1/72 Air Tractor AT-802 by New Ray

[aferguson]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-New-Ray-Toy ... _775wt_916

New Ray lists this model as an AT-502 in 1/60 scale but it's actually an AT-802 in 1/72 (or virtually so, it's 1/71.2 scale).

The AT-802 is essentially a scaled up AT-502....virtually every part of the plane was scaled up so it looks practically identical to the 502 except that it's about 10% bigger. The registration number on the New Ray model is for an AT-802, not a 502 so that's definitely what they were copying when they made the model.

For those not familiar with the aircraft, the AT-802 is the largest single seat aircraft in the world and rivals the Skyraider for size (shorter but of greater span). I've always thought Air Tractors were neat looking planes so i was happy to find this model. The model itself is a bit basic and would benefit from some detail painting. The only inaccuracy is that the propeller should be 5 bladed not 3. A fairly easy fix with some modelling skills. I plan to take out the black from the cockpit windows and replace with clear plastic.

Interestingly and tragically, the airplane represented by the New Ray model crashed in 2010 while spraying fields. The pilot was killed in the crash.

[tmanthegreat]

My local Hobbytown USA store had that model at one time. I almost considered getting it as a present for my younger brother as sort of an inside joke that this is what a crop duster really looks like - not the stylized one from the Disney movie, "Planes." My brother works for Disney, so it seemed funny at the time...

But speaking of crop dusters, my grandfather on my mother's side was a crop duster during the 1950s and 1960s. He got into the job after having been a civilian instructor for the WASP program during WWII. Back then, they largely used Boeing PT-17 Stearmans and other similar biplanes for the dusting work. While he mostly worked the extensive agricultural areas in California's San Joaquin Valley, he would sometimes go up to Canada to spray the spruce forests against a beetle parasite. If you ever read the book "Silent Spring" by Rachael Carson (which is one of the seminal works behind the modern environmentalist movement) she has chapters devoted to all the damage the dusters did to local fish and bird populations while spraying the spruce forests in Canada. Ironically, my grandfather was one of those dusters! It was later learned that dusting those forests was actually the right strategy as they have since been ruined by the beetle infestation, causing loss of the forest and valuable timber industry.

I have old 8mm film footage that he took of them spraying the Canadian forests as well as the fields in California. He set up some of the shots so the camera was on the instrument dash and one got a pilot's eye view of spraying the fields. Its not unlike a strafing mission in combat.

Sadly, my grandfather was killed long before I ever knew him when his plane crashed while dusting in 1969... Sorry to go way off topic, just I have a soft spot for crop dusters.

[Dauntless]

I guess the Air Tractor had a military variant too?

I seem to remember seeing them or something like it in that movie Air America.

Sure is inexpensive and cheap shipping too.

[aferguson]

yes i think the Air Tractors do have military variants, though i didn't look into it at all. Probably used for COIN or something like that.