News Aerial Firefighting Avionics
Viking includes Latitude OLMS, ATIS as CL-415 Enhanced Aerial Firefighter options

Latitude Technologies, an avionics design and manufacturing firm based in Victoria, BC, announced that its Operational Loads Monitoring System and Air Tanker Information System for aerial firefighting aircraft have been selected as factory OEM options on Viking Air Limited’s CL-415EAF Enhanced Aerial Firefighter amphibious aircraft.

Both of these Latitude Operational Loads Monitoring System (OLMS) and Air Tanker Information System (ATIS) technologies were selected as options by CL-415EAF launch customer Bridger Aerospace. Back in April 2020, Longview Aviation Services of Calgary, AB, in cooperation with its subsidiary Viking Air based in Victoria, delivered the first CL-415EAF to Bridger Aerospace Group, which signed a purchase agreement for six such aircraft in May 2018.

Longview delivers first CL-415EAF to Bridger

Latitude explains ATIS offers a fully compliant, aircraft-certified solution that meets several governmental requirements, including those of the United States Forestry Service (USFS). The USFS has listed Latitude’s ATIS solution as a recommended option for aviation operations that are applying for government-tendered, aerial-firefighting contracts.

Enabled by Latitude’s IONode and SkyNode satellite communications devices, ATIS allows operators, agencies and regulators to visualize aerial fire attack data with detailed reporting, such as drops per hour and volume per attack.

Latitude explains OLMS offers operators USFS compliance through data collection and recording over the duration of aerial firefighting missions. OLMS is designed to leverage the Latitude Flight Data Analytics (LFDA) Flight Data Monitoring platform to support mission/incident investigation to improve training and monitor standard operating procedure compliance.

Latitude explains this web-based software allows multiple users within an organization to view flight data and generated events for analysis critical for safety. Latitude notes OLMS will enable Bridger’s flight operations team to playback flights and evaluate Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), such as airspeed and point of retardant release. Maintenance teams at Bridger will also be able to monitor the health of the aircraft remotely and receive alerts for exceedance events, which, explains Latitude, enables proactive inspection and a reduction of AOG times.

“Viking’s selection of our software programs solidifies Latitude’s position as a leading provider of telemetry and aircraft solutions for aerial firefighting,” said Jan van der Heul, VP of sales, Latitude Technologies. “The Latitude engineering team pioneered the tracking of aerial water-bombers, which eventually led to the Automated Flight Following standard in North America – it’s nice to see Latitude’s solutions recognized by major OEMs such as Viking Air Limited.”