Farmers Air, Aerial Top Dressing Specialists

Our fleet

7

Falco XL

Farmers Air operates the most modern fleet of aircraft in the country, and has over 100,000 hours of type experience, allowing us to utilise our aircraft to their maximum ability.

In order to remain innovative and future-proofed, in 2011 we undertook an evaluation and major modification project on our former Pacific Aerospace 750XL aircraft and, from here, the Falco XL was born.

The Pacific Aerospace 750XL has the venerable DNA of the Fletcher and Cresco but given those aircraft are no longer in production, we needed a new solution.

Our logo and the name of our aircraft, Falco XL, was derived from the NZ native bird, the Falcon (Karearea) because the new and improved aircraft emulates similar features;

Z

NZ made (native)

Z

Fast

Z

Powerful

Z

Ability to climb

Z

Ability to carry/payload

Z

Endurance

The modification process consisted of:

9

Removing all unnecessary weight (reduced gross empty weight by 100kg over the standard factory aircraft).

9

Installing a lightweight high strength carbon fibre hopper.

9

Incorporating a barrier air filter into the streamlined cowl.

9

Increasing rudder authority for improved cross wind performance.

9

Reducing elevator stick force to reduce pilot fatigue.

9

Designing a hydraulic gate box, also to reduce pilot fatigue.

9

Improving pilot comfort with more leg room, quieter cockpit, improved sun protection, and improved ergonomics.

The newly born Falco XL brought lots of technological advancements and innovations, including more lift. By reducing aircraft weight by 100kg, over 100 take offs in a day it can effectively spread an extra 10 tonne for no additional time or cost. This means less fuel burn which obviously translates to less carbon emissions.

The Falco XL specs

9

Climbs 800ft/minute

9

3000L hopper capacity with large hopper opening.

9

2200kg payload

9

135 knot cruise speed

9

4 hours fuel endurance

9

TracMap GPS equipped

9

TracPlus – this is used for fleet flight following for exact aircraft location in case of emergency

9

New Zealand made, Gisborne designed

9

Flightcell DZMx – by using this coupled with TracPlus, we have automatic recording and real-time reporting of key events, such as load weight per take off

9

Low maintenance

9

Full factory airframe support – parts come from Hamilton, rather than America or Europe

9

Powered by Pratt & Whitney PT6-34AG turbine engine producing 750shp – this is considered the world’s safest and most reliable engine

9

Short field take-off and landing performance

9

Less airstrip damage because of oleo undercarriage

Beaver

Our 1952 de Havilland Canada Beaver DHC-2 is was introduced in 2018 as a training aircraft, to future-proof the company’s pilot requirements and allow this training to happen without tying up one of our high production Falco XL’s. With its high-lift wings and dual controls it’s perfectly fit for purpose.

Powered by a single 450 hp (340 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior radial engine, it is a well-balanced aircraft.

Like many aircraft operators, we face the ongoing struggle of sourcing pilots. With the Beaver on board we were able to establish an agricultural pilot cadetship, providing an effective pathway for budding agricultural aviators.

Cadets, sourced through partnerships with local High Schools, farming community and flight schools are able to develop their skillset on the Beaver before flying the company’s Falco XL.

The Farmers Air Beaver was originally operated by the US Army, and later by US Civil Air Patrol and private operators in the USA and Australia. Both used the Beaver with floats.