Conair buys two Daher TBM 960s
Conair has purchased two Daher TBM 960 aircraft as the company looks to modernize the air attack fleet used to fight wildfires. This surveillance aircraft is dispatched to fly continuously over a fire, monitoring fire activity, assessing risk, and strategizing airtanker drops.
According to Conair som components of their fleet of observation aircraft (sometimes referred to as 'Birddogs') is reaching the end of its lifespan. Obviously these aircraft have to fly under harsh conditions, facing turbulence, heat, smoke, and fluctuating elevations on a continuous basis. Currently Conair operates five Cessna C208B Caravans and eight Rockwell TC-690 Turbo Commanders in this role.
The TBM 960 is a state of the art turboprop, able to fly either fast, keeping pace with large airtankers or fly low and slow, showing airtankers where to place drops on a wildfire. The 960 can also be converted into a multi-role platform, if desired by government agency partners, incorporating ISR technologies used to map wildfires or provide search & rescue capability.
The Daher TBM 960 aircraft will be retrofitted by Conair with specialized avionics and equipment specific to wildfire operations before deploying as Air Attack lead planes, or “Birddogs,” providing tactical and strategic direction to aerial firefighting aircraft over wildfires.
The first TBM 960 for Conair was already registered by the end of 2024 as C-FXWF (MSN 1563). The identity of the second aircraft is still unknown to us.
Illustration: Conair