Air Tractor Inc. is a United States aircraft manufacturer based in

Olney, Texas Olney is a city in Young County, Texas, United States. Its population was 3,007 as of the 2020 census. History On May 18, 1951, the city was devastated by a violent F4 tornado. Thomas P. Grazulis noted this tornado was a possible F5 on the Fuj ...

. Founded in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

, the company began manufacturing a new

agricultural aircraft An agricultural aircraft is an aircraft that has been built or converted for agricultural use – usually aerial application of pesticides (crop dusting) or fertilizer (aerial topdressing); in these roles, they are referred to as "crop duste ...

derived from the S-2B aircraft (designed by founder Leland Snow's previous company,

Snow Aeronautical Snow Aeronautical was an American aircraft manufacturer established in 1956 in Olney, Texas by Leland Snow to manufacture and market agricultural aircraft of his design. History Leland Snow, a graduate of the aeronautical engineering program ...

). Designated Model AT-300 Air Tractor, the new aircraft first flew in 1973.

History

Leland Snow began designing his first airplane, the S-1, in 1951. The 23-year-old Snow completed test flights with the S-1 in 1953. Snow's S-1 flew dusting and spraying jobs in the Texas Rio Grande Valley and in Nicaragua until 1957. He followed up the S-1 with the models S-2A, S-2B and S-2C (now the

Ayres Thrush The Ayres Thrush, formerly the Snow S-2,Macdonald, 1964. p.138. Aero Commander Ag Commander, and Rockwell Thrush Commander, is an American agricultural aircraft produced by Ayres Corporation and more recently by Thrush Aircraft. It is one of the ...

), which were produced in Olney, Texas from 1958. In 1965, Leland Snow sold his company to

Rockwell-Standard Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate. It was involved in aircraft, the space industry, defense and commercial electronics, components in the automotive industry, printing presses, avionics and industrial produ ...

and was appointed a vice president of the Aero Commander division. During this time, the Model S-2R was developed and named the Thrush. The first 100 Thrush aircraft were built at the Olney Division before the plant was closed and Thrush production moved to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

in 1970. More than 500 aircraft were produced under Snow Aeronautical Corporation and Rockwell-Standard in Olney. Snow resigned from Rockwell and devoted the next two years designing the Air Tractor. Construction on the AT-300, which later became the AT-301, began in 1972. Air Tractor's first turbine model, the AT-302, was introduced in 1977. Sixteen years later (), Air Tractor delivered its 1,100th airplane and soon began expanding the Olney plant for increased capacity, and less than five years after that (), the 2,000th Snow-designed airplane was built there. Since then (), Air Tractor has produced a line of aircraft that includes capacity planes powered by

Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon Technologies). Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially ...

piston and turbine engines. From 2011 through 2018, Air Tractor consistently delivered more

turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...

-powered

fixed wing A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using aerodynamic lift. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft (in which a rotor mounted on a spinning shaft generates ...

aircraft than any other manufacturer; of 601 total worldwide

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

turboprop deliveries in 2018, 141 (23%) were Air Tractors. Now (2024), even the entry level agricultural plane AT-402B is available only with turbine engine. On July 1, 2008 Air Tractor, Inc. became an employee-owned company with the establishment of an

Employee Stock Ownership Plan Employee stock ownership, or employee share ownership, is where a company's employees own shares in that company (or in the parent company of a group of companies). US employees typically acquire shares through a share option plan. In the UK, Emp ...

Aircraft

References

Bibliography

Air Tractor AT-300

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Air Tractor AT-400

* * * *

Air Tractor AT-500 family

* * *

Air Tractor AT-602

* Jackson, Paul. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 2003–2004''. Coulsdon, UK: Jane's Information Group, 2003. . * Taylor, Michael J. H. ''Brassey's World Aircraft & Systems Directory 1999/2000''. London: Brassey's, 1999. .
Airliners.net

Manufacturer's Website

Air Tractor AT-802

* Ayton, Mark. "Archangel: Crop Duster to Tank Buster". ''

Air International ''AIR International'' is a British aviation magazine covering current defence aerospace and civil aviation topics. It has been in publication since 1971 and is currently published by Key Publishing Ltd. History and profile The magazine was fir ...

'', Vol. 92, No. 2, February 2017. pp. 24–33. . *Hoyle, Craig. "World Air Forces Directory". ''

Flight International ''Flight International'', formerly ''Flight'', is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", i ...

'', 13–19 December 2011. pp. 26–52. * Jackson, Paul. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 2003–2004''. Coulsdon, UK: Jane's Information Group, 2003. . * Keijsper, Gerard. "Water-Bombers Required!" ''

Air Forces Monthly ''Air Forces Monthly'' (AFM) is a military aviation magazine published by Key Publishing Ltd, based at Stamford in the English county of Lincolnshire in the United Kingdom. Established in 1988, the magazine provides news and analysis on mi ...

'', London: Key Publishing, July 2008 Issue. *

External links

Air Tractor (Official website)

Air Tractor Europe (Official website)
{{Air Tractor aircraft Aircraft manufacturers of the United States Companies based in Texas 1978 establishments in Texas American companies established in 1978 Manufacturing companies established in 1978