Aerowork’s 75-year celebration in Whanganui a family affair

Harald Hendel, Richmond Harding and Garry Diack, with an original Tiger Moth, at Aerowork's 75-year celebration.

Whanganui topdressing company Aerowork has celebrated 75 years of service to rural communities.

The milestone was marked with an event at Whanganui Airport on Saturday, December 7.

Aerowork was started by Wally Harding in 1949 when he converted his Tiger Moth plane to spread fertiliser on his high-country station.

The company expanded over time and now works across the North Island and South Island.

Before the introduction of dedicated emergency rescue helicopters, Aerowork’s pilots at times acted as rural emergency responders.

Two of Aerowork’s current fleet have been adapted for firefighting in rural areas.

The company, previously named Wanganui Aero Work, stayed within the Harding family until it was bought by fertiliser company Ravensdown in 2004 and renamed Aerowork.

Aerowork chief executive Harald Hendel spoke at the company's 75-year celebration.

According to its website, Ravensdown works to enable “smarter farming” and help farmers “reduce environmental impacts and optimise value from the land”.

Richmond Harding, who was Aerowork’s chief executive before the 2004 sale, said Ravensdown’s scientific knowledge would help develop Aerowork’s technology.

One of the technology implementations since 2004 was GPS software “to achieve far greater fertiliser application accuracy, avoid environmentally sensitive areas and seamlessly interact with farm innovations like Ravensdown’s HawkEye software”, Aerowork chief executive Harald Hendel said.

“This gives customers a detailed overview of their nutrient plan, from calculating nitrogen use efficiency to ordering fertiliser, to proof-of-placement.”

Aerowork was focused on the importance of good-quality technology.

“Aerowork is the only topdressing company with a dedicated team of engineers to build our own aircraft components,” Hendel said.

During Saturday’s celebration, an original Tiger Moth, a 1950s Fletcher aircraft and a modern Cresco were flown side by side, displaying three generations of Aerowork’s aircraft.

Three generations of topdressing aircraft fly in formation (from left) Shane Wareham - Fletcher FU-24, Bruce Harding - PAC Cresco and Richmond “Ditch” Harding - Tiger Moth.

The planes were flown by members of the Harding family.

The event also offered food trucks, topdressing demonstrations and Aerowork history displays.

“The past year has been tough for farmers and, because topdressing is intrinsically tied to the ups and downs of the industry, we’ve been right there with them,” Hendel said.

“We’ve been serving some farms for decades, so they’re more than clients – many are friends. Today was a great way to celebrate 75 years of success with them and look forward to the blue skies and fair winds ahead.”