June 8, 2022, South Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA –

At this year’s Aerial Fire Fighting conference in Nimes, France, Fire Boss LLC signed a historic fleet order with Air Tractor Europe. The order consists of eight Fire Bosses with an option for an additional eight. The first delivery is scheduled for late 2022.

Rafael Selma, General Director, of Air Tractor Europe said “We at Air Tractor Europe were the early adopters of the Fire Boss. Since 2003 we have delivered over 75 across Europe. With this order, we are positioned to further expand into markets that recognize the advantage of initial attack and want lower operating costs than other scooper tankers in the market.”

“This unprecedented order solidifies acceptance of the initial attack strategy for aerial firefighting in Europe. It is the economic and ecological choice to successfully combat wildfires” said Clint E. Clouatre, Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Fire Boss, LLC followed by Stephen Johnson, Global Sales Director for Fire Boss LLC, “Our partner, Air Tractor Europe, is leading the way for the success of the Fire Boss in this territory and are key to new countries utilizing this efficient platform.”

Key points

• The Fire Boss is a modified AT802F, manufactured by Air Tractor
• The Fire Boss is composed of Wipline 10000A scooping amphibious floats designed and built by Wipaire
• The Fire Response Dispersal System (FRDS) is computer controlled for optimum on-target water dropping utilizing the Gen III Fire Gate
• With this order, Fire Boss will reach the milestone of 160+ deliveries worldwide

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About Air Tractor Europe

Air Tractor Europe is the exclusive Air Tractor distributor for Europe, North Africa, and Middle East. The company was established in 1965 and has been an Air Tractor dealer since October 1996. ATE has a large structure ready to provide integral services for the procurement, maintenance, consulting, training, and aerial operation.

Aircraft facilities in Castellón, Spain include an EASA145 maintenance and AT802 repair center with avionics, engines and propeller capabilities, a CAMO+ center, an EASA147 training center, a flight school for land and amphibious training and an FTD Leve 2 simulator for both land and amphibious AT802.

March 31, 2022, Fire Boss announced a refreshed branding to its iconic Fire Boss brand.  “As it approaches the 20^th anniversary of its first delivery, we determined now is the time to launch a new look.  With over 145 aircraft in operation, worldwide, I asked our Marketing team to refresh the branding, bringing a tactical look expressing the capabilities of the Fire Boss”, said Chuck Wiplinger, President and CEO of both Fire Boss LLC  and Wipaire Inc.  “The aggressive font combined with the image of a Fire Boss in action allows our expanding market to instantly recognize the capability of the aircraft”.

Fire Boss Facts

• 145 + Fire Boss operating in 15+ countries and four continents
• Installed exclusively on the Air Tractor 802F
• Uses Wipline 10000 amphibious floats made in South Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
• Dispatched in as little as 5 minutes
• Drops up to 800 gallons of water per sortie
• It can stay and fight for over 3 hours

Fire Boss, LLC delivered its 100th set of Fire Boss floats this month during an event held at their headquarters in South St. Paul, Minnesota. Accepting this milestone delivery was aerial firefighting operator, Air Spray USA, LTD based in Chico, California.

“We are extremely proud of the property and lives saved with the Fire Boss. Over 15 years ago, we had an idea of making a smarter, faster and dependable SEAT (single engine air tanker). To deliver the 100th set surpasses any expectations we had at the beginning.” Said Bob Wiplinger, CEO of Wipaire, Inc. which owns Fire Boss, LLC.

The Fire Boss is the product of an alliance between Air Tractor, the world’s leading manufacturer of aerial spraying aircraft and Fire Boss, the innovator in aerial firefighting. Air Tractor makes the pre-installation modifications to the Pratt & Whitney PT6A-7F engine and to its AT-802F aircraft. Then, Fire Boss LLC completes the conversion, adding specialized Wipline water scooping floats.

“Teams on the ground expect quick, reliable first strike capability and this demand influenced our decision to invest in the Fire Boss” Said Ravi Saip, General Manager for Air Spray USA Inc. “This is our 6th Fire Boss and it will be put into immediate service, supporting the Western and Central United States.”

Fire Boss equipped aircraft currently operate in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. In operation, the Fire Boss cost per gallon of dispersed water is 70% less than the CL-415 amphibious tanker and can be dispatched in as little as 5 minutes.