To feed the growing baby boom that followed World War II, farmers used new advances in pesticides and fertilizers to decrease crop failure from insects and increase yields. Along with new chemicals, a more effective and efficient delivery method was needed, thus the birth of the aerial application industry, or better known as “crop dusting”. In honor of that unique niche of the industry, we present this tattoo featuring the Ayres S2R-T Thrush agricultural sprayer.
After the WWII, many training aircraft like the PT-17 Stearman and the BT-13 Valiant were made available as war surplus and could be purchased for next-to-nothing by farmers. Haphazard modifications to accommodate chemical tanks, hoppers, spray bars and aerodynamic changes to allow the plane to fly slower and more precisely were common using these re-purposed planes. As the ag spray industry grew and the dangers of the low-altitude flight operations became apparent, companies began building aircraft exclusively designed for crop spraying. Mainstream manufacturers joined in with their own aircraft: Piper Aircraft created the PA-25 Pawnee, Cessna designed the C-188 AgTruck, and Grumman joined in with the G-164 Ag Cat biplane. All of these new aircraft featured high-lift wings, powerful engines for climb power, and heavily reinforced fuselages and a roll cage for the cockpit to protect the pilot in case of a low altitude crash. The latter modification was important as crop dusting was one of the most dangerous flying jobs out there… power line and tree collisions were common.
Another aircraft emerged at the time from a designer by the name of Leland Snow. His aircraft, the S-2 Thrush, was produced by his company, Snow Aeronautical, after its first flight in 1956. In 1965 the company and aircraft was purchased by the Aero Commander division of Rockwell and it was produced as the Thrush Commander. Then in 1977, Rockwell sold the brand along with the factory in Albany, GA to Ayres Corporation which had been retrofitting the original radial engine on Thrush Commanders with turboprop engines. They produced the aircraft as a turboprop until 2003 when the design was again sold to Thrush Aircraft, who currently produce the aircraft.
This colorful tattoo of the curious choice of an Ayres S2R-T Thrush as a subject with the inscription under it translated from Portuguese as “Trust in God” was created by artist Mauricio Huber of Dermografite located in the coastal city of Balneário Camboriú in Santa Catarina, Brazil.
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