Aerial Topdressing is the spreading of fertilisers such as Superphosphate over farm land. Superphosphate is a fertiliser produced by the action of concentrated Sulphuric Acid on ground phosphate rock. ... Bales of hay on a farm near Ames, Iowa A farm is the basic unit in agriculture. ...

History

The spread of Superphosphate by Agricultural aircraft was suggested by John Lambert in 1926. The Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Council decided to fund aerial topdressing trials to prevent erosion in 1937. Superphosphate is a fertiliser produced by the action of concentrated Sulphuric Acid on ground phosphate rock. ... An agricultural aircraft is an aircraft that has been built or converted for agricultural use -- usually aerial application of pesticides or fertiliser, such as superphosphate. ...

In 1936 a Hawkes Bay farmer spread clover seed from an aircraft, an experiment continued by A Pritchard, pilot for the New Zealand Public Works Department who sowed lupin seed on Ninety Mile Beach from the air in 1938 and fertiliser in 1939/40, using a Miles Whitney Straight. Hawkes Bay is a region of New Zealand. ... There are two beaches named Ninety Mile Beach Ninety Mile Beach, Victoria in Australia Ninety Mile Beach, New Zealand This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The Miles M.11 Whitney Straight was a 2-seat light aircraft with a dual-control, side-by-side cockpit configuration developed in 1936 as a collaboration between Miles Aircraft and American-born Whitney Straight, best known as a Grand Prix motor racing driver and later an Royal Air Force...

Experiments were resumed immediately after World War II, in 1945, the Royal New Zealand Air Force put superphosphate in a converted fuel tank on a Grumman Avenger and dropped it over the concrete runway at Ohakea, measuring distribution pattern of spread by air. The results were considered very promising, so trials proceeded to hill country around Raglan. In 1945 the Department of Agriculture estimated aerial topdressing would be cost about £4 per ton of fertiliser (on a basis of 2 cwt per acre), which was economic – in actual fact, this price turned out to be a significant over-estimate. The trials finally ended in May 1949, with a demonstration drop on eleven different properties close to Masterton in front of large numbers of farmers and press. As these were a resounding success, 12 RNZAF Bristol Freighters were modified to take Superphosphate hoppers. But by this time, government work was being over taken by private enterprise as in ex-airforce pilots bought New Zealand built De Havilland Tiger Moth biplanes cheaply, placed a hopper in the front seat and went into business for any farmer willing to pay. World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb. ... The badge of the Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) is the air force arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. ... The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) was an American torpedo bomber, developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps and used by a large number of air forces around the world. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion, because: very short article with no context If you disagree with its speedy deletion, please explain why on its talk page or at Wikipedia:Speedy deletions. ... The Royal New Zealand Air Force or RNZAF is the air operations arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. ... The Bristol Freighter (Bristol Type 170) was a twin engined cargo aircraft built by Bristol designed to carry motor cars as well as their owners. ... The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth was a 1930s biplane designed by de Havilland and operated by the Royal Air Force and others as a primary trainer. ...

In other countries, the New Zealand research was copied and war surplus pilots and aircraft combined. The first Australian topdresing was done by a Tiger moth in 1948, in America the Stearman, used for spraying as well, was equally suitable. Boeing Stearman PT-17 Stearman Aircraft Corporation was an aircraft manufacturer established by Lloyd Stearman at Wichita, Kansas in 1927. ...

Several factors lay behind the development of aerial topdressing in the apparent backwater of New Zealand. The New Zealand civil service gave it’s employees time and resources to pursue their ideas and publish research. Many farms included hill country, where it was impossible to spread fertiliser by truck. New Zealand farms tended to be large enough to make the costs worthwhile. High prices for lamb and wool in the early 1950s gave farmers the extra capital. World War II had left behind cheap war surplus Tiger Moths and highly trained ex air force pilots. A civil servant or public servant is a civilian career public sector employee working for a government department or agency. ... A lamb being bottle fed Lamb A lamb is a young sheep. ... Long and short hair wool at the South Central Family Farm Research Center in Boonesville, AR Wool is the fiber derived from the hair of domesticated animals, usually sheep. ...

The Industry in New Zealand

By 1953 there were 38 firms in the business in New Zealand, operating 160 aircraft, of which 146 were Tiger Moths. A smattering of higher powered De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beavers were the only modern types. It was obvious the light weight Tigermoths would need to be replaced. C-FGYN Adlair Aviation Ltd. ...

Conversions of more robust World War II aircraft started. In New Zealand large numbers of heavy twon engined types, such as Douglas DC-3s and Lockheed Lodestars were converted . The North American Harvard and it’s Australian built counterpart, the CAC Wirraway were adapted by rebuilds, the Wirraway into the CAC Ceres, the Harvard into the bizarre twin tailed cockpit over the engine Bennett Airtruck, which – made entirely out of new parts – was put into production in Australia as the Transavia Airtruck – and later stared in the Mad Max movies. The Douglas DC-3 is a fixed-wing, propeller-driven aircraft which revolutionised air transport in the 1930s and 1940s, and is generally regarded as one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made (also see Boeing 707 and Boeing 747). ... The Lockheed Lodestar was a passenger transport aircraft of the Second World War era. ... The T-6 Texan was a single-engine, advanced trainer aircraft designed by North American Aviation and used to train fighter pilots of the USAAF, US Navy, Royal Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War II. The Texan is known by a variety of... Mad Max is an Australian science fiction film starring Mel Gibson as Max Rockatansky. ...

