 US Navy Photo  US Navy Photo July 1960 NavAirNews. The A-4 is an A4D-1 produced in the 3rd production run. JET ATTACK The mosquitoes in the Jacksonville area might as well give up. Jet powered spraying of insecticide is the very latest step taken to insure their demise. VA-44 and VA-12 jet aircraft have proved that flying at 150 feet, the Skyhawk can distribute 300 gallons of insecticide a minute. This has all been a part of the experiment conducted by NAS JAX Disease Vector Control Center to determine the value of jet-propelled aircraft as a means of spreading insecticide and controlling disease carrying insects to protect personnel in military operations. The Center, working with VA-l2 from Cecil Field and VA-44 from NAS JAX, has found it works. David Hayden is the entomologist at the Center, who has directed two years of study involving use of a Navy single-engine Skyhawk. He says that this is the first known instance of using jet aircraft for the war against insects. He said that jet aircraft were tried because prop-driven aircraft and heli- copters are not always available or are highly vulnerable to-attack. The average prop plane can move at 175 miles per hour at the maximum and normally travels at a rate of 125 mph. With the jet we move at 500 mph at an extremely low altitude of only 150 feet, capable of putting out 300 gallons a minute, Hayden said. Ground-to-air radio communication has been used in jet spraying operations. In addition, such things as big red arrows and red weather balloons were set up to guide the pilot to the target. The apparatus used to disperse liquid insecticide was a tank having a capacity of 85 gallons. Under present-day conditions, it would seem that insecticide dispersal by jet aircraft is very costly and somewhat impractical, at least for civilian usage, Hayden said. There is no question that jet air- craft have promising potentialities for insect control work. Certainly, for the present at least, jets will be available for use where no propeller-driven craft are available, he went on to say. It is doubtful, however, that jet-carried equipment will be extensively used, except for aerial dispersal of insecticide in support of tactical military operations. |