Alan Marcus Prichard (15 November 1907 – 2 November 1986) was a pilot for the New Zealand

Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

from the late 1930s to mid-1950s. Using a

Miles Whitney Straight The Miles M.11 Whitney Straight was a 1930s twin-seat cabin monoplane designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Miles Aircraft. It was named after Whitney Straight, a Grand Prix motor racing driver, aviator and businessman. Th ...

from 1939 on his own initiative and sometimes forging

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

log books to conceal his work, Prichard conducted trials of aerial seed sowing and spreading

fertilizer A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

which ultimately led to the development of

aerial topdressing Aerial topdressing is the aerial application of fertilisers over farmland using agricultural aircraft. It was developed in New Zealand in the 1940s and rapidly adopted elsewhere in the 1950s. Origins Previous aerial applications The first k ...

References

*Alexander, G. & J. S. Tullett, ''The Super Men''. A. H. & A. W. Reed, Wellington, 1967 (a popular, anecdotal history of the early years of top dressing) *D. A. Campbell, ''Some observations on Top dressing in New Zealand'', New Zealand Journal of Science and Technology Volume X 1948 (the article which started the industry). *Ewing, Ross and MacPherson, Ross ''The History of New Zealand Aviation'', Heinemann, 1986 *Geelen, Janic, ''The Topdressers'' NZ Aviation Press. Te Awamutu, 1983 (a more comprehensive history of New Zealand top dressing, mostly regional, with separate chapters about matters such as aircraft development).

External links

Encyclopedia history of Topdressing to the mid-1960s
1907 births 1986 deaths New Zealand aviators New Zealand public servants {{NewZealand-gov-bio-stub