2006-12-03 03:50:13 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Environment
While larger, faster-flying (up to 140 mi/h or 225 km/h) aircraft can accomplish greater hourly productivity, other factors such as size and location of crop fields, distance to fields from suitable landing strips, and time lost in field turns also affect field productivity. Helicopters, which can turn quickly and can land and be serviced close to crop fields or even on landing docks on top of service trucks, can thus gain back some of the lowered productivity of these aircraft due to smaller load capacity and lower field speeds. However, it is the greater application precision and downblast from their rotary wing (at reduced forward speeds) that has generated the increased use of helicopters, in spite of their greater initial and operating costs.
Added Dec 5: Noticed that a lot of people site the downward flow from the rotors as a disadvantage. This is completely false and is in fact an advantage. It helps to direct the fertilizer into the field where it is needed. An airplane has far more undirected flow due to wingtip vortices.
2006-12-03 03:58:09 · answer #1 · answered by fly_girl_pc12 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is a major waste of time, energy, as well as fertiliser, because fertilisers are meant to be applied to the substratum, and spreading it by helicoptor hardly gets it there.
2006-12-03 11:54:27 · answer #2 · answered by Crazygirl 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A helicopter can fly lower and slower than a fixed wing plane, with a delivery system designed properly the furtilizer can be more precisely delivered.
2006-12-03 12:05:11 · answer #3 · answered by ZeedoT 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You will have to allow for the downdraught which might scatter the fertiliser over too large an area.
2006-12-03 11:53:31 · answer #4 · answered by checkmate 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
heavier substances will tend to just drop, and not spread very evenly, whereas lighter substances will drift more on the wind, and pollute nearby streams and rivers.
the fuel alone would make it too costly to be worth the trouble.
2006-12-03 11:54:39 · answer #5 · answered by qncyguy21 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Airflow down ward makes it difficult to spread
2006-12-03 11:52:11 · answer #6 · answered by Allen L 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
the helicopter would blow it all around and it would be hard to get the fertilizer where you wanted it to go
2006-12-03 11:51:59 · answer #7 · answered by aj 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
some of the fertilizer might be blow away, the fertilizer might unbalance the helicopter
2006-12-03 11:53:17 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It takes ages cleaning it off the rotors
2006-12-03 11:52:10 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
uh extremely expensive to obtain/maintain helicopter
2006-12-03 11:51:48 · answer #10 · answered by blahhhaha 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