according to Wolfram Muecke, vice president (international sales) of Rosenbauer, the A380 is not the main driver behind the requirement for large capacity air crash tenders. “In order to handle Jumbos, the airport needs to be a Cat. 9 and the number of vehicles in service required for Cats. 8, 9 and 10 is identical – three. The difference is that depending on the category, more extinguishing agent is required.”
For a Cat. 8, the airport needs to provide minimum 18,200 litres of water capacity. Cat. 9 requires 24,300 litres of water and Cat. 10 needs 32,300 litres of extinguishing capacity.
A Cat. 9 airport could choose to acquire three vehicles with an 8,100l water tank capacity, whereas the Cat. 10 airport would need to own three vehicles with an 11,000l capacity, plus an adequate volume of performance level B foam. This means that the ARFF brigade needs to carry foam such as an Aqueous Film Forming Foam and Film Forming Fluor-Proteins on its vehicles. ICAO also states that airports have to carry exactly the right amount of foam to be able to fully replenish the water tank once without replenishing the foam tank.
What type of vehicles do ARFF brigades around the world require?
The geographical differences are considerable, but basic requirements remain the same, explains Wolfram. He primarily sees a difference in hot and cold climate packages. “Air Services Australia asked us to integrate an engine cooling system in a crash tender that could cope with 50oC ambient temperatures. On the other hand, in colder climates, the engine gear box, oil and water tank need to be pre-heated in the station via a drive-away socket into the electric mains.”
Air Services Australia placed an order for 24 Panthers on a 6x6 chassis, but due to limited space in existing fire stations, Rosenbauer had to shorten the wheelbase of the 6x6 to reduce the overall length. In order to optimise centre of gravity and weight distribution, the volume of the water tank was reduced to 8,600l, plus 1,300l of foam and 225 kg of dry chemical powder, instead of 12,000l of water and 1,500l of foam. However, because of the overall weight reduction whilst keeping an identical engine, it resulted in improved acceleration and driving performance.
The Panther family comprises 4x4 with 2,500 mm width and 4x4, 6x6 and 8x8 with 3000 mm width.
There are several challenges when building a perfectly balanced product, says Wolfram. “You have to keep on and off road capabilities in mind as well as crew safety, ergonomics, and driving performance, and ensure that the firefighting system precisely applies extinguishing agents on target. Aesthetics are very important for crew motivation and airport image, but most of all, the vehicle needs to be reliable.”
Wolfram continues that Rosenbauer designs crash tenders fine-tuned to individual needs, but in which the engineering and design is grounded on the basic range – thus keeping costs down.
The Panther chassis has been specifically developed for ARFF; the frame members are a closed box and not a C-shaped channel. Together with welded-in tubular cross members the result is a much more solid and rigid frame. The coil spring type suspension gives a much bigger wheel travel than conventional leaf springs so it gives better off-road performance (the bigger wheel travel keeps the tyre in contact with the soil and results in better forward traction).
The mounting points for the superstructure are integrated in the chassis frame.
Rosenbauer currently has two Panther designs on the market, a “basic” one and a “designer” one.
The chassis and the firefighting components are more or less the same but in the body structure of the new designer version, the pump compartment and the rear engine compartment have an aluminium structure with GRP (Glass-fibre Reinforced Polyester) panelling. “It means that the outside is corrosion-proof too and GRP is usually easy to repair all over the world. So it makes the user more self-sufficient,” concludes Wolfram.
Tenders for Ireland
French crash tender manufacturer Jean Emmanuel Fournier of French crash tender manufacturer Sides agrees with Wolfram that the major benefit of being able to deliver a 6x6 chassis is that weight savings can be made on the fourth axle. “In fact you can add more water weight.”
Sides produces vehicles with up to 10,000l water tank capacity on a narrow chassis, which is 2.5 metres wide. Over that capacity the chassis is larger, but the company still uses a 6x6 chassis, not an 8x8.
Sides recently completed the first part of an order of five VMA (Vehicule Mousse Aeronautique) units, the first of which went to Dublin Airport. Three are destined for Shannon and one to Cork Airport – all will have a capacity of 11,000l of water on a 6x6 chassis.
