November 24, 2015
NAAA eNewsletter

EPA Withdraws Approval of Dow’s Enlist Glyphosate, 2,4-D Herbicide Mix Pending Review of New Data

The EPA has informed a federal appeals court that it is withdrawing its approval for Dow AgroSciences' glyphosate and 2,4-D mix, known as Enlist Duo, in order to review new data on the chemical.  In a motion to voluntarily remand the issue to the agency, the EPA has asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to vacate the 2014 registration while it reviews whether there are potential risks to off-target plants from the mixing of the herbicides. The Natural Resources Defense Council, Center for Food Safety and other environmental groups sued the EPA shortly after it signed off on the Dow product, arguing that the agency had failed to fully consider the effects of the pesticide on endangered species and pollinators.
 
In the motion the agency explained "Here, EPA has learned that it did not have all relevant information at the time it made its registration decision…specifically, Dow did not submit to EPA during the registration process the extensive information relating to potential synergism it cited to the Patent Office; EPA only learned of the existence of that information after the registrations were issued and only recently obtained the information."
 
The data, which the agency said it received two weeks ago, raises questions over whether the 30-foot buffer around fields to prevent drift from the herbicide is sufficient. The EPA says it will review the information and determine whether and with what conditions to issue a new registration decision.  Enlist Duo was not approved for aerial use even before the EPA approval withdrawal. 

Texas Monthly Hails Leland Snow as the Thomas Edison of Agricultural Aviation

Ag pilots and operators have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, including the ability to earn a living doing something they love. The vast majority of aerial applicators who ply their trade with an airplane—and airplanes make up 85 percent of the industry’s fleet—owes a debt of gratitude to the late Leland Snow. In fact, all Americans should be thankful for Snow’s ingenuity. A new Texas Monthly article on Air Tractor Inc.’s founder appropriately describes him as the “Thomas Edison of agricultural aviation.” 
 

 
















Leland Snow sold The Snow Aeronautical Company in 1965 to Rockwell-Standard, the original Thrush aircraft manufacturer, and later founded Air Tractor Inc. in Olney, Texas. 
Titled “Great Planes: How an Engineer from the Rio Grande Valley Turned a Small North Texas Town into a Hotbed of Aviation Innovation,” the article paints a vivid portrait of the far-reaching imprint Snow has left on the ag aviation industry. It also looks at the company that Olney, Texas-based Air Tractor has become today. 
 
Snow is much more than the person responsible for the Air Tractor planes that dominate the ag aviation market. Per Texas Monthly: 
 
It’s not a stretch to say that if you’ve eaten a vegetable or piece of fruit or worn a cotton shirt, you’ve probably benefited from Snow’s innovations. “Thanks to Leland Snow, we’re flying much more efficient, much safer, much more reliable, and much more powerful aircraft,” says Andrew Moore, the executive director of the National Agricultural Aviation Association. 
 
In all, Snow is responsible for nearly 30 aircraft designs, including the S-2, a precursor to his Air Tractor designs, and the basis for today’s Thrush Aircraft ag planes.
 
While Thrush Aircraft is headquartered in Albany, Ga., the companies that previously owned the production rights to the ag planes Thrush manufactures were originally based in Olney, Texas. North American Rockwell, the predecessor to Ayres Corp., purchased the product line of Snow Aeronautical in 1965. North American Rockwell continued to produce its 400-gallon aircraft in Olney, Texas, until 1970, when it moved the entire product line to Albany, Ga. 
 
Unwilling to leave Olney, Leland Snow resigned from Rockwell. Two years later he founded Air Tractor and began producing a new design, the Air Tractor AT-300. 
 
Meanwhile, in 1977 Rockwell sold the production rights for its agricultural aircraft to Ayres Corp. Thrush Aircraft Inc. acquired the production rights from Ayres in 2003 and continues to manufacture planes in Georgia.
 
Since both companies were founded, more than 6,000 purpose-built airplanes of Snow’s design have been manufactured. After delivering its first plane in the early ’70s, Air Tractor delivered its 3,000th aircraft to a Brazilian agricultural conglomerate in 2013. According to Thrush’s website, more than 3,000 Thrush aircraft have been delivered since 1966. Thrush puts its current worldwide fleet of aircraft at over 2,200. 
 
