(NGC) - Picture - My wheat being crop-dusted.

[Gliderjohn]

I have always admired these pilots. They have a pair of big ones! :BEER:



GliderJohn

[Lannis]

The tobacco field just across the road from my house where I grew up used to be sprayed by air.   Actually by a cousin of my wife's, Leon Paulette.    I was a young teenager but knew nothing about the plane except that it was a biplane with a big radial engine.

The plane would fly so low that it would disappear from view into swales that you wouldn't think would hide a cat ... The pilot would land on the public road when he was done, taxi into the farm driveway, collect from Mr. Mahlon Trent (the grower), and take off from the road in an EXTREMELY short run.

Fun and fascinating stuff!!

Lannis

[Daniel Kalal]

GliderJohn

Great shot, John.  Those turbine conversions look unusual, with that prop waaaay out in front of the pilot.

[rocker59]

Fun entertainment watching those guys this time of year.

Living here in the mountains over the past 19 years, I haven't seen them too much.

When I lived down on the edge of the prairie, I'd see them all the time.

I always thought it would be fun to do that. 

[Gliderjohn]

Quote from rocker59:

I always thought it would be fun to do that.

I don't know about the fun part. I suppose GPS had made it a bit easier but still would require a lot of concentration plus pulling even a couple of Gs every turn gets physically exhausting after awhile let alone doing it all day.
I would guess with empty tanks that plane would be an ass hauler!
GliderJohn

[Bill Hagan]

Some great duster flying on video.

See, e.g., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvRewzduJz4 (great flying; “music” sucks; want to hear engines, not a man moaning) and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATXZ-KAxXKA (fly along).  All stupendous NOE flying.

I had a recent BPPV episode, and think if I watched more of this, that would return!   :o
 
Bill

[cloudbase]

We use three retired cropdusters (Pawnees) for tow planes at our soaring operation.

[Tobit]

I see them over the cotton, corn and soybean fields here.  Air tractors.  Those pilots must have loved roller coasters as kids.

Tobit

[Dilliw]

I did some work for Ayres in Albany GA back in the 1990's.  Are they still around?

[rocker59]

Quote from rocker59:
I don't know about the fun part. I suppose GPS had made it a bit easier but still would require a lot of concentration plus pulling even a couple of Gs every turn gets physically exhausting after awhile let alone doing it all day.
I would guess with empty tanks that plane would be an ass hauler!
GliderJohn

Judging by the aggressive way most of the East Arkansas pilots fly these things, I'd say they must be enjoying it.

Last second pull-ups and aggressive wingover turns on every pass.  Sure, it saves them time, but if they didn't enjoy it they'd be flying a lot more conservatively.

It's sure fun to watch.

[Gliderjohn]

Quote from rocker59:

Judging by the aggressive way most of the East Arkansas pilots fly these things, I'd say they must be enjoying it.

Last second pull-ups and aggressive wingover turns on every pass.  Sure, it saves them time, but if they didn't enjoy it they'd be flying a lot more conservatively.

It's sure fun to watch.

Maybe, but I think that kind of flying is more to save time and fuel than for fun. A 60 degree bank is 2G and a 80 degree is 6. Back when I was in my 40s I did and hour of spin training in a Pitts Special. When pulling out of the dive from the bottom of the spins I pulled between three and 4.5 G eight times. I was beat when I got home could hardly get out of bed for two days I was so sore.
GliderJohn

[kirb]

A high school friend used to do that in Oklahoma for a living...now he runs an airport in Michigan. I think he hung it up once he had young kids.

I remember a guy near my old house spraying for Gypsy Moths near my house crashed his plane. I couldn't find the article, but he didn't make it.

[Muzz]

I remember as a kid two American servicemen representing SEATO "South East Asia Treaty Organisation" came through the school explain to us what this treaty was all about.  During the talk they branched out and talked about seeing a DC3 that had been converted to a crop duster dropping fertilizer.  Because most of them had disappeared in the States, they parked up and watched. It tore along at zero feet heading straight for a fairly large hill, and just as it was about to hit the pilot did a wing stand and went sideways up a gully that they had not seen. A short time later they saw it come straight up out of a completely different part.  The two things that struck them; one, it was the most amazing piece of flying that they had ever seen and two; if the Douglas Aircraft Corp. saw what they were doing to a DC3 they would have kittens!

[drums4money]

My step-dad dusted for Delta when they operated a tiny strip in Tallulah,LA.
Dangerous work- he lost a brother in the most horrific way imaginable.  

"..birthplace of Delta Air Lines, and the original airport building, Scott's Field, still stands near Tallulah, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places."

Those guys can sure fly the hell out of a plane.  A radial Stearman can wake the dead when it comes zooming over the roof with a full load bright & early in the AM.

[Guzzistajohn]

Watched one flying under the powerlines in SE Ark. over a rice field one time. The guy must have had brontosarus balls.

[Penderic]

Yikes! That low flying is way too close to the ground clutter for my comfort!  :o Even the water sprinkler heads were in danger of getting hit!

[krglorioso]

Why I purchase organic produce.  God knows what they're spraying.

Ralph

[Shorty]

I watched a fellow spraying in Texas. Elevated roadway. He would pull up and do those stall turns just above the power lines. I noticed he was drinking a doctor pepper.  ;)

[Chuck in Indiana]

Quote from rocker59:
Maybe, but I think that kind of flying is more to save time and fuel than for fun. A 60 degree bank is 2G and a 80 degree is 6. Back when I was in my 40s I did and hour of spin training in a Pitts Special. When pulling out of the dive from the bottom of the spins I pulled between three and 4.5 G eight times. I was beat when I got home could hardly get out of bed for two days I was so sore.
GliderJohn

Yep. Time is money to a duster. Need I say it's a dangerous occupation? All it takes is a moment of inattention.

[redrider]

I've always wanted to give the Ag Cat a go. I like roller coasters as well.

[Gliderjohn]

Quote from krglorloso:

Why I purchase organic produce.  God knows what they're spraying.

The spraying today was to fight a fungus that has developed this year in the wheat crop. Left untreated would leave little wheat. Uses of chemicals is a necessary evil if enough food is to be produced, especially at an affordable price. BTW, the definition of organic foods is very loose. Unless you grow it yourself or personally know the grower you have no assurances that the "organic" foods you are buying are truly organic.
GliderJohn

[drums4money]

Why I purchase organic produce.  God knows what they're spraying.

Ralph

They're spraying vitamins to replace the ones that were genetically engineered out. ;D

[Penderic]

Just a little love blowing your way. cough cough.

[rocker59]

Watched one flying under the powerlines in SE Ark. over a rice field one time. The guy must have had brontosarus balls.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5lT0qV4hbA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ekyNGnl0MA


 :o

[ken farr]

I watched a fellow spraying in Texas. Elevated roadway. He would pull up and do those stall turns just above the power lines. I noticed he was drinking a doctor pepper.  ;)

                                               ;D



kjf

[Dilliw]

I watched a fellow spraying in Texas. Elevated roadway. He would pull up and do those stall turns just above the power lines. I noticed he was drinking a doctor pepper.  ;)

Was he eating a Diablo sandwich too? 

I've always wanted to give the Ag Cat a go. I like roller coasters as well.

Come on up when you get a chance.  I've got a season pass to Carowinds and you can give the Fury a try.  I give it two thumbs up.