After purchasing the type certificate, tooling and spare parts inventory for the CL-215/-415 amphibious firefighting aircraft on October 1 last year, Vancouver-island, British Columbia, Canada-based Viking Air had been quiet about its future plans. However, that changed in late October when the company launched the CL-415EAF enhanced aerial firefighting (EAF) model. The -415EAF will address short-term requirements of current or potential new customers who want to expand their fleets and, with updated avionics, serve as a base for a potential future aircraft. Now considering launching an upgraded model to be called the CL-515, Viking is building the business case and plans to make a decision by the middle of next year.

Viking Air director of special projects sales and marketing Christian Bergeron told AIN, that after the acquisition of the program, “The most important thing was to rebuild confidence in the customer support functions. Significant investment has been made in spare parts and building a team to establish better service levels, then take it further than before.” When Viking bought the business, spares support was difficult and the aerial firefighting market was not a priority for Bombardier, which had inherited the "Super Scooper" aerial firefighting aircraft program from Canadair.

Viking Air’s Bergeron explained that normal delays in restarting production prevented the company from meeting operators' short-term needs. He pointed out, “There are also new [ADS-B-related] navigation regulations in place and obsolescence of components in the -415 that needed short-term resolutions."

The CL-415EAF will address those issues for operators. Viking will upgrade the engines and reinforce the airframe and electrical distribution system. The next step is to update the avionics suite. The company has not yet selected which suite, but it will be a "well-established commercial-off-the-shelf system that will address the 2020 navigation changes and evolve it into future functionality. It will serve as a configuration for the future aircraft if we restart production,” said Bergeron.

Viking has purchased 11 piston-engine CL-215s for the project, has reservations for three of 11 aircraft and is pleased with that reaction. “We have a solid foundation to do the conversion, as there are already 25 CL-215Ts [turboprop conversions] in operations. We are targeting delivery of the -415EAF between 2020 and 2023, which would lead us into the start of new aircraft, if we start production of the CL-515,” Bergeron said.

Production and customer support for the -415EAF/-515 will be concentrated at Viking Air's Calgary headquarters facility.