RV Fly In at Air Tractor, Inc. (Olney, TX) - Page 9

turbo · #81 03-13-2010, 08:04 PM

turnout of rvs. looked like nice wx too.

Ironflight · #82 03-13-2010, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by turbo

turnout of rvs. looked like nice wx too.

Yup - it was a veritable SEA of RV's for a "typical weekend fly-out"! I imagine that the draw of the Air Tractors, the lack of nice weather the past few months, and the beautiful weather today contributed to the remarkable turnout. We bucked 30+ knot headwinds on the way up, and we still agreed that it was well worth it! And of course, we had some nice tailwinds and a fast ride home.....

Paul

scard · #83 03-13-2010, 09:18 PM

Tanya and I are going to be talking about that for some time to come. We could even be enticed to move out, into a double-wide, after experiencing that business.

chrispratt · #84 03-13-2010, 11:04 PM

Last I heard there were more than 50 RVs plus about 10 spamcans in attendance. I overheard one person say, "a few more RVs and it will be LOE." The folks at Air Tractor and the local volunteers handled it well but I bet they never guessed the turnout would be this big. Maybe we can entice Air Tractor and the local volunteers to host this every year. I think everybody had a great time.

Having been involved with ag plane marketing and sales early in my career (Grumman Ag Cats), and more recently with overhauls of PT6A AG engines, I found the tour enlightening. The production facility was clean and well cared for. I was impressed with the quality of the workmanship and the enthusiasm of the employees on hand. Air Tractor is now employee owned. about 200 employees in all. Our tour guide said about 90% of the aircraft and parts are made in-house. They are producing about one ag plane every three days. Leland Snow (founder and Air Tractor designer) is a legend in the ag business and rightfully so.

See the link below for my brief photo album of the event.

http://picasaweb.google.com/pratt.ch...as31310?pli=1#

Chris

Mike D · #85 03-13-2010, 11:11 PM

Huge thanks to the guys at Air Tractor!!! I missed the tour (woke up late

) But got to walk around and talk with you guys. Some RV folks even gave me a quick tour. Love the community. I was surprised to find how many Air tractors are exported throughout the world and their many uses. Even a bullet proof (resistant) version!

TractorDrafter · #86 03-14-2010, 03:49 AM

A huge THANK YOU to all of the great folks that came out for the first "RV Fly-In" hosted by Springcreek Aero Club. I believe the final tally was 76 aircraft - Mostly RV's, with a few other types in attendance.

S.A.C. is a flying club for the employees of Air Tractor, and we currently have a Piper Warrior, although one of our members is currently working on his -7 fuse kit... During the cleanup this evening, several other members have expressed an interest in building a "club" RV!

Anyway, here's my first attempt at a picture dump, so I hope it works...

http://picasaweb.google.com/10138007...SACFlyin31310#

Blue Skies,

JJH

pierre smith · #87 03-14-2010, 05:35 AM

As a 20+ year 'Tractor driver, they may not have mentioned that these airplanes are designed with near 40G impact survival!

This last season (2009), I sprayed over 48,000 acres of cotton (blue jeans), soybeans, peanuts, corn, wheat and millet for U.S. consumption, in 300 tach hours.

Burned 13,500 gallons of Jet-A and fly the most pilot-friendly ag-airplane built, paid $12,500 for insurance!! (the low, no-claim rate).

Made in the U.S.A.

Best,

Brent Colvin · #88 03-14-2010, 06:32 AM

Wish I could have made it, but I was flying my AT-802 making a living. Leland makes a great airplane. I have been many times to Olney, but it would have been fun to meet so many RVer's. I will be finished painting in a few more weeks, next year I will fly my 7 to Olney.

TThurston · #89 03-14-2010, 09:37 AM

So why are they all yellow? There have been other threads about color vs visibility, so I was wondering.

iwannarv · #90 03-14-2010, 09:59 AM

It was a great flight from Kansas! Great tour of the plant and it was nice meeting new acquaintances. Both my father and grandfather flew AT301's , and my dad was pretty impressed at all the new 'stuff' going on. Maybe I can drag grandpa down there next year.

Food was good, and if you can snag a cookie from a lady walking around, they aren't too bad either.