The Pilot's Viewpoint —2

Extract

The Agricultural pilot looks for the following qualities in his aircraft, and I suggest that he looks for them in this order of importance:

Lively performance

Docile handling

Personal protection in an accident

Reliability of both aircraft and agricultural gear.

I said that performance should be lively. Perhaps it should be not far short of exhilarating. Certainly in many cases in current operations it can barely be described as adequate. Of course, some conditions of work call for a higher performance than others, and it is not possible to talk about ideal figures without relating them to a specific operation. Compromise is inevitable, but the most exacting types of work must be kept always in mind. Admittedly, most suggestions for performance minima made by a pilot may call for engines and power loadings which will seem quite uneconomical to the operator, particularly as engine overhaul costs often appear to increase as the square of the engine power.