tk628 said:
Besides, the regulatory nightmare, and lack of ability to fly a conventional gear airplane in the airfarce means it'll never hit the flight line.... but isnt there some GS contractors that fly these over the cocoa fields in Columbia spraying the growing white stuff?
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Simply a matter of good instruction. No big deal to fly conventional gear. Yes they have been using turbine aircraft to spray cocoa and marijuana for years in central/South America and in parts of Asia. It is actually called Department of State Air Wing. They base out of Patrick AFB in Florida. I flew with them in the 90's and it was a joke. One side was the crop dusters and the other was the "support" group flying mostly UH-1 and mostly made up of X military pilots. US Customs had their reps desk next to ours. Each group seemed to have its own little enclave and they were all so secretive to the point of inefficiency. The crop dusters (Ag) just wanted to go spray the fields and get the job done. Problem was, we were hamstrung by state on what fields we could spray. We saw large fields growing and couldn't touch them because of political heat because the fields were owned by General so/so, or by Minister so/so. We were tasked with spraying little fields barely the size of a small room that were subsistance fields grown by farmers who barely were staying alive.
The aircraft flown were the Ayres Thrush with a P&W 1000hp turbine. Had range of about 4-5 hours, armored cockpit and engine compartment, self sealing fuel tanks, full avionics package including VLF/Omega, WX radar, and ILS capability. Many of us quit when the whole pay package was changed and we had to domicile in PAFB or USA which killed our tax advantages in addition to the lower pay. It was not uncommon for aircraft to come back with bullet holes in them. The support was non existent from the rotor end and all we heard was them bitching about pay scales and having to learn to speak spanish, and living conditions, etc. Bunch of weenies that we had no respect for mostly.
The AT802 is one helluva good machine for COIN ops.
Designed by Leland Snow in Texas who is well respected as an aircraft designer/manufacturer/pilot. I've known him for 30 years.
When I was spraying in Mozambique in the early 70's with Piper Pawnees, we carried some personal submachine guns for self protection. On at least one occasion I was shot at when I was nearly hit and took offensive actions against the Frelimo terrorists by dumping a load of highly toxic chemicals on them. I know I got at least 6 that I counted when I made my pull-up and scooted over the trees. It was confirmed later when I heard they put a bounty on my head. Lots of instances back then similar to mine. Problem was were flying aircraft that were not designed for anything but ag work. No gyro instruments, no radio, eyeball nav, limited fuel and speed, fabric covered, etc. The AgCats we flew were bigger and with 600hp radial engines and same kinds of limitations but they were also noisy as hell. The civilians in Rhodesia were dropping mortars via PVC pipe mounted to the wing strut and landing gear.
Could go on and on with stories. Great life!!!
Semper Fi
Rocky
