Crop Dusting with Helicopters

Well we had heavy T'storms last night but now it looks good. waiting
for the plants to dry a little so the chemical sticks instead of
running off. I've asked at the National Aerial Applicators Association
annual convention several times over the years about how many ag pilots
there were and 5K is about right. Perhaps that many more foreign. small
pool any way you look at it! And we always look around at all the gray
haired farts and wonder where the new blood is. I think the average age
is 50'ish. As for aircraft, turbines are slowly taking over. There are
a number of conversions done by Soloy on the Bell 47 and Hiller 12E and
are for the most part good working machines. expensive but good
workers. Parts are a problem and will continue until someone bites the
bullet and starts new production. Several attempts have been made but
none lasted that long. Market is too small to really support the heavy
investment. That is the primary reason Robinson has been so successful.
There were some guys up in the NW who did some wheat spraying with R-22
but I haven't heard much about them.
An airplane can outwork the helicopter because of bigger loads. They
can do 2-400 acres per hour while I am happy to get a steady 100 acres
per hour. Aairplanes need big fields to support them. but they also
need a lot of turnaround area and people don't like the noise of low
flying aircraft. I can get into a field, spray it and never leave the
confines of the target field until I depart. In this area there are a
lot of lakes and summer homes where the folks like the solitude and
copmplain if ANYONE/thing makes too much noise. they are mostly city
people who come up for weekends or vacations.
Gotta get my old butt in gear and go make some money. It looks like
another fly till dark (2100)
Cheers
Rocky

wrote:

and 5K is about right.

OKAY----- Here I am playing devil's advocate.

If your the only pilot on your machine then one pilot = one machine.

If only 2000 pilots are actively working at any given time and the
pilot to machine ratio is the same then 2000 pilots = 2000 machines.

So the curious question is how many machines are there out there
being used in the AG business.

Now here is the spoiler.

Some of those pilots fly fixed wing some fly helicopters.

So how many AG helicopter pilots are there out there and of
course how many helicopters are there doing AG work.

I was under the impression that the number of bell 47 type machines
still flying period..... was very very small.

Now if turbines are being used on a more frequent basis as you say then
your comment about turbines showing up makes a lot of sense.

KEVIN.... I know your reading this.

Maybe there is a turbine job in your future after all.

Now Bart made a comment in another thread about the Safari
Baby Bell.

I understand from what I've read about it that it is about
two thirds the size of a 47 which really wouldn't matter
for AG work.... I would think.

Payload would be the issue...... Don't know is Stu is floating around
these days ( he owns one ), but does anyone here know if the payload
on one of those machines would be comparable to a Bell 47.

If if was, you would think there might be a nice little niche market
for Safari to fill that could help them sell machines for decades to
come.

Wow am I ever being wordy and curious today. All that on only one cup
of coffee.

The only similarity between the Bell 47 and the Safari is the looks.
I would not want to do Ag work with it.

hennie

"SHIVER ME TIMBERS" wrote in message
...
wrote:

and 5K is about right.

OKAY----- Here I am playing devil's advocate.

If your the only pilot on your machine then one pilot = one machine.

If only 2000 pilots are actively working at any given time and the
pilot to machine ratio is the same then 2000 pilots = 2000 machines.

So the curious question is how many machines are there out there
being used in the AG business.

Now here is the spoiler.

Some of those pilots fly fixed wing some fly helicopters.

So how many AG helicopter pilots are there out there and of
course how many helicopters are there doing AG work.

I was under the impression that the number of bell 47 type machines
still flying period..... was very very small.

Now if turbines are being used on a more frequent basis as you say then
your comment about turbines showing up makes a lot of sense.

KEVIN.... I know your reading this.

Maybe there is a turbine job in your future after all.

Now Bart made a comment in another thread about the Safari
Baby Bell.

I understand from what I've read about it that it is about
two thirds the size of a 47 which really wouldn't matter
for AG work.... I would think.

Payload would be the issue...... Don't know is Stu is floating around
these days ( he owns one ), but does anyone here know if the payload
on one of those machines would be comparable to a Bell 47.

