Learning to Fly Single Seat Fire-bombers

Ag Aviation Africa (AAA), the Sub-Saharan and the Middle East agent for Air Tractor, hosted an open day and launch party before the Stellenbosch airshow to introduce their newly approved Aircraft Training Organisation (ATO), Ag Aviation Flight Academy (AAFA).

- By Rob Russell

The Aviation Community, customers, potential clients and the financial world attended the two day event to see the beautiful new facility at their Stellenbosch Head Office.

Demand worldwide for agricultural aircraft is growing. In 2021 Air Tractor delivered 163 aircraft throughout the world. It is intended to deliver over 200 various variants in 2022, of which 20 are due to be delivered in the AG Aviation Africa’s territory.

Air Tractors are predominantly used for agricultural purposes in South Africa, there is however a growing market for these aircraft to be used in firefighting support. In East Africa, particularly Ethiopia and Djibouti, they are utilised in the ongoing fight against locust swarms and play a huge part in the prevention of damage to food crops in that area.

With farming becoming very scientific and moving towards the most efficient and effective use of land and equipment, there is a growing need for equipment such as crop spraying aircraft. Gone are the days of aircraft with just a stick, rudder and basic aircraft instrumentation and a few workers on the ground waving flags, showing the pilot where to go. Today’s aircraft are equipped with state of the art equipment, including precision GPS and the ability to communicate via data links with the farmer, enabling the most efficient and cost-effective use of the aircraft. All these factors are vital, both for the farmer and the aircraft operator.