PICTURE: Air Tractor prangs precision strike demonstrator

Flight International ^ | 15/12/10 | John Croft

[sukhoi-30mki]

PICTURE: Air Tractor prangs precision strike demonstrator

By John Croft

A too-short landing at an Army reserve base in California caused substantial damage Air Tractor's AT-802U surveillance, precision strike and utility demonstrator aircraft on 21 October.

According to a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report, a pilot and flight test engineer flying in the two-seat modified agricultural single at the time were testing maximum performance takeoffs and landings on the 1,829m (6,000ft) hard clay Schoonover runway at Fort Hunter Liggett California when the accident occurred. Neither was injured.

©NTSB

"The pilot was attempting a short field landing and had full flaps deployed," the accident report states. "Upon landing, the tail wheel of N4247U struck a berm of dirt at the west end of the strip. The berm of dirt was approximately 10-12ft tall. The nose pitched down and the prop struck the runway. The two front tires also struck the runway. The aircraft bounced back in the air. The pilot added power to avoid a stall and slow the rate of descent back on to the runway. The left wing dropped and the tip skidded along the runway."

The report goes on to say that the pilot had added full rudder to counteract the turn to the left, after which the right wing came down and the right main gear and tail wheel broke from the aircraft.

"The aircraft should have landed further down the strip," the report states in the "operator/owner safety recommendations" section.

Air Tractor design engineer Lee Jackson declined to comment on the accident, and whether the aircraft had been repaired or if there are other AT-802U models flying. Jackson is listed in the report as the passenger on the accident flight.

The company in July announced that it had launched production of the counter-insurgency aircraft to an undisclosed customer for missions after first revealing the design in 2009.

Marketing materials, which prominently feature N4247U, reveal that the AT-802U is designed to fly for 10h and carry munitions on 11 hard points under the wings and fuselage, including Gatling guns, Hellfire missiles, laser-guided rockets and laser-guided bombs.

Imagery from a partially retractable L-3 electro-optical/infrared sensor mounted under the nose can be used by the crew or downlinked to the ground.

[sukhoi-30mki]

[mmercier]

Looks like a lean, mean, death dealing machine.

Probably too cost efficient to get any funding consideration by the Pentagon.

[Species8472]

Bump

[50cal Smokepole]

Any landing you can walk away from....

[NeverForgetBataan]

“Looks like a lean, mean, death dealing machine”
____________________________________________________________________________

It looks like an armed crop duster to me, which would collect allot of small arms fire.

[NVDave]

It *is* an armed crop duster.

[Fractal Trader]

"The aircraft should have landed further down the strip"

Now that's some genius thinking there!

[ProtectOurFreedom]

10 hour flights? Doesn’t look like a lot of room for the pilot to get up, stretch his legs, and go to the head.

[mcshot]

I think they have a soft point ejecter system for that.
:-)

[TexasRedeye]

...whether the aircraft had been repaired or if there are other AT-802U models flying.

They are built less than 3 miles from my deer lease and yes, there are more flying. I assisted in preparing the static display model. A tentative production contract was signed at the Paris air Show in 2010 for 50 a/c IIRC. Initially, our gubmint wanted the basically commercial a/c to be provided to them (Blackwater actually) for modification to the armed version. Who is actually doing the hardened version now, I don't know.

[ccmay]

Probably too cost efficient to get any funding consideration by the Pentagon.

They may not be for the Pentagon.

If you get my drift.

-ccm

[ryan71]

Bring back THE JUG.

[wastoute]

So it’s a “drone” with a pilot?

[taildragger]

In a closed door group event at the Brady Air Museum I got to sit in their JUG on display ( It has only 150 hrs on it, it is in very good condition, didn't see much or any action). Man what an airplane!

Yes this Air Tractor might be a poor man's cross between a Jug and an A-10.

I say get some in the hands of the IAF and let the Israeli's tweak them like we never dreamed of and then make those changes a Block II follow on....

[DUMBGRUNT]

It looks like an armed crop duster to me, which would collect allot of small arms fire.

The rule of thumb for small arms against aircraft.

Extend arm with thumb out, if your thumb blocks the aircraft, save your ammo. If the aircraft appears larger then your thumb go for it.

[mad_as_he$$]

I was driving along the airstrip in question at 6am in 1986 when a C-130 came by and ejected a tank from the rear. I was about 300 feet away. Scared the crap out of me. I didn't hear it coming.

[jwparkerjr]

re: The aircraft should have landed further down the strip

Or maybe even ‘farther’ down the strip. And it wouldn’t hurt to have a competent editor.

[seemoAR]

My pilot friend would have called that an “arrival” {:0)

[tdscpa]

Rumor is, even more advanced Air Plow, Air Planter, and Air Combine models are still in the design stage.