{"id":66443,"date":"2026-07-29T20:19:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T18:19:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=66443"},"modified":"2026-08-06T19:15:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T17:15:54","slug":"a-pilot-from-the-43rd-group-of-the-spanish-air-force-explains-how-their-aircraft-operate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2026\/07\/29\/a-pilot-from-the-43rd-group-of-the-spanish-air-force-explains-how-their-aircraft-operate\/","title":{"rendered":"A pilot from the 43rd Group of the Spanish Air Force explains how their aircraft operate"},"content":{"rendered":"

The massive wave of forest fires that Spain is experiencing has put the spotlight on one of its main assets in the fight against fire.<\/p>\n

Military aerial firefighting resources in Spain: what was announced and what exists today<\/a><\/rel>
\nThe story of the Canadair amphibians of the 43 Grupo of the Spanish Air Force and their losses<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

Spain has been operating Canadair amphibious aircraft since February 8, 1971.<\/strong> The first two, arriving on that date from Montreal, Canada, were two Canadair CL-215s, initially operated by the 803rd Air Force Squadron, based in Getafe (Madrid). Their first mission in Spain was a search and rescue operation at sea<\/strong>, specifically in Finisterre (A Coru\u00f1a), on March 11, 1971, and their first firefighting flight was in A Coru\u00f1a on July 9 of that year. In January 1973, the Spanish CL-215s were assigned to the 404th Squadron<\/strong>, based in Torrej\u00f3n de Ardoz. <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
A Canadair CL-215T from the 43rd Group performing a water drop demonstration off Samil beach during the Vigo Air Festival in July 2008 (Photo: Elentir<\/a>).<\/div>\n

Since May 8, 1980, these aircraft have been part of the 43rd Air Force Group<\/strong>, based in Torrej\u00f3n, which currently has 14 amphibious aircraft: 10 CL-215Ts and 4 CL-415s<\/strong>. Both are very similar and have turboprop engines, but with different water-carrying capacities: the CL-215T can carry 5,346 liters and the CL-415 has a capacity of 6,123 liters. These aircraft can collect water from reservoirs, rivers, and coastal areas.<\/strong> They load water by landing on the water and opening doors located on the underside of the aircraft, so they do not depend on an airport for recharging<\/strong>, which is a considerable advantage.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
A Canadair CL-215T from the 43rd Group flying over Oya (Pontevedra) on August 27, 2013 during a forest fire extinguishing operation (Photo: Elentir<\/a>).<\/div>\n

This Wednesday, the Spanish Air Force's YouTube channel<\/a> published an interesting interview with one of the pilots of these aircraft<\/strong>, Captain Francisco Javier Gimeno Benito-Send\u00edn, who has already accumulated more than 1,000 flight hours in these amphibious planes. In this interview, we see him next to one of the CL-215Ts of the 43rd Group, the UD.13-20 (43-20). The pilot explains how these aircraft operate and his impression of the current wave of wildfires in central Spain<\/strong>, which he has been able to witness from the cockpit of one of the 43rd Group's firefighting aircraft (the video is in Spanish; you can activate automatic English subtitles in the player):<\/p>\n