That’s a lot of “Snow” flakes helping farmers produce a safe, affordable and abundant supply of food, fiber and biofuel—and one more reason why we all should be thankful for the man many affectionately referred to as Mr. Leland! Reading Texas Monthly’s article on one our industry’s most important forbearers would be well worth your time this Thanksgiving season. 

Study Shows Toy Drone Collisions Riskier to Aircraft than Bird Strikes

A new study released by Aero Kinetics Aviation, LLC explores the hazard created when a toy drone is involved in a collision with a conventional airplane or helicopter. Aero Kinetics, an Aerospace and Defense firm released a study entitled “The Real Consequences of Flying Toy Drones in the National Airspace System.” Their conclusion was that toy drones do cause a threat to manned aircraft and especially to manned rotorcraft in all phases of flight.

 

In order to understand the potential for damage, drone collisions are compared to Bird Strikes. The FAA has done considerable research on Bird Strikes and realizes that catastrophic damage can be done to manned aircraft and even cause loss of life. Estimates are that Bird Strikes cost $951 million per year in the United States alone. In 2013 alone, four hundred forty-four Bird Strikes resulted in damage to manned aircraft in the National Airspace System (NAS). 

 

Impacts with a bird, an animal that consists of more than 50% water can be catastrophic to manned aircraft. The drones are made of solid plastics, batteries and metal which cause greater damage compared to bird flesh according to the study.

 

The Aero Kinetics study stated that it is a common misconception that Toy Drones are the same as Unmanned Aircraft but they are not designed or built to the same aerospace standards. In addition, they are a hazard to operators and bystanders and require no significant training to operate. The rapid growth in the number of Toy Drones make a collision between a manned aircraft and a drone inevitable.

 

Aero Kinetics believes that the solution should be focused on public education, additional testing, dedicated operating areas, air-traffic separation, and airworthiness certification. Equipping drones with ADS-B could be another aid in tracking the location where the drone is flying. The bottom line is that much more research is needed in order for drones to safely share the NAS with manned aircraft.

 

The Aero Kinetics study is available for reading or downloading by clicking here. The document contains photographs of Bird Strike damage to different areas of various aircraft and the procedure used to study various impacts.

NRDC Repot Plugs Environmental Benefits of Cover Crops

As the old adage goes, “politics makes strange bedfellows” and NAAA is encouraged by a recently released report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) that touts the many environmental benefits of planting cover crops in agriculture.  The two organizations are usually at odds with one another as the NRDC often takes positions in opposition to the use of synthetic crop protection products, but a report released by NRDC last week on the benefits of planting cover crops does support another type of aerial application that our industry makes—the application of cover crop seeds.  The report “Climate-Ready Soil: How Cover Crops Can Make Farms More Resilient to Extreme Weather Risks” finds cover crops can suck tons of carbon pollution from the air, significantly cut crop losses and prevent the loss of a trillion gallons of water. In fact, planting cover crops on half the corn and soybean acres in the top 10 agricultural states (California, Iowa, Texas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Illinois, Kansas, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Indiana) could sequester  more than 19 million metric tons of carbon annually – the equivalent of taking more than 4 million cars off the road, according to the report.

 

Farmers who used cover crops over the last three growing seasons have consistently averaged higher yields than farmers who did not, according to recent USDA surveys. The yield benefit from cover crops was most pronounced in the areas hardest hit by the historic Midwest drought in 2012, demonstrating the importance of cover crops in drought-proofing fields.

SAIB Issued on AT-802 Engine Mounts

The FAA issued a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) Number CE-16-07 of an airworthiness concern for owners and operators of Air Tractor, Inc. Models AT-802/802A airplanes that incorporate one or more of the following:
  • Any serial number (S/N) in the range of 0228 through 0280;
  • Any S/N and has the engine mount gusset installation made per Snow Engineering, Inc. Service Letter #253 prior to October 16, 2007;
  • Any S/N and has engine mount replacements made between November 15, 2005 to December 31, 2008; and
  • Any S/N and has supplemental type certificate (STC) number SA01916CH or STC number SA0175CH installed. 
 
