Air IntelliFlow Dual Rate System for Aerial Application

Hemisphere GPS announced today that it has released a new product for the aerial application market that will greatly improve the efficiency of applications and the productivity of pilots. The Air IntelliFlow Dual Rate system is the latest addition to the Hemisphere GPS precision aerial product line which is targeted at a broad range of applications, including crop spraying, pest control, forestry, and fire management. Built on the market-proven and reliable Hemisphere GPS Air IntelliFlow automatic flow controller, the unique design of the Air IntelliFlow Dual Rate controller improves the efficiency and effectiveness of aerial application by independently managing two separate spray systems on one aircraft.

“Our new Air IntelliFlow Dual Rate system represents the evolution of our product line to meet the growing sophistication and demands of the aerial application market, “ said Chad Lind, General Manager of Air Products for Hemisphere GPS. “Air IntelliFlow Dual Rate eliminates the limitations of single flow variable rate controllers, allowing our customers to be more productive and effective.”

"When using a traditional variable rate system, as I change the rate, the system simply releases more or less liquid, which creates droplets that may be too heavy or too light resulting in a less than perfect spray job,” stated Les Brown, pilot for Pay’s Air Service in New South Wales, Australia. “The Air IntelliFlow Dual Rate maintains an ideal droplet size, significantly improving the spray efficacy and minimizing its drift.”

Improving spray efficacy and controlling spray drift are the two most critical goals of any aerial application. The Air IntelliFlow Dual Rate achieves this by constantly maintaining a desired droplet size. It provides a solution for true variable rate spraying, and surpasses the performance of traditional variable rate systems. Using Air IntelliFlow Dual Rate, aerial applicators are able to control spray over a wider range of application rates. On fields that require different rates for different areas in the same field, the operator can use a method often referred to as direct injection, applying a constant rate of spray while varying the concentration of chemical within the spray. The Air IntelliFlow Dual Rate system also enables aerial applicators to apply two different rates on the same swath to spray a field continually with one application and spot spray with another. All these features reduce trips between job sites and the pilot’s base in order to reload for different applications, thereby reducing costly and wasteful flight time.

The IntelliFlow Dual Rate system offers all the same valuable features of the original Hemisphere GPS Air IntelliFlow controller, including a wide range of turbine and meter sizes, and the ability to pre-enter hopper input and boom output. When combined with the Hemisphere GPS Air M3™ featuring AirTrac™ software, pilots have the ability to fly and spray precise patterns using state of the art GPS guidance. Together, Air M3 and IntelliFlow Dual Rate will reduce input costs by minimizing skips and overlaps, reducing flight time, and maximizing the precision of the application. Hemisphere GPS will begin shipping IntelliFlow Dual Rate systems in August 2008.

Current Hemisphere GPS IntelliFlow users can convert to the new Dual Rate system by purchasing an IntelliFlow Dual Rate system upgrade kit.

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