August 12, 2015 | by Jeffrey Dennison, WSU Tri-Cities
PROSSER, Wash. — Washington State University and a private company are testing an unmanned helicopter to blow rainwater off cherries on trees.
The 11-foot-long, 141-pound Yamaha RMAX aircraft has been used in to spray rice crops in Japan since 1997. Some 2,500 operate there now. WSU has begun tests to determine its feasibility as a safer, less expensive replacement of manned helicopters to dry cherries. [full article]