The typical view of aviation most passengers receive is either through the cabin window at 36,000 feet or face to face with the behemoths through the departure lounge window at the airport. Its true this is a typical representation of aviation, however there are less well known, and exotic, forms of aviation which are worth noting for a plethora of noble reasons.

Take the opposite of these enormous passenger jets which provide a stunning view of the ants below on a clear day, and consider the smaller aircraft buzzing through the sky dedicated to the unrecognised jobs. Embraer have just announced the production of the 1,200^th ethanol powered Ipanema, a light agricultural aircraft, which has proven itself as a bastion of sustainable aviation as well as an integral part of the agricultural industry in Brazil.

The success of the aircraft has continued over 40 years of production, research, and development by Embraer. Continued interest and dedication to the aircraft have been the driving forces behind innovation which now sees the aircraft powered by bio-ethanol, technology which according to Fábio Bertoldi Carretto, Embraer’s Ipanema Sales Manager, gives it the status of “a symbol of aviation sustainability”.

Embraer Ipanema Ethanol Powered Agricultural Aircraft

The aircraft is mainly used for crop dusting due to its superior efficiency compared to cumbersome tractors which trample crops, but it can also be used for fighting fires, seeding rivers with fish, and spraying pesticides. The Ipanema’s greatest contribution to agriculture and the environment is its factory fitted engine which runs on ethanol derived from sugar cane which massively reduces its environmental impact and maintenance costs.

While many passenger airlines and manufacturers ferry flyers across the world on new efficient engines, redesigned aerodynamics, composite parts, and importantly biofuel, Embraer’s Ipanema reflects a design which has lasted 40 years and is still at the forefront of sustainable aviation.