Turbine Agricultural Aircraft For Sale

About Turbine Agricultural Aircraft

Although turbine agricultural aircraft have been around for less time than their piston-powered agricultural aircraft, these days they’re the predominant aircraft type used for aerial applicator tasks, including fertiliser and pesticide applications, seeding and sowing, and crop and field analysis. The U.S. National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) says companies specialising in aerial applications treat nearly 130 million acres, or about 30%, of commercial U.S. cropland each year. Of the aircraft used in these operations, 84% are fixed-wing planes and 16% rotorcraft/helicopters, and when combining these, roughly 80% use turbine engines compared to about 20% using piston power plants.

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Air Tractor AT-802A

Along with delivering nutrients, controlling weeds, and combatting pests and diseases, turbine ag aircraft can typically perform numerous other functions, as well, including fighting fires. The Thrush 510 P, for example, is equipped with a Pratt & Whitney PT6A-34AG turbine engine, and in addition to treating crops is used to feed shrimp, top-dress timber, clean oil spills, aid in drug enforcement actions, and more. Another Pratt & Whitney turbine engine-equipped ag aircraft, the Air Tractor AT-802A, is used for numerous forestry tasks in various regions of the world.

Turbine Ag Aircraft Advantages

The NAAA says Pratt & Whitney Canada began working on developing a smaller gas turbine engine in 1957. It wouldn’t be until 1975, though, when turbine engines appeared in ag aircraft. When they did, they introduced greater speed, power, reliability, and support for larger payloads over piston models, not to mention greater fuel efficiency. The advent of these highly useful aeroplanes resulted in longer, much more productive shifts in the fields.

Turbine ag planes are well-suited to aerial application, as they can treat crops and sow seed in remote locations and over rougher terrain that may hinder access to land-based application equipment. And because aerial application doesn’t cause any compaction or disruption of a field’s soil, they can treat taller crops in mid-season if needed. Modern turbine ag planes are also often equipped with GPS and precision ag technologies for greater precision and accuracy, reducing or eliminating skips and overlaps and greatly reducing chemical drifting.

Turbine Agricultural Aircraft Characteristics

Like other modern aircraft, turbine ag aircraft are sophisticated machines with numerous performance and safety features. The aforementioned Thrush 510 P, for example, provides a full-color glass panel display that make it easy to keep an eye on vital performance-related information, such as boom pressure, in direct sunlight. The aircraft also offers wire-strike protection, lightweight fiberglass hoppers that make it easy to keep track of your levels while in flight, powder-coat finishes that resist exposure to chemicals and moisture, and wide-stance landing gear for utilising rough landing strips.

The Air Tractor AT-802-A equips a 3,030-litre (800-gallon) hopper and has a 4,195-kilogram (9,249-pound) payload; the manufacturer says it’s the world’s largest single-engine ag aircraft. The plane can also carry 960 L (254 gal) of fuel while working at speeds from 209 to 257 km/h (130 to 160 mph), with an economy cruise range of 980 kilometres (610 miles). Air Tractor also offers AT-502 and AT-602 models with smaller, 1,890- and 2,270-L (500- and 600-gal) hoppers.

Find The Right Turbine Agricultural Aircraft

You’ll find new and used turbine agricultural aircraft for sale on ControllerEMEA.co.uk, including planes from manufacturers like Air Tractor and Thrush.