The specificity of agricultural flights involves operating with a full load of chemicals, thus at maximum take-off weight, the need for high manoeuvrability when avoiding terrain obstacles and performing the shortest possible turns, as well as short take-off and landing on unpaved, field airstrips. This necessitates a strong fuselage and undercarriage construction with thick pneumatic tyres, as well as a wing with high-lift devices for short take-offs and landings and characteristics that resist stalling.
The aircraft and agricultural equipment construction must be resistant to the effects of strong and concentrated corrosive chemicals. The pilot’s cabin should have protection against collision with power lines, be resistant to aircraft capotage, and provide air filtration from dust on the airstrip and chemicals during loading and when flying into chemicals dispersed over a field. Engine systems and appropriate filters must ensure fuel purity during refuelling and inlet air cleanliness from the ever-present dust on the airstrip.
Easy and quick access to basic airframe and engine servicing points must be ensured, along with ease of adjusting agricultural equipment settings and pilot control during flight. Rapid access to chemical loading points is essential, without shutting down the engine. Provision must be made for fuel reserves during longer repositioning flights and ease of assembly and disassembly of the aircraft for road or container transport.
A sprayer aeroplane should meet the following main requirements: its useful load capacity should be from 600 to 1000 kg, furthermore it should have good longitudinal stability in flight, despite a rapid loss of payload up to 3 kg per second, a minimum working speed of 90–100 km/h, smooth and reliable flight at low altitudes of 20–30 m, short take-off and landing, and fuel economy. — A. Zdankiewicz*
