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 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 of conventional taildragger configuration. Originally powered by a radial engine, most examples produced since the 1980s have been turboprop-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.
In 1965, the corporation and all of its assets were purchased by the Aero Commander 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, 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 Thrush Aircraft, 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. This version, known as the Narcotics Eradication Delivery System (NEDS)[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 role, but this failed to attract customers.[Ayton Air International February 2017, pp. 25, 27.]
Two Thrush 510Gs were modified to perform a counter-insurgency role by the Austrian company Airborne Technologies at the direction of Erik Prince, the former head of Academi, but in the absence of an export license the aircraft have not been used operationally.
Variants
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 – 19 built.
- S-2C
- refined production version, wingspan increased
- S-2C-600
- S-2C re-engined with Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN1.
- 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.
Marsh
- S2R-T Turbo Thrush
- Rockwell Thrush Commanders converted to turbine power by Marsh Aviation 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.
- turboprop powered versions equipped with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A.
V-1-A Vigilante
Powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A 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 powered
- Thrush Model 510GR
- Honeywell TPE331 powered
- Thrush Model 510P
- Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34 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)
See also
Bibliography
-
Ayton, Mark. "Archangel: Crop Duster to Tank Buster". Air International, 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
