Latitude Technologies

Latitude SkyNode S200-011 Provides Real-time Flight Following for California-bound Martin Mars Water Bomber

Responding to an urgent call from the State of California, British Columbia-based Coulson Flying Tankers has dispatched one of its world-renowned Martin Mars water bombers to southern California to join in the fight against the wildfires that have been ravaging the state and are currently threatening thousands of homes and commercial properties, displacing a million California residents.

The Martin Mars is the world’s largest flying boat, with a payload capacity of 60,000 lbs of water and fire retardant. The Martin Mars water bombers rely on Latitude Technologies’ SkyNode S200-011 to handle automatic flight following (AFF) and real-time web-based tracking of the aircraft’s current positioning and trailing flight path.

Extending his best wishes to the Martin Mars flight and ground crews for a safe and successful mission, Latitude President, Mark Insley, noted that the SkyNode S200-011 has continually demonstrated its performance reliability in supporting the Martin Mars water bombers and hundreds of other fire-fighting aircraft.  “The flight deck of an at-work fire-fighting aircraft is a very busy place. Using satellite communications networks to connect aircraft data feeds to ground control enables Latitude’s SkyNode devices to deliver AFF and other performance data no matter where in the world the plane or chopper is deployed.”

About the S200-011

The SkyNode® S200-011 and sister S200 devices are the smallest, lightest, most versatile and economical to operate voice and 2-way data communication devices in the world.  The S200-11 provides satphone and data networking for aircraft operating anywhere on the planet.  Data functions include autonomous and host-polled asset positioning, sensor/event relay, email, and custom messaging interfaces.  The S200-011 is well suited for SAR/VIP and other air/ground logistics applications including dispatch and crew safety.

About Latitude Technologies:  Latitude Technologies

Corporation, headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia is a leading supplier of avionics voice and data equipment and services used by customers worldwide for the management of risk and location of critical assets.  Latitude operates the Sentinel data management and mapping service and provides telematics and remote communication system engineering consulting, including custom application development.

About Coulson Flying Tankers

Coulson Flying Tankers is located on Sproat Lake, near Port Alberni on Vancouver Island.  The Flying Tankers provide protection on a callout service or contract basis to any company or agency requiring the unique initial attack and sustained action qualities of the Martin Mars.