“During the execution of this contract it was especially interesting to customise the roof monitor – now it has manual controls.”
The pump capacity on the vehicle is 6000 litres p/m. The Sides-made mechanical foam injection system can handle AFFF foam of six and three per cent concentrate, and the method of dispensing the dry powder depends on the airport category. There are options for a mobile powder unit or a fixed installation – but Shannon Airport chose the latter. The chassis is manufactured by the company itself but commercial components are used such as the Caterpillar engine with a twin disc gearbox.
A flagship for Turkey
Bernhard Schmid, Technical Manager for the crash tender division of Albert Ziegler, outlined the characteristics of the current flagship model, the Z8.
Based on an 8x8 MAN Erf chassis, this vehicle has turned out to be extremely popular and Ziegler has delivered eight units to DHMI Airport in Turkey, four to airports in Brussels, Zagreb, Altenburg, and Munich, and another eight are on order from Hamburg, Munich, Nurnberg and Luxemburg airports.
“All these clients required our rigid aluminium design with a higher payload. They asked us for a vehicle that was simple in operation with safety features built in against malfunctions. The design needed to be clear.”
The Z8’s heated and air conditioned cab is spacious with a height of 1.800 mm and with seats 1+3, and large windows offer wide visibility.
“Health and safety is integrated in the design. The door opens at 900 mm and the step is pneumatically controlled and swivels out when the door is opened.”
In addition the cab features Isringhausen seats with integrated three-point safety belts, and the co-drivers’ seats have integrated brackets for compressed-air breathing apparatus.
The Z8 boasts a 10.000 l/10 bar pump performance and even has a separate Deutz pump engine with can perform at up to 360 kW (480 HP).
Clients can request one or two foam tanks and the total water and foam tank capacity is 15,000 litres.
It has impreesive accelearation too – the vehicle accelerates from 0-80 km/h in 25 seconds and its maximum speed is 140 km/h with a total weight of 43 tons.
As for the extinguishing units, these are electronically controlled via PLC with CAN-Bus networking. The bumper turret is remotely controlled by a joystick and can deliver 2,200 litres a minute with a 50 metre throw. The roof turret delivers at a rate 6,000 litres a minute with a 95 metre throw.
The Tilt test performance is 30° with roof monitor, 28° when the vehicle is equipped with a Snozzle. “The vehicle is certified in conformity with all safety and firefighting standards, e.g. CE, DIN, ICAO, ADV, NFPA, StVZO.”
Iveco Magirus releases the Dragons
Iveco’s Dragon range of airport crash tenders consists of three variants – the Dragon 4x4, 6x6 and 8x8, which are available in 1.024 hp or 1.500 hp engines with common rail injection technology.
Uwe Killian, marketing manager for Iveco Magirus explains what makes the Dragon suitable for ARFF, “The Dragon range provides an enormous acceleration and firefighting power. They can handle up to 10,000l a minute pump capacity and offer 14,000l of firefighting agents in water, powder and foam combinations as well as precise monitors with long throw ranges.”
Iveco recently delivered three Dragons on a 6x6 chassis to the Spanish Civil Aviation Authority (AENA – Aeropuertos Espanoles y Navegacion Aerea).
The vehicles are all equipped with a 1,024 HP Iveco-V8 engine with an Allison Transmission gearbox with six forward an two reverse speeds, as well as six self-ventilated disc brakes with an ABS sensor at each tyre. Its maximum speed is 120 km/h and it can accelerate all of its 35 tonnes from 0 to 80 km/h in just 23 seconds.
Driver comfort is important for Iveco Magirus, explains Uwe and this is why the drivers cab and the crew cab (1+3 seats) are mounted directly onto the chassis and the cab is made of aluminium alloy to resist corrosion.
The engine is also easy to maintain because design engineers have designed better access via a hydraulic system that enables the aluminium alloy, rear mounted engine cover to fold open.
