hopt

i'm wondering if anyone can tell me where to find, or who makes a crop duster r/c plane??? i'm looking for late model (not biplane) any help would be appreciated

thanks, hopt

twostroker

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About a year ago I started looking for a Duster and ran into the same problem. If you want a larger plane you will have to build it from kit form. The kits are not readily available in the States and will have to be ordered. I can not remember the link to the site, but a search should result in some luck. Also I am not sure if it was in the "scale forum" of "giant forum".

I bought a Piper Pawnee from the classifieds shortly after I started looking. It has a 90" wing and came with a US41. It is a Whyte Wings kit and required some modifications to be airworthy, in my opinion. It was design to be a tow plane for their (Whyte Wings) gliders so the wing spar is not the best. I am making it into a functional duster and tow plane combo so I can do both with it. It is in the process of becoming a more scale looking plane than it originally was.

So far I have done a new canopy, fabric wing covering, and some body work. Some of the other mods in the works are wing struts, landing gear, and gravity box. The gravity box should be done this weekend, it will be removable from the bottom of the plane.

If you watch the classifieds you will see one go up for sale occasionally, but not to often. So good luck with your search.

If you wanted a 40 size plane look for the Kyosho Cessna Agwagon ARF it is a real nice plane.

Tim

DocYates

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There is a very nice "crop duster" kit/ plans pacjkage availbe here in the US. You will find it at www.teamduster.com. It was designed and is flown by my good friend Hollis Calvert in Mississippi.It is a very scale rendition of an AirTractor 502. Flown with a a large four stroke or two stroke (moki 1.8-2.1) and is about 100 WS. Go to his website to check it out. I have the laser cut short kit and plans and have seen the glass work pieces and they are quite nice.
Tommy

twostroker

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I stand corrected. That is a nice kit!

Tim

DocYates

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I beleive he also has the drawings to convert a Sig AstroHog kit to a "duster" model, which flies great and looks good in the air. I built one of those years ago and we flew them everywhere. Very unique and was not something that everybody else was flying.
Good luck.
Tommy

vicman

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I am getting ready to build an Ag Wagon from some older RCM plans.

twostroker

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Is anyone using one for dusting? I don't mean pesticide or anything I mean talc, baby powder, or something else not hazardous just for the visual effect. I've heard water dumps are not highly visible but have never seen water or powder dumps of any kind. Are there any pictures out there of dusting or dumps being made. My gravity box is being made for dry goods and soda cans(don't ask I was put up to it) so I wondered what looked the best and was readily available not to mention cheap. My hopper will hold at least the equivalent of a 5lb. bag of flour, even more if filled to the brim. It is right over the CG so the added weight will not effect the balance point as I've already checked.

vicman

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I havn't seen one but the Ag Wagon I mentioned earlier is a group build with a couple clubmates that want to give building a try. One of them is wanting to put bubble water in his but as of yet we don't know how we are going to do it.

twostroker

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Bubble Duster! Gotta see that.
Tim

Kmot

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Link is dead?

EVOL

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i have been messing with a sig four star 60 turning it into a duster/firebomber. i made a tank that will drop water but i am having second thoughts anout it and decided to make a new tank from scratch out of aluminum. here was my forst idea.




problem was it leaked to much so i devised a new plan and it will star construction next week. i will post progress.

here is the inspiration.

vonJaerschky

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There is a guy in New Zealand that has quite a collection of Ag-Aircraft plans, including the not often seen in North America Fletcher and Cresco. The gentleman's name is Warren Russell. Address is 34 Ward Parade, Stirling Point, Bluff, New Zealand. I don't have an e-mail address. $5.00US will get you a catalogue with heaps of aircraft in various scales. Mr. Russell helped me get in touch with a New Zealand club before I moved down there several years ago. I bought a set of FU-24 Fletcher plans from him when I was there, and they are very, very nice plans. I can vouch for his honesty and service. I don't think you will be dissapointed. By the way, Warren says that the best simulated fertilizer is coal ash. (Many houses in New Zealand still have small coal burning stoves for heat). According to him, it flows beautifully and hangs in the air, just like real fertilizer. I'm not sure what most crop duster do in the USA, but I'm guessing it is to spray chemicals for bugs? New Zealand is a very hilly and mountainous country with lots of sheep. Sheep eat a lot of grass. The grass needs to be fertilized so that there is abundant food for the sheep, and the best way to get into all the nooks and crannies is by air. I worked in the control tower of a provincial airport, and got to know some of the crop duster pilots quite well. I got to go for a few "Missions", and holy smokes, what an experience! These guys are some of the best and ballsiest pilots in the world. Unsung heroes, if you ask me. The photo is of a Fletcher being loaded up with another load of super phospahate. Turn around time is a matter of seconds! I have rambled enough, good luck!

