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Air tanker information system a success

NEWS HIGHLIGHT

Air tanker information system a success
Latitude Technologies of Victoria, B.C., and Air Spray Aviation Services of Red Deer, Alta., have announced that the IONode 100 was successfully integrated into the retardant deployment system of an Air Spray Lockheed Electra L188.


October 4, 2010  By Carey Fredericks

Oct. 4, 2010, Victoria, B.C. – Latitude Technologies of Victoria, B.C.,
and Air Spray Aviation Services of Red Deer, Alberta are pleased to
announce that the IONode 100 was successfully integrated into the
retardant deployment system of an Air Spray Lockheed Electra L188.

Throughout an intense BC forest fire season, reliable and consistent data was delivered via the Latitude IONode 100 and the Skynode S200 to the Web Sentinel based Air Tanker Information System (ATIS).

Key performance indicators and mission summaries were routinely and reliably collected. Drop data, mission duration, retardant quantity and distance travelled were used to determine Salvos per flight hour and retardant quantity per flight hour.  Mission data was also collected to develop costing information related to actual retardant delivered to the fires on a near real time basis.

“We have been actively working on this drop tracking technology for the past few years” says Mark Insley, President and CEO of Latitude.  “We can apply this technology to any aircraft today. The quality of information and data being delivered could conceivably change the way forest fires are fought in the future.”

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