Embraer Celebrates 40th Anniversary Of Crop Duster's First Flight

Embraer is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the first flight of the Ipanema crop duster, which took place on July 31st, 1970. The airplane project began at the end of the 1960s, on the orders of the Ministry of Agriculture, that the Research and Development Institute (Instituto de Pesquisas e Desenvolvimento – IPD) design the first agricultural aircraft to substitute imported models. The project became a reality with the founding of Embraer, in 1969. Today, the Ipanema is the leader of Brazil’s agricultural aviation, with more than 1,100 planes delivered and 75% of the fleet in operation, nationwide.

Ipanema First Flight

The Ipanema was conceived to modernize Brazilian agriculture. Initial studies began in 1969, and the name was chosen in honor of the Ipanema farm, located in Iperó, 128 km (80 miles) far from the city of São Paulo. At that time, this farm had a school and an agricultural aviation research center maintained by the Ministry of Agriculture.

 The first prototype of the Ipanema, registration number PP-ZIP, was the second airplane produced by Embraer, soon after the Urupema (EMB 400) glider. The original model (EMB 200) had a 260 HP engine, fixed-pitch propeller, hydraulic spraying system, and a 580 liter hopper. The maiden flight took place on July 31, 1970, at Embraer’s headquarters in São José dos Campos, State of São Paulo, and approval was received in December 1971. The company Corsário de Aviação, from the State of Goiás, ordered ten aircraft, in March 1971, and was the Ipanema’s first customer. In February 1972, the first airplane, registration number PT-GBA, was delivered and entered service in the fight
against pests that threatened cotton crops.

Sales of the Ipanema constantly grew, which significantly added to Embraer’s own development. In November 1973, the 100th airplane was delivered to Serviços Agro Aéreos do Sul. In 1975, Uruguay’s Ministry of Agriculture and Fishing ordered ten Ipanemas, along with five EMB 110 Bandeirantes, marking Embraer’s first exports. In 1980, Embraer acquired Indústria Aeronáutica Neiva, a company founded in 1954 and that produced small airplanes. With the merger of the two companies, the Ipanema’s production was transferred to Botucatu, São Paulo, in 1982, where it continues. In order to adapt it to operational realities and to keep it in line with the times, Embraer has made a number of modifications in the Ipanema’s design, over the years, such as a variable pitch propeller, larger wheels, more powerful 300 HP engine, tail wheel with a larger diameter, new shock absorbers and wing profile, among others.

First Ethanol-Powered Ipanema

The most recent and significant change, however, became a reality in 2005. On March 15, the 1000th Ipanema was delivered. Coincidentally, that was also the first model with the 320 HP ethanol-powered engine, which is the same fuel developed in Brazil used mainly by the nation’s automobiles. The project was developed in a partnership with the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology (Departamento de Ciência e Tecnologia Aeroespacial –  CTA). From that point on, Embraer began to offer ethanol conversion kits for the airplanes powered by aviation gasoline (AvGas). Currently, around 25% of the Brazilian fleet uses ethanol.

FMI: www.embraer.com