I got scared witless by an AT-802 yesterday ....

[onetrack]

So, here I was, barrelling up the Calingiri Road in my loaded Hilux at about 12:45PM yesterday, when I came to a section of road that curved uphill to the left, as it went up a rise to a ridge.

I was just a bit zoned out after a hard morning of solid manual work - when suddenly, an AT-802 cropduster barrelled up out the ground seemingly, almost right at me!! 

 

He was cropdusting the paddock on my right, and as he crested the slight rise where the water tank is, he gained altitude and banked sharply left, and disappeared from my view!

Of course, he would've been doing at least 80 knots at about 50 feet altitude - and I was doing 110kmh on the highway, so the effect was pretty startling! - particularly when I never had the chance to see him coming!!

 

I bet this bloke gets plenty of laughs, frightening the crap out of unsuspecting motorists, and others on the ground, when the conditions are right to catch them unawares!

I didn't get the rego, but I'm fairly sure it was a Dunns Aviation Ag Tractor - but possibly what is more interesting is what he was spraying for. The crops are not far off ripe, so I'm guessing he was spraying for some insect infestation, or spraying a fungicide.

 

This is the spot on Google Street View - https://www.google.com/maps/@-31.1417311,116.3878792,3a,75y,29.09h,82.96t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sWemqk_DcvF-pAv5gHZG1Gw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

Edited September 24, 2022 by onetrack

[onetrack]

Gee, I just checked up on the AT-802 specs, their stall speed empty, is 54 kts - they reckon they normally operate at 113-139 kts when cropdusting! No wonder he fairly zipped past me! 

They're a hefty aircraft, I wasn't aware that they can carry a 4200kg payload, and their MTOW is 7257 kgs. Having 1300 SHP on tap at the throttle must certainly give them some smart performance.

 

Edited September 24, 2022 by onetrack

[nomadpete]

No wonder they are so good at water bombing! Easier to reload without big round trips and I'd suggest, probably a lot safer than ex passenger jets (or even Hercs) down low and slow in hot turbulent air.

[Yenn]

I doubt that the pilot even noticed you were there, his focus was on getting from one run to the other as quickly as possible.

[Old Koreelah]

On 24/09/2022 at 1:47 PM, onetrack said:

Gee, I just checked up on the AT-802 specs...

They're a hefty aircraft, I wasn't aware that they can carry a 4200kg payload...

Our local blokes are limited to 3,000kg and on hot, bushfire days struggle to lift 2,700 lites. Perhaps they have less SHP than those in the west.

[onetrack]

It was a Dunns AT-802, and they run the 1600SHP PT6A-67F engine - but they don't give the specs on what their aircraft can actually lift.

 

https://airtractor.com/news/2021/08/900th-at-802-joins-fleet-of-largest-ag-operator-in-western-australia/