Fred Fahey Aerial Services, based in Cowra, New South Wales, Australia, has become the world’s first fire-fighting operator to fight fires with the all-electric FRDS GEN III firegate designed and manufactured by Trotter Controls.
Installed on two of Fahey’s AT802s in November 2018, the gates have been actively involved in fighting fires during a very busy Australian season. “The new firegate is a significant, long term investment for us,” said Fred Fahey. “And, with the world becoming increasingly electric, we were excited to work with Trotter Controls to be their pioneering partner.
“We’re very pleased with the result and more importantly, so are our fire agency customers.” According to Victor Trotter, President of Trotter Controls, “We’ve worked very closely with Air Tractor to deliver the next generation of high performance, constant flow firegates for AT802F aircraft and we expect the ground breaking FRDS GEN III to be offered as factory equipment in late 2019.” said James O’Brien, Head of Sales for Field Air, Air Tractors’ Australian dealer is excited by the prospects for the new gate technology.
O’Brien added, “We’ve had numerous inquiries. The electric gate is about half the weight of its hydraulic predecessor, delivers more flow and uses fewer components, so is easier to install and maintain.” The FRDS GEN III, all-electric gate leverages Trotter Controls’ established DataVault Mission Control platform for control, telemetry and pilot interface functions. David Coward, DataVault Product Manager commented, “We conceived DataVault as a powerful, open and flexible logging, telemetry and control system. The DataVault along with its new vibrant color pilot display has delivered against all its objectives. With more than 100 aircraft installations world-wide, the DataVault platform is the perfect complement to the FRDS GEN III electric gate.”
Photo captions: The all-electric FRDS GEN III firegate by Trotter Controls mounted on Australian AT-802 owned by Fred Fahey Aerial Services with fairing removed. Fred Fahey Aerial Services’ Air Tractor with the all-electric FRDS GEN III.
