IMPROVED SPREAD CLAIMED

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30278, 2 November 1963, Page 6

IMPROVED SPREAD CLAIMED

A BOOM to ensure the most effective distribution of DDT. prills over a 100 ft wide area has been developed by Rural Aviation, Ltd., of New Plymouth. The aerodynamically-de-signed air-spreader—a hollow wing-like boom extending from either side of an air intake under the belly of the aircraft —has the same effect as the aerofoil of a wing. D.D.T. prills are fed into the air intake according _to the application rate required. They are then blown out by the force of air entering the intake to either side of the air-spreader.

In suspension inside the spreader the particles are disbursed in S controlled pattern. When expelled the vortex generated by the spreader creates the necessary air flow to ensure the 100 ft swath.

It is claimed that flying at an optimum height of 80ft at 120 knots an hour topdressing aircraft can now deliver a controlled spread of 21b to lOOlb of granules to the acre with an accuracy that could not be obtained with conventional topdressing equipment. Trials, it is stated, have also shown the equipment to be equally efficient in increasing the

accuracy of spreading all types of grass seed. The air-spreader has been developed as a result of the research of the operator and the engineering staff of Tasman Empire Airways, Ltd.