Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1467328
Army will not struggle so much to provide AAR for helicop- ters, while the civil operators would face fewer challenges in case of the most important sorties: firefighting, SAR, human- itarian aid flights, medical flights, or priority cargo. He added that the intention was to create an OPA platform (Optionally Piloted Aircraft) that could be controlled both by the pilot, as well as the ground operator, or that could operate complete- ly autonomously - ensuring greater autonomy and indepen- dence for the operator. THE AIRCRAFT When I saw images from the first test flights, the PZL M-18 Dromader was the first thing that popped into my mind. This has been an initial impression - we are talking about Thrush - a modified Air Tractor variant, around 50% bigger than PZL M-18, with a turboprop engine. The official name: KC-1000 Doerbird. KC is an official military designa- tion of AAR assets. The '1000' refers to the ability to carry more than 1,000 gallons of fuel. The Doerbird nickname comes from the VT-2 US Navy/USMC squadron - a squadron one of the pilots was a part of. A question may come to mind - why this aircraft is better than any other. Chris Koelzer, chief pilot at Victory came back with an answer: Heavy turboprop crop dusters are rugged, simple, reliable, proven, and affordable. Their multi-role utility makes them ideal candidates for an OPA conversion. And air refueling was a straightforward adaptation since the aircraft are essential- ly flying liquid tanks, for agricultural pesticides and for aerial firefighting. We teamed with Thrush Aircraft as the manufac- turer and IOMAX as the engineering/militarization provider AVIATION