While this company specialises in a range of aerial-related activities supporting farmers, closer to the ground, a highly specialised truck keeps its operations moving.
Family owned and operated, Hazair Pty Ltd was started in 1960 by Margaret and Keith Death, with their son Stephen Death following in his father’s footsteps as a pilot.
Stephen is now co-owner of Hazair, holding the titles of chief pilot and engineer and overseeing their worldwide aircraft ferrying operations. His expertise in single and twin-engine piloting, over 40 years, has seen him cross 22 countries in every continent on the planet – aside from Antarctica.
Among its key operations are aerial applications for farmers such as seeding and spraying, aircraft hire, restoration and servicing, and training for the local flying school from their main base at Albury Airport.
To service its farming activities, Hazair recently purchased a highly specialised Isuzu FVD 165-300 Auto, replacing an older cab chassis truck that was fitted out nearly 25 years ago.
In an extremely rare truck set-up, with dual operator controls at opposite ends of the vehicle.
The front-end control is relatively standard, allowing for everyday on-road use. At the rear end, controls have been engineered to allow the operator to backload the aircraft using the on-board mechanical dipper and bucket, as well manoeuvre the truck concurrently from the same control point.
Hazair operates across regional Victoria and New South Wales, with supporting operations located at Holbrook and Corowa airports, and a base at Brockelsby to help meet growing demand in NSW’s Riverina region.
Closer to home base in Albury, third-generation flyer Alexander Death, Stephen’s son and line pilot for Hazair, has been out “flying for as long as he can remember.”
When the weather conditions are ideal, he’s up in a specialised Air Tractor 402 aircraft imported from the USA, purpose-built for aerial spraying and spreading.
On a farm at Bowna, just northeast of Albury, Alex works to spread superphosphate over the hillsides to improve soil and grass quality for grazing stock.
“Essentially, the super makes the grass grow better, which helps the cows grow better,” said Stephen.
“That’s what we’re here to do – help feed Australia.
“Alex has about 800 litres of fuel on board, burning about 200 litres per hour, and around 1.5-tonnes of superphosphate loaded.
“It’s an expensive operation, but for farmers with undulating terrain, it’s the most efficient way of getting the job done.”
From pre-planned GPS-marked flight routes (accurate down to the metre) to software that assists the pilot in predicting the drift profile of materials, Hazair have been on a mission to make service more efficient.
This extends to supporting their ground equipment.
The new Isuzu aircraft loader truck, is used to pick up materials such as superphosphate from the ground and then it loads it into the top hatch of the Air Tractor’s hopper.
When it came time to update their loader truck, Stephen says Isuzu was a good fit.
“Isuzu was the easiest for us to modify because they already build dual-control waste trucks,” Stephen explained.
“It has an electronic interface with everything we wanted: remote steering, remote throttle, remote braking and remote hydraulics in the back.
“Blacklocks Isuzu were able to organise the interface and all the special parts and modifications we needed with the broader Isuzu engineering team.”
In this case, the collaboration between body builder and vehicle supplier was key to delivering the best outcome.
“The truck is a huge long-term investment for us. We went from a very manualised version of the truck to being mostly completely electronic, which is as you would expect in this day and age,” Stephen said.
“It has come with its challenges, so there’s been a lot of liaising with the team at Blacklocks Isuzu.
“They have been phenomenal, keeping the build on track for us, which was critical for our costs.”
With a GVM of 16,500kg and GCM of 32,000kg, Isuzu’s FVD model slots comfortably into the mid-weight category.
It’s specified with Hendrickson rear airbag suspension and a 6-speed Allison 3000 automatic transmission, meaning material weight, along with the added weight of the second set of controls at the rear, is well accounted for on-road and in operation.
“The comfort, speed and power of the truck are awesome. It’s quick, it’s efficient and it’s comfortable to drive for Dave Funnell (ground support equipment manager), so his fatigue levels have dropped off,” Stephen explained.
“Most importantly he can get to-and-from the job efficiently, which is what we need because our work operates on an hourly basis.
“For example, we’ve got 42 tonnes of super to spread here and then we’ll move on to another farm about 100 km further up the Murray River, so the actual saving in time getting from one job to another is immense.”
Stephen is hoping to have this truck going for many years to come. “Maintenance is a big thing in aviation, you can’t afford things to break or stop anywhere. We plan to run this truck for a good 25 years at this stage,” he said.
“It does exactly what we need it to do. If we needed to, we’d happily do exactly the same thing and buy the same truck again because we know it just works.”