Hooftman, Hugo - Agricultural aircraft (1956)

Here is what Hugo Hooftman wrote in the summer of 1956 as an introduction to his book:

“No book has yet been published on agricultural aviation in Dutch literature. This is the first to deal with this relatively new area. Agricultural aviation certainly deserves better light on what is already being done in this area. After all, this branch of aviation is becoming more and more important. It is estimated that in our country, 18,000 hectares are already sprayed by air each year. In the United States, a country where agricultural aviation has taken on truly significant dimensions, 4,205 aircraft are already used solely for the administration of agricultural substances, while about 2,000 are used for surveillance and other work in the agriculture and forestry. In addition, the "flying farmers" still have around 2,500 planes for transport. Will the time come when the plane will be as essential to the farmer as the tractor? The future will tell. It is certain, however, that thousands of farmers have already understood that aerial spraying has many advantages and is ... cheaper. In the Netherlands too! May this brochure find its place among aviation enthusiasts and farmers, because for both, agricultural aviation is a very interesting subject, which deserves their full attention. "

Would we still dare to write this today? 60 years later, have environmental concerns fundamentally changed the data for this sector? As for spraying hundreds of hectares with toxic pesticides, sure. However, intensive farming still has its imperatives on a number of continents, even if farmers have to be more careful about the substances they use. Beyond a certain number of hectares, the carbon footprint of the aircraft remains lower than that of the tractor and, by its limited dimensions, the agricultural aircraft may well be among the first to one day benefit from electric propulsion. . Finally, a more selective use of non-polluting drones is emerging on smaller and more humane farms. We may never relive the scene from Hitchcock's film "Death on the Trail", but agricultural aviation will remain very useful for a long time to come.

58 pages - in Dutch

Uitgeverij "De Kern" Amsterdam