Interesting helicopter operation

[1969912 0]

I was driving near Genessee Idaho this morning and saw a helicopter sitting on a platform on top of a tanker truck at the edge of a wheat field. It looked like some kind of Bell turbine chopper, and the rotor was spinning. It had side tanks and ag chemical spray bars. A guy was on top of the truck (I assume) filling the chemical tanks. The pilot had a helmet on and was leaning out watching the other guy. Pretty cool operation. Probably saves quite a bit of flight hours.

"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG

[quade 3]

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I was driving near Genessee Idaho this morning and saw a helicopter sitting on a platform on top of a tanker truck at the edge of a wheat field. It looked like some kind of Bell turbine chopper, and the rotor was spinning. It had side tanks and ag chemical spray bars. A guy was on top of the truck (I assume) filling the chemical tanks. The pilot had a helmet on and was leaning out watching the other guy. Pretty cool operation. Probably saves quite a bit of flight hours.

I think that's pretty much standard for aerial application by helicopter these days. I knew a guy back in Iowa who had that sort of a set up with a mobile landing pad on top of a chemical truck back in '85, so it can't be all that unusual. He'd have his crew park on a road, land on top of the truck, refill and be off. I'm not so sure it saved a lot of fuel, but rather that it was safer and easier to get the chemicals into the helicopter and didn't take up as much space on the roadway with all the rotating bits well up and out of the way of stray kids, cows and cars. At least I think that's what he told me his reasoning was.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[1969912 0]

Thanks for the info. Seems like a good way to run ag HC's.

"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG

[AggieDave 6]

GIS returned this: http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/grassroots/images/index1205_gr1205phrag01.jpg

Looks really neat!

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[quade 3]

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GIS returned this: http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/grassroots/images/index1205_gr1205phrag01.jpg

Looks really neat!

Yep, that's pretty much what I remember it being like all the way back to '85.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[1969912 0]

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GIS returned this: http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/grassroots/images/index1205_gr1205phrag01.jpg

Looks really neat!

Yeah, it looked pretty much like that.

"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG

[dzjunky77 0]

They use a couple 12-E's out here in western Idaho for spraying fields.

[JohnRich 4]

That seems like a good way to eventually have an accident that will ruin a perfectly good expensive helicopter, and kill a couple of people. Why not just land on the ground right next to the tanker truck, and run a hose over to the chopper? Doh!

[monkycndo 0]

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That seems like a good way to eventually have an accident that will ruin a perfectly good expensive helicopter, and kill a couple of people. Why not just land on the ground right next to the tanker truck, and run a hose over to the chopper? Doh!

Because landing on the elevated platform keeps the chopper clear of obstructions like fences and such, including the truck itself. If you have ever seen an ag chopper pilot fly dodging barns, trees, silos and power lines, landing on the top of the tender truck is the easy part of the job.

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