SEI Industries: Pushing The Bambi Bucket Further

The Hillsborough County Sheriff is among thousands of agencies around the world that use Bambi Bucket products.

SEI Industries is a name that may not be as familiar to many as their flagship product, the Bambi Bucket, used around the world in over 100 countries to fight forest fires. The big orange bucket dangling from under helicopters is synonymous with fighting wildfires and has become the industry standard for aerial firefighting in many countries worldwide.

History

Invented in 1978 by SEI Industries founder Don Arney, a concept initially constructed in his garage; in a home not far from where SEI Industries is now based in Canada, the Bambi Bucket began commercial production in 1982. The first bucket contained a single drop valve and activation through a switch on the pilot cyclic. Despite the many iterations since then, Director of Firefighting Operations Sergio Fukamati states that the single drop valve nearly 40 years later remains the top-selling product in their lineup of Bambi Buckets due to its simplicity of operation.

Since its inception, the Bambi bucket has undergone continuous improvements and growth, much like the company, reflecting new technologies and current industry requirements. SEI has grown from its inception in 1978, having a staff of just one, to employing 84 people at their corporate headquarters. The company also contracts with dozens of others worldwide in a growing network of 14 service centers strategically placed to service customers with the highest needs.

The first Bambi bucket produced was 270 liters (70 gallons) and would become the cornerstone for a product line that boasts nearly 40 models – with the largest Bambi bucket capable of holding 9,800 liters (2600 gallons.) Bambi buckets are currently operating on smaller helicopters like the Bell 206 to large helicopters such as the Boeing CH-47 Chinook and the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk.

Bambi Buckets have been used across every spectrum of the aerial firefighting industry, from small private operations to large government contracted firefighting operations to military forces around the world that are called in to fight fires when conditions outgrow the capabilities of contracted and state operations.

Technology Growth

As the industry has grown over the decades, so too has SEI moved with the times, developing two core products throughout their line of Bambi Buckets. The Standard Bambi single drop bucket is available in twenty (20) models. The newer ‘Bambi Max’ lineup of buckets is available in fourteen (14) models and allows multiple drops of water on fires through a gated valve that many operators now utilize worldwide to increase operational effectiveness and improve helicopter safety. Multi-drop capability allows the pilot to load-shed and maximize the water load throughout the fuel cycle.

The Next Level

Using current technology to advance the product lines is a core principle for the company, said Fukamati “the company has a continuous improvement program in place. When we launch a new product, we take it to market, and then we learn from operators on the ground at the frontline of operations. We then bring their input back to our people who continue to develop and evolve our products, so our customers benefit.” ➤

Speaking of improvements, Fukamati detailed that Bambi accessories like the PowerFill are becoming more popular. The PowerFill Snorkel is an external pump mounted to the outside of a Standard Bambi Bucket that allows operators to fill the bucket in as little as 18 inches of water. The Powerfill Max uses the same technology, but the pumps are located inside the bucket. When the operators use a PowerFill, they can utilize shallow water sources like streams that are closer to the fire.

Stepping It Up

The “NewGen” is the next version of the Standard Bambi Bucket that SEI will be producing. The new bucket design incorporates a new dump valve resulting in reduced wear of the purse strings. It also has a new control head, which is shorter, more straightforward, and provides better flight stability. SEI will begin alpha testing a NewGen 2732 model Bambi bucket in 2021.

The “Eclipse Bambi,” another product in the new line-up will be the first fully collapsible Bambi bucket with multidump capability. It combines the collapsibility of a Standard Bambi bucket, with the multi drop capability of a Bambi Max bucket. It will be a good fit for type II and type III commercial operators that need to collapse their bucket down to a smaller diameter for storage.

One of the challenges to working with a bucket is checking fill levels, making sure you have taken on enough water during each dip. Currently, the checking method is completed entirely visually. In a single pilot scenario, the pilot relies on visual reference to see if the bucket is filled by looking out the window of the aircraft or for multi-crewed missions, reliant on the crew to check for a successful load.

