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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 1487.PDF
FLIGHT, 11 October 195? cized in the Commonwealth, and here agricultural users have longurged British manufacturers to develop new aircraft tailor-made to meet their requirements, which predominantly concern top-dressing rather than spraying. This work is big business and accounts for many more hours per year than the local airlines andflying clubs put together. Two years ago, in nearly 85,000 hours' flying, 405,000 tons of superphosphate, lime and basic slag weredropped in addition to nearly 400,000 gallons of sprayed chemicals for weed and crops. The operators' demands have been met with the Auster Agricolaand the Percival E.P.9; both machines are now in operation in New Zealand and the manufacturers also expect to find a readymarket in Australia and many other countries. Each design shows a specialist approach to the task in hand. Among the problemspeculiar to agricultural work aircraft that have to be tackled are the combating of the corrosive effects on the aircraft structure ofthe chemicals carried, particularly when the dry materials become wet. Elevator and rudder control cables in both aircraft, forinstance, are left exposed so that they can be easily inspected and cleaned, and the structures are of welded steel tube with fabriccovering aft of the hopper. The Agricola's control cables are nylon-covered to prevent contamination.Bearing in mind that in many parts of the world agricultural work is seasonal and sporadic, the E.P.9 has been designed tofulfil a dual role as an agricultural aircraft and a utility freight and passenger transport. The Agricola, on the other hand, ismore closely tailored to agricultural needs. Another specialist aircraft is the American Fletcher, which also made its debut inNew Zealand. Here and in Africa the Tiger Moth is still widely used in anagricultural role. This aeroplane is particularly useful for opera- tions where lighter application rates are required and the abilityto carry heavy loads is less important. One British company, Crop Culture (Aerial), Ltd., has successfully operated Tigers in its fleetfor two years and plans to use them again next season. Another type of aircraft which has had a part to play in agri-culture is the helicopter, but because of high operating costs and other factors, only a few are in use—mainly small helicopters, suchas the Bell 47 and the Hiller 360s and 12Cs operated by Fison- Airwork, one of the largest industrial helicopter operators outsidethe U.S. Helicopter protagonists claim that on every count but cost therotary wing scores over the fixed wing for aerial spraying. Several new types of aeroplanes have recently been built, amongthem the Kingsford Smith PL-7, the Transland Ag-2 (both developed "on the spot" from direct agricultural experience), theCzech Brigadyr and the Dutch HA-001; but little information is yet available to show how they are proving their worth. Looking ahead, it seems likely that the small, versatile aircraftwill be in greatest demand, since capital for initial investment is still hard to come by in this growing and still new industry. At thesame time there will undoubtedly be a place for larger machines of Bristol Freighter or Boeing KG-97 size, both of which have beenused in the past for specialist operations. There is a growing need for more agricultural-flying training schools.Finally, the equipment fitted to the aeroplane is as important as the aircraft itself in establishing a sound economy for agriculturalwork. Until recently, crop-spraying machines were fitted with Agriculturists of three nations. (Top) the Italian Meteor 55 Cargo Agricolo; (right) the unconventional Australian Kingsford Smith PL-7 tanker, and (below, left and right) contemporary British rivals, the Auster Agricola and Edgar Percival E.P.9. 577 rudimentary boom and nozzles which showed little improvementover the type towed behind a tractor by the fanner and, in the fertilizing and dusting roles, aircraft hoppers have often lackedefficient spreaders. Consequently, chemicals have had to be diluted to allow for the shortcomings of application techniques. One significant departure in spraying equipment is the Micro-nair rotary atomizer developed by Britten-Norman, Ltd. This produces uniform droplets to a finely controlled diameter, thusmaking it possible to cover larger acreages efficiently with a given quantity of liquid. Such equipment can be fitted to any agricul-tural aeroplane, and has already been exported to operators in most parts of the world. Developments of this kind, together with improvements inchemical formulae and the increased availability of aeroplanes designed specifically for agricultural work, promise well for thefuture of this vigorous and expanding branch of aviation.
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