However entirely new designs were clearly needed. The Beaver was purchased in numbers and there were abortive plans to build it under license in New Zealand, but it’s high wing and bulky cabin were unsuited to the role. Auster in Britian produced the Agricola for the New Zealand market, a low wing braced monoplane with a robust but primitive construction. In the United States, Fletcher Aviation Corporation was also looking at the New Zealand market, and adapted a design for a light attack aircraft into the Fletcher Fu24 a stressed skin monoplane with a high lift wing, more than three times the load of the Tigermoth, and the cockpit located well forward, ahead of the hopper, giving the pilot all round view. This – with a few changes, such as an enclosed cockpit - turned out to be the winning formula. Cable Price Corporation funded two prototypes with the New Zealand Meat Producers Board acting as financial guarantor. The firts prototype was flown in America, the second in New Zealand and it received type approval in May 1955. New Zealanders bought out the rights and built 500. Auster Autocrat from 1952 For the Roman god of the south wind, see Notus. ...

By the mid 1960s, the amount an aircraft dropped had increased from 2 ½ tons to 8 tons and there were 10,000 privately owned airstrips for topdressing in New Zealand. Other work was also done by Agricultural aircraft, as in foreign countries, particularly outside the February to May prime season; sowing clover seed is sown and spraying is carried out with insecticides, fungicides, and weed killers as well as general utility work. An agricultural aircraft is an aircraft that has been built or converted for agricultural use -- usually aerial application of pesticides or fertiliser, such as superphosphate. ... Species See text Clover (Trifolium) is a genus of about 300 species of plants in the pea family Fabaceae. ... Insecticide application by crop spraying An insecticide is a pesticide whose purpose is to kill or to prevent the multiplication of insects. ... Fungicides are pesticides for destruction or development prevention of fungi. ...

Gradually the one man companies that began in the 1940s were amalgamated into giants.

Fieldair

Lawson Field (1896 – 1981) a farmer and pilot, converted one of Gisborne Aero Club's de Havilland Tiger Moths so that it could drop superphosphate during the week and fly as a club plane in the weekend. The club was unhappy with the result, so Field bought the plane and started the Gisborne Aerial Topdressing Company . He calculated his first drop cost £2.10s. per ton of fertiliser, and he was able to charge farmers £5 per ton. In September 1949 he became the founding president of the New Zealand Aerial Work Operators' Association (later the Aviation Industry Association of New Zealand). In 1951 he renamed the company Fieldair Limited and bought in modern De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beavers and in 1955 Lockheed Lodestars. Fieldair developed the tractor-mounted hopper loader, adopted through out the industry, and became the largest topdressing firm in the country by the 1980s. By Field’s death in 1981, Field air was the largest aerial-topdressing company in New Zealand. Gisborne is the name of a unitary authority (in this case, a region and district) in New Zealand. ... C-FGYN Adlair Aviation Ltd. ... The Lockheed Lodestar was a passenger transport aircraft of the Second World War era. ...

Wanganui Aero Work

Wally Harding, a pioneer Waiouru farmer converted his Tiger Moth into a top dresser in 1949 to use on his own not particularly productive high country station. The following year he founded Wanganui Aero Work Ltd. By 1954 the company added the first Fletcher produced to it’s 5 Tiger moths. It also operated Beavers, Ceres, Cessna 180/185's, Piper Pawnees, Piper Cubs, and Cessna Agwagons, but eventually standardised on Fletchers for the entire fixed wing fleet, purchasing 8 PAC Cresco when these were introduced. In 2004 the family business was bought out by Ravensdown Fertiliser Cooperative, although Wally’s son still flies for it. Waiouru is a small town in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand. ... Wanganui is an urban area and district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. ... Cessna Aircraft Company, located in Wichita, Kansas, is a manufacturer of general aviation aircraft, from small two-seat, single-engine airplanes to business jets. ... The PA-25 Pawnee was a very popular agricultural aircraft produced by Piper Aircraft. ... Piper Cub. ... A PAC Cresco in action The PAC Cresco is a turbo-prop powered derivative of the FU-24 PAC Fletcher aerial topdressing aircraft, manufactured by the Pacific Aerospace Corporation in Hamilton, New Zealand. ...

