The Embraer EMB 202 Ipanema is a Brazilian

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 ...

used for

aerial application Aerial application, or what is informally referred to as crop dusting, involves spraying crops with crop protection products from an agricultural aircraft. Planting certain types of seed are also included in aerial application. The specific sp ...

, particularly

crop dusting Aerial application, or what is informally referred to as crop dusting, involves spraying crops with crop protection products from an agricultural aircraft. Planting certain types of seed are also included in aerial application. The specific sp ...

. It is produced by

Indústria Aeronáutica Neiva Indústria Aeronáutica Neiva is a subsidiary of Embraer which produces airplanes and aircraft components. Its main product is the Embraer EMB 202 Ipanema, the most employed agricultural aircraft in Brazil and the first alcohol-powered airplan ...

, a subsidiary of Embraer located in

Botucatu Botucatu is a city in the southeastern region of Brazil and is located from São Paulo, the capital of the state of São Paulo. It has an estimated population of 148,130 (as of 2020) in an area of . It lies on the top of a plateau ( high). Botuca ...

, Brazil. The latest version of this aircraft is the first ethanol-powered fixed-wing aircraft, which could give it an economical advantage over the

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organi ...

version. The aircraft is widely employed in Brazil, having market share of about 80%, and the 1,000th delivery was completed on 15 March 2005. Besides aircraft, alcohol-conversion kits for gasoline-powered Ipanemas are also sold.

Development

In the 1960s, the development of a Brazilian agriculture aircraft was motivated by the expansion of the agricultural products market, specifically

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu a ...

and

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...

. During this time, the Ipanema aircraft was developed by engineers of the Aeronautics Technological Institute (ITA) on the Ipanema Farm, located in Sorocaba. The first version of the aircraft, the EMB-200, made its first flight on 30 July 1970Taylor 1971, p. 13. and was

certified Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

on 14 December 1971.Taylor 1975, p. 16. The aircraft was equipped with a piston engine. Series production started in 1972 by Embraer. In September 1974, the EMB-201 was introduced, including many improvements such as a engine, new propeller, new wings and increased capacity. In 1982, the production of Ipanema was transferred to Indústria Aeronáutica Neiva, recently acquired by Embraer. In 1992, a new model, called EMB-202 or Ipanemão (big Ipanema), was released. The new aircraft had improvements on

aerodynamics Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dy ...

, a 40% greater capacity, and optional, modern equipment for

electrostatic Electrostatics is a branch of physics that studies electric charges at rest ( static electricity). Since classical times, it has been known that some materials, such as amber, attract lightweight particles after rubbing. The Greek word for amb ...

aerial application. In the following years, Neiva made significant improvements to the aircraft, such as adding

winglets Wingtip devices are intended to improve the efficiency of fixed-wing aircraft by reducing drag. Although there are several types of wing tip devices which function in different manners, their intended effect is always to reduce an aircraft' ...

to the wingtips, adding an

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

system to the cabin, lowering the position of the wings, decreasing resistance and reducing the weight of the

exhaust system An exhaust system is used to guide reaction exhaust gases away from a controlled combustion inside an engine or stove. The entire system conveys burnt gases from the engine and includes one or more exhaust pipes. Depending on the overall syste ...

. Since ethanol is largely available in Brazil, costing only about 25-30% as much as aviation gasoline, many Brazilian farmers have attempted to fuel gasoline-powered Ipanemas with alcohol, with varying degrees of success. The result of this was the development of an alcohol-powered Ipanema, which was certified by the

Brazilian General Command for Aerospace Technology (CTA) The Brazilian Department of Science and Aerospace Technology ( pt, Departamento de Ciência e Tecnologia Aeroespacial; DCTA) is the national military research center for aviation and space flight. It is subordinated to the Brazilian Air Force (FA ...

on 19 October 2004. The alcohol-fueled Ipanema engine also has 20% lower maintenance and operational costs. In 2015 an Ipanema with improved winglets was presented on the ''Agrishow'' agricultural exposition. The new winglets, designed by the department of Aeronautical Engineering of the

University of São Paulo The University of São Paulo ( pt, Universidade de São Paulo, USP) is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian public university and the country's most prestigious educational institution, the bes ...

's São Carlos School of Engineering, increased the performance of the aircraft by 20%.

Variants

In parentheses are shown certification dates. * EMB-200 (December 1971) with a 260 HP Lycoming engine, Mc Cauley propeller and 550 kg capacity. * EMB-200A (December 1973) similar to EMB-200 with Hartzell propeller and an improved engine. * EMB-201 (September 1974) with

Lycoming IO-540 The Lycoming O-540 is a family of air-cooled six-cylinder, horizontally opposed fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter engines of displacement, manufactured by Lycoming Engines. The engine is a six-cylinder version of the four-cylinder Lycoming O- ...

-K1D5 engine and capacity, 200 built. * EMB-201A (April 1977) similar to EMB-201 with new wing profile and wingtips and revised cockpit.Taylor 1980, p. 17. * EMB-201R Single-seat glider-tug aircraft for the Brazilian Air Force. Three were built for the Air Force Academy gliding club. Brazilian Air Force designation U-19. * EMB-202 (May 1991) with 300 HP Lycoming engine, Hartzell propeller and 950 kg capacity. * EMB-202A (October 2004) with 320 HP Lycoming engine, using ethanol fuel and a propeller with better performance, lower maintenance and lower operational costs. * EMB-203 (November 2015) with 320 HP Lycoming engine, certificate in 2015, has a wingspan of 13.3 m and its winglets redesigned, increasing control and improving the efficiency of spraying.

Operators

; * Brazilian Air Force

Specifications (EMB-202)

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * * * * December 2005 issue, pg 60-61,

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it ...

Embraer Press Release 2005/03/15 NEIVA DELIVERS 1000TH IPANEMA CROP DUSTER

Embraer Press Release 2004/10/19 ETHANOL-FUELED IPANEMA CERTIFIED BY THE CTA

External links