Aussie Influence In Ag History
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Aussie Influence In Ag History
Hey Guys, Got A draft of An Article On Jim McMahon, One of the Founders of Crop Culture And Britten-Norman Aircraft,Micronair and major investor in the Snow Aeronautical Company before Mr.Leland sold out to Rockwell. Jim was always a wealth of information and gave freely of his time when he wasnt globe trotting, always had time to pop im and check on the operations that sprung forth from Crop Culture. Blue Skies and Tailwinds Mr. Jim
Here's The Article its a bit long but my apologys to those who take offence
Jim McMahon — Pioneer ag-pilot
by Ray Deerness
It’s not often you get to meet a true pioneer of agricultural aviation, an Australian pilot who started topdressing flying inNew Zealand in 1950. My visit to the United Kingdom gave me a chance to meet up with Jim McMahon, again.
A London, Waterloo departure at 0758 and I was bound for Portsmouth Harbour on the south coast of England, a journey of ninety minutes. The rain came at Weybridge and passing the famous car-racing track at Brooklands, I could see some of the collection of Vickers aircraft, which were built at the airfield. The English mist was very thick at Portsmouth and it was hard to see Gosport and the Isle of Wight was somewhere beyond across the water.
I had previously met Jim McMahon in 1999 at the New Zealand 50th Ag-pilot Reunion at Palmerston, North. Today, he was waiting for me at the Pier Head car park at Ryde, where the fast ferry departs for the Isle of Wight. Jim was born in 1923 in Smoko, Victoria and served with the RAAF during WW II as an aircraft engineer. After the war, he became a licensed engineer and gained his commercial pilot’s license. However, getting regular flying jobs was difficult. By chance, he met Gerry Oman one day on the street. Gerry said he was off to New Zealand to try his hand at aerial topdressing. Jim told him, “If there is another flying job, let me know.” A week or two later, a cable arrived and Jim was soon off to Auckland.
Jim was one of the first five pilots to be employed by Auckland Air Services that later became Aircraft Service (NZ), Ltd. The early pilots were Doug Greig, Jack Molloy, Bob Shorthouse, Gary Toulson & Jim McMahon. After a hectic seven months, Jim decided to return home for a holiday, but he found the ships to Australia fully booked. He was told that a berth had come vacant on a ship bound for the United Kingdom and he was soon on his way to Southampton.
On his arrival in England, Jim took up airplane instructing for the Herts & Essex Aero Club at the now defunct Broxbourne Airfield north of London. He was surprised that little aerial spraying was done in England and there was an obvious need for it. He designed and fitted a hopper to a New Zealand bound Tiger Moth, ZK-BAH, and had the modification approved in the UK. After another stint in New Zealand with Adastra, Ltd., he returned to England and was introduced to two enterprising young men, John Britten and Desmond Norman. Together, they went into business converting Tigers Moths for aerial work as Britten-Norman, Ltd. and later formed Crop Culture (Aerial), Ltd. at the village of Bembridge on the Isle of Wight.
We had driven through the narrow streets of Ryde and were now at Jim’s rented apartment. “Please excuse the clutter, I’m between houses!”
I could not help looking at two large aircraft models in Jim’s apartment, both with a similarity to an overgrown Edgar Percival EP9. Jim had designed the models. One was a one-ton “EP9” with a 450HP radial and the other version, with two 260HP Lycoming engines on the wings. I asked about his involvement with the EP9. Jim explained, “Edgar Percival was a fellow Australian and quite stubborn. It took a lot of convincing to get him to go to New Zealand and have a look at aerial topdressing.” Eventually the EP9 was built, with only one going to New Zealand, but others were used in England and Australia. Jim was instrumental in an EP9, G-APWZ, being sold to Hallet Griffin, which is now being flown as the ZK-PWZ. Alas, the models remained just that, as they never reached the drawing board.
An hour went by quickly, and we went out to lunch. We discussed the growth of Crop Culture from small beginnings in 1955. The company won a contract in the Sudan to spray cotton that year with the then revolutionary Micronair ultra low volume rotary atomizers fitted to two Tiger Moths. This contract was a great success, with the cotton growers achieving their best ever harvest and a larger contract was gained for the 1956 season. That year, the Tiger Moths’ flight home through Egypt was barred by the Suez Crisis. As a result, two tired Tiger Moths and an Auster had to return to England by crossing Africa and traveling up the west coast back to Europe (with only a school atlas to guide them).
However, as a direct result of this ‘diversion’ they were able to demonstrate the use of the Micronairs in the Cameroons and subsequently, Crop Culture secured a contract to spray bananas. The spray system, using the rotary atomizer, proved to be ideal for bananas because the very small droplet size did not scorch the leaves and the spray pattern reached the undersurfaces. The company subsequently expanded into the banana plantations of the Caribbean, Central and South America.
