SUSPENSION AND CONTROL HEAD APPARATUS FOR AERIAL FIREFIGHTING BUCKET

1 . A suspension and control head apparatus for an aerial firefighting bucket comprising:

a rigid frame member having an upper cargo attachment portion that is removably connectable to a cargo hook of a hover capable aircraft, the frame member including lower spaced apart cable attachment portions that are removably connectable to support cables that support the bucket;

the frame member defining bilateral opposite sides, one side being a solenoid side and the opposite side being a reel side;

a solenoid mounted on the solenoid side, the solenoid being coupled to an electrical source and a switch that energizes and deenergizes the solenoid;

a spring-loaded reel rotatably mounted on the reel side, the reel having wound thereon a cable when the reel is in a relaxed or nearly relaxed state, the cable having a stop member, wherein the solenoid and the reel are adjacent to each other on the opposite sides;

a latch that interferes with the stop member when the latch is in a latched position and the latch being moveable to a released position in which the latch releases the stop member;

a linkage that communicates from the solenoid side to the reel side, the linkage on the solenoid side being connected to the solenoid, the linkage on the reel side being connected to the latch, and the solenoid being operable to release the latch to be moved to the released position when the solenoid is energized; and

wherein with the stop member being released, the cable may be unwound from the reel against the spring bias of the reel with application of a downward force on the cable.

2 . The suspension and control head apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the cable is connected to a dump valve of the bucket, and the downward force is provided by the weight of water in the bucket acting upon the dump valve.

3 . The suspension and control head apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 and 2 , wherein the reel is operable to rewind the cable once the downward force is diminished to a lesser magnitude than the force provided by the reel.

4 . The suspension and control head apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 - 3 , wherein the linkage comprises:

a lobe on the solenoid side;

a shaft connected to the lobe and extending to the reel side and the latch being connected to the shaft; and

the solenoid is operable to release the lobe, which releases the latch to enable the latch to rotate from the latched position to the released position.

5 . The suspension and control head apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein the linkage further comprises a lever connected to a plunger of the solenoid, the lever having a roller that engages the lobe when the solenoid is deenergized, and wherein energizing the solenoid pulls the lever and the roller to release the lobe and thereby the latch.

6 . The suspension and control head apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 - 5 , further comprising a guide on the reel side that captures the stop member when the cable is wound onto the reel.

7 . The suspension and control head apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 - 6 , wherein the frame member is planar such that the cargo attachment portion and the cable attachment portions are in a plane.