INTERNATIONAL
The Problem with Lime by Mike Feeney
Murray Algie is making a demonstration flight spreading lime. (Photos submitted by Murray Kirkus / Circa 1992)
A 26 | agairupdate.com
New Zealander Ken Simpson was very wellknown, as he had been aerial topdressing since September of 1952 and had many hours of lowlevel ag-flying experience. Ken was one of the very early New Zealand top dressing pilot pioneers. Ken was the 14th ag-pilot to be killed in New Zealand and the first to lose his life in a Fletcher FU-24. Although manufactured in the U.S., none of the FU-24 aircraft were certified there, at least not for many years later. Instead, they were flight-tested by a New Zealand pilot and issued New Zealand airworthiness certificates. In the minds of some of us, including myself who flew the early versions, the test-flying procedure seemed to be deficient in some respects. On October 16, 1956, Ken and his loaderdriver began working on a lime job shortly after lunchtime. The airstrip was about four nautical miles east of the small village of Mananui and a few miles south of Taumarunui. The terrain in the spreading area consists of fairly steep hill-faces and patches of native bush with some rather solid trees. The wind conditions in the early part of the
morning is often calm with patches of fog, but by midday there is always some wind that is often variable amongst the hill country. Ken took off in his FU-24 on the day’s ninth sortie and at 13:40 crashed the aircraft. The accident investigator calculated the take-off payload must have been about 14 cwt (712 kg). Before the crash, the aircraft was seen to be approaching the sowing area at low-level. Lime was seen to be leaving the hopper outlet for a few seconds and then the flow stopped. The aircraft was seen to be maneuvering at low-level within a narrow gully. It was then seen to enter a turn during which it struck a tree and crashed inverted in a group of trees. The impact was taken by the cabin area and Ken was killed instantly. Fire erupted and the aircraft was destroyed. The investigator said that he found evidence of compacted lime present from previous flights and there was no doubt that a serious overload had happened. There was no evidence of an engine or structural failure. He also commented that a change in wind conditions was likely, leading to a loss ➤