If if was, you would think there might be a nice little niche market
for Safari to fill that could help them sell machines for decades to
come.

Wow am I ever being wordy and curious today. All that on only one cup
of coffee.

Hennie Roets wrote:

Hey Hennie..... Nice to hear from you again.

So is today the first day of winter over there in your neck of the
woods.

Today's the longest day over here.

So out of curiousity.... What sort of AG operations do they
have over in South Africa and Africa in general.

Is it a big or small industry.

You know me..... I'm curious, so I'll ask you if you feel up to doing a
little narrative about your flying activities, what sort of things do
you do in the aviation industry, etc., etc., etc.

No, we are slap bang in the middle of the winter. So far it was not to bad.

There is a lot of fixed wing ag operations going on with almost no
rotorcraft AG work.
A friend of mine had a Enstrom with which he did some AG work.

They use helicopters a lot in game capturing operations mainly 300's R22's
and the odd Jet Ranger.

Not a very big industry , I posted some figures on licences and aircraft in
another thread about a week ago
under "Is this forum still operating".

I am mainly a recreational pilot. Fly my R22 over weekends. We also do a
helicopter trip once a year to
some nice locations in South Africa. This year we got invited while flying
past "Waterloo" who is the main
military airfield in South Africa to do a fly past along the runway. We
were 5 helicopters ranging from a R44,
R22 , Bell 47 and two Kompresses which is a Italian experimental.
Rocky might still remember the place. In the earlier years they locked you
up if you even got to close.

I also did a bit of game capturing helping my brother who is in the hunting
business.

I am also involved in experimental aircraft, just finished a all metal 2
seater low wing aircraft using a converted
Suzuki car engine (1600 cc 16 valve) that I converted to electronic
ignition and fuel injection. We already did
a few test flights and everything seems to be OK.

Want to get that out of the way because I have a Helicycle turbine project
on the way.

Regards

hennie


"SHIVER ME TIMBERS" wrote in message
...
Hennie Roets wrote:

Hey Hennie..... Nice to hear from you again.

So is today the first day of winter over there in your neck of the
woods.

Today's the longest day over here.

So out of curiousity.... What sort of AG operations do they
have over in South Africa and Africa in general.

Is it a big or small industry.

You know me..... I'm curious, so I'll ask you if you feel up to doing a
little narrative about your flying activities, what sort of things do
you do in the aviation industry, etc., etc., etc.

Sorry the military airfield is "waterkloof" and not waterloo

hennie

Hennie Roets wrote:

No, we are slap bang in the middle of the winter. So far it was not to bad.

What an interesting post.

So are you in the aviation field full time or do you actually
have a day job.

Because with your description it sure sounds like aviation
could keep you busy full time.

I am in a full time job as well. Me and a Partner are in the radio
communication business.
However that job tend to interfere with the aviation one

Regards

hennie

"SHIVER ME TIMBERS" wrote in message
...
Hennie Roets wrote:

No, we are slap bang in the middle of the winter. So far it was not to
bad.

What an interesting post.

So are you in the aviation field full time or do you actually
have a day job.

Because with your description it sure sounds like aviation
could keep you busy full time.

Now THESE are the posts that make wading through the usual "Earn quick
money now!" crap worth it. I love reading the day-to-day exploits of a
career helicopter pilot.

I'm a private pilot working on the commercial rating but that's mostly
just for the added proficiency (and bragging rights, to be honest 8^) )
- I will probably never earn a single shiny simolean flying a
helicopter. So, SelwayKid (and others), keep this stuff coming. I love
it.

This makes me wonder again what happened to Bob Barbanes - he had some
fine stories to tell here but AFAIK he disappeared from the group a
couple years ago.

Dave Blevins

On 20 Jun 2005 05:58:53 -0700, wrote:

Well we had heavy T'storms last night but now it looks good.

..snip.

wrote:

This makes me wonder again what happened to Bob Barbanes - he had some
fine stories to tell here

Yes he has been heard from in a couple of years.

Last I heard through the group he was test flying turbine machines
for one of the manufacturers.