There are a lot of different aircraft that fight wildfires, from Host Matt's favorite Sky Crane helicopter to giant cargo jets that dump tons of fire retardant. But today we're taking about a truly unique, purpose-built firefighting airplane: the Super Scooper. This plane skims the surface of a body of water, collects a shocking amount through tiny scoop ports, flies off, and dumps it on a wildfire. We talk to a pilot about what it's like to fly one.

Thanks to our guest in this episode:

• Scott Blue, Pilot, Bridger Aerospace

Find the transcript here.

AirSpace is created by the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum with generous support from Lockheed Martin.