Progressive flying in Argentina

by Bill Lavender

MONTE BUEY, ARGENTINA Ñ During a time when the value of the Argentine peso is at its lowest in comparison to the U.S. dollar, Argentine ag operators must examine their decisions to retain profitability. The efficient Argentine ag-operators are no different than efficient ag-operators found in the U.S. and other parts of the world. They all work to have a clean operation, using the latest ag-aviation technology and equipment. However, the ArgentineÕs struggle, due to the peso devaluation, is three times more difficult!

Argentina has many ag operations, and a significant number of them are of the highest caliber compared to any other ag-aviation operation in the world. One such company is AAXOD (Agro Aeros X Omar Diaz, pronounced Òax oddÓ), owned and operated by Omar Diaz. Omar is relatively new to ag-aviation when you think of the those who have been in business for three or more decades. But this has not stopped his progression from two C-188s bought from J&C Enterprises of Oklahoma in September of 1997 to his three ag-aircraft of today; a C-188, an AT-402 and an AT-602.

Omar began honing his ag-pilot skills as a partner in the firm Aerofumigaciones Belle Ville, operating a Cessna 188 and a 150hp. Citabria. He was a partner in Belle Ville the first four years of his flying career. He then sold his part of the partnership and formed AAXOD in 1997 with the purchase of two C-188s. The new company performed 100,000 acres of aerial applications during the first season.

By the second year in business, Omar needed to expand. He sold one of the Cessna ag-planes and bought a new 1998 AT-402 from Enrique Abeledo, then a representative of Air Tractor for Argentina. He now has flown the AT-402 2,200 hours and it still looks new.

AAXOD operates the 1975 C-188 approximately 350-400 hours a year. It is outfitted with Ag-Tips winglets. It also looks to be new, although it has over 4,500 hours logged and is 28 years old.

Omar bought the AT-602 with a bid from a bankruptcy sale. A private company had purchased the AT-602 for government contracts that never materialized. Omar recognized a good opportunity to acquire the aircraft through the bidding process, and in his mind, already had a plan where he could utilize it.

The 1997 AT-602 became his with the winning bid in 2001. Although the aircraft was four years old, it only had 437 hours on it. It too, looked as if it was a new aircraft.

In Argentina, as in many Latin American countries, the local currency does not buy as much when it comes to imported goods. This is especially true with aviation supplies. Also, there is the problem of obtaining these parts in a timely fashion, or else the operator has to inventory the expensive parts. If a part costs $1,000 USD, it takes $3,500 Argentine pesos to buy it. At one time, only a year or so ago, the Argentine peso was on par with the U.S. dollar. In the matter of only a few days at the time of the devaluation, the cost of buying imported aviation parts more than tripled! And, this does not take into account of a 21% ad- valorem tax along with an importation tax that is added upon the partsÕ arrival. All this makes it very expensive to operate a foreign-built aircraft, such as the Air Tractor. This is why, like most Argentine operators, OmarÕs aircraft are in pristine condition. They are washed every day, even if it is only after one load. They are always kept in a hangar and maintenance is performed in a timely manner.

OmarÕs vision for the AT-602 was to implement this aircraft into a fire fighting role along with increasing his ability to perform high volume fungicide applications on wheat and soybeans. The doors of opportunity continued to open in his favor when nearby Chilean ag operation LASA/ALAS lost, unfortunately, an AT-802 from its fire fighting operation in Chile. The call went out for Omar. Shortly thereafter, he ferried his AT-602 over the Andes Mountains into Chile. He had to climb the AT-602 to 16,000 MSL and fly it at that altitude for twenty minutes. In Chile, from February through mid-March, he was able to learn how to fire fight with the AT-602.

To learn even more about how other companies fight fires with ag-aircraft, Omar traveled to Spain in 2002 to visit with those operators. He examined how Spain had established a fire fighting program. To Omar, it seemed it would take 70-80 large ag-aircraft to have an equal program in Argentina.

OmarÕs plans for fire fighting in Argentina are realistic; maybe not for so many ag-aircraft so soon, especially with the state of the countryÕs economy. However, there is no question there are private companies who already have land with freshly planted pine trees. Two years ago over 300,000 hectares (±750,000 acres) were planted. Omar realizes these forest will need aerial fertilizing and fire protection.

The crops AAXOD treats with its fleet of three ag-aircraft are primarily soybeans, wheat and corn. The company has averaged 110,000 hectares (275,000 acres) of aerial application in recent years. The season starts mid-September and runs through late April, which is the Argentine spring, summer and fall. AAXOD operates from three satellite strips. The aircraft are serviced at these strips by mobile nurse trucks. Each aircraft is equipped with a handheld GPS and a SATLOC or WAG GPS unit.

Omar and his close friend from Las Rosas, Guillermo Benitz, are designated SATLOC reps. The partnership was formed in 1998 and is called SADEPA (Servicios Agroaereos de Empresas Privadas Argentinas). At their main base of operations, Las Rosas and Monte Buey, they are capable of installing and servicing SATLOC units, as well as selling new units.

