Swords into Ploughshares

Two enormous planes we observed at Sproat Lake. My notes suggest that these are WWII vintage bombers converted for use as water-bombers, but as I look at the picture here I'm inclined to think of them as converted cargo planes. Be that as it may, we have a civilian conversion of an originally military item. Apparently, these planes take up more water faster than any other. They scoop up water while gliding along the surface of a lake and then transport the water to the location of a fire, and there drop it onto the fire. Our guide, Lee Henderson, quoted the acreage a single drop can cover, but I didn't write it down and I have no memory for such things, as a rule.