With that in mind, the SEI team went to work to try and improve that shortcoming. It is developing the newest Bambi Bucket that will shortly begin beta testing, the i-Max, or Intelligent Max Bambi Bucket. This bucket will, through installed sensors and an in-cabin touch screen, show the pilot what the water load is, and in the case of a multistage drop operation, tell the pilot what capacity is left after each drop stage.

“The i-Max Bambi system incorporates a load sensing head, like a load cell, built into the control head of the bucket slung under the helicopter. This converts the load signal into volume, transmitting to the master controller unit inside the helicopter. The pilot can use the userfriendly touch screen to program what they want to achieve for a particular drop. The pilot can decide to drop 70% of the load across three dumps or any number of other variants. The pilot can even control the speed of the dump by controlling the valve opening from the touch screen” said Fukamati.

Bambi Bucket provides buckets that range in size from 70 to 2600 gallon capacity, allowing for use from a full range of helicopters on fires.

The Bambi Bucket i-Max product currently in development features an in cockpit display to provide real time information for water drops.

New Frontiers

The i-Max system is the first of its kind for the aerial firefighting industry and provides some challenges for the SEI team. With the added functionality of the in-cockpit user interface screen, comes the added work of certifying the system through regulatory agencies. With previous Bambi Buckets not having a permanent fixture inside the helicopter, there was no certification requirement. Fukamati says that approaching such a task would not be possible without operators’ help in the field. Certifying a piece of ➤

The Bambi Bucket MAX line of products features an “in bucket” pump that allows for faster water loading, speeding up time on target.

THERE IS ALWAYS THE RIGHT Bambi Bucket System FOR YOUR MISSION.

new equipment is being done with the assistance of an operator in Spain, who has been participating in testing and certification with EASA.

Once the initial Alpha testing was completed in 2020, the team went to work on improving the system based on operator feedback and is aiming for certification of the i-Max system in 2021.

Maintaining the Fleet

With thousands of Bambi Buckets in circulation worldwide, SEI needs to make sure that customers have access to repairs and parts promptly. Sometimes that means not waiting to ship a unit back to Canada for service. Over the years, the company has continued to build on existing relationships and partner with MRO and service facilities to develop a worldwide network of Bambi Bucket Service Points in areas that are readily accessible to their customers. These 14 centers are targeted in high-use regions such as Australia, Europe, South America, Asia and North America.

Servicing buckets worldwide has also become a concern due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Fukamati, apart from some early supply chain issues, it has now become manageable thanks to their network of service centers and dedicated staff at their corporate headquarters. The challenges of working in the COVID-19 environment, while causing some additional hiccups, have been overcome by introducing social distancing protocols in their offices and manufacturing areas and have caused minimal issues to customers in the field.

Looking Forward

Fukamati stated that their team continues to innovate based on customer needs in addition to improving on bucket technology. This includes development currently in process to provide 120 Volt, AC PowerFill pumps, currently available only in 28 Volt, DC power. The new AC pumps will hopefully be available in 2022.

Another project for the SEI team that is nearing completion is a revamp of their company website that will save customer’s time and improve navigation. The new site will simplify searches and provide ready access to technical specifications and all available data to assist customers in everything from bucket selection to maintenance needs and identification of international service points.

Whatever the aerial firefighting industry’s future holds, SEI will continue to improve Bambi product reliability and develop new products and services to meet customer’s needs.

Tampa Police Helicopter picks up water in a Bambi Bucket during a training exercise in Hillsborough County in 2019.

MULTI-MISSION DONE RIGHT

Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office

Images and Story by Ryan Mason

The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) Aviation unit is still a relative newcomer to aviation compared to others in the field that have been in operation for 30 or 40 years. Nonetheless, the CCSO unit, since 1996, has transformed from a law enforcement-focused unit using government surplus aircraft to one that now serves in a true multi-mission capability. Serving not just in a law enforcement capacity but also providing life-saving search and rescue capabilities, aerial firefighting and even mosquito spraying ability for the citizens of Charlotte County, Florida.

