Air Tractor

Last updated
Air Tractor, Inc.
Industry Aerospace
Founded1978 (1978)
Founder Leland Snow
Headquarters,
United States
Website airtractor.com
An AT-502B on the ramp at Belle Glade Airport Air Tractor AT-502B.jpg
An AT-502B on the ramp at Belle Glade Airport
A two-seat AT-802 in Missoula, Montana Air Tractor AT-802 (N804MA).jpg
A two-seat AT-802 in Missoula, Montana
A firefighting AT-802F Air Boss at Miramichi Airport AT-802 Fire Boss.jpg
A firefighting AT-802F Air Boss at Miramichi Airport
A counter-insurgency AT-802U at the Paris Air Show AirTractor Paris I.jpg
A counter-insurgency AT-802U at the Paris Air Show

Air Tractor Inc. is a United States aircraft manufacturer based in Olney, Texas. Founded in 1978, the company began manufacturing a new agricultural aircraft derived from the S-2B aircraft (designed by founder Leland Snow's previous company, Snow Aeronautical). Designated Model AT-300 Air Tractor, the new aircraft first flew in 1973.

Contents

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. [1]

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. [1]

Snow resigned from Rockwell and devoted the next two years designing the Air Tractor. Construction on the AT-300, which later became the AT-301, began in 1972. Air Tractor's first turbine model, the AT-302, was introduced in 1977.

Sixteen years later (1993), Air Tractor delivered its 1,100th airplane and soon began expanding the Olney plant for increased capacity, and less then five years after that (1998) 2,000th Snow-designed airplane was built there. [1]


On July 1, 2008 Air Tractor, Inc. became an employee-owned company with the establishment of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. [1]

On February 20, 2011, at age 80, Leland Snow passed away while jogging near his home in Wichita Falls, Texas. On his desk at home were his plans and notes for the next day’s engineering meeting.

Snow is remembered as a quiet, generous and kind-natured family man with focus and determination to design and build efficient, and reliable agricultural (ag) aircrafts.

His wish was to pass the company to the employees who had devoted their skills and passion to Air Tractor.

And yet for all his many accomplishments and busy schedule, Leland Snow would always make time to visit with ag pilots who dropped by to see him at his office or at National Agricultural Aviation Association meetings. His commitment to pilot safety and drift minimization programs helped to improve public image of our industry.

Today[ when? ], Air Tractor produces a line of aircraft that includes 400 and 500 and 600 and 800 US gallons (330 and 420 and 500 and 670 imp gal; 1,500 and 1,900 and 2,300 and 3,000 L) capacity planes powered by Pratt & Whitney piston or turbine engines.[ citation needed ]

Aircraft

Model nameFirst flightNumber builtType
Air Tractor AT-300 1973Single engine agricultural monoplane
Air Tractor AT-301 Single engine agricultural monoplane
Air Tractor AT-302 Single engine agricultural monoplane
Air Tractor AT-400 1979Single engine agricultural monoplane
Air Tractor AT-401 Single engine agricultural monoplane
Air Tractor AT-402 Single engine agricultural monoplane
Air Tractor AT-501 1986Single engine agricultural monoplane
Air Tractor AT-502 Single engine agricultural monoplane
Air Tractor AT-503 Single engine agricultural monoplane
Air Tractor AT-504 Single engine agricultural monoplane
Air Tractor AT-602 1995Single engine agricultural monoplane
Air Tractor AT-802 1990Single engine agricultural monoplane
Air Tractor AT-1002 2009Single engine agricultural monoplane

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Our Heritage". Air Tractor. Retrieved 16 November 2020.

Further reading