The CallAir A-9 is a small agricultural aircraft that first flew in 1962, a development of the company's previous successful crop-dusters. It is typical of aircraft of its type - a single-seat aircraft with a low wing incorporating spraying gear.
Design and development[]
Following the purchase of Call Aircraft Company, who had built the CallAir Model A series of light utility and agricultural aircraft, by Intermountain Manufacturing Company (IMCO) in 1962, IMCO produced a new agricultural derivative of the Callair, the CallAir A-9. Production of the new aircraft started in 1963.
Like the earlier CallAir aircraft, the A-9 is a single-engined monoplane with a braced low wing. It is of mixed construction, with a fabric-covered steel-tube fuselage structure and a wood and fabric wing. The pilot sits behind the chemical hopper, and the cockpit is enclosed by two removable, bottom-hinged doors that form the left and right side windows. The aircraft is powered by a single Lycoming O-540 flat-six piston engine. Later in life, some A-9s have been adapted for glider towing operations.
IMCO was in turn purchased by Rockwell International in 1966, which built the plane under its Aero Commander division before shifting production to Mexico in 1971, under a joint venture there called AAMSA. Production continued until 1984.