vonJaerschky

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Oops, forgot the picture. Here it is.

GPutt33

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I was glad to see this thread. I thought I was being unique when I decided to bash a sig 4*120 into an AirTractor 802 this winter. Seems there are a lot of Ag Plane fans out here[8D]

I have scratch built the entire tail and the top half of the fuselage so far. Also built up an engine cowl. Don't know if your all familiar with the 802 but it is an actual slurry bomber AirTractor developed a couple of years ago. With the flaps I have 6 servo's in the wing now

The Short Kit from [link=http://www.teamduster.com/pages/1/index.htm]Team Duster[/link] is way cool. I might try one of these next.

Here's another link to a pretty nice Ag Plane type site. [link=http://rc-cropduster.com/]R/C Cropduster[/link]

This is the link to the actual AirTractor site down in Texas where I got the dimensions and stuff for my project - [link=http://www.airtractor.com/]AirTractor[/link]
I have bays and doors built into the bottom of the wing and also plan on dumping talc or baby powder to simulate a slurry drop, only time will tell.

Here is what it looks like, although I have the fuselage covered now and start on the wing this week. One of the pics is just in the driveway bare bone and the other was from our Mall Show a couple of weeks ago.

I have a thread going in the Kits forum on my build if your interested or you click on my web site link and look at about 150 photos I've uploaded of this build so far

Twanger

Hopt, There is a plan for the CallAir A9 crop duster available from Tom Rathbone at www.classicairplanemodels.com You can contact him through his website. You can see pictures of the A9 by doing a search of CallAir on the internet. It is similar to a Pawnee.

WLJ

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If you're a builder, I can probably get you plans for this one.

GPutt33

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Thrushdust (David H) - All I can say is Totally Awesome and Congrats on the Win(s). When I first started my project I had some questions about this and that and I remember you posting a picture of the radial with Saito incorporated into it and thought to myself then that you had a fantastic plane!!

If you do want to sell plans I would be interested

Omaha_RC_Flyer

WLJ,
Was the plane you have pictured on your post, the same one in the May 2004 issue of FLY RC (pg.) 37?
After seeing the plane and reading about it. I decided that building a Rockwell Thrush or an Air Tractor would be my first
Scale building project. If you could e-mail me about how to acquire the plans I would appreciate it. Very nice plane I
hope you keep winning awards!

For Anyone,
Is it possible to use a smoke system set up to simulate spraying pesticides?
Could it be routed through scale spraying equipment?


Thanks,
Omaha_RC_Flyer

rc-cropduster

Here some details on that Thrush...

balsa1

Hi
very nice are there plan's available for this plane Thanks Les

Tannerlb

Amazing! does the crop dusting stuff come outa it lol

twostroker

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My Piper Pawnee got put on hold to finish my good friend AgCat. Here is a picture or two of the Cat. Not flight ready yet but getting close.

The Pawnee will be on the bench next so I can have some fun too.

Tim

WLJ

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Plans may be available sometime after TOP GUN.

WLJ

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Uses fire extingusher powder under pressure to simulate spray.

twostroker

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The bin is near finished. It is large enough to hold a 5# bag of flour with room to spare. We will start with a few trim flights next week with a bit of luck, then start dumping. Most likely start with grass seed or something low weight, then move up.

The plane is ugly in my opinion, but hopefully will serve it's purpose.

Read the red numbers on the broken tape measure. Box is 9" deep.