Commencing operations in 1996, the agency’s aviation unit began with the delivery of two U.S. Army surplus UH-1H helicopters, followed shortly after by three surplus OH-58s. Under the tutelage of the initial unit commander and founder of the unit Mark Brownie, the unit functioned with one of the UH-1s. ➤

Left: CCSO operates two AS350’s a B2 (pictured) and a B3e.

Right: CCSO’s newest aircraft, a B3e is piloted by one pilot and a TFO, who also acts as a crew chief in the event of a rescue operation taking place.

The Charlotte County Sheriff’s office aircraft patrol one of the largest harbors in Florida and can switch between law enforcement, firefighting and search and rescue missions all within one shift at times. It moved the other UH-1 to the county’s mosquito control unit. Under a new chief pilot, Rob Steht, the unit began phasing out the use of the OH-58 airframe, taking delivery of an AS-350BA that would function in a law enforcement role. In 2019, thanks to a grant from Firehouse subs, the aircraft was fitted with a hook and a belly band was added for rescue capabilities in 2020.

After Steht’s departure in July of 2018, the unit was headed up by Chief Pilot Shane Englauf, a military veteran and former OH-58D Kiowa Warrior pilot. Englauf saw the unit’s need to continue to progress in its multi-mission capabilities continuing to phase out the now-aging OH-58s. He returned them to the 1033 program as the unit took possession of the new AS350BA shortly before Englauf took on the chief pilot role.

Moving Forward

Under Englauf’s leadership, the aviation unit was able to work with the command staff of the Sheriff’s office to secure funding for a second AS350. This time the most current model, the AS350B3e, would again be deployed in a multi-mission capability. The helicopter would be performing aerial firefighting missions, law enforcement and search and rescue; being able to be quickly reconfigured between tasks when needed.

The agency’s UH-1H began firefighting missions using a Bambi bucket drop system in 1998, and has now transitioned to using an Isolair belly tank. The Isolair multi-mission tank is a dual-use tank capable of mosquito control spraying. After removing the booms and the actuating a switch at

the front of the tank, it can function as a traditional firefighting tank using the attached snorkel to pull water.

Missions

The agency averages about 500 flight hours per year, and has seen a steady increase. Englauf shared that flight time can vary significantly from year to year. However, multi-agency responses increase year after year from mutual aid agreements between surrounding counties and the requirements of larger fires that are now becoming more frequent.

“Last year, we had a pretty high number of calls. And it seems like the more people know about our unit and its capabilities, the more other agencies have started asking for our help. So it’s gone from when I first started here, from two or three fire missions to last year we were upwards of 15 aerial firefighting mission call-outs. We traveled down to Fort Myers or other areas for mutual aid calls. Once agencies recognized we had the capacity that a Huey brings and that we’ll travel when needed to fight fires and provide needed assistance to control a fire, word travels quickly.”

Fire call outs for CCSO’s aviation unit come through Charlotte County Fire, headed up by fire chief Fair. From there, mutual aid calls can come from surrounding counties (like Lee County) and provide assistance for Sarasota county when their aircraft is down for maintenance. The CCSO aviation unit has responded to calls in Inglewood in Sarasota County and fought an enormous blaze at the Fort Myers airport in Lee County that engulfed over 3500 rental cars in an overflow lot.

Ground Support Advantage

Another unique advantage to an aerial firefighting response by Charlotte County is establishing a ground support operation ➤

quicker than many other agencies. When the call came in from Charlotte County Fire for mutual aid to fight a rapidly growing fire at the Fort Myers Airport, CCSO’s aviation unit sprang into action. They readied their UH-1H and coordinated a ground support operation to sustain their firefighting ability for as long as needed.

Ground support came from the unit’s lead mechanic and avionics technician, Dan IJpkemeule, who also doubles as flight crew and ground support operations when needed. He was joined by other team members that set out to a water source near the fire with a fuel supply trailer used to fuel the aircraft in the field.

Also on board was field maintenance equipment for both the helicopter and the associated firefighting equipment, along with night vision equipment used during the fire. NVG equipment was used to help call the helicopter’s position over the water source to assist Chief Pilot Shane Englauf in refilling the belly tank via snorkel. The operation lasted into the night, requiring almost 90 drops to extinguish along with work from ground units. (The cause of the fire that gained national and international attention was later attributed to an idling vehicle starting the blaze as long grass ignited off a hot exhaust system, sparking a massive multi-agency response).

