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Meet the aircraft
The CL-415 developed from Canadair's piston-engined CL-215. Turboprops and updated equipment retained the flying-boat layout: a boat hull, high wing and retractable landing gear. It was designed for aerial firefighting, with other utility and rescue roles also possible. Water collection and release equipment are fundamental parts of the aircraft rather than optional scenery.
Aircraft background
Wikipedia contributors · Read more ↗The intense flying she loved, and the waiting between calls
Crombez first watched CL-415s while training in Thunder Bay and set her sights on flying one. Bush flying and two seasons transporting firefighters in a Twin Otter preceded the opportunity. She remembered the water bomber’s intense flying with enthusiasm, but found the long periods on standby much harder: a quiet season could wear down a crew’s morale. The interview also describes the prejudice she encountered.
AeroTime interview · September 2022. Ontario CL-415 work beginning in 2014; earlier Twin Otter support flying is a separate assignment.
AeroTime · Read more ↗The original MSFS 2020 release
Microsoft’s September 2024 announcement offered the CL-415 for immediate use in MSFS 2020 as an MSFS 2024 preorder bonus. That dated entitlement does not establish a current standalone purchase option.
CL-415 · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2020
Microsoft Flight Simulator Team · Read more ↗Into the cockpit
YouTube Cow Town · 26 min ·
Microsoft Flight Simulator | First flight in the De Havilland Canada CL-415!
A first flight with the CL-415 in Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Simulator · CL-415 · MSFS
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Meet De Havilland Canada CL-415
The CL-415 developed from Canadair's piston-engined CL-215. Turboprops and updated equipment retained the flying-boat layout: a boat hull, high wing and retractable landing gear. It was designed for aerial firefighting, with other utility and rescue roles also possible.
The simulator combines the aircraft's systems with water collection, release and firefighting mission tools. The later DHC-515 is a separate development.
De Havilland Canada CL-415
De Havilland Canada → · Explore the family →
De Havilland Canada CL-415
Wikipedia contributors · Canadair CL-415 ↗Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2024 →Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2020 →Aircraft type designators
Use the code for the model you are flying. The linked authority lists the applicable aircraft.
History & design
A newer flight deck begins its test programme
De Havilland Canada reported a CL-415 flight with the Collins Pro Line Fusion upgrade at Abbotsford on 30 May 2022. Certification was still ahead in that announcement. The optional upgrade programme covered several firefighting variants; it does not establish that every CL-415 has the same cockpit.
De Havilland Canada · First flight of the CL-415 avionics upgrade ↗Manufacturer announcement · June 2022
Development milestones
First flight: 6 December 1993
Developed from: Canadair CL-215
Wikipedia contributors · Canadair CL-415 ↗Canadair CL-415 · family/variant named by the source · Wikipedia revision 1371109884
Pilot accounts
The intense flying she loved, and the waiting between calls
Crombez first watched CL-415s while training in Thunder Bay and set her sights on flying one. Bush flying and two seasons transporting firefighters in a Twin Otter preceded the opportunity. She remembered the water bomber’s intense flying with enthusiasm, but found the long periods on standby much harder: a quiet season could wear down a crew’s morale.
The interview also describes the prejudice she encountered. She said most colleagues treated her respectfully, while a few made the job difficult enough that she eventually moved to the airlines. She still valued what firefighting had taught her about handling an aircraft and making decisions quickly.
AeroTime interview · September 2022. Ontario CL-415 work beginning in 2014; earlier Twin Otter support flying is a separate assignment.
Read the full account · AeroTime ↗Seeing the people beneath the fire
During private-pilot training, Duclos would taxi past the water bombers and imagine flying them one day. Years later, the Palisades fires gave that ambition an unusually difficult setting. After an early drop, he saw roads crowded with people trying to leave and realised how many lives were caught beneath the smoke.
He described having little time to dwell on those thoughts while approaching rough water or preparing the next drop. The emotions returned afterwards, together with uncertainty about exactly whom the crews had helped. His account credits the firefighters on the ground and explains why fresh crews mattered during demanding missions.
The Pilot Project Podcast, episode 49 · 2025. CL-415 operations during the Palisades fires; selected passages from the publicly indexed automatic transcript.
Read the full account · The Pilot Project Podcast / Metacast ↗Reading a stretch of water before returning to it again
Chicha’s explanation to boaters makes the water surface part of the crew’s working environment. Before a pickup, pilots look over the area and signal their intended path. The aircraft may then return repeatedly, so a single pass does not mean that its work nearby is finished. The account focuses on the people sharing that space as much as the aircraft itself.
Crews train through the seasons and learn the characteristics of different lakes, rivers and coastal locations. The interview also describes the unwelcome complication of fast boats or jet skis trying to race an aircraft. Those encounters add an avoidable distraction to work already shaped by changing water conditions and the demands of the fire.
