Air Tractor
Air Tractor Inc. is a United States aircraft manufacturer based in Olney, Texas. Leland Snow founded the company in 1978 in order to manufacture a new agricultural aircraft derived from the S-2B aircraft (designed by his previous company Snow Aeronautical). Designated Model AT-300 Air Tractor, the new aircraft first flew in 1973. In 2004 the 2000th Air Tractor aircraft was delivered.[1]
History
Leland Snow began designing his first airplane, the S-1, in 1951. The 23-year-old Snow completed test flights with the S-1 in 1953. Snow’s S-1 flew dusting and spraying jobs in the Texas Rio Grande Valley and in Nicaragua until 1957. He followed-up the S-1 with the models S-2A and S-2B, which were built when Snow moved to production facilities in Olney, Texas in 1958.
In 1965, Leland Snow sold his company to Rockwell-Standard and was appointed a Vice President of the Aero Commander division. During this time, the Model S-2R was developed and named the Thrush. The first 100 Thrush aircraft were built at the Olney Division before the plant was closed and Thrush production moved to Georgia in 1970. More than 500 aircraft were produced under Snow Aeronautical Corporation and Rockwell-Standard in Olney.
Snow resigned from Rockwell and devoted the next two years designing the Air Tractor. Construction began in 1972 on the AT-300, which later became the AT-301. Air Tractor’s first turbine model, the AT-302, was introduced in 1977.
Sixteen years later, Air Tractor delivered its 1,100th airplane and soon began expanding the Olney plant for increased capacity. Today, Air Tractor produces a line of aircraft that includes 400, 500, 600 and 800-gallon capacity planes powered by Pratt & Whitney piston or turbine engines.
Products
- Air Tractor AT-300
- (1973) single-seat low-wing monoplane aerial application aircraft with single radial piston engine
- Air Tractor AT-301
- -300 variant with larger piston engine
- Air Tractor AT-302
- -300 variant with turboprop engine
- Air Tractor AT-400
- (1979) development of -300, revised for use of turboprop engine
- Air Tractor AT-401
- -400 variant with greater wingspan
- Air Tractor AT-402
- -401 variant with different turboprop engine
- Air Tractor AT-501
- (1986) development of -400 with larger fuselage and hopper, greater wingspan, and seat for an observer. Uses radial piston engine
- Air Tractor AT-502
- Single-seat version of -501
- Air Tractor AT-502B
- Introduced in 1987 [2]
- Air Tractor AT-503
- Development of -501 with turboprop engine
- Air Tractor AT-503A
- Dual-control trainer version of AT-503 with shorter AT-401 wings
- Air Tractor AT-503T
- Trainer variant of -503. Uses smaller wingspan
- Air Tractor AT-504
- Trainer
- Air Tractor AT-602
- (1995) Development of -503 with larger hopper and greater wingspan
- Air Tractor AT-802
- (1990) Development of -503 with larger hopper and greater wingspan, adapted for aerial firefighting.
- Air Tractor AT-802U
- Adapted for Surveillance and military operations.
- Air Tractor AT-1002; Developed from -802 with larger fuel and retardant tanks
Gallery
| Floatplane Fire-fighting Air Boss |
| A COIN AT-802U at the Paris Air Show |
| An AT-802 dropping a full load of fire suppressant |
| Air Tractor AT-502B on the ramp at Belle Glade Airport, Florida as weather moves in off Lake Okechobee. The single-engine aircraft has a 52-foot wingspan, three wheels. It was first manufactured in 1987. |
| Detail of the sprayer system attached to an Air tractor AT-502B aircraft. Image shows the sprayer system's air-driven pump. |
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References
Further reading
- Gunston, Bill (1993). World Encyclopedia of Aircraft Manufacturers. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. p. 20.
- Simpson, R. W. (1995). Airlife's General Aviation. Shrewsbury: Airlife Publishing. p. 31.
External links
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