The experience of several decades of agricultural aviation operations, their widespread adoption using knowledge from various fields, make this a mature and advanced area of aviation services. The global agricultural aviation market is thriving – the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Chile and Brazil are some of the countries where aeroplanes and helicopters over croplands are a common sight.
Even more widespread, though less intensive, is the use of flying vehicles in the service of forest protection, particularly firefighting. Many countries struggle with catastrophic forest fires. Flying machines, thanks to their range and speed of action, are indispensable in saving burning forests. This is, however, a difficult and exceptionally dangerous task (smoke, forests in mountainous terrain). The future will reveal the further career of wings over the fields.
Inventions may appear that undermine the rationale for conducting agricultural aviation work. For example, genetic modifications of plant traits (transgenic plants) may become an alternative and competitive method of crop protection compared to chemical treatments. Meanwhile, agricultural aviation remains an interesting and challenging type of aviation profession – one could say the most strongly connected to the earth. The history of agricultural aviation is a fascinating example of the use of modern technology in the oldest branch of the economy.
Labour intensity, energy consumption and fuel usage in agricultural aviation operations are lower than when using ground equipment. — Robert Rowiński*
