Aircraft model
AIR TRACTOR INC AT-502
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The AT-502 is the original 500-gallon-hopper Air Tractor, a single-seat turbine agricultural aeroplane with a PT6A-15AG. It is the aircraft that established the 500-gallon class, which became the workhorse size for American crop spraying.
As a purchase it is assessed like farm machinery: hopper capacity, engine hours since hot section and overhaul, airframe hours and cycles, and corrosion from years of chemical exposure, which is what ultimately retires these airframes. The flight profile — heavy, low, turbulent, with very high numbers of takeoffs and landings — is punishing, so total cycles matter as much as hours. It operates in the restricted category. Agricultural flying is a specialist discipline requiring documented experience for insurance.
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Put AIR TRACTOR INC AT-502 side by side with up to two other models.
- AIR TRACTOR INC AT-502
What it is
| Seats | 1 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-15AG |
| Horsepower | 680 hp |
| Fuel | JetA |
| Certification basis | FAR23 |
| Production start | 1987 |
| Production end | current |
| Endorsements required | high-performance;tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 135 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 400 nm |
| Service ceiling | — |
| Climb rate | — |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 60 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 1 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 4,100 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 2,988 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 8,000 lb |
| Empty weight | 3,900 lb |
| Usable fuel | 166 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 45 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $350,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $1,200,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 3,600 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $320,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $480,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 176 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 78 |
| Median year built | 1991.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 27 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 6 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 346.15 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 0 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 26 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 33.33 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 15 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 78 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 78 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 78 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, turbo-prop, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 6.1 of 101 |
| Severity | 7.5 of 102 |
| Access | 8 of 103 |
| Support | 6 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 8.9 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 36.5 out of 506 |
- Accident record: class median 0 · 10 models in class.
- Severity: class median 25.53.
- Access: class median 6,509.
- Support: class median 78.
- Liquidity: class median 23.47.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.