Divisions of Crop Cultural (Aerial), Ltd. were formed with exotic names; Mirofumar of Columbia, Agropan of Panama, Atoguam of Guatemala, Crop Culture (Overseas), Ltd. in Jamaica and the Cameroons, Crop Care in England and Sudan and closer to my home, Agricultural Aviation in Brisbane. At the parent company’s peak, it was operating around 70 aircraft.
At that time, Jim was looking for a larger aircraft with a one-ton capacity. While transiting, back from Australia where he had flown the Ceres, he read an article in Readers Digest about the Snow S2. He continued on to the US and gave Leland Snow a call. At the time, the Snow Aeronautical Corp was building the smaller S2A; the larger S2B was already certified. Jim was then invited to Texas to look at the aircraft and give a talk to local businessmen on aerial agriculture worldwide and the need for specialized aircraft.
The Crop Culture group went on to buy 36 new Snow aircraft, the S2B, S2C-600 and the S2D-600. However, the real key to the expansive success of the operation was the rotary atomizer, later to become the famous, world-known Micronair Rotary Atomizer. Micron Sprayers had already patented the design of the rotary atomizer and an agreement was reached for Crop Culture to develop the design for use on aircraft. They set up Micronair, who went on to develop a range of air borne rotary atomizers.
The profits from the Crop Culture operation allowed Britten-Norman, Ltd. to build the Britten-Norman BN2 Islander, which was first flown from Bembridge on June 12, 1965. The ever increasing costs led to disagreements between the shareholders and an agreement was reached whereby Jim McMahon and Frank Mann became the sole owners of the Crop Culture group. John Britten and Desmond Norman became the sole owners of Britten-Norman and Cushioncraft, a associate company designing and building hovercraft.
As a result, a new home had to be found for Crop Culture and Micronair. To the south of Bembridge, was a two hundred-year-old fortification known as the Bembridge Fort or the Barracks. It was built to guard the Solent area from the advances of the French forces under Napoleon III. In wartime, it was used for defense purposes and in peacetime, for experimental-use. Finally, the fort was abandoned by the English War Department in 1948. It was then sold to the local county council in 1965 and ownership passed to the National Trust in 1967.
With Micronair needing a production facility, an agreement was made with the National Trust. Micronair moved in to the Fort in October 1968. “It was a great place to bring overseas visitors,” Jim told me as we wondered around his old offices at the Fort. “We could show them a full range of our products with a little bit of island history thrown in.” We met the current owners and looked around the production facilities. Some of the staff had worked with Jim, so he was keen to hear of friends and family.
Over afternoon tea, we talked about some of the Kiwi (NZ) pilots that had flown with Jim and the future of aerial agriculture. Jim has recorded his memories from his childhood in Victoria and his chosen career, aerial agriculture. Earlier in the day, he had shown me a draft of his book Beyond Smoko and some of the many photos to be included.
As we drove along the pier at Ryde to the ferry terminal, Jim said, “Just as well you came today, I’m off to Italy tomorrow.” There is certainly no stopping this man, who is well into his 80s. He has places to go, people to see. Thanks Jim for a wonderful day.
On the return half-hour sea journey, the mist had cleared and I was able to see something of the Portsmouth waterfront. The electric unit train departed on time at 1547, bound for Waterloo at London, but half way there, the “Reginald Perrin Factor” appeared. A broken conductor rail at Wimbledon and the train would terminate at Woking. Fifteen minutes later, a South West Trains diesel unit rolled in and passengers were soon aboard to continue the 90 mph journey to London.
Jim McMahon, the last surviving member of the original Crop Culture group passed away on January 28, 2006 at the age of 83. His book was substantially complete and hopefully will one day be published.
Editors Note: Contributions to this article were made by Jim McMahon’s friends; Peter Graham and Tim Sander of the UK and Former employees of Atopan and CropCulture (Jamaica)Ltd.
PHOTO CAPTIONS:
Jim McMahon poses in the early years on the wing of a early model Snow aircraft outfitted with Micronair AU1500 rotary atomizers. Photo from Tim Sander / Micronair / UK and Carlos Motta / Atopan / Panama archives.
Look closely and the possible, approximate date of this photo is noted by the writing on the Stearman’s main wheel, 6/15/1962. The aircraft is outfitted with a Micronair AU2000. Photo from Carlos Motta / Atopan / Panama.
The Atopan fleet in Panama, a division of the Crop Culture group, circa early 1960s. Photo from Carlos Motta / Atopan / Panama.
