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 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 ...

produced by

Ayres Corporation Ayres Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer owned and run by Fred Ayres. History In 1977, Ayres bought the Albany, Georgia division of Rockwell International, which made the Ayres Thrush, S2R Thrush Commander agricultural aircraft. B ...

and more recently by

Thrush Aircraft Thrush Aircraft, LLC is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Albany, Georgia. It manufactures the Thrush series of agricultural, firefighting and special mission aircraft. History Rockwell International Rockwell International was a ...

. It is one of the most successful and long-lived agricultural application aircraft types in the world, with almost 2,000 sold since the first example flew years ago. Typical of agricultural aircraft, it is a single-seat

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

of conventional taildragger configuration. Originally powered by a

radial piston engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is cal ...

, most examples produced since the 1980s have been

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.

Design and development

The Thrush, designed by Leland Snow, first flew in 1956 and before long was being produced in series as the S-2 by the company he founded,

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 ...

. In 1965, the corporation and all of its assets were purchased by the

Aero Commander Aero Commander was an aircraft manufacturer formed in 1944. In subsequent years, it became a subsidiary of Rockwell International and Gulfstream Aerospace. The company ceased aircraft production in 1986. History Aero was formed in Culver City, ...

division of Rockwell, which put it into production alongside the CallAir A-9 that it had also acquired, branding both unrelated (though similar) machines as "Ag Commanders". When Rockwell dropped the Aero Commander brand, the S-2 was renamed the "Thrush Commander". In 1977, Rockwell sold off the production rights to the aircraft and the production facility at

Albany, Georgia Albany ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Located on the Flint River, it is the county seat of Dougherty County, Georgia, Dougherty County, and is the sole incorporated city in that county. Located in Southwest Geo ...

, which were purchased by Ayres Corporation, a firm which had been built on retro-fitting turboprop engines to Thrush Commanders. On June 30, 2003, Ayres' assets were purchased by

, the current producer of the aircraft. The S-2 and its several variants have been purchased by agricultural spraying operators in many countries. Large numbers are operated in the United States and Australia, while other countries using the type include Costa Rica, France, Guyana, Iran, Israel, Jamaica, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Ayres developed a special anti-narcotics crop-spraying version of the Turbo-Thrush for the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

. This version, known as the Narcotics Eradication Delivery System (NEDS) featured an armored cockpit and engine to protect against hostile ground fire. Nine were sold to the Department of State between 1983 and 1985.J. W. R. Taylor 1988, p. 328. Ayres also attempted to market a militarized version as the Ayres Vigilante, intended for the

Close Air Support Close air support (CAS) is defined as aerial warfare actions—often air-to-ground actions such as strafes or airstrikes—by military aircraft against hostile targets in close proximity to friendly forces. A form of fire support, CAS requires ...

role, but this failed to attract customers. IOMAX USA of North Carolina, which had previously modified

Air Tractor AT-802 The Air Tractor AT-802 is an American agricultural aircraft that may also be adapted into Aerial firefighting, fire-fighting or armed versions. It first flew in the United States in October 1990 and is manufactured by Air Tractor. The AT-802 carr ...

agricultural aircraft as reconnaissance/attack aircraft, has developed the Archangel attack aircraft modeled on the S-2R-660. The

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

has ordered 24 Archangels, with delivery from June 2015.Ayton ''Air International'' February 2017, pp. 25, 27. Two Thrush 510Gs were modified to perform a

counter-insurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN, or NATO spelling counter-insurgency) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the ac ...

role by the Austrian company Airborne Technologies at the direction of

Erik Prince Erik Dean Prince (born June 6, 1969) is an American businessman, investor, author, and former U.S. Navy SEAL officer, and the founder of the private military company Blackwater. He served as Blackwater's CEO until 2009 and as its chairman u ...

, the former head of Blackwater, but in the absence of an export license the aircraft have not been used operationally.

Variants

Paris Air Show 2017 Lasa Thrush 510G left front

Snow Aeronautical

(per Simpson, 2005, p. 39) ;S-1: initial prototype with open cockpit. ;S-2: pre-production version of S-1 – 3 built. ;S-2A: initial production version, powered by Continental engine – 73 built. ;S-2B: S-2 powered by

Pratt & Whitney R-985 The Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior is a series of nine-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engine, radial aircraft engines built by the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company from the 1930s to the 1950s. These engines have a Engine displacement, displace ...

