Thursday ,
December 2, 1999:
Groen Brothers Aviation Hawk 4 Passes Agricultural Flight Test
SALT LAKE CITY, USA ( Groen Brothers Company Press Release ) --Groen Brothers Aviation
announced today that its Hawk 4 gyroplane has successfully flown in a crop spraying role.
The Hawk performed well under exacting conditions. The Hawk 4 easily maneuvers over small fields, and has little problem spraying between obstacles.
The aerodynamic properties of the gyroplane are particularly advantageous for agricultural use. Since the gyroplane's rotor system is only used for lift, air flows up through the rotor, and therefore does not interfere with the spray stream. The ability to land and takeoff with little or no ground roll allows the Hawk 4 to operate from the spray site. This saves the time, fuel and expense traditional spray planes require flying back and forth to an airport to reload fuel and chemical.
GBA has been asked to make a presentation at a seminar at the National Agricultural Aviation Association's annual conference in Reno, Nev. The presentation is to discuss the benefits the gyroplane offers to the aerial application industry. GBA is an exhibitor at the conference that runs from the 14th to 16th of December, 1999.
The Hawk 4, a four seat gyroplane currently undergoing FAA Type Certification, is mechanically much simpler and therefore much less expensive to operate than a helicopter. Other uses of the Hawk 4 include commuting, package delivery, air taxi, traffic monitoring, land management, aerial photography, electronic news gathering, surveillance and police work. Six and eight seat versions now being designed, will eventually add more capacity to the above uses.