20 Years Ago | 20 years ago - St. Lucia Island In Debate Of Ag Aviation B1 Insights | National Agricultural Aviation Association B6 Craymer’s Counsel | Robert Craymer B20 Spreading the Facts | Michelle Miller B26 Regina’s Perspective | Regina Farmer B28 Wing and a Prayer | Carlin Lawrence B30 Low and Slow | Mabry I. Anderson

TWENTY YEARS AGO

SLBGA’s dual cockpit Thrush with Dominica dual cockpit Thrush in background. Is it possible these two aircraft could be for sale?

St. Lucia —

Island In Debate Of Ag Aviation

by Bill Lavender

With the assistance of Dudley Beek, owner of Jamaican ag operation Dustair, and his son Nigel, traveling in Dustair’s MU-2, AgAir Update launched its Caribbean Excursion from Jamaica one Sunday afternoon, to return a week later after stops in St. Lucia, Martinique, Dominican Republic and Cuba.

Dudley and I have been friends since I discovered he had bought my 1200 Viper Thrush from Chuck Stone in the mid1980s. In July of 1997, my wife, Sandy, and I flew from Perry to the Boscobel Airport, near the town of Ochos Rios, Jamaica for me to fly the Viper Thrush once again, more than ten years since the last time I had flown it (see AAU September 1997).

That Viper Thrush, I have often commented, would take off with less runway loaded, than it required to land upon empty, with its huge three-blade DC-3 prop idling up front on the light weight 1975 model Thrush airframe. Since then, Dudley and Nigel have repaid me with a visit to Perry. And now, they were going to be kind enough to escort me through the Islands.

We departed Jamaica shortly past noon for the plus threehour (almost 1,000 miles) flight over water, no radar, to St. Lucia. The island is on the southern end of the West Indies Islands, just slightly north of Venezuela. We landed at the Vigie International airport, cleared customs, found the hotel and prepared to meet our host the next day.

The ex-British island of St. Lucia has a unique arrangement for its banana growers. The growers have formed the St. Lucia Banana Growers Association (SLBGA). The Association is not unlike many farmer groups who operate ag aircraft. The ag plane’s role is only a part of the big picture. In the case of SLBGA, their Turbo Thrush has been in the hangar for two years and is used only on rare occasions. A second Thrush, belonging to the Island of Dominica (not to be confused with the Dominican Republic) was in the hangar for maintenance. Its fate, much like the Thrush at St. Lucia.

The dilemma faced by the aerial spraying operation of SLBGA is a so-called demand from consumers in the United Kingdom for banning the use of aerial application altogether, particularly on the bananas they eat. According to SLBGA’s agricultural director, John Medrick, with whom we met, the UK supermarkets advertise in their marketing schemes bananas grown with minimum spraying of any kind and no ag aircraft usage. ➤

Innovative idea to tow a Thrush.

AIRCRAFT SALES • AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE • AIRCRAFT PARTS

Tel: 320.587.7615 info@asijet.com asijet.com

HIGH PERFORMANCE STARTS WITH THE RIGHT PARTS

APS has designed a high quality brake disc that has established itself as the benchmark among aircraft brake discs. A true blend of strength and durability. CNC machined from a rigid one piece design these brakes are built to provide unparalleled performance. Heat treated to give it the appearance, with our name proudly engraved on the side; APS offers the ultimate in braking performance.

Contact us for a list of our distributors 618.797.3140 apsbrakes@apsbrakes.com APSBRAKES.COM

Centrally located at KHCD airport in Hutchinson, Minnesota. ASI Jet is an Authorized Thrush Aircraft Dealer, Service Center, and Parts Distributor. Specializing in New and Used Aircraft Sales, Heavy Airframe Maintenance and Installations, Wing Spar AD compliance, Parts support, and much More! Give us a call, we are here to work for YOU!

John Medrick, Director of Agriculture for St. Lucia Banana Growers Association and the Association’s chief aircraft engineer, Peter Isaac. Not shown, pilot Irvin John, who also is the mayor of the St. Lucia capital city, Castries.

The reality is the Association is made up of 4000 growers on the tiny island, with only 8,000-9,000 acres of bananas in production. About 7,000 of these acres are in an area that can be sprayed by aircraft. Each grower is accessed $0.03 XCD (East Caribbean Dollars = .37 USD) per pound of bananas grown to pay for all of the spraying operations, whether it be aerial or by ground (back pack sprayers). The average production per acre is 7 tons, or $420 XCD ($155.40 USD) per acre collected for all spraying expenses. It would appear, there are more reasons for not using the ag plane than just the UK’s demands.

Presently, the policy of SLBGA is to spray the banana plantations 10 times. However, every effort is being made to reduce the number of applications. In a “crisis” situation, the ag plane will be called in. This could be for an outbreak of the dreaded yellow sigatoka disease, there are no signs of black sigatoka on the island. If this “crisis” occurs, most likely it will be between October and December, requiring two or three applications.

Applications are made at 1.5 gallons per acre of an oil plus chemical mix. The product is applied with Micronair’s AU 3000 and AU 5000 units set for 150-micron droplet size. The Thrush takes a 90-foot swath with this arrangement. Most applications are only in the valleys of the island, trying to minimize any drift. It seems the local residents have an aversion to the yellow airplane, but don’t mind the same chemicals being applied by back pack sprayers. How many back sprayers does it take to replace one Turbo Thrush? Jobs?

The Turbo Thrush is a 1987 dual cockpit version powered by PT6A-34 engine. Most of the applications are made on the north side of the island flying from the Vigie International airport. Typical loads are 275 gallons, being limited by the high density altitude and terrain. One Turbo Thrush can complete a cycle of the acreage flown by air in about four full working days. However, if the wind reaches 10 knots or the air temperature exceeds 85°F, the applications are stopped.

At this time, SLBGA has its Turbo Thrush for sale. It plans to contract with an aerial applicator somewhere in the islands to handle its “crisis” needs. It remains to be seen, if this is a workable solution.