Here's The Article its a bit long but my apologys to those who take offence
Jim McMahon — Pioneer ag-pilot
by Ray Deerness
It’s not often you get to meet a true pioneer of agricultural aviation, an Australian pilot who started topdressing flying inNew Zealand in 1950. My visit to the United Kingdom gave me a chance to meet up with Jim McMahon, again.
A London, Waterloo departure at 0758 and I was bound for Portsmouth Harbour on the south coast of England, a journey of ninety minutes. The rain came at Weybridge and passing the famous car-racing track at Brooklands, I could see some of the collection of Vickers aircraft, which were built at the airfield. The English mist was very thick at Portsmouth and it was hard to see Gosport and the Isle of Wight was somewhere beyond across the water.
I had previously met Jim McMahon in 1999 at the New Zealand 50th Ag-pilot Reunion at Palmerston, North. Today, he was waiting for me at the Pier Head car park at Ryde, where the fast ferry departs for the Isle of Wight. Jim was born in 1923 in Smoko, Victoria and served with the RAAF during WW II as an aircraft engineer. After the war, he became a licensed engineer and gained his commercial pilot’s license. However, getting regular flying jobs was difficult. By chance, he met Gerry Oman one day on the street. Gerry said he was off to New Zealand to try his hand at aerial topdressing. Jim told him, “If there is another flying job, let me know.” A week or two later, a cable arrived and Jim was soon off to Auckland.
Jim was one of the first five pilots to be employed by Auckland Air Services that later became Aircraft Service (NZ), Ltd. The early pilots were Doug Greig, Jack Molloy, Bob Shorthouse, Gary Toulson & Jim McMahon. After a hectic seven months, Jim decided to return home for a holiday, but he found the ships to Australia fully booked. He was told that a berth had come vacant on a ship bound for the United Kingdom and he was soon on his way to Southampton.
On his arrival in England, Jim took up airplane instructing for the Herts & Essex Aero Club at the now defunct Broxbourne Airfield north of London. He was surprised that little aerial spraying was done in England and there was an obvious need for it. He designed and fitted a hopper to a New Zealand bound Tiger Moth, ZK-BAH, and had the modification approved in the UK. After another stint in New Zealand with Adastra, Ltd., he returned to England and was introduced to two enterprising young men, John Britten and Desmond Norman. Together, they went into business converting Tigers Moths for aerial work as Britten-Norman, Ltd. and later formed Crop Culture (Aerial), Ltd. at the village of Bembridge on the Isle of Wight.
We had driven through the narrow streets of Ryde and were now at Jim’s rented apartment. “Please excuse the clutter, I’m between houses!”
I could not help looking at two large aircraft models in Jim’s apartment, both with a similarity to an overgrown Edgar Percival EP9. Jim had designed the models. One was a one-ton “EP9” with a 450HP radial and the other version, with two 260HP Lycoming engines on the wings. I asked about his involvement with the EP9. Jim explained, “Edgar Percival was a fellow Australian and quite stubborn. It took a lot of convincing to get him to go to New Zealand and have a look at aerial topdressing.” Eventually the EP9 was built, with only one going to New Zealand, but others were used in England and Australia. Jim was instrumental in an EP9, G-APWZ, being sold to Hallet Griffin, which is now being flown as the ZK-PWZ. Alas, the models remained just that, as they never reached the drawing board.
An hour went by quickly, and we went out to lunch. We discussed the growth of Crop Culture from small beginnings in 1955. The company won a contract in the Sudan to spray cotton that year with the then revolutionary Micronair ultra low volume rotary atomizers fitted to two Tiger Moths. This contract was a great success, with the cotton growers achieving their best ever harvest and a larger contract was gained for the 1956 season. That year, the Tiger Moths’ flight home through Egypt was barred by the Suez Crisis. As a result, two tired Tiger Moths and an Auster had to return to England by crossing Africa and traveling up the west coast back to Europe (with only a school atlas to guide them).
However, as a direct result of this ‘diversion’ they were able to demonstrate the use of the Micronairs in the Cameroons and subsequently, Crop Culture secured a contract to spray bananas. The spray system, using the rotary atomizer, proved to be ideal for bananas because the very small droplet size did not scorch the leaves and the spray pattern reached the undersurfaces. The company subsequently expanded into the banana plantations of the Caribbean, Central and South America.
Divisions of Crop Cultural (Aerial), Ltd. were formed with exotic names; Mirofumar of Columbia, Agropan of Panama, Atoguam of Guatemala, Crop Culture (Overseas), Ltd. in Jamaica and the Cameroons, Crop Care in England and Sudan and closer to my home, Agricultural Aviation in Brisbane. At the parent company’s peak, it was operating around 70 aircraft.
