The AT 802 is a very tough aircraft. They have been used for fire fighting in Australia for many years. One had a forced landing up in a forested section of the Darling Range in southwest Australia some years back with 800 gallons of water still on board. Pilot walked away totally unhurt. Amazing.
Incredible machines! Ive had a couple of showers from these guys during the black summer in Aus and am extremely grateful for the gutsy men and women who fly them.
There were 2 AT 802s flying out of KCPR last summer. I couldnt figure out at first what they were doing because we don’t have much farmland. Then I followed them on Flightradar and it became obvious they were doing fire suppression. They would essentially fly with one following the other fairly closely. The sound of two PT6s going over your house at low altitude is pretty damn cool. They were flying from about 5600’ in 95* F temperatures. It might have been these guys. Hey BrYan, thanks for this! I was fascinated watching them last summer. I hope there is little need for them this summer.
Interesting design. from the cockpit view it appears they have a very good frontal view of the ground. I am sure that they were specifically designed that way to aid in the low altitude flying these planes work in. Also thanks for showing the build photos of the frame; you can se it is super heavy compared to most aircraft in order to support all that water or crop dusting products.
Wow! Water is 8.3 #/g so a 500 gal load is 4150 pounds! Jet_A and Avgas is lighter, 6.7 #/g as we know, for planning our weight and balance. Loosing ~4000# in ~30 seconds must be quite a challenge!! 8) --gary
As the weight of the payload comes off, there has to be increased nose-down pressure on the stick to keep the nose from coming up at too steep an angle and stalling the plane, right?
The AT 802 is a very tough aircraft. They have been used for fire fighting in Australia for many years. One had a forced landing up in a forested section of the Darling Range in southwest Australia some years back with 800 gallons of water still on board. Pilot walked away totally unhurt. Amazing.
Yeah mate, the air tractor is amazing. I've seen them recently towing gliders over Camden Airport NSW.
Incredible machines! Ive had a couple of showers from these guys during the black summer in Aus and am extremely grateful for the gutsy men and women who fly them.
There were 2 AT 802s flying out of KCPR last summer. I couldnt figure out at first what they were doing because we don’t have much farmland. Then I followed them on Flightradar and it became obvious they were doing fire suppression. They would essentially fly with one following the other fairly closely. The sound of two PT6s going over your house at low altitude is pretty damn cool. They were flying from about 5600’ in 95* F temperatures. It might have been these guys. Hey BrYan, thanks for this! I was fascinated watching them last summer. I hope there is little need for them this summer.
Dusters killing fires... Love it!
Interesting design. from the cockpit view it appears they have a very good frontal view of the ground. I am sure that they were specifically designed that way to aid in the low altitude flying these planes work in. Also thanks for showing the build photos of the frame; you can se it is super heavy compared to most aircraft in order to support all that water or crop dusting products.
Interesting stuff! Thanks for sharing.
Good stuff.
Have the guys who fly these particular planes also flown ag?
Wow! Water is 8.3 #/g so a 500 gal load is 4150 pounds! Jet_A and Avgas is lighter, 6.7 #/g as we know, for planning our weight and balance. Loosing ~4000# in ~30 seconds must be quite a challenge!! 8) --gary
Fairly certain on wheels they’ll haul an 800 gallon load.
This thing is supposed to replace the A-10 warthog.
I have always wanted to be a SEAT pilot. It looks like a lot of work for a retirement job. Do these guy hire old farts?
As the weight of the payload comes off, there has to be increased nose-down pressure on the stick to keep the nose from coming up at too steep an angle and stalling the plane, right?