The Dragon’s firefighting equipment includes a GRP water tank with 10,000l capacity as well as GRP foam tank of approximately 1,200l. The Magirus pump delivers 7,500l/minute at 10 bars, whilst the roof monitor delivers at a rate of 5,000l/minute and the front monitor delivers at a rate of 1,500 l/minute. The dry powder system has a capacity of 250 kg.
Uwe explains that one of the most special features of this crash tender is the drivers cab self-protection system in which integrated water-spray nozzles are mounted at the front as well as the left and right of the cab. An additional floor-spraying system with four spray nozzles distributes water, or water and foam.
All Dragons are equipped with state-of-the-art CAN-bus technology guaranteeing fast data-transfer between different vehicle modules.
“Our Impact series, with the variants x4 and x6, offers a cost-effective alternative for smaller airports. Based on a single tyre, Iveco four-wheel-drive chassis, these vehicles are extremely mobile, but nevertheless equipped with an impressive fire fighting power. Depending on vehicle type, up to 12,000 litres of fire fighting agent can be carried on board. As is proven by over 150 Impact vehicles that are currently in worldwide use at airport fire service departments.”
Recently Iveco delivered an Impact on a 6x6 on an Iveco Trakker chassis to the Adolph-Wuerth-Airport in Schwäbisch-Hall (southern Germany). The vehicle features tanks of 5,700l water and 750l of foam compound as well as capacity for 360 kg of CO2. The Magirus pump delivers an output of 3,000 l/min at 10 bars. 440 HP engine power enables speed on the runway. The all-wheel drive and single tyres make it a capable off-road vehicle. Furthermore a lighting mast is mounted on the rear of 2x1,000 W and with a 13.5 kVA electric generator.
The Oshkosh Striker goes to the Olympics
Oshkosh Truck Corporation has signed up to deliver six Striker Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) vehicles and two H-Series, snow-removal vehicles to Beijing Capital International Airport.
The ARFF vehicles will be available to support the 2008 Summer Olympics being hosted in the Chinese capital. “The confidence the Chinese government has shown in these state-of-the-art vehicles is truly appreciated,” commented Desmond Soh, president, Asia Operations for Oshkosh Truck.
The bid award calls for two Striker 1,500 and four Striker 3,000 ARFF all-wheel-drive trucks. The vehicles have capacities of 1,500 and 3,000 gallons respectively and all are equipped with Oshkosh’s TAK-4 independent suspension.
The Striker crash tender is available in 4x4, 6x6 and 8x8 configurations to carry up to 17,034 litres of water and additional fire suppression agent.
The Oshkosh Striker 4,500 is the largest in the range and accelerates from 0 to 50 mph within 35 seconds. The vehicle is easy to operate and the custom cab offers extra driver comfort and good visibility. Crew safety is an important aspect for Oshkosh, explains vice-president Tim Kiefer. “All systems have been designed to support the highest level of efficiency and safety for the response team. The customer can rely on four decades of Oshkosh experience in building ARFF vehicles and that is why the Striker provides excellent performance on and off the runway.”
The Striker 4,500 also features the TAK-4 independent suspension for faster stopping, better cornering, and enhanced off-road capability. The optional rear steer system provides extra maneuverability while the vehicle’s ground clearance of 17 inches allows exceptional mobility.
Because the vehicle has been designed with a wide track and the centre of gravity has been kept low, it is capable of a static side-slope stability of at least 30 degrees, continues Tim. “ The vision from the cab is very good and provides panoramic views with excellent forward, upward and lateral visibility. It can seat up to five firefighters and features integral three-point seatbelts. The driver can easily access the control panel due to the wrap-around cockpit style instruments, which are grouped by function.”
Video and forward looking infrared (FLIR) cameras can be installed on the cab to provide views on an in-cab monitor in clear or obscured vision situations, while a camera mounted at the rear of the vehicle can provide a reverse view on another in-cab monitor.
“The crash tender can be equipped with a dry chemical system with a capacity of 500lb/225 kg or a Halotron I system (460 lb/207 kg). Each of these systems offers its own hose reel. Clients can opt for a High Reach Extendable Turret (HRET) as well as a high volume bumper turret.”