AgAir Update was very fortunate to be able to visit OmarÕs business. He and Guillermo picked me up at the Rosario airport in a general aviation airplane. The weather was beautiful and I was able to see a lot of the countryside. We landed first at OmarÕs place to the northwest. There was no doubt, this was a clean and professionally run operation.

After a special barbecue lunch at OmarÕs house, we flew the short distance northeast to Las Rosas. I spent a wonderful evening with Omar, Guillermo and his family, dining and of course, what else? Talking crop dusting! When Omar and Guillermo learned that I was about to attend (at that time) Wayne HandleyÕs Agrobatic course, they became very interested. They told me they had traveled together to the U.S. to attend the AT-502 simulator course at SimCom. Another instance where these two professional ag-pilots prove they are serious about their work and their success.

LAS ROSAS, ARGENTINA Ñ My excursion continued the next day with a visit to Guillermo BenitzÕs operation in Las Rosas. Being featured on the pages of AgAir Update is not new for Guillermo and his company, Horizonte Aplicaciones Aereas. AgAir UpdateÕs September 1997 front page cover feature was about Guillermo and his Pawnee, ÒFaithful PawneeÓ. At that time, I did not have the opportunity to travel to Argentina. So, Guillermo wrote the article about his company.

Over the years, I would see Guillermo at various trade shows and he would always invite me to come to Las Rosas. Finally I was able to accept his invitation.

Today, Guillermo runs a very efficient operation with his 1976 Ag Truck. He moved his company, Horizonte Aplicaciones Aereas to Las Rosas in 1992. (GuillermoÕs great-grandfather helped found the town of Las Rosas, after moving from California.) By moving his company, he was returning to his hometown.

In the last three years GuillermoÕs business has increased by 65%. Most of this increase comes from fungicide applications on wheat and more insecticide applications on soybeans. With only the help of his ground man, Orlando, Guillermo flies about 40,000 hectares (±100,000 acres) during a season. Occasionally he will have to call in another operator, like Omar Diaz, to help him. And sometimes heÕll help Omar.

Typical application rates are 20 l/ha (2 gpa) for fungicide, five l/ha (1/2 gpa) for insecticide and 8-10 l/ha (1 gpa) for herbicide, of which glyphosate is the most popular.

Horizonte Aplicaciones AereasÕ season will start in September with a fungicide application on wheat. By late October, Guillermo will be spraying soybeans. Sunflowers will need insecticide applications in December. The peak of the season is from mid-February through mid-March with insecticide applications on soybeans for stink bugs and caterpillars, using pyrethroids and endosulfin. In the fall, the season will come to an end with applications of barley seed over the soybean fields as the leaves fall.

Basically, the primary crops for Horizonte Aplicaciones Aereas are soybeans (60%), wheat (20%), corn (15%) and 5% other crops.

Spraying corn is a new type of treatment. The results obtained have been good. Light traps are used to monitor the moth counts. Once a designated threshold is reached, an application is arranged. The timing is critical. Five to seven days after the moths lay their eggs the application must be completed, while the hatching caterpillars are small enough to control. The application calls for two liters of mineral oil mixed with six liters of water containing a pyrethroid for a total mix of eight liters per hectare (less than a gallon per acre).

Guillermo started flying in the mid-1980s for a partnership in Coronel Pringles, Argentina. He flew for them for four years, then bought the company with its aircraft, hangar and landing strip. He operated from Coronel Pringles for two years after the purchase of the company. Then, he expanded to Perez Millan, buying a 1979 235 horsepower D-model Pawnee. Work for flying began decreasing in Perez Millan, less and less each year. That is when, in 1992, Guillermo decided it was time to move the business to Las Rosas.

In 1997 Guillermo sold the Pawnee and bought a 1974 Ag Truck from J&C Enterprises in Oklahoma. In 1999 he sold this Ag Truck to an operator in Argentina and bought his present 1979 model Ag Truck, again from J&C Enterprises.

For most ag-aviation operations in Argentina, because of the devaluation of the peso, operating a profitable business is difficult. To compound this problem, drift insurance is no longer available. Therefore, Guillermo must be very careful with glyphosate applications. Using a Super Boom, designed and built by North Dakotan Gerry Beck, and outfitted with CP nozzles set at a 30¡ deflection, Guillermo sprays glyphosate mixed in 8-10 l/ha (one gpa) applied over an 18-meter (55 feet) swath.

For five l/ha applications (insecticides), the CP nozzles are set up with a 90¡ deflection, utilizing a 27-meter (82 feet) swath. When the outside air temperature exceeds 30¡C (86¡F), a surfactant is added to the chemical mix. Fungicide applications are applied at 15-20 l/ha.

Typical ferry distances are 25-30 kilometers (15-18 miles). Guillermo has a satellite strip in Galvez. Here he flies for a couple of large farms. His highest number of hectares completed in one week from this strip was 7,500 hectares (18,000 acres). However, the typical field size in the Las Rosas area is 30-50 hectares (75-125 ac). It was good to finally be able to visit my old friend Guillermo at his home and to meet his family. The hospitality offered by both Guillermo and Omar were beyond anyoneÕs expectations, of which I am very grateful. No matter, it seems, where in this world I travel, meeting ag pilots from many, many different countries, the friendship and kinship is always strong. For the most part, ag pilots are all alike in many ways.