– 19 built. ;S-2C: refined production version, wingspan increased – 214 built. ;S-2C-600: S-2C re-engined with

Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN1 The Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp is an aircraft engine of the reciprocating type that was widely used in American aircraft from the 1920s onward. It was the Pratt & Whitney aircraft company's first engine, and the first of the famed Wasp serie ...

. ;S-2D: take-off weight – 105 built.

Aero Commander

;S-2D Ag Commander:

Rockwell

;Thrush Commander 600: ;Thrush Commander 800: powered by

Wright R-1300 The Wright R-1300 Cyclone 7 is an American air-cooled seven-cylinder supercharged radial aircraft engine produced by Curtiss-Wright. Design and development The R-1300 is basically a single row Wright R-2600. The engine was mass-produced but n ...

Marsh

;S2R-T Turbo Thrush: Rockwell Thrush Commanders converted to turbine power by

Marsh Aviation Marsh Aviation is an aircraft engineering, design, maintenance and re-manufacturing company, situated on East Falcon Drive, at Falcon Field in Mesa, Arizona. The company often works as a sub-contractor to well-known brand-name aerospace compan ...

using Garrett AiResearch TPE331-1-101 engines.

Ayres

;S-2R 1340: equivalent to Thrush Commander 600. ;S-2R 1820: ;Bull Thrush: ;Pezetel Thrush: powered by

PZL-3 The Ivchenko AI-26 is a seven-cylinder air-cooled radial engine used in early Soviet helicopters and later used in light utility aircraft. Design and development The AI-26 engine was designed by A.G Ivchenko in 1945 with the early designation M ...

. ;: turboprop powered versions equipped with

Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 is a turboprop aircraft engine produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada. Its design was started in 1958, it first ran in February 1960, first flew on 30 May 1961, entered service in 1964, and has been continuously upd ...

V-1-A Vigilante

it could mount FLIR cameras and could carry up to 1,200 lbs of NATO standard weapons as well as gunpods on six under-wing pylons.

Thrush Aircraft

;Thrush Model 400: ;Thrush Model 510G:

General Electric H80 The General Electric H-Series is a family of turboprop aircraft engines produced by Walter Aircraft Engines, GE BGA Turboprops. The initial H80 is an updated derivative of the Walter M601, while the H75 and H85 are later derivatives. Development ...

powered ;Thrush Model 510GR:

Honeywell TPE331 The Honeywell TPE331 (military designation: T76) is a turboprop engine. It was designed in the 1950s by Garrett AiResearch, and produced since 1999 by successor Honeywell Aerospace. The engine's power output ranges from . Design and developm ...

powered ;Thrush Model 510P:

Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34 The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 is a turboprop aircraft engine produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada. Its design was started in 1958, it first ran in February 1960, first flew on 30 May 1961, entered service in 1964, and has been continuously upd ...

powered ;Thrush Model 550: Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-65AG powered ;Thrush Model 710: Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-65AG powered ;Archangel: Thrush 550G modified as two-seat armed attack aircraft. PT6A-67F engine. Fitted with 6 hardpoints for of external stores.Ayton ''Air International'' February 2017, pp. 25, 31.

Specifications (Thrush Commander 600)

References

Bibliography

* 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. . * Green, William. ''Aircraft Handbook''. London. Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1964. * Simpson, Rod. ''The General Aviation Handbook''. Midland Publishing. 2005. . *Taylor, John W R. (editor). ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1976-77''. London: Jane's Yearbooks, 1976. . *Taylor, John W R. (editor). ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1988-89''. Coulsdon, Surrey, UK: Jane's Information Group, 1988. .

External links

* * * {{Aero Commander aircraft

Thrush Thrush may refer to: Birds * Thrush (bird), any of the birds in the family Turdidae ** List of thrush species * Antthrushes, the Formicariidae family of birds * Dohrn's warbler, or Dohrn's thrush-babbler, a species ''Sylvia dohrni'' in the famil ...

1950s United States agricultural aircraft

Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1956 Aero Commander aircraft Single-engined piston aircraft Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear