aussie plane makes me think of the aussie flyer in the road warrior. (not even the same, but spiritually)
> But the airplane never became popular—although it became briefly famous when a heavily made-up example starred in 1985’s Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.
I thought everybody used aluminum?
Update: I guess the final design also used steel.
> The pilot is above both the engine and the load, and is surrounded by a steel tube truss for maximum safety.
I also imagine in the postwar WW2 antipodes, steel was a lot easier and cheaper to access, as well as work.
The M-15 is still uglier. Also intended as a cropduster, though unlike the AirTruk it was really bad at that job in every way.
The Belphegor is still uglier though.
The AEW version looks ok
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlyO9cJ8hiQ (Alexander the ok: PZL Mielec M-15: One of the Aircraft of All Time)
On the subject of top-dressers... ...I was privileged to see a turboprop equipped Fletcher FU-24 in action a couple of weeks ago, those pilots are very darn good at flying very low in hill country. Very loud and notable engine sound.
You got to love that even its name is utilitarian.
This is such a cool story. Airplanes seem such a complex, standardized, full of red tape and elitist thing that such stories of hackers starting to pull random beams together and you get a thing that flies are pretty inspiring... And yet it also sound quite well thought. As usual, there is more than meets the eye
ziofill•1h ago