43 Grupo
During the summer period – and the height of the firefighting campaign in Spain’s Balearic Islands – a single CL-215T of the air force’s 43 Grupo is deployed to Mallorca. Carlo Kuit and Paul Kievit caught up with a unit that’s increasingly in demand for firefighting tasks across the country.
Captain Miguel Maroto behind the controls of a CL-215T.
Home-stationed at Torrejón air base on the mainland, 43 Grupo is today the sole operator of the Ejército del Aire’s (Spanish Air Force’s) two fixed-wing firefighting types: the CL-215T and the more modern Bombardier 415. These equip the group’s two squadrons: 431 and 432 Escuadrón. Type certificates for both these amphibious types are now held by Viking Air of British Columbia.
