The 500th Air Tractor 802 series airplane was delivered to its new owner on April 4, 2013. According to Air Tractor, Inc. President Jim Hirsch, S/N 802A-0500 was delivered to its new owner: Drew Spidahl, owner of Ag-Tech Air, LLC in Lena, Illinois. Air Tractor dealer Harley Curless of Farm Air, Inc. placed the order and completed the sale in mid-February. Harley and son Joe were on hand at Air Tractor with Drew and his father Kay to take delivery of the aircraft. This marks the 500th aircraft produced in the 802 series for agricultural and firefighting work.
“When the very first production model AT-802 was delivered in 1993, Leland Snow thought he might sell six or eight the first year and would be satisfied if he could sell 10-15 per year,” says Hirsch. The aircraft was originally designed as an 800-gallon capacity air tanker for aerial firefighting. The AT-802 was by far the largest capacity agricultural plane in the industry then, and remains so now, with a 16,000-pound FAA certificated gross weight. “It wasn’t long before the 802 was equipped with spray booms and working as an ag plane,” said Hirsch. “More and more ag operators saw how the 802 really boosted production and efficiency. Sales steadily grew, and by March 2005, Air Tractor had produced 200 of the AT-802s. Now eight years later we have delivered number 500. Today, the AT-802 is the second best-selling aircraft in our product line, just behind the AT-502.”
For more information, please visit www.airtractor.com.
Article courtesy of aero-news.net.