A suspension and control head apparatus for an aerial firefighting bucket comprising: a rigid frame member having an upper cargo attachment portion that is removably connectable to a cargo hook of a hover capable aircraft, the frame member including lower spaced apart cable attachment portions that are removably connectable to support cables that support the bucket; the frame member defining bilateral opposite sides, one side being a solenoid side and the opposite side being a reel side; a solenoid mounted on the solenoid side, the solenoid being coupled to an electrical source and a switch that energizes and deenergizes the solenoid; a spring-loaded reel rotatably mounted on the reel side, the reel having wound thereon a cable when the reel is in a relaxed or nearly relaxed state, the cable having a stop member, wherein the solenoid and the reel are adjacent to each other on the opposite sides; a latch that interferes with the stop member when the latch is in a latched position and the latch being moveable to a released position in which the latch releases the stop member; a linkage that communicates from the solenoid side to the reel side, the linkage on the solenoid side being connected to the solenoid, the linkage on the reel side being connected to the latch, and the solenoid being operable to release the latch to be moved to the released position when the solenoid is energized; and wherein with the stop member being released, the cable may be unwound from the reel against the spring bias of the reel with application of a downward force on the cable.
SUSPENSION AND CONTROL HEAD APPARATUS FOR AERIAL FIREFIGHTING BUCKETS
APPAREIL DE SUSPENSION ET DE TETE D'ASSERVISSEMENT POUR DES CITERNES A EAU AERIENNES
2023-09-07
Patent
Electronic Resource
English
SUSPENSION AND CONTROL HEAD APPARATUS FOR AERIAL FIREFIGHTING BUCKETS
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