Good'ole N6632Q

May was a busy month at AgAir Update, making several trips to visit Thrush Aircraft in Albany, Georgia, three operators in the Delmarva area (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia), Houma, Louisiana for the oil spill and finally to Central Florida Ag Aero in Orlando; logging about 25 hours in the aircraft. 

At the end of the month, as usual, we close out next month’s edition for printing. I always read over the proof sheets looking for errors. When I came upon the Featured Classifieds section, I noticed a turbine powered Ag-Cat with the tail number N6632Q. For some reason, the N# seemed familiar. The year model was right, but the engine was different. 

I looked on my office wall at photos of me spraying soybeans in 1977 in my new 450 HP B-Model Ag-Cat. Looking closely, sure enough, the tail number read, “N6632Q”! I was amazed to see the aircraft for sale in AgAir Update over 30 years later. I sold the aircraft in 1980 to buy a new Ayres Turbo Thrush with a PT6A-11AG (s/n 001). That was the last time I saw N6632Q. History has a way of coming back to you. South Delta Aviation has the aircraft for sale. It’ll be interesting to see where it ends up. 

The ongoing “big story” is the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Now deemed the worst oil spill disaster in the U.S., surpassing the Valdez spill. Finally, after more than 16 years of efforts to become a player in the aerial oil spill dispersal industry, a dual cockpit AT-802 has been permitted to apply dispersal over the spill. The AT-802 is the last effort to disperse the oil before it reaches shore, virtually becoming a hero of sorts. Whatever oil it disperses, is oil that did not reach shore. It is as simple as that. So, any oil dispersed by the AT-802 is a success. 

If the oil industry had recognized years earlier the potential of a fleet of properly managed AT-802s (or any large ag plane like the Thrush 660), the success rate could have been greatly enhanced. There is a narrow space between the coverage area of the large tanker aircraft, like the C130, and the shoreline. This area is ideal for the ag aircraft to demonstrate its unique abilities of surgical-like precision dispersal applications.

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is a “proof of concept” for the use of agricultural aircraft in dispersal operations. What happens in the Gulf of Mexico with the AT-802 will lay the groundwork for the ag-plane to be a hero in dispersing any future oil spill that has the capabilities of making landfall. 

In closing, now that International Crop Duster’s Day (May 27th) has passed, I hope those of you associated with a crop duster took the time to recognize that person in some way. If not, you’ll get the chance to do it again next year. There are plans to select a more appropriate date. I’ll keep you posted. 

Until next month,