Fred Ayers, the founder of Ayers Corporation, which evolved into Thrush Aircraft, passed away on October 6 at the age of 93. He was inducted into the National Agricultural Aviation Hall of Fame (NAAHOF) in 1997 and the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame in 2002.  

 

Ayers was awarded NAAA’s Delta Air Lines “Puffer” Award in 1976; the award is presented to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the design of agricultural aircraft and/or related equipment.

 

Born in Dothan, Alabama, on December 10, 1930, Fred P. Ayres studied aeronautical engineering at the University of Alabama, served in the U. S. Army for two years during the Korean War, and then attended Mexico City College. He obtained his commercial pilot's license in 1955 and began a career in aviation by becoming a crop-dusting pilot. 

 

According to the 1997 NAAHOF awards presentation for Ayres, “In 1958, Fred started his own spray business in Blakely, GA, after flying for three years with Dothan Aviation in Dothan, AL. He was one of the first operators of the Grumman Ag Cat and operated a fleet of five by 1962. As the years continued, Ayres developed a relationship with Rockwell International, marketing their line of agricultural aircraft, including the A-9 Sparrow and A9-B Quail, along with the S2R Thrush. In 1967, he formed Ag Aero Distributors, Inc. to handle the domestic and worldwide distribution of Rockwell ag aircraft in the world. Ag Aero rapidly became the largest distributor of Rockwell ag aircraft in the world.” 

 

In the book Power: The Pratt and Whitney Canada Story, “Ayers spoke to Rockwell about doing a PT6-powered Thrush. They weren’t interested so he approached Pratt & Whitney Canada and made his own deal, hiring Serv Aero of Salinas, CA, to do the conversion. His first Turbo Thrush flew in September 1975.” The aircraft was a Thrush S-2R, a single-seat ag monoplane powered by the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6.

 

Ayres was quoted as saying, “We were doing so well with the PT6 that whenever we found an operator with enough capital to afford a conversion, we had a sure sale. We couldn’t get airframes fast enough. The PT6 was right up front in our decision to buy the Thrush rights from Rockwell.” 

 

In 1976, Ayers negotiated with Rockwell International for the purchase of the Albany plant and its general aviation assets; the transaction was completed in November 1977. 

 

In addition to the work he was already doing, Ayres established an ag pilot training school at Commander Air Service. The training curriculum began with 20 hours of dual instruction in a 450 Stearman and progressed to 30 hours of supervised solo in all the major ag aircraft manufactured at that time. The school was an instant success, with students coming from around the world for the best agricultural aviation training available.

 

In the 1980s, First Lady Nancy Reagan encouraged children to “Just Say No” to drugs and the aerial application industry had already been assisting with efforts on eradication of illegal drugs since the 1970s. Ayres played a central role in these drug eradication efforts and he was contracted by the U.S. State Department to develop a special version of the Turbo Thrush known as the Narcotics Eradication Delivery System (NEDS). 

 

The NEDS plane was beefed up with a powerful PT6 engine to carry its 2-ton load of herbicides and still be able to maneuver through enemy fire. The planes had a maximum speed of 250 miles per hour and could fly up to 1,000 miles on one tank of gas. Able to cruise at speeds under 100 miles an hour, the planes could stay in the air for up to seven hours at a time. The aircraft were modified over time to add weapons capabilities, night vision cameras and other surveillance equipment.

 

The Ayres Corporation delivered nine NEDS airplanes to the State Department from 1983 to 1985. In 1989, Ayres built a souped-up version of the NEDS aircraft called the V-1-A Vigilante. The wingspan was just over 44 feet, and its empty weight was 4,900 pounds. It could take off and land with as much as 10.500 pounds altogether. 

 

The Ayres Corporation in the 1990's transformed itself from a small company primarily manufacturing and distributing crop spraying aircraft to a 700-employee diversified aerospace company. In addition, the purchase of LET, an aircraft manufacturing firm in the Czech Republic was realized. That company's 1,700 employees produced the 19-passenger L410/420 and the 40-seat L610 and market them worldwide. 

 

In June 2003, Thrush Aircraft was formed from Ayres Corporation. Listen to this great interview of Ayres conducted by AgAir Update in 2014. NAAA’s thoughts and prayers are with the Ayres family at the loss of Mr. Ayers.