Yes, that's what I thought. Essentially, Col was using an aircraft without floats and trying a risky technique where the wheels skipped across the surface of the water (like a flat stone, see video) and the attached scoops would fill the tank/s. I think for someone as skilled as Col, it would have been a relatively easy task in benign conditions. However, the technique is very risky for the average pilot. Throw in a bit of chop and the risk far outweighs the benefit. It's so easy for a wheel to dig in (as what happened with Col) and it's game over.
I couldn't envisage pilots doing such demanding flying to refill after having been on duty for over 10 hours.
Kevin Quinn World Record Plane Water Ski - YouTube
The 747 could land at any airport with a suitable pavement (or a pavement concession). Bearing in mind it would normally not have a lot of fuel onboard for fire bombing, so the aircraft would be relatively light compared to if it were doing an international flight. That would reduce the length of runway needed to operate.
I remember PAXing from Avalon to Tulla in 1992 after the airshow. There were about 50 of us onboard. The captain (Ray Heiniger) made a PA saying he was doing a "max performance takeoff' for the crowd. That involved a higher than usual flap setting and a standing start. We were only on the ground foe a few seconds. I suspect well under 1000m. That was impressive.
