dillardrg
Pre-takeoff checklist
I found reference to this trip;
In 1979 I worked for Mid-Continent Aircraft in Hayti, MO as a salesman. My job was to sell and demonstrate Ag-Cats.
For those not familiar with Ag-Cats, they were specialized agricultural aircraft (crop duster) designed by Grumman Aircraft and manufactured by Schweizer Aircraft Company of Elmira, New York.
They were bi-planes with either a 450 or 600 hp Pratt and Whitney radial engine (there were some 550 hp models made). They had the capacity to carry 300 gals of chemicals in a hopper forward of the pilot seat. The G-164A model was the original and the B model came later with longer wings.
In 1979 Schweitzer introduced the G-164 C model, basically a B model with a 500 gal capacity hopper instead of the normal 300 gal.
The C model Ag-Cat was an enormous aircraft with an empty weight of 5,000 pounds and a maximum gross weight of 10,200 pounds. It would carry a payload of chemicals exceeding its empty weight. It had the P&W R1340 engine of 600 hp.
The C model was almost universally considered to be underpowered. Dick Reade, the owner of Mid-Continent received a STC to replace the 600 hp P&W 1340 engine with a Wright R1820 engine of 1200 hp. After the conversion was approved it fell to me to take the 1200 hp G-164C (christened the “King Cat”) on a demo trip to Phoenix by way of Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho and California.
The Ag-Cat had a fuel tank with a capacity of 80 gallons in the center section of the top wing. The 1820 engine burned around 40 gph at somewhere around 50% power. In order to have a decent range at the normal cruise speed of 90 to 100 kts we sealed the chemical hopper and carried about 30 gallons of fuel there with an electric pump to transfer to the top wing tank. This allowed about a 250 mile range with reserve.
I left Hayti on July 9, 1979 in G-164C “King Cat” N6555K enroute to the first RON at McCook, NE. N6555K was equipped with a magnetic compass, an altimeter, an airspeed indicator, a skid indicator, and a handheld com radio. I carried Sectional Charts for navigation.
Two weeks later on July 23, 1979 after 2,734 miles through NE, WY, ID, OR, NV, CA and AZ I left N6555K with a crop duster in Phoenix, AZ and flew commercial back home.
In 1979 I worked for Mid-Continent Aircraft in Hayti, MO as a salesman. My job was to sell and demonstrate Ag-Cats.
For those not familiar with Ag-Cats, they were specialized agricultural aircraft (crop duster) designed by Grumman Aircraft and manufactured by Schweizer Aircraft Company of Elmira, New York.
They were bi-planes with either a 450 or 600 hp Pratt and Whitney radial engine (there were some 550 hp models made). They had the capacity to carry 300 gals of chemicals in a hopper forward of the pilot seat. The G-164A model was the original and the B model came later with longer wings.
In 1979 Schweitzer introduced the G-164 C model, basically a B model with a 500 gal capacity hopper instead of the normal 300 gal.
The C model Ag-Cat was an enormous aircraft with an empty weight of 5,000 pounds and a maximum gross weight of 10,200 pounds. It would carry a payload of chemicals exceeding its empty weight. It had the P&W R1340 engine of 600 hp.
The C model was almost universally considered to be underpowered. Dick Reade, the owner of Mid-Continent received a STC to replace the 600 hp P&W 1340 engine with a Wright R1820 engine of 1200 hp. After the conversion was approved it fell to me to take the 1200 hp G-164C (christened the “King Cat”) on a demo trip to Phoenix by way of Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho and California.
The Ag-Cat had a fuel tank with a capacity of 80 gallons in the center section of the top wing. The 1820 engine burned around 40 gph at somewhere around 50% power. In order to have a decent range at the normal cruise speed of 90 to 100 kts we sealed the chemical hopper and carried about 30 gallons of fuel there with an electric pump to transfer to the top wing tank. This allowed about a 250 mile range with reserve.
I left Hayti on July 9, 1979 in G-164C “King Cat” N6555K enroute to the first RON at McCook, NE. N6555K was equipped with a magnetic compass, an altimeter, an airspeed indicator, a skid indicator, and a handheld com radio. I carried Sectional Charts for navigation.
Two weeks later on July 23, 1979 after 2,734 miles through NE, WY, ID, OR, NV, CA and AZ I left N6555K with a crop duster in Phoenix, AZ and flew commercial back home.
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