The PZL-Mielec M-18 ''Dromader'' (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

: "

Dromedary The dromedary (''Camelus dromedarius''), also known as the dromedary camel, Arabian camel and one-humped camel, is a large camel of the genus '' Camelus'' with one hump on its back. It is the tallest of the three camel species; adult males sta ...

") is a single engine

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 ...

that is manufactured by PZL-Mielec in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. The aircraft is used mainly as a

cropduster Aerial application, or crop dusting, involves spraying crops with crop protection products from an agricultural aircraft. Planting certain types of seed are also included in aerial application. The specific spreading of fertilizer is also known a ...

firefighting Firefighting is a profession aimed at controlling and extinguishing fire. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter or fireman. Firefighters typically undergo a high degree of technical training. This involves structural fir ...

machine.

Development

PZL-Mielec PZL Mielec (''Polskie Zakłady Lotnicze'' - Polish Aviation Works), formerly WSK-Mielec (''Wytwórnia Sprzętu Komunikacyjnego'') and WSK "PZL-Mielec" is a Polish aerospace manufacturer based in Mielec. It is the largest aerospace manufacturer i ...

, then known as WSK-Mielec, began to design the Dromader in the mid 1970s, with help of

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

aircraft manufacturer

Rockwell International Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate (company), conglomerate. It was involved in aircraft, the space industry, defense and commercial electronics, components in the automotive industry, printing presses, avioni ...

. PZL-Mielec asked for Rockwell's help because of the political situation at the time: operating in an

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

country, PZL wanted the aircraft to sell well worldwide, and the company realized that certification by the United States

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

would be important in reaching that goal. Rockwell on the other hand wanted to fit Polish high-power radial engines into its agricultural planes. As a result of this cooperation the

Rockwell Thrush Commander 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 ...

aircraft was fitted with the

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 ...

engine, and the Polish designers created the higher payload M-18 Dromader by introducing the more powerful ASz-62 engine, making structural changes to the airframe, and increasing dimensions. The cooperation led to the Dromader sharing outer wing panels and part of the fuselage with the Thrush Commander. The first prototype of the aircraft flew on August 27, 1976. In September

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 aircraft was given certification to fly in Poland. Certifications from many countries around the world followed soon. During the 1980s, PZL envisaged a family of related designs based on the M-18, optimised for different capacities. The M-21 Dromader Mini and M-24 Dromader Super flew in prototype form, and a M-25 Dromader Mikro was designed. However, none of these saw production. Many aircraft of the M-18 type and its variations can still be seen around the world. They were sold to 24 countries, over 200 are used in the US. In 2008, fifteen were sold to China. In 2012, PZL-Mielec was still selling models M-18B and M-18BS, with 759 built in total.M-18 Dromader on PZL Mielec homepage
etrieved 24-1-2012 , the Dromader was sold by PZL-Mielec, but the production has been halted.Gruszczyński, Jerzy. ''W pierwszej lidze dostawców'', "Lotnictwo Aviation International" Nr. 9/2017, p. 35-36 (in Polish) The produced aircraft are still refurbished instead, with new engines (produced by WSK "PZL-Kalisz"). There are plans to acquire rights and renew the production in WZL-2 in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

Variants

;M-18:original one-seat production version, available for special orders only. ;M-18A:two seater available from

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

onwards. Allows a mechanic or chemical loader to be carried as a passenger to remote fields. ;M-18AS:two-cockpit trainer version ;M-18B:refined version of M-18A with increased capacity, flown in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

. ;M-18BS:two-cockpit trainer. ;M-18C:version with more powerful 895 kW (1,200 hp)

Kalisz K-9 Kalisz () is a city in central Poland, and the second-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, with 97,905 residents (December 2021). It is the capital city of the Kalisz Region. Situated on the Prosna river in the southeastern part of Gre ...

engine. Flown in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

but not produced. ;AII AVA-303:The M-18 is being built in Iran as the AVA-303.

Operators

Military

; *

Croatian Air Force The Croatian Air Force ( or HRZ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Croatian Armed Forces. It is tasked primarily with safeguarding the sovereignty of Croatian airspace and providing aviation support to other branches during joint operations. ...

- Former operator. ; *

Hellenic Air Force The Hellenic Air Force (HAF; , sometimes abbreviated as ΠΑ) is the air force of Greece (''Hellenic'' being the endonym for ''Greek'' in the Greek language). It is considered to be one of the largest air forces in NATO, and is globally placed 1 ...

; *

Montenegrin Air Force The Montenegrin Air Force (; ''V i PVO'') is the air force, air arm of the Military of Montenegro. The aircraft marking of the Montenegrin Air Force consist of a red-on-gold roundel, currently being the sole air arm using the latter colour in its ...

; - Agricultural Aviation

Civil

The Dromader is in service with aerial agriculture and other companies in many countries, operating in a variety of roles. The former Yugoslav Airline, Jugoslovenski Aerotransport, used it for cropspraying.

Turkish Aeronautical Association Turkish Aeronautical Association () is a non-profit organization with an aim of increasing public awareness and participation in aviation related activities and the national body governing air sports in Turkey. The association was founded with ...

uses it for firefighting.

Specifications (M18B Dromader)

References

*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. .

External links

PZL-Mielec page

PZL M21 Dromader Mini
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pzl-Mielec M-18 Dromader M18 1970s Polish agricultural aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aerial firefighting aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1976 Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear Single-engined piston aircraft