Aerial Agriculture

The Premium Aerial Agriculture Service in North Queensland

BlanchAir is committed to providing the premium Aerial Application service in North Queensland. It’s the premium service because we offer the best value for money. How do we achieve that? The right technology, and the right people.

If you want to send in an order by fax, download our order form here. Once you have printed it and completed it, fax it back to us on (07) 4776 3335

Technology

Our primary application aircraft is an Air Tractor 301. It’s a 1350 litre capacity aircraft with a 600 HP radial engine. We can run this aircraft on Automotive Fuel which allows us a significant saving over the cost of running Avgas.

Our AirTractor is equipped with JARBA booms. This spray boom was invented and developed by Jones Air, a very progressive aerial cotton spraying company in St George QLD. The JARBA system incorporates a FarmScan on board spray controller and maintains a constant flow rate per hectare, regardless of ground speed. It also maintains a constant droplet size, regardless of airspeed. (It does this by rotating the nozzles into or out of the airflow.) Application rate and droplet size are critical to ensuring an effective job and minimising drift, which is importantly going to keep your neighbours happy. We are unique in North Queensland in using this system.

Our second application aircraft is a model known as the Eagle. The Eagle was designed and built during the energy crisis at the beginning of the 1980s. Its extraordinarily long wing span and choice of engine enable it to cover more hectares per litre of fuel with a very wide, even spray pattern with minimal drift. We commenced operations with the Eagle in April ’09 and are finding it a very effective platform. The Eagle is rapidly becoming our platform of choice.

We don’t just fly aeroplanes. We also operate helicopters. In early 2009, we acquired a Wasp helicopter, modified specifically for aerial spraying. This helicopter carries as much and sprays as wide as others costing four times as much! Its engine driven spray pump actually delivers a higher flow rate than those other helicopters. That’s important when very high volumes per hectare are required, in tree crops and forestry situations for example. Once again the main benefit to NQ farmers is its realistic acquisition cost and benchmark performance.

People

The team is headed by Don Blanch. Don has been providing aerial agriculture services since 1985 and to these industries. We like to talk to our customers

Would you like to talk to someone who has used BlanchAir’s services?