Aircraft Equipment

The spreader is a large stainless steel device hung under the aircraft. It is filled with guide vanes that take air in the front and speed it up and shoot it out the back. The granular material is released into the front of the spreader and it is carried out the back by the fast moving air. The increased speed of the granules allows them to spread out to create a wider pattern than if they had just been released into the air.
Accurate calibration is necessary to adjust the vanes to ensure the granules are spread in an even pattern. 

Low Volume spreading

With higher volume spreading such as fertiliser application the flow is adjusted by the width of the door opening in the bottom of the hopper. However for application of products at low volume, such as grass seeding, mouse baiting or granular herbicide application, a special meter needs to be put on the bottom of the hopper to measure the flow of the product. This device is used for application rates up to 20Kg/Ha. It is slaved to the GPS and adjusts for changes in ground speed to ensure an accurate application of product.
 

Ground Support Equipment

Solid fertilisers and seed are usually applied at high volumes and the area covered by each load is quite small. For example an application of 100kg/Ha of Urea means the aircraft will only cover 13Ha per load. To achieve a low cost application the landing strip must be close to the treatment area and the loading equipment must be able to turn the aircraft around in as short a time as possible.
Air Ag has two loaders, an auger type and a belt loader. Both machines are capable of loading the aircraft with 2 cubic meters of product in about 1 minute. The aircraft can be on the ground for only 2 to 3 minutes for each load.
The client is responsible for getting the product to be applied into the loader. This is done while the aircraft is away applying a load. For bulk products, a standard farm auger is all that is necessary to load the unit from the client's truck or bin. If the product is bagged, the product can be loaded into the top of the bin which is about the height of a truck tray. The client is expected to supply the labour to do this.