International

Agricultural aviation in Brazil began on August 19, 1947, when the first aerial application addressed a severe locust swarm in southern Brazil. Since then, the country has developed strong regulations and built a robust fleet of agricultural planes, helicopters, and agricultural drones. Brazil stands as the world’s largest producer and...

I must admit how surprised I was after finding information linking the famous physicist Albert Einstein to aviation. But before getting into the details, I want to set the stage with some history for those relatively new to the industry. Knowing from whence we came helps us deal with today's...

Tokyo, Japan (October 18, 2024) – At Japan Aerospace International Exhibition 2024, Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, announced the sale of one Bell 505 to Heli Service Co., Ltd., an operator in Japan. This marks Heli Service’s third purchase of the Bell 505 and when delivered, it...

Family-owned topdressing business Otago Airspread continues to expand, launching its first branch in Southland last week. Shawn McAvinue visits a hangar at Gore Airfield to speak to the Neill family about their optimism in the sheep and beef industry being a key reason for their new business arm taking flight. Optimism in the...

2024 brought us hundreds of photo submissions, many of which were featured in our AgAv Pics section of AgAir Update, with many others highlighted on our social media channels for the magazine. Take a look at images from our featured photographers in our 2024 photo issue below. Tom Jones Sarah...

I recently worked with an ag pilot on obtaining a formal Operations Certificate as the foundation for his newly formed aerial application business. The project was quite involved from an administrative point of view, including producing a wide range of manuals and other documents to ensure compliance with existing regulations....

History Mieleckie Zakłady Lotnicze (MZL) began operations in 1972, originally under the name ZUA (Agroaviation Services Unit), as a branch of WSK PZL Warszawa Okęcie. The unit provided agricultural aviation services both in Poland and internationally. At that time, changes within the Polish Ministry of Agriculture led to the formation...

Melbourne, FL, USA – August 5th, 2024 – Tabula is excited to announce the launch of our latest innovation, AirVision SOS, designed to provide aviation contractors with a powerful tool to enhance safety and improve response efficiency. This new feature, available via Tabula Live, allows pilots to quickly alert operations...

There I was, a half-hour past sunset on a moonless night, returning to a remote airstrip from a spray run in a field 25 minutes away. Dusk had quickly turned into darkness.  Navigation was no problem because you could see forever, lights from small towns’ acting like beacons in an...

The most crucial function of a garment is to protect the human body from primary outer influences such as wind, rain, sunlight, dust, and mechanical influences. Protective clothing protects individuals exposed to life-threatening or hazardous environments during work. Aerial application ranks high-risk because pilots perform their tasks under drastic working...