Crop Duster on Steroids
- Thread starter pontiacgp
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Texas based Air tractor, co-developed the concept years ago working with a mom & pop, veteran owned company in North Carolina (Iomax), but the mom&pop company ended up buying cheaper Thrush Crop dusters made in Georgia, so Air tractor partnered with Ginormous defense contractor L3 and using the power of a $13B/year defense contractor and its lobbyists, crushed their mom&pop co-originator of the armed crop duster concept.
Kenya bought 14 of these from L3 at "rip off" prices ($418 Million - $283 Million MORE than Iomax would charge) because they trusted the previous administration not to screw them, maybe because of the President's Kenya roots. (dumb).
The current administration looked at the deal and told Kenya "hey, you are getting screwed" and Kenya thanked them profusely for saving them nearly $300 million dollars. But we don't hear stuff like that on the news.
Kenya bought 14 of these from L3 at "rip off" prices ($418 Million - $283 Million MORE than Iomax would charge) because they trusted the previous administration not to screw them, maybe because of the President's Kenya roots. (dumb).
The current administration looked at the deal and told Kenya "hey, you are getting screwed" and Kenya thanked them profusely for saving them nearly $300 million dollars. But we don't hear stuff like that on the news.
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Back in the late 1980's one of my coworkers at a turbine component mfg plant in DFW, quit to go work in Olney, TX. Leland Snow, the founder of Air Tractor was tired of paying "Ferrari prices" for the turbine engines he was using in "pick up trucks". So Leland was going to built his own turboprop engine. Unlike a PT6, it was going to be a large diameter, high torque turbine (like the radial engines the turbines replaced), because a plane that maxs out at 130 mph doesn't need small diameter, aerodynamic motor.
Seeing the potential of the whole ag market going away, Pratt Canada started kissing Leland's butt at that point and built specific motors geared for the crop duster, with significantly lower cost. Now PT6 turboprops are pretty much std on all ag planes.
It wasn't until after Leland's death that Air Tractor made the L3 deal. Leland liked to make money but he wasn't about screwing people. Corporations like L3 don't care who it screws, as long as the shareholders are happy and they stay out of the press,
Seeing the potential of the whole ag market going away, Pratt Canada started kissing Leland's butt at that point and built specific motors geared for the crop duster, with significantly lower cost. Now PT6 turboprops are pretty much std on all ag planes.
It wasn't until after Leland's death that Air Tractor made the L3 deal. Leland liked to make money but he wasn't about screwing people. Corporations like L3 don't care who it screws, as long as the shareholders are happy and they stay out of the press,
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