As the fire raged past dusk, the CCSO aircraft was the only aircraft that could continue firefighting operations as other aircraft were not equipped to fight fires after dark. CCSO’s aircraft could continue firefighting thanks to their ground support assets and NVG capabilities.

Englauf recalls that the operation was an overall success looking back on the event. Thanks in large part to the multi-agency response that included assistance from the Lee County Sheriff and help from the Florida Department of Forestry, each providing aerial assets used in the response.

Around the Clock Support

Although staffing is still growing, the unit now has two full-time pilots, four tactical flight officers (TFOs.) TFOs are a mix of road officers, dedicated unit officers. Two mechanics (one of which is a highly qualified avionics technician) in addition to several volunteers that are experienced A&P mechanics make up the rest of the CCSO aviation unit. ➤

Below: the CCSO team designed a helicopter fit out that would work for any mission with minimal time to switch between. Seen here as the team switches between an aerial firefighting mission and search and rescue hook, taking only minutes.

The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Aviation Unit has several staff that consist of licensed A&P Mechanics, along with an in house avionics technician, that has allowed the agency to custom design their AS350 interior (seen above) that was designed and installed in house. Left: The interior fit out of all custom avionics solutions that were custom designed for the agency were installed by the agencies in house avionics technician and A&P Dan IJpkemeule (pictured below).

Each TFO is also a trained rescue specialist who can switch from the front of the aircraft to the back to perform as a crew chief or rescue technician as needed depending on the aircraft dispatched or the mission dispatched.

While the unit currently maintains coverage for 16 hours a day, six days a week, the agency has a team on call 24 hours a day for rapid response when needed to scramble and assist whenever the need arises.

Thinking Ahead

To continue to innovate, the unit looked in 2018 to hire Dan IJpkemeule, an avionics technician with decades of experience that was also an A&P mechanic, to lead the agency’s push to modernize and customize their equipment as much as possible within their budgetary constraints. Dan also brought on an additional maintenance technician to help achieve that goal, who is also currently gaining his A&P mechanic certifications.

Along with IJpkemeule, Chief Pilot Englauf has worked with the Charlotte County Fire Department to improve their firefighting response and has designed a system that will allow the unit to fight fires more effectively, a foam system that is currently awaiting installation on the agency’s UH-1H. Being a 1033 military surplus aircraft enables the agency to design and manufacture unique equipment that would not be fitted to certificated aircraft. The foam system the team has designed will be operated via a switch on the cyclic that will inject a small amount of foam into the existing tank system as it is being filled with water, agitating the water/foam mix as it fills.

Testing by the unit has shown that even with a small amount of foam injected into the water as it is filling, that the drops have increased coverage effectiveness when compared to plain water. The system will be installed after the aircraft’s annual inspection in the early spring of 2021.

In addition to the groundbreaking work completed by IJpkemeule on firefighting equipment, the team’s focus was to complete the fit-out of the departments’ new AS350B3e that arrived after purchasing from Brunner Aerospace in Texas in June of 2020.

Planning for the Future

The team went to work immediately, taking stock of what they had. The team then began requesting the things needed for the county’s perfect multi-mission aircraft. Once all requests were approved, this gave the unit the ability to custom design and build a completion that worked to provide the most missioncapable aircraft for their requirements.

IJpkemeule went right to work in designing everything needed from the ground up. Dismantling everything except the engine displays in the cockpit, everything he said has been either ➤

reinstalled from scratch or custom-designed to fit the agency’s mission and requirements.

Retaining some equipment was worthwhile, said IJpkemeule, they retained a Garmin G500, but the rest was removed to install newer or more functional equipment.

“It was a stock system when we received it. There was an ADSB transponder unit installed at Unifly in Texas, which we retained, but with the exception of the VEMD and the G500, we made everything work for us the way we wanted it. What’s nice about being an avionics guy is that I knew exactly what I wanted to put in it right off the bat, so basically, we made a list, and we got everything approved that we needed.” Said IJpkemeule.

