Conair RJ85 Jet Air Tanker

Most aerial firefighting aircraft are relics of the 1950s and 1960s, but Canadian air tanker modification company Conair is adapting a 21st century design to firefighting work. AVweb's Russ Niles got a tour of the Avro RJ85 at Conair's Abbotsford, British Columbia headquarters.

[@andrewwhalan6329]

We have had an RJ85 on our Large Air-tanker Base over the past few summers ( B166 ) Great aircraft for shorter runways like ours operated by a great aircrew. Keep up the great work Conair!!!

[@Agislife1960]

Always liked the look of the BAe 146 series. BAe's theory on the aircraft's design was that four smaller engines without thrust reversers would be less expensive to operate than two large turbofan engines, it would be interesting to compare the operating cost of the RJ85 to something like the 737 tanker putting that theory to the test.

[@Kimoto504]

Nice planes to fly in. They feel like they handle well from the passenger seats, no odd sensations. Good choice of platforms.

[@stephenwindsor243]

I did my apprenticeship building these aircraft at BAe Woodford.

[@kaiaugustin2856]

I loved to work on the BAe / Avro RJ 😍😍 Made my first licence on it

[@Pwj579]

Great aircraft being put to good use in new role

[@dave4shmups]

Awesome! British Aerospace planned a further upgrade with the RJX series, but all production and orders ended post-9/11.

[@captainkurth3883]

The two aorcrafts on 0:20 are old Lufthansa City Aircrafts. I saw thew both at Cologne during my flight the Palma de Mallorca😆🤗

[@Aviation_Videos]

we have at the moment N355AC RJ85 at Avalon Airport my local airport and it is shown in some clips of this video i have been recording its landings and takes off from Avalon Airport

[@blueb0g]

Avro RJ is a 21st century design? If you say so

[@TeemarkConvair]

would have liked to understand why they chose to use a saddle tank rather than the available interior space.

[@GeneralLee131]

I think they use saddle tanks to keep the center of gravity low. Probably handles better that way.

[@FlightData101]

It also allows them to fly with the cabin pressurized. They can climb higher and fly faster which means quicker dispatch times. That’s not easy to do when you start putting large holes in the fuselage for the plumbing.

[@bojanglesthewizard8875]

Aerflite is Spokane will recieve them first. They will gut it then send it up to Conair who will then add all the fire fighting equipment

[@dave-hr6dt]

I understand that in the US they are using DC10s. Much bigger and also 747s as well, These planes are very small compared to them, I always wondered why the federal government and the provinces don't have a national strategy and acquire retired aircraft to be used across the country , With global warming there is sure to be more (Like Williams Lake last year and Fort Mac). But there again the feds are quite content to push the cost to the insurance companies and therefore all of us through higher premiums never mind the devastation and loss of life

[@FlightData101]

You can’t land a DC10 or 747 at most of the air tanker bases in Canada.