Two New Airport Crash Tenders
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A'a development of the successful Thornycroft Nubian 4 x 4 crosscountry chassis, which has been supplied extensively to customers overseas for rough-track conditions, a Nubian 6 x 6 chassis has been introduced. This has a larger gross carrying capacity, and incorporates the Rolls-Royce B81 petrol engine.
Two types of airport rescue tender, one for Jersey and one for India, have now been built on the 6 x 6 chassis, in both cases by the Sun Engineering (Richmond), Ltd., Kingston-on-Thames, Surrey.
The machine for Jersey has been designed and built to a specification drawn up by the chief fire officer, Mr. J. W. Auton, to deal with narrow roads, difficult terrain and lack of early outside assistance.
The Sun dual-purpose foam-water pump gives an output of 3,000 g.p.m of foam at 14: 1 expansion ratio for more than three minutes without replenishment of the water tank. With additional water, 35,000 gallons of foam can be produced from the foam compound carried. This pump will also give 350 g.p.m. of water at 70 p.s.i. for major structural fires, and a 20 g.p.m. first-aid hose-reel service for small fires is incorporated.
The fire tender for India is the first of a large order for the Indian Air Force. It has two Sun dual-purpose pumps, one driven by the power take-off c4. from the distribution gearbox and the other by a V8 auxiliary engine. This permits the delivery of foam at full volume by the monitor during the approach to the crashed aircraft. On coming to a stop, the gearbox-driven pump is also brought into operation, increasing the output to 5,000 g.p.m.
For structural fires, water at 400 g.p.m. and 60 p.s.i. can be pumped by the same installation. Either or both pumps can produce foam or deliver water on to a fire, or one can be operated on each medium. The vehicle also carries 300 lb. of CO,„ which can be discharged from one or both hose reels at up to 825 cu. ft. per minute.