James Aviation

Ossie James was another pilot and farmer who started on Tiger Moths and progressed to Fletchers. His company logo is a strangled goose, arose after one of his pilots chased a goose in a Tiger Moth, and ende up crash landing after getting it. The pilot’s version of events was blown by the farmer who, when Ossie came to pick up the damaged plane, insisted on hiring the pilot who put on such a display of aerobatics in his wild goose chase. James Aviation flew DC 3s as well as Fletchers. James was heavily involved in the New Zealand International Field Days, Salvation Army and Waikato Aero Club. Ossie James was made a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2004. Other uses: Goose (disambiguation) Genera Anser Branta Chen Cereopsis Cnemiornis (extinct) † see also: Swan, Duck Anatidae Goose (plural geese) is the general English name for a considerable number of birds, belonging to the family Anatidae. ... The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian evangelical denomination, as well as a charity and social services organisation, with international headquarters at 101 Queen Victoria Street London, England. ...

Pacific Aerospace

Manufacturer of the Flectcher and the similar but larger and turboprop powered PAC Cresco, as well as the PAC 750 and PAC CT/4 Airtrainer, Pacific Aerospace of Hamilton is New Zealand's largest aircraft manufacturer. Flecthers and Crescos have been exported widely to Africa the Middle east and South America as well as Australasia. Differences betwen the demands of American and European markets, as well as entry barrier, have ensured the antipodean style of topdresser has not competed with the cockpit behind the hopper designs of American manufacturers. Pacific Aerospace Corporation (PAC) is an aircraft manufacturing company based in Hamilton, New Zealand. ... A PAC Cresco in action The PAC Cresco is a turbo-prop powered derivative of the FU-24 PAC Fletcher aerial topdressing aircraft, manufactured by the Pacific Aerospace Corporation in Hamilton, New Zealand. ... The Pacific Aerospace Corporation CT/4 Airtrainer series are all-metal construction, single-engine, two place side-by-side seating, fully aerobatic, piston engined, basic training aircraft manufactured in Hamilton, New Zealand. ... // Hamilton is the surname of a renowned family from the Scottish Lowlands that has given its name to the town of Hamilton, Scotland, the Dukedom of Hamilton, and many people, such as Alexander Hamilton, and places, the largest of which being Hamilton, Ontario. ... Australasia is the area that includes Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and the many smaller islands in the vicinity, most of which are the eastern part of Indonesia. ...

Environmental Impact

Ironically, given the industry was started by government research aimed at soil conservation, a number of negative impacts have emerged. The two major criticisms are the run off of fertiliser into streams and waterways encourages marine plant growth, leading to choking of the waterways, and altering the fresh water ecosystem, disadvantaging many fish, (and frustrating anglers). To minimise impact, topdressing is now prohibited within certain distances of water. The second impact is less direct. By enabling sheep to be run profitably on steep hillsides, the topdressing industry stopped reforestation of otherwise uneconomic land, contributing to the erosion it was orginally designed to prevent. Research is an in inactive, diligent and systematic process of inquiry in order to discover, interpret or revise facts, events, behaviours, or theories, or to make practical applications with the help of such facts, laws or theories. ... Conservation may refer to the following: Conservation ethic in relation to preserving ecosystems Conservationist Conservation movement Conservation ecology Conservation law of physics Conservation of energy Conservation of mass Conservation in genetics Conservation in psychology Prolonging the material integrity of cultural and artistic objects Art conservation Architectural conservation or immovable object... Fertilizers are chemicals given to plants with the intention of promoting growth; they are usually applied either via the soil or by foliar spraying. ... Running Stream The primary meaning of stream is a body of water, confined within a bed and banks and having a detectable current. ... Groups Conodonta Hyperoartia Petromyzontidae (lampreys) Pteraspidomorphi (early jawless fish) Thelodonti Anaspida Cephalaspidomorphi (early jawless fish) Galeaspida Pituriaspida Osteostraci Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) Placodermi Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) Acanthodii Osteichthyes (bony fish) Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish) Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) Actinistia (coelacanths) Dipnoi (lungfish) A fish is a poikilothermic (cold-blooded)* water-dwelling... Binomial name Ovis aries Linnaeus, 1758 A sheep is any of several woolly ruminant quadrupeds, but most commonly the Domestic Sheep (Ovis aries), which probably descends from the wild moufflon of south-central and south-west Asia. ... Biodiversity on a 15-year-old reforested block Reforestation is the process of restoring tree cover to areas where woodlands or forest once existed but was removed by logging for wood products; if this area never returns to its original state of a forest this destructive process is called deforestation. ... Look up Erosion in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. Erosion is the displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock, and so forth) by the agents of wind, water, ice, movement in response to gravity, or living organisms (in the case...

Print Media

Alexander, G. & J. S. Tullett, “The Super Men”. A.H. & A.W. Reed, Wellington, 1967

Geelen, Janic "The Topdressers" NZ Aviation Press. Te Awamutu, 1983

D.A. Campbell “Some observations on Top dressing in New Zealand,” New Zealand Journal of Science and Technology Volume X 1948

Web sites

Geelen, Janic. 'Field, Lawson Lysnar Copland 1896 - 1981'. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, updated 7 July 2005 URL: http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/

Encyclopedia history of Topdressing to the mid 1960s http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/A/AerialTopdressing/AerialTopdressing/en

New Zealand topdressing history http://www.techhistory.co.nz/OntheLand/aerial_top-dressing.htm