Thrush | |
---|---|
General information | |
Type | Aerial application aircraft |
Manufacturer | Ayres Corporation Thrush Aircraft |
Designer | |
Status | In production |
Number built | less than 2,000 |
History | |
Manufactured | 1956-present |
First flight | 1956 |
The Ayres Thrush, formerly the Snow S-2, [1] Aero Commander Ag Commander, and Rockwell Thrush Commander, is an American agricultural aircraft produced by Ayres Corporation and more recently by Thrush Aircraft. It is one of the most successful and long-lived agricultural application aircraft types in the world, with almost 2,000 sold since the first example flew 68 years ago. Typical of agricultural aircraft, it is a single-seat monoplane of conventional taildragger configuration. Originally powered by a radial piston engine, most examples produced since the 1980s have been turboprop-powered.
The Thrush, designed by Leland Snow, first flew in 1956 and before long was being produced in series as the S-2 by the company he founded, Snow Aeronautical. [1] In 1965, the corporation and all of its assets were purchased by the Aero Commander division of Rockwell, which put it into production alongside the CallAir A-9 that it had also acquired, branding both unrelated (though similar) machines as "Ag Commanders". When Rockwell dropped the Aero Commander brand, the S-2 was renamed the "Thrush Commander".
In 1977, Rockwell sold off the production rights to the aircraft and the production facility at Albany, Georgia, which were purchased by Ayres Corporation, a firm which had been built on retro-fitting turboprop engines to Thrush Commanders. On June 30, 2003, Ayres' assets were purchased by Thrush Aircraft, the current producer of the aircraft.
The S-2 and its several variants have been purchased by agricultural spraying operators in many countries. Large numbers are operated in the United States and Australia, while other countries using the type include Costa Rica, France, Guyana, Iran, Israel, Jamaica, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
Ayres developed a special anti-narcotics crop-spraying version of the Turbo-Thrush for the United States Department of State. This version, known as the Narcotics Eradication Delivery System (NEDS) [2] [3] featured an armored cockpit and engine to protect against hostile ground fire. Nine were sold to the Department of State between 1983 and 1985. [4] Ayres also attempted to market a militarized version as the Ayres Vigilante, intended for the Close Air Support role, but this failed to attract customers. [5] IOMAX USA of North Carolina, which had previously modified Air Tractor AT-802 agricultural aircraft as reconnaissance/attack aircraft, has developed the Archangel attack aircraft modeled on the S-2R-660. The United Arab Emirates has ordered 24 Archangels, with delivery from June 2015. [6]
Two Thrush 510Gs were modified to perform a counter-insurgency role by the Austrian company Airborne Technologies at the direction of Erik Prince, the former head of Blackwater, but in the absence of an export license the aircraft have not been used operationally. [7]
(per Simpson, 2005, p. 39)
Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1976-77 [15]
General characteristics
Performance
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
The Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna. The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982. The production model was certified by the FAA in October 1984 and its Cargomaster freighter variant was developed for FedEx. The 4 ft (1.2 m) longer 208B Super Cargomaster first flew in 1986 and was developed into the passenger 208B Grand Caravan.
The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 is a turboprop aircraft engine produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada. Its design was started in 1958, it first ran in February 1960, first flew on 30 May 1961, entered service in 1964, and has been continuously updated since. The PT6 consists of two basic sections: a gas generator with accessory gearbox, and a free-power turbine with reduction gearbox. In aircraft, the engine is often mounted "backwards," with the intake at the rear and the exhaust at the front, so that the turbine is directly connected to the propeller. Many variants of the PT6 have been produced, not only as turboprops but also as turboshaft engines for helicopters, land vehicles, hovercraft, and boats; as auxiliary power units; and for industrial uses. By November 2015, 51,000 had been produced, which had logged 400 million flight hours from 1963 to 2016. It is known for its reliability, with an in-flight shutdown rate of 1 per 651,126 hours in 2016. The PT6A turboprop engine covers the power range between 580 and 1,940 shp, while the PT6B/C are turboshaft variants for helicopters.
