In analyzing what a typical agricultural aerial application operator has to pay to operate their equipment, we see that the hourly operating cost difference between a turboprop and a Edison Heavy1 is approximately $641. The calculation below ignores costs that will be identical for both aircraft, such as ground equipment and support staff to load the product on-board, as well as hangar, office and other overhead costs. Existing contractor operations typically work with an 18% profit margin. Adding $641 to the calculations will tip the equation heavily in their favor. If we take a sample gross hourly cost of the spraying operation at around $1,200*, then a savings of $641 on aircraft operating cost is a savings of up to 53%.

One of the assumptions above is that the hourly pilot pay will be reduced, but this will be compensated by more work hours each season with a much lower workload than flying from the cockpit, resulting in an equivalent overall wage.