The SAIB provides inspection procedures and on-condition maintenance actions for the engine mount for affected airplanes. The FAA believes that this airworthiness concern is not an unsafe condition that would warrant airworthiness directive (AD) action.
 
Air Tractor recently issued Snow Engineering Co. Service Letter (SL) #335 for certain Models AT-802 and AT-802A airplanes. The SL was issued after an operator reported finding the engine mount attach lug gusset cracked on one airplane. The SL provides instructions for inspecting the engine mount lug for correct orientation and inspecting the area for cracks. Air Tractor requests that you report your inspection results to the Air Tractor Service Department.
 
The SAIB recommends that affected aircraft owners inspect their aircraft using the procedures in SL #335 and report findings to Air Tractor.  
 
Please read and follow the instructions given in the SAIB. Click here to read or download the SAIB.

Information to Bid on the PT6A-34AG Engine at NAAA's Live Auction

Letter of Credit Required

 

Thank you to Pratt & Whitney Canada for its donation of a new PT6A-34AG engine to this year’s Live Auction on Tuesday, Dec. 8, starting at 5:30 p.m. at the Savannah International Trade & Convention Center.

 

Please note that potential buyers must provide a letter of credit from a financial institution to NAAA and place 10 percent down as an initial deposit. The engine is valued at $475,744. Please send letter of credit to Lindsay Barber.

 

Thank you to all the allied member companies that have donated items to the Live and Silent Auctions for this year’s convention.

Have You Renewed Your NAAA Membership?

It’s time to renew your 2016 NAAA Membership if you haven’t already done so. Thank you for supporting NAAA as a 2015 member and thank you to those who’ve already renewed their 2016 membership. You can save a stamp and renew your membership at AgAviation.org by logging into your account in the upper right-hand corner. Once you've logged in, click Membership Renewal on the left-hand toolbar (as seen in the graphic below)…

 

 

NAAA membership is as important as ever as NAAA needs resources to continue pushing for stringent tower marking requirements and to promote the safe integration of UAVs to ensure the safety of ag pilots (click here to view NAAA’s UAV safety campaign video). NAAA continues to lobby daily on these two important issues for the safety of the aerial application industry and on a number of other issues vital to the industry. There are numerous benefits to you whether you’re an operator, pilot or allied company. A few benefits to you as a member of NAAA include:

  • Protection against unnecessary and overly burdensome regulations. NAAA vows to protect the interests of agricultural aviation in Washington, D.C., by reaching out to elected policymakers and pursue support for federal policy that is favorable to our industry—including the exemption of NPDES pesticide general permits, and as mentioned above, continuing to push for more stringent marking requirements for towers under 200 feet and ensuring the safe integration of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into the national airspace while proactively safeguarding low-level aviation. (Your dues provide NAAA with the advocacy resources to foster support for aerial application interests and education of elected officials about the important role aerial applicators play in agricultural production and public health protection.)
  • Brand new UAV safety stuffers that you can send to your customers to ensure UAV users take into account the safety of low-flying manned aircraft, such as ag aircraft, when operating UAVs.
  • Receive relevant and valuable benefits such as access to the NAAA Member’s Only section of the website, the NAAA Media Relations Kit and the 2016 NAAA Membership Directory, which will be chock-full of NAAA resources, including NPDES pesticide general permit compliance resources and your one-stop shop to find aerial application parts, services, equipment, pilots and/or work in the industry. 
  • Continue receiving this NAAA eNewsletter, which keeps you up to date between the published issues ofAgricultural Aviation and contains significant information about important things happening in the industry to help your bottom line as an ag pilot, operator, or if your business is aligned with the agricultural aviation industry. 
  • Continually evolving education programs and services such as the Professional Aerial Applicators’ Support System (PAASS) that reduce aviation accidents and save lives. PAASS attendees can receive potential discounts through their insurance providers. PAASS and other NAAA education programs also qualify for continuing education units applicators use to renew their commercial pesticide licenses. 

You can read more about the benefits of NAAA Membership here. Your support of NAAA results in many significant benefits to the aerial application industry and you, such as advocacy and national representation, education and safety programs and the opportunity to network with fellow aerial applicators across the country. We are just a phone call or email away to answer your questions!  Contact the NAAA office at (202) 546-5722 or renew online today! Thank you for your continued support.