Crop Spraying from Ultralight Style Aircraft (Where we came from.

(Note- This is one of the Starflight aircraft not one of our current designs.)

Using an Ultralight For aerial Crop spraying is not all that new. They have been used for this from at least the early 1980s. However, the reasons why this type of spraying has not caught on are nearly as amazing as the advantages of spraying from an ultralight. We have sprayed successfully from ultralights on private farms and in Venezuela for the last 13 years. These where Ultralight "style" aircraft. US regulations classify them as experimental and our newer designs take the next step in evolution, they look more and more like traditional small aircraft, but with the changes necessary to create one of the best spray planes in the world. What Are the Advantages? Speed. Aerial spraying is much faster than ground spraying. And because an ultralight reloads close to the field it can out-spray larger and faster aircraft. Accuracy. The speed range an ultralight flies in is the ideal speed for spraying a wide number of crops. This and other techniques that lend themselves well to ultralight spraying, Reduce drift, runoff and waste. Economy. Speed and accuracy translate into economy. Operating costs are far below other aerial application techniques and can be even less per acre than ground application. Environmentally friendly. We have been able to achieve the same level of control using as little as 1/4 of the active ingredients. Most applications achieve at least a 30% reduction and a 50% reduction is typical. This could translate into a bigger reduction in environmental impact per unit of crop produced than many organic farming techniques. We also use techniques that reduce spray drift and chemical runoff.

Flexibility. Some types of spraying can only be done from the air. Both tall and wet crops require aerial spraying. What is the Potential? Most of the potential lies in Latin America. The current state of development is good for this type of aircraft. But because I have better statistics for the United States I will use them. In 1990 over 4 billion US Dollars were spent on Pesticides, Herbicides, and other Chemicals for farms. In 1997 a similar number stated 7.7 billion US Dollars. Aerial application accounts for about 25% of spray applications. About 2 billion dollars per year is spent for aerial application services. Brian Turner