The Air Tractor AT-500 is a family of

agricultural aircraft An agricultural aircraft is an aircraft that has been built or converted for agricultural use – usually aerial application of pesticides (crop dusting) or fertilizer (aerial topdressing); in these roles they are referred to as "crop duster ...

that first flew in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on 25 April

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, manufactured by Air Tractor Inc. Of

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

low-wing,

taildragger Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

configuration, they carry a chemical hopper between the engine

firewall Firewall may refer to: * Firewall (computing), a technological barrier designed to prevent unauthorized or unwanted communications between computer networks or hosts * Firewall (construction), a barrier inside a building, designed to limit the spre ...

and the

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

. Compared with their predecessor, the AT-500 family mostly feature a wingspan increased to 50 ft (15.2 m), and an additional

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

stretch of 22 in (56 cm), allowing for a larger chemical hopper. Almost all variants offer a widened "buddy" seat or a

tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

seat for a passenger, observer, or loader;

trainer aircraft A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristi ...

with full dual controls have also been offered. From 2011 through 2018, the AT-502B was the world's top-selling agricultural aircraft with 388 deliveries, while the combined AT-500 line (AT-502A, -502B, and -504) was among the world's most popular

fixed wing A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air flying machine, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using wings that generate lift caused by the aircraft's forward airspeed and the shape of the wings. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinc ...

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

single-

turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. Fuel ...

aircraft families, with 470 delivered—a total exceeded only by the

Pilatus PC-12 The Pilatus PC-12 is a pressurized, single-engined, turboprop aircraft, manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Stans, Switzerland, since 1991. It was designed as a high-performance utility aircraft that incorporates a large aft cargo door in ad ...

and the

Cessna 208 Caravan The Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna. The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982. The production model was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA ...

family during that time.

Variants

;AT-500:Prototype ;AT-501:Piston-powered version with

Pratt & Whitney R-1340 The Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp is an aircraft engine of the reciprocating type that was widely used in American aircraft from the 1920s onward. It was the Pratt & Whitney aircraft company's first engine, and the first of the famed Wasp series ...

engine, one seat,

gross weight In science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force acting on the object due to gravity. Some standard textbooks define weight as a vector quantity, the gravitational force acting on the object. Others define weight as a scalar qua ...

of ;AT-502:Upgraded AT-501 with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-15AG or PT6A-34AG engine, one or two seats, gross weight of or depending on production date and

wing spar In a fixed-wing aircraft, the spar is often the main structural member of the wing, running spanwise at right angles (or thereabouts depending on wing sweep) to the fuselage. The spar carries flight loads and the weight of the wings while on t ...

type ;AT-502A:

Hot and high In aviation, hot and high is a condition of low air density due to high ambient temperature and high airport elevation. Air density decreases with increasing temperature and altitude. The lower air density reduces the power output from the airc ...

version of AT-502 with PT6A-65AG or PT6A-60AG engine, one or two seats in

or side-by-side arrangement, gross weight of ;AT-502B:Main production version, development of AT-502 with PT6A-34AG engine, one or two seats in

or side-by-side arrangement, gross weight of ;AT-502XP:Updated AT-502A with PT6A-140AG engine ;AT-503:Production version with PT6A-45R engine,

seats, gross weight of ;AT-503A:AT-503 with PT6A-34AG engine, tandem seats dual controls, AT-501 wings ;AT-503T:Dual-control trainer version of AT-503 with shorter AT-401 wings, tandem seats ;AT-504:Dual-control trainer version of AT-502B with side-by-side seating, replaced tandem-seat AT-503 trainers, introduced 2009

Specifications (AT-502B)

Notes

References

* *

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* http://www.airtractor.com/ {{Air Tractor aircraft AT-501 1980s United States agricultural aircraft Single-engined turboprop aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1986