C-130 Cockpit Views: Pilots Battling California Wildfires

U.S. Air National Guard pilots fly a C-130 equipped with the Modular Airborne FireFighting System (MAFFS) during wildfire suppression operations in California.

The MAFFS can be installed on a C-130 aircraft in approximately two hours and can discharge up to 3,000 U.S. gallons (11,000 liters) of water or fire retardant in less than five seconds.

The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.

[chrisnothnagel]

Altitude.... altitude... altitude.... Respect to these pilots!

[gamefever]

Flying through stall and altitude warnings combined like it's nothing, respect

[chaws]

These pilots fly in real-life like I fly in MSFS! You saved my home last week! Thanks for the awesome flying and the video!

[JMHTruck]

These pilots are the "Absolute GOATs"...Balls of steel...

[voxhumanaable]

As someone who lives here in SoCal, THANK YOU for everything you guys do. True heroes. 🙏

[ChangingAperture]

These pilots have easily earned the “bad ass of the century” award!! Increasable flying!

[shoop]

"WOW" the C-130 is one of my favorite aircraft—it's incredibly versatile and operated by amazing skilled pilots.

[gendaminoru]

Wow. Thanks for this footage. Love the new glass cockpits and synthetic vision. And man do they get in there tight. I pray for no CFIT accidents.

[ACOUNT]

I was there in the San Fernando Valley in LA, I’d see these magnificent aircraft’s heading back to refuel every so often during the day. True heroes and pilot teams!

[belizarius_]

Mad respect to the brave crews! Thank you for your service!

[jjavierre]

Unsung bravery of these men. As General Moseley said: AirPower is not about the aircraft, it’s about the people who fly them. Your bravery is out of the charts. May the skies treat you well!

[Colt-Forty]

*People need to understand how insane it is to fly this type of aircraft the way they do. These are the BEST OF THE BEST. The only reason they have to use the C-130 is because it’s the only aircraft that could carry the fire suppression and the pilots balls and still be airworthy.*

[yummm]

These pilots are TOP NOTCH and extremely skilled! Way to go and thank you!!🤩

[jeffdeutsch]

A huge "Thank you" to these brave individuals!

[jake]

I'm Australian... I appreciate the warrior very much... You guys are LEGIT LEGENDS!!

[williamjensen]

C-130... the best aircraft ever built. It's called "Hercules" for a reason.

[wirnet]

Go Air Force! C-130's are the OG's of the air. Much respect to the Air force!

[robertbraun]

This has to be the most exhilarating flying that a young C130 pilot gets to do.. Every failsafe in the plane is alerting you that this is a non normal situation and dangerous..
I absolutely love it. I wish there was more cockpit or, at the very least any footage of these crews that battle from the air...
I was born and raised in Southern California in the 70s, . 80s and 90s and my father worked with the California department of forestry rebuilding radial engines for Grumman aircraft and retrofitting them for firefighting.. Loved going with him when they would run ground ops..

[highwaystar]

Tears of joy to see these young tigers getting it done, this is what American men do to make America great. 🇺🇸

[seldoon_nemar]

6:13 is wild, totally sideways during the drop. legendary work.
I was NOT expecting that much force behind the water. dealing with the weight shift is crazy enough, but now they have a THRUSTER?!

Absolute GOATS
I really want to see a gopro watching the control surfaces as they're flying like that, they are using every bit of that plane's performance and it's amazing to see the control surfaces running all out like that