BoatNews interview with the Canadair sector manager at Nîmes. Page dated July 2026; a crew-work explanation, without a claimed personal flight date.
Read the full account · BoatNews ↗In your simulator
Systems, equipment and documentation for each developer’s aircraft.
Compare simulator versions →MSFS 2024CL-415
Microsoft Flight Simulator · Released
CL-415
Microsoft Flight Simulator · Released
MSFS 2020CL-415
Microsoft Flight Simulator · Released
CL-415
Microsoft Flight Simulator · Released
Aircraft specifications
Published figures for the named real-aircraft variant. Simulator equipment and performance can differ.
| Specification | Published value |
|---|---|
| Length | 20.4 m (66 ft 11 in) |
| Wingspan | 28.38 m (93.11 ft) |
| Height | 9.01 m (29.55 ft) |
| Wing area | 100 m² (1,080 sq ft) |
| Empty weight | 13,608 kg (30,000 lb) |
| Gross weight | 21,319 kg (47,000 lb) Maximum After-scooping Weight |
| Max takeoff weight | 19,890 kg (43,850 lb) Firefighting, Land |
| Powerplant | 2 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PW123AF turboprop , 1,775 kW (2,380 hp) each ISA+20 °C Flat rated |
| Propellers | 4-bladed Hamilton Sundstrand 14SF-19, 3.97 m (13 ft 0 in) diameter Fully reversible, feathering blades |
| Maximum speed | 359 km/h (223 mph, 194 kn) Max Cruise |
| Cruise speed | 333 km/h (207 mph, 180 kn) Normal Cruise |
| Stall speed | 126 km/h (78 mph, 68 kn) MLW, Landing Configuration |
| Rate of climb | 5.9 m/s (1,170 ft/min) (ISA, MTOW) |
Manuals & resources
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Choose a topic for a short introduction and a link to the original source. Simulator references identify the developer and edition they cover.
Simulator documentation
The original MSFS 2020 releaseCL-415 · Microsoft Flight Simulator · MSFS 2020
Microsoft’s September 2024 announcement offered the CL-415 for immediate use in MSFS 2020 as an MSFS 2024 preorder bonus. That dated entitlement does not establish a current standalone purchase option.
2024-09-19 · release and package scope
Microsoft Flight Simulator Team · Read the source ↗Pilot account
The intense flying she loved, and the waiting between callsAeroTime interview · September 2022. Ontario CL-415 work beginning in 2014; earlier Twin Otter support flying is a separate assignment.
Crombez first watched CL-415s while training in Thunder Bay and set her sights on flying one. Bush flying and two seasons transporting firefighters in a Twin Otter preceded the opportunity. She remembered the water bomber’s intense flying with enthusiasm, but found the long periods on standby much harder: a quiet season could wear down a crew’s morale. The interview also describes the prejudice she encountered.
Emily Crombez
AeroTime · Read the source ↗Seeing the people beneath the fireThe Pilot Project Podcast, episode 49 · 2025. CL-415 operations during the Palisades fires; selected passages from the publicly indexed automatic transcript.
During private-pilot training, Duclos would taxi past the water bombers and imagine flying them one day. Years later, the Palisades fires gave that ambition an unusually difficult setting. After an early drop, he saw roads crowded with people trying to leave and realised how many lives were caught beneath the smoke. He described having little time to dwell on those thoughts while approaching rough water or preparing the next drop.
Pascal Duclos
The Pilot Project Podcast / Metacast · Read the source ↗Read the original documentation from the people who created it. Manuals open on their publisher’s website.
Manual
Microsoft Flight Simulator aircraft manualsMicrosoft / aircraft developersAircraft background
Canadair CL-415Wikipedia contributors · Research background · Wikipedia revision 1371109884 · retrieved 2026-09-12 First flight of the CL-415 avionics upgradeDe Havilland Canada · 1 June 2022Resource
MSFS 2024 FAQ and edition aircraft inventoryMicrosoftDeveloper documentation
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024: The Many Enhancements That Make This the Most Ambitious Flight Sim EverMicrosoft Flight Simulator Team · 2024-09-19 · release and package scopeType designator
ICAO Doc 8643 — aircraft type designatorsInternational Civil Aviation Organization · Public search data retrieved 2026-09-14; authority update 2026-09-03Built-in force-feedback profiles
Read the documentary basis, editable starting settings and remaining questions for the aircraft you fly. Each explanation refers to the exact profile revision shown.
Catalogue programme-20261022-v1 · 1 profile choice
De Havilland Canada CL-415
Free and Pro · Revision 2 · Partial review
MSFS 2024 · MSFS 2020
De Havilland Canada CL-415: The chosen resistance supports the amphibious transport’s control input.
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