The PZL-Mielec M-18 Dromader is a single engine agricultural aircraft that is manufactured by PZL-Mielec in Poland. The aircraft is used mainly as a cropduster or firefighting machine.
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. Designated Model AT-300 Air Tractor, the new aircraft first flew in 1973.
The Embraer EMB 121 Xingu is a twin-turboprop fixed-wing aircraft built by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, Embraer. The design is based on the EMB 110 Bandeirante, using its wing and engine design merged with an all-new fuselage. The EMB 121 first flew on 10 October 1976.
The Grumman G-164 Ag Cat is a single-engined biplane agricultural aircraft, developed by Grumman in the 1950s.
The PZL 130 Orlik is a Polish turboprop, single engine, two seat trainer aircraft.
The Piper PA-31T Cheyenne is a turboprop development of the earlier PA-31P Pressurized Navajo.
The Cessna 421 Golden Eagle is an American six or seven seat twin-engined light transport aircraft, developed in the 1960s by Cessna as a pressurized version of the earlier Cessna 411.
The Beechcraft Model 99 is a civilian aircraft produced by Beechcraft. It is also known as the Beech 99 Airliner and the Commuter 99. The 99 is a twin-engine, unpressurized, 15 to 17 passenger seat turboprop aircraft, derived from the earlier Beechcraft King Air and Queen Air. It uses the wings of the Queen Air, the engines and nacelles of the King Air, and sub-systems from both, with a specifically designed nose structure.
The Honeywell TPE331 is a turboprop engine. It was designed in the 1950s by Garrett AiResearch, and produced since 1999 by successor Honeywell Aerospace. The engine's power output ranges from 575 to 1,650 shaft horsepower.
The PZL M28 Skytruck is a family of Polish light utility aircraft with STOL capability produced by PZL Mielec for military and civilian use. They are mainly used in transport, patrol and maritime reconnaissance roles.
The Air Tractor AT-400 is a family of agricultural aircraft that first flew in the United States on September 1979. Type certification was awarded to Air Tractor in April 1980. Of low-wing monoplane taildragger configuration, they carry a chemical hopper between the engine firewall and the cockpit.
The Air Tractor AT-500 is a family of agricultural aircraft that first flew in the United States on 25 April 1986, manufactured by Air Tractor Inc. Of monoplane low-wing, taildragger configuration, they carry a chemical hopper between the engine firewall and the cockpit. Compared with their predecessor, the AT-500 family featured a wingspan increase of 50 ft, and an additional fuselage stretch of 22 in (56 cm), allowing for a larger chemical hopper. Almost all variants offer a widened "buddy" seat or a tandem seat for a passenger, observer, or loader; trainer aircraft with full dual controls have also been offered.
The Air Tractor AT-802 is an American agricultural aircraft that may also be adapted into fire-fighting or armed versions. It first flew in the United States in October 1990 and is manufactured by Air Tractor. The AT-802 carries a chemical hopper between the engine firewall and the cockpit. In the U.S., it is considered a Type III SEAT, or Single Engine Air Tanker.
The PZL-106 Kruk is a Polish agricultural aircraft designed and built by WSK PZL Warszawa-Okęcie.
The PZL M-24 Dromader Super is a single engine agricultural aircraft, developed in the 1980s by the WSK-Mielec from the PZL-Mielec M-18 Dromader. It did not progress beyond the prototyping stage.
The Lancair Evolution is an American pressurized, low wing, four-place, single engine light aircraft, made from carbon fiber composite, developed by Lancair and supplied as an amateur-built kit by Evolution Aircraft.
The IAR-827 was an agricultural aircraft built in Romania in the 1970s and 1980s. The penultimate member of the family of designs that began with the IAR-821, it was, like the others, a conventional low-wing monoplane with fixed, tailwheel undercarriage, and shared the all-metal construction of the IAR-826. The prototype flew in 1976, powered by a Lycoming IO-720 engine, but the production examples that followed all had the PZL-3S.
The Evektor EV-55 Outback is a twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and built in the Czech Republic by Evektor-Aerotechnik. The prototype first flew on 24 June 2011. The project's development was suspended in March 2017.
{{cite magazine}}
: Cite magazine requires |magazine=
(help)