At that time, Jim was looking for a larger aircraft with a one-ton capacity. While transiting, back from Australia where he had flown the Ceres, he read an article in Readers Digest about the Snow S2. He continued on to the US and gave Leland Snow a call. At the time, the Snow Aeronautical Corp was building the smaller S2A; the larger S2B was already certified. Jim was then invited to Texas to look at the aircraft and give a talk to local businessmen on aerial agriculture worldwide and the need for specialized aircraft.
The Crop Culture group went on to buy 36 new Snow aircraft, the S2B, S2C-600 and the S2D-600. However, the real key to the expansive success of the operation was the rotary atomizer, later to become the famous, world-known Micronair Rotary Atomizer. Micron Sprayers had already patented the design of the rotary atomizer and an agreement was reached for Crop Culture to develop the design for use on aircraft. They set up Micronair, who went on to develop a range of air borne rotary atomizers.
The profits from the Crop Culture operation allowed Britten-Norman, Ltd. to build the Britten-Norman BN2 Islander, which was first flown from Bembridge on June 12, 1965. The ever increasing costs led to disagreements between the shareholders and an agreement was reached whereby Jim McMahon and Frank Mann became the sole owners of the Crop Culture group. John Britten and Desmond Norman became the sole owners of Britten-Norman and Cushioncraft, a associate company designing and building hovercraft.
As a result, a new home had to be found for Crop Culture and Micronair. To the south of Bembridge, was a two hundred-year-old fortification known as the Bembridge Fort or the Barracks. It was built to guard the Solent area from the advances of the French forces under Napoleon III. In wartime, it was used for defense purposes and in peacetime, for experimental-use. Finally, the fort was abandoned by the English War Department in 1948. It was then sold to the local county council in 1965 and ownership passed to the National Trust in 1967.
With Micronair needing a production facility, an agreement was made with the National Trust. Micronair moved in to the Fort in October 1968. “It was a great place to bring overseas visitors,” Jim told me as we wondered around his old offices at the Fort. “We could show them a full range of our products with a little bit of island history thrown in.” We met the current owners and looked around the production facilities. Some of the staff had worked with Jim, so he was keen to hear of friends and family.
Over afternoon tea, we talked about some of the Kiwi (NZ) pilots that had flown with Jim and the future of aerial agriculture. Jim has recorded his memories from his childhood in Victoria and his chosen career, aerial agriculture. Earlier in the day, he had shown me a draft of his book Beyond Smoko and some of the many photos to be included.
As we drove along the pier at Ryde to the ferry terminal, Jim said, “Just as well you came today, I’m off to Italy tomorrow.” There is certainly no stopping this man, who is well into his 80s. He has places to go, people to see. Thanks Jim for a wonderful day.
On the return half-hour sea journey, the mist had cleared and I was able to see something of the Portsmouth waterfront. The electric unit train departed on time at 1547, bound for Waterloo at London, but half way there, the “Reginald Perrin Factor” appeared. A broken conductor rail at Wimbledon and the train would terminate at Woking. Fifteen minutes later, a South West Trains diesel unit rolled in and passengers were soon aboard to continue the 90 mph journey to London.
Jim McMahon, the last surviving member of the original Crop Culture group passed away on January 28, 2006 at the age of 83. His book was substantially complete and hopefully will one day be published.
Editors Note: Contributions to this article were made by Jim McMahon’s friends; Peter Graham and Tim Sander of the UK and Former employees of Atopan and CropCulture (Jamaica)Ltd.
PHOTO CAPTIONS:
Jim McMahon poses in the early years on the wing of a early model Snow aircraft outfitted with Micronair AU1500 rotary atomizers. Photo from Tim Sander / Micronair / UK and Carlos Motta / Atopan / Panama archives.
Look closely and the possible, approximate date of this photo is noted by the writing on the Stearman’s main wheel, 6/15/1962. The aircraft is outfitted with a Micronair AU2000. Photo from Carlos Motta / Atopan / Panama.
The Atopan fleet in Panama, a division of the Crop Culture group, circa early 1960s. Photo from Carlos Motta / Atopan / Panama.
Last edited by Ag2A320; 17th Apr 2006 at 05:56.
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Ag2A320!! now thats probably another story.
Thanks for the history lesson mate. Most currant Aggies here wouldn't even remember the AU3000's let alone the AU2000's and 1500's.
Wonderfull stuff. Look forward to the full story of Jim if it ever comes to pass.
Cheers Agwaggon
Thanks for the history lesson mate. Most currant Aggies here wouldn't even remember the AU3000's let alone the AU2000's and 1500's.
Wonderfull stuff. Look forward to the full story of Jim if it ever comes to pass.
Cheers Agwaggon