The agency’s B3e was delivered with an external load window in the floor from its previous life. It worked completing external load work in Costa Rica, which was a bonus for the team, making external load work easier. The aircraft was also delivered with an external load mirror that was both remote control operated and heated, and new in the box. A bonus for visibility of the external load hook installed on the aircraft for use with a Bambi Bucket and human external cargo loads in a rescue scenario.

Also installed on the aircraft is a 15-inch screen that feeds visuals from the FLIR 380HDc into the cockpit from Macro Blue that also runs a moving map system via touch screen input from Churchill avionics. The unit also has a backup keyboard hidden in a slide-out compartment installed under the left side horizontal bar support inside the cockpit.

“When we took out all of the equipment, we drew out a template of the old one and just started laying instruments out, and then we realized that with some real minor modifications, we would be able to slide everything around, leaving the VEMD in its original spot but make everything fit the way we wanted it. The big benefit of that is that the crew has their visibility. So that was cool when we got that giant display in the panel with everything we wanted.”

IJpkemeule stated that leaving the G500 in the aircraft was a no-brainer, saying it is still a very dependable piece of equipment, combined with a Garmin GTN650, a Jupiter Avionics audio panel, and the already installed ADSB transponder unit.

Coupled with a custom center console, IJpkemeule custom wired to transfer the traditional push-button center console to a flick switch control panel. This took him and his team more than 100 hours to custom install; the AS350B3e of the Charlotte County Sheriff’s office is truly a one-of-a-kind multimission aircraft customized to suit their unique requirements.

An install such as this can be quite the challenge for even a seasoned installer or avionics technician. Still, with the support of CCSO leadership and Shane Englauf at the unit level, IJpkemeule found that the install and customization required a unique thought process. Design and seamless installation were made easier by the team’s teamwork from the Sheriff down the line, completing the customized install of all components in about two months. Having been operational now for over 30 hours of flight time, the aircraft has had zero squawks since its installation and completion.

Adding to the highly customized interior of the AS350B3e is a cargo hook that can carry a Bambi Bucket for aerial firefighting or carrying a long external line for rescue work that attaches either a 50 or 100 foot ARS long line.

The line attaches to a “Penetrator,” rescue seat unit from Life Saving Systems which is similar to a Vietnam era unit that was called a forest penetrator that allows a rescuer and subject to be lifted from the water while being harnessed both around the waist and to a seated platform that folds down in a rescue evolution. This offers both a more comfortable and safe extraction than a traditional “strop” extraction sling device.

All of these pieces of mission equipment, including the Bambi Bucket, can be put into the back of the aircraft before a patrol flight to allow for the rapid deployment of whatever is needed during a given shift by the crew landing and quickly reconfiguring the aircraft for whatever mission is required. Such was the unit staff planning to make their aircraft easily reconfigurable on the move, with only a small amount of work needing to be done to be prepared for any of the mission requirements they may have in a given shift.

When looking at how far the aviation unit has come since its inception, Englauf stated, “Having the support of our Sheriff behind us, along with the other agencies we support, like Charlotte County fire and Mosquito Control, has been the key to our ongoing success. Being able somewhat to roll everything aviation in the county into one unit has been fantastic. You see many larger communities with many air assets, and each is separate for single mission requirements into individual air units that only focus on one thing, so it ends up costing those counties a lot more. If we did that, we wouldn’t have the capacity to keep all those units separate. So being able to get all of our agencies on the same page related to aviation is a great achievement that we are proud of. It also keeps it interesting for our pilots and crew chiefs and everybody else to have the multi-mission capability and response. It’s never the same thing from one day to the next.”

CCSO’s AS350B3e picks up a load of water with a Bambi Bucket.

Right Top: Pilots and TFO’s have state of the art equipment to use thanks to continued planning for success of their aviation unit.

Right Middle: CCSO employs a “Penetrator” system to conduct search and rescue operations in their area, the second largest harbor area in Florida.

Right Bottom: The agencies AS-350 B3e has just recently completed outfitting with a customized interior fitted by their in house team.