How It's Made - Crop-dusters

How It's Made - Crop-dusters
Crop dusters are airplanes Specially outfitted for aerial spraying. Farmers use them to seed fields And apply pesticides and fertilizer. The aquaculture industry uses them to feed fish, And emergency crews fly them to spread retardant on forest fires And dispersants on oil spills. Depending on its size, A crop duster can carry up to 2,700 liters Of liquid or dry material. The plane is designed to be able to swoop down low To accurately cover
the target spray area. At the factory, they manually weld Lightweight aircraft-grade steel tubes To construct the frame of the fuselage.
Next they use spring-loaded fasteners To affix aluminum panels to the sides. An anti-rust coating turns the aluminum golden color. All the plane's aluminum parts require this coating, Because many of the chemicals crop dusters carry Are corrosive. The tank that holds those chemicals is called a hopper. The factory molds it out of many layers of fiberglass, Which is deliberately transparent. This enables the pilot to see at a glance Roughly how much chemical remains. Inside each of the plane's wings Is a row of vertical supports called webs. To make each web, they lay a soft aluminum sheet on a mold, Place a rubber mat on top, then load the assembly into a press. A built-in water bag distributes the pressure evenly.

This helps form the aluminum sheet perfectly. Next they soak the web for a half-hour In molten sodium chloride At more than 900 degrees fahrenheit. Then they immediately submerge the web in lukewarm water. This triggers a molecular reaction That hardens the aluminum. Each wing contains 32 webs. Technicians line them up in an assembly fixture In between the wing's horizontal beams called spars. Once they've riveted the webs to the spars,
They cover the structure with aluminum panels Using spring clamps for now. The panels have holes in them To allow regular inspections of the structure inside.

After riveting the panels, Technicians screw covers onto the inspection holes. They also seal the seams between panels with liquid rubber So chemicals can't penetrate. Next they install the engine and the propeller, Which ranges from 750 to 1,400 horsepower. The prop has from three to five aluminum blades. Now the equipment that releases the chemicals from the air. For spraying liquids, they hook up horizontal pipes Lined with spray nozzles
called booms. To apply dry chemicals or disperse seed, The flight crew detaches the booms And installs a large stainless-steel funnel Called a spreader under the plane's belly.

At release time, The pilot opens a door at the bottom of the hopper, Enabling the wind to draw out the contents Through the spreader. To spray liquids, a wind-driven pump Moves the hopper contents to the booms. Technicians now assemble and install The instrumentation panel. To fill the hopper with liquid chemicals, They connect a pump to a valve on the side of the crop duster. For dry chemicals, they just lift the hopper's lid And fill her up.

How It's Made: Seasons 1 & 2 (2010)

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How It's Made - Kelp Caviar

Caviar is made By processing the unfertilized eggs of certain species of fish. For those who love the taste but not the price, There's simulated caviar made of kelp, a type of seaweed. A fraction of the cost, It looks, smells, and tastes similar to the real thing. Unlike fish caviar, the source of kelp caviar is a plant, So it's fat-free, cholesterol-free, And has zero calories. This company makes its kelp caviar plain, Which is vegetarian, As well as in several flavors. Kelp is chock-full of vitamins and minerals And is especially rich in iodine. Being a marine plant, it's quite different from land plants In that its consistency is gelatinous, Which makes it ideal for producing little rubbery balls That resemble fish eggs.

At the kelp caviar factory, They begin production with kelp that's been dried naturally, Then ground into a fine powder. The other ingredients are salt, citric acid, And, if they're making a flavored variety, Natural flavoring in liquid form. They add the ingredients one at a time to water. The mixer blends them thoroughly for about an hour, Producing a thick, gelatinous liquid. They transfer the mixture into a pot Connected to an extrusion machine. The machine pumps the mixture Through what looks like a showerhead, Only instead of outputting a steady stream, It squeezes out droplets, Producing tiny kelp balls called pearls, Which look exactly like fish eggs.

The pearls drop into a coagulation solution. Besides providing a soft landing, This solution helps hold the pearls' shape. The pearls roll down a chute into waiting containers. The water drains out the bottom. Workers empty the containers into large colanders. Then they rinse and strain the pearls To ensure they're all a certain minimum size. Pearls that are too small Simply fall through the colander's holes. They weigh out a specific quantity And mix in
an all-natural stabilizer Required to maintain the pearls' texture and round shape. The factory's quality-control lab Tests a sample from the batch To make sure the ph level is just right. Careful ph control, coupled with pasteurization, Is why this product doesn't require any preservatives. At the packaging station, workers fill glass jars, Then twist a tin lid onto each one.

Then the jars go into a pasteurization machine. It heats the caviar to a high temperature For a specific period of time, Which kills off any bacteria. This ensures a two-year shelf life without refrigeration. Once opened, the product stays fresh in the fridge For three months. After printing each lid with a lot number For tracking purposes, All that's left to do is dress the jar in a cardboard label. Kelp caviar contains no artificial colors or flavors. Unlike certain types of caviar, It doesn't bleed color to the surrounding food, Even when baked. And while real caviar Is typically either black sturgeon roe or red salmon roe, Kelp caviar comes in additional flavors, Such as truffle, cognac, and wasabi.

Kelp Vegetarian Caviar - Sturgeon - 3.5oz

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