455 Bravo Uniform
Final Approach
Assuming that crop dusters get put away for the season, is there a winterization process, particularly for piston planes? Just wondering what pros do to their money-making equipment for winter storage up north.
Ag plane winterization?
- Thread starter 455 Bravo Uniform
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The number of piston planes that are still making a living as crop dusters in this country is probably <100. As far as I can tell the turbines get washed (which they do at the end of every day) and pushed in the hangar. I know there's a prop guy in AR who does tremendous business overhauling ag props all winter. I think they more or less all get that done every year due to the hours and harsh conditions. They get taken apart for annual and I'm sure the turbines get inspected. Around my neighborhood, the planes do sit for the winter.
More interestingly, a fair number of them are piloted by South Americans who come up here for the summer and return down there for their growing season. There's a number of small strips around where you'll find a camper and a garden.
More interestingly, a fair number of them are piloted by South Americans who come up here for the summer and return down there for their growing season. There's a number of small strips around where you'll find a camper and a garden.
And then there are those that don’t do things per the preceding post.
A Pawnee owner‘s winter prep consisted of closing the doors. That’s all!
Wettable powder, doors open and left outside all year. What could possibly
__ _____? Eventually I had the opportunity to do a lot of welding.
It seems some ag folks took better care of their plows. Why?
A Pawnee owner‘s winter prep consisted of closing the doors. That’s all!
Wettable powder, doors open and left outside all year. What could possibly
__ _____? Eventually I had the opportunity to do a lot of welding.
It seems some ag folks took better care of their plows. Why?
Depends on the operator and location. The few AG aircraft I worked on only shutdown for major maintenance which usually lasted only a month or so. Plus know of several that move aircraft around the country chasing work the entire year. But most aircraft I worked on had some sort of preservation/storage procedure to follow if needed.
A friend of mine was telling me about the helicopter and rig to transport it and to refill it’s payload shows up from out of town to spray the fields around his place. He said those helicopters were amazing to watch work including flying underneath the hi tension electric lines in the fields.
bluerooster
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IIRC all we did to the 188s was to scrub them inside and out, Hose them down with WD40, and put them in the hangar.