Air Tractor

[St Mawgan 1,359]

I might even re-install FSX for this!

 

 

Prety sweet for $19.95

[ZachLW 37]

Can't say it's a very interesting aircraft, but that is the first payware ag. aircraft I've seen. Here on the NC east coast, that's a regular sight. Thanks for the heads up.

[ErichB 3,642]

Interesting one. I love the dusting effect. I might get this for some low level fun

[Chock 17,769]

It's of interest to me because it is quite common as a glider tug, so I am reasonaly familiar with it, and it is also of interest because one could create crop duster missions for it. I might grab it and have a go at making one of those actually, might be fun.

 

Al

[St Mawgan 1,359]

She's a pig to fly with a full hopper apparently, just like the real thing.

 

[CoolP 283]

So it's out? Awaiting your reports, guys.

 

My last Alabeo purchase gave me an inexpensive and well done plane, so that Tractor is on my list I think. The shots on the modelling and texture work look great.

[Chock 17,769]

Just bought it, downloading it now, I'll let you know.

 

Al

[MindYerBeak 73]

Yes Al let us know-It's on my to get list.It looks great.

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

Just bought it, downloading it now, I'll let you know.

 

Al

 

Al, I appreciate that you buy just about everything that comes out, be it the good, bad and ugly, and give us a good honest review of it. You have both saved me tons of money by reading your reviews which pointed to less than worthy addons as well as got me interested in things I would have never purchased had it not been for your reviews.

 

Thanks for all the hard work.

[Chock 17,769]

Well, this is a great aeroplane add-on, especially for the price. It looks fantastic both inside and out, with two versions available of each of the several paint jobs, with or without chemical spray gear attached under the wings, so you could also use it as the FSX tow plane with out the spray gear. Like the real thing, it is fairly basic inside, although quite visually pleasing for all that, and it does get very fast frame rates in spite of the detailed modeling and textures, which can in fact stand up to the closest inspection when you zoom right in. The VC is very good indeed.

 

Controls-wise it has fairly minimalist avionics and there are but a few pop up panels, basically ones for the radio, the spray hopper, and one for the reflections in the VC which you can turn on or off, and that is about it. The spray hopper can be operated by either a lever in the VC, or by the smoke command in FSX (I) and the effect is very good indeed. Sound is alright, nothing special.

 

It's quite hard to fly when loaded up with fuel and agro chemicals; you definitely can't take liberties with it when it is like that, you have to keep the turns pretty well coordinated and the speed up fairly high or it would certainly mush into the ground. This makes it a good challenge when doing a bit of simulated crop dusting, especially in tight terrain.

 

I've recorded a quick video of me having a bash at crop dusting with it (although it is still presently uploading), and on that you can see that in order to have enough speed to pull up over the terrain after going low to dust the field, you have to basically do a series of chandelles, otherwise you'll be miles away from the field when you've turned around for the next run, and you also have to keep an eye on the compass heading, otherwise you'll not be lined up with it either. Another thing to consider is the wind drift for the chemical spray, which makes dusting in a crosswind a real challenge. With some crop dusting 'missions' in FSX, this thing could be a real blast, although there is no doubt that Track IR would be a big help here.

 

Definitely worth a go if you like something a bit unusual. I'll post a link to that vid when it has uploaded (145 mins to go though at the moment because it is in HD).

 

Only real bad thing is the manual, there is probably a picture of this manual in the dictionary when you look up the word 'minimalist', it is literally a one page PDF with the general V speeds and that's about it. It would be nice to have seen something about how pilots actually do crop dusting in there; I know you could probably look that up on a wiki or something, but it would have been at least a bit helpful, still, you hardly need the controls explaining in something as basic as this aeroplane.

 

Al

[Kaly 22]

Waiting for the video, and one finger on the purchase button.

[RWFeldman 159]

We use 802 turbines in our service! No creature comforts, hot and brutal.

[Tube and Rag 3]

Call me pedantic, but I have to take issue with the thread title. This airplane is certainly not an Air Tractor.

[Chock 17,769]

True, it's not an Air Tractor as far as the manufacturer's brand name is concerned, even though it does look a lot like one, but as a type it could be regarded as one, since it is basically an aerial tractor.

 

Al

[Tube and Rag 3]

 

 

 

This is an Air Tractor (photo from AirTractor.com)