Air Tractor AT-802A (Unusual Aircraft Collection)

The Air Tractor AT-802A is a large turboprop cropduster which is also used to drop water or flame retardant on forest fires.

Cropdusting doesn't require speed, but it does call for a lot of maneuverability, and having a lot of power provides a margin of safety when banking and turning close to the ground.   The power of the AT-802A's  turboprop engine gives it this safety margin and also makes it able to lift an incredible 9500 pounds, more than the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, which had four engines and a crew of ten.

A fire-fighting version called the FireBoss is often fitted with floats to allow it to operate from lakes or rivers.   It's used for co-ordinating other fire-fighting planes, but it can also scoop water and drop it on the flames, like the Be-200 Altair and other water bombers.   As well as the usual tanks inside the fuselage, the FireBoss can also carry 70 gallons of water in its floats.   This isn't much use on a large fire, but it's very helpful for cleaning up hot spots after the main blaze has been quenched.