Kraków 2022-09-15
Airport equipment.
Airport Fire Department.
Chubb Fire Unipower R44 4×4 combat vehicle.
Description of the photo: The presented combat vehicle of the airport fire brigade Chubb Fire Unipower R44 4×4 is located in the Museum of Agriculture and Food Industry in Szreniawa near Poznań. The vehicle was purchased in 1975. It received PWD 8865 registration and was approved for traffic on roads. The vehicle was used at the Poznań – Ławica Airport.
Chubb Fire & Security – UK-USA.
Chubb Fire & Security is a British-American fire protection and security company. The company is owned by the American company United Technologies Corporation. The company was founded in 1818 by Charles and Jeremiah Chubb, who were involved in the production of secure door locks. The brothers won a competition for a door lock that can only be opened with one key of their own. In 1850, the company entered the US market. The company developed the first time locks for vaults. In the 19th century, Chubb won notable customers such as the Duke of Wellington and the Bank of England. After the Second World War, Chubb expanded its activities to fire safety, and then to fire suppression. Chubb Fire & Security acquired a number of rival companies, including: Chatwood-Milner Ltd. (1958), Burgot Alarms Ltd and Rely-a-Bell (1962), Read and Campbell Limited (1964), Josiah Parkes and Sons Ltd. (1965), The Pyrene Company Limited (1967). In 1984, Chubb Fire & Security itself was acquired by the British company Gloster Saro, and according to other data by Racal Electronics. The Chubb company was reborn in 2000.
Chubb Fire Unipower R44 4×4.
Fire marking according to PN-79: GPr-3000.
Simultaneously with the purchase of large Chubb Fire Pathfinder 6×6 cars, in 1975 smaller Chubb Fire Unipower R44 4×4 – GPr-3000 vehicles were purchased for Polish airports. The cars were built on the Reynolds Boughton 4×4 chassis. This car used only powder to extinguish the fire. He had a stock of 3,000 kg. It is ejected with nitrogen contained in 12 cylinders. The cars were purchased for the Okęcie, Balice, Ławica and Jasionka Airports.
The chassis of the RFF vehicle was a Reynolds Boughton with a Rolls Royce gasoline engine, 235hp. The engine was 8-cylinder in line. The engine displacement was 6,522 cm3. The fuel consumption was 40 liters per 100 km. 5-speed manual gearbox and reverse gear. The drive was transmitted to all four wheels. The top speed was 120 km / h. The front axle of the vehicle was steered. The vehicle body consisted of two parts. There is a cabin with the driver’s seat in the front. The second part is a special body. The total weight of the vehicle was 11,500 kg.
The vehicle has a powder tank with a capacity of 3,000 kg. 12 10-liter cylinders with a pressure of 210 bar each were used to discharge the powder through a powder gun mounted on the roof of the vehicle. The capacity of the cannon was 40 kg of powder in 1 second. Additionally, the vehicle was equipped with two quick attack lines with powder nozzles, each with a capacity of 2.7 kg / s.
Additionally, the vehicle had emergency equipment in the form of a set of hydraulic and pneumatic tools (angle grinder, spreader, pneumatic cushions) by Weber and medical equipment (stretchers, large and small first aid kits), breathing apparatus, four light heat-resistant clothing and one heavy heat-resistant clothing. Two air cylinders in a backpack type set could be used for the pneumatic tools. There were also typical fire tools in the vehicle: an ax, crowbar, knives, rope with a hook, shovel, fire blankets, ladder.
In 1975, Chubb Fire Unipower R44 4×4 cars entered service at the Okęcie, Rębiechowo, Balice, Ławica and Jasionka airports. Vehicles with manual transmissions were purchased for Polish airports, although the company’s offer included automatic transmissions. But that would mean a further $ 30,000 increase in the purchase price. Manual gearboxes have proven to be reliable. The purchase agreement provided for the purchase of the extinguishing powder only from Chubb Fire, after the threat of voiding the warranty. However, due to the high purchase cost of extinguishing powder, domestic powders were used relatively quickly.
In 1975, the Chubb Fire Unipower R44 4×4 vehicle met the high standards of the airport security and was very modern at the time. High suspension made it possible to overcome difficult terrain; boggy or sandy. A reinforced grille was mounted on the forehead of the vehicle, which served as a battering ram to overcome fences and closed gates, and to ram bushes and young trees.
By the early 1980s, the Chubb Fire Unipower R44 4×4 vehicles lost their importance as the fire department phased out the use of dry powder. Although the powders were effective, the powder-extinguished facilities were not suitable for renovation. It was unprofitable to convert these cars into water-foam ones, because there was a problem with connecting the water pumps to the vehicle drive. It was cheaper to buy a new JELCZ fire extinguishing vehicle.
Written by Karol Placha Hetman