Sasin Spraymaster
The Sasin SA -29 Spray Master was an agricultural aircraft manufactured in Australia by Sasin Aircraft Service.
History and construction
In the 1960s, the Australian agricultural aircraft fleet consisted of mainly machinery that had been converted from aircraft of World War II and now had to be replaced. Sasin Aircraft Service, operator of a de Havilland Tiger Moth, which was converted for use as an agricultural aircraft, decided to rebuild de Havilland Canada DHC -1 Chipmunks for agricultural use. The changes were made by Aerostructures in Bankstown, NSW.
The changes included a redesigned fuselage, in which was a chemical container with 227 l capacity instead of the front seat. In place of the rear seat, a completely redesigned single-seat cockpit was installed. Under the front Rumpfabschnit a driven by the air flow spraying means was mounted. The pilot sat 28 cm higher than in the original aircraft. The wing tips have been revised, so the stall speed could be reduced. The original de Havilland Gipsy Major engine, the Chipmunk was retained, but the original metal propeller was replaced by a lighter wood propeller.
The prototype first flew in mid-1965 and received type certification and airworthiness certification on September 1, 1965. The following day, however, the machine was in an accident destroyed two more Chipmunk were rebuilt, one of which crashed in 1970. The last Spraymaster was restored mid -2000s and used from then on as a Warbird.
Another version with a 500 -liter chemical containers and a 210 -hp Continental IO-360 engine - the SA -29 Mk 2 - and larger aircraft with four seats and a payload of one tonne were drafted, but the drawing board did not leave.
Also, a two-seat conversion - the Aerostructures Sundowner SA29 - took place in a copy with a new cockpit and many modifications that were adopted by the Spraymaster. In addition, this machine also had wing tip tanks.