Not for me. I was on the tail end of Parathion, which was used for everything after DDT. Lots of my older friends have pleurisy now.

I think the 6-3 Parathion went away mostly because it didn't work worth a shit. Sure smelled like it should kill something, though.

Hey contact. Where did you fly near the rio grande?

Fabens. I lived in Las Cruces and worked for Terra in the Mesilla Valley. Charlie Bush got me to go down to Fabens as well. My main customers were Gail Surratt and Dennis Ivy. I sprayed vegetables and pecans in the spring. Q Ball and Perkins came around the forth of July with old Snows for cotton.

55Wagon, Where are you? The valley is very wide there.

Contact, I work with 55Wagon. We are down near Raymondville, TX. We've got three strips we work out of, one east of Raymondville n another west of Edinburg. The main hangar is in the middle. Not the best pic but this is our main hangar. Keep the stories comin

Loading docks at main hangar

Here's a pic a buddy down here took of 55Wagon workin on Saturday. It's an iPhone pic of a printed picture but worth sharin, the original is awesome!

You guys are doing some serious spraying. Q Ball (completely bald like Yul Brenner) were from McAllen. After VA paid for my ag school at Slaton,TX, I sprayed summers only while teaching History and English on the Navajo Reservation. Later full time.

Hit wires twice in small irregular alfalfa fields in Missouri. One where field narrowed at a dirt road. I checked up and down the road for poles, finding none. I knew there had to be a wire, so I started there. Hit a live one with the prop going in. Burned a hole in the Pawnee wing and sparked on the ground. Power company sent bill.

The other was in a Stearman. Just flew through a dead line while on low recon. Found it.

More pics of pics, wish I could upload the originals...

Q Ball worked for Perkins. My son sent me a smart phone. Problem is I aren't.

I forgot about thunking a phone cable with the Pawnee tire. I knew it was there, but it only came down half of the field and then went underground. Because of the wind, I started back and forth from the half where it was underground. We didn't have Satlock back then. It slipped up on me coming out. Plane shook and one main bounced up and down on the bungee for a couple of seconds.

With Satlock, you guys race track most of the time. The animal food and fuel crops have gotten so high here, they are spaying in strong winds. I had to get after Kidman's five Pawnee pilots about going to back and forth in the big winds. They were making harry downwind turns every other turn in their race tracks and almost putting wings into wires.

Skalywag:

Keep the updates coming.

I can park on a road and watch a crop duster all day.

Fly safe.

Thanks Jeffrey, will do.

It was a nice morning today, got about 500 acres done n got shut down by the wind (gusting to 28mph now). We spray in pretty decent winds for sunflowers n other custom work (pretty much everything other than herbicide), but the boweevils are a govt. gig n they shut it down for high winds. My work days have been over by 10AM so far this week

Ur livin the dream Luke. I'm enjoying your pics!

Thanks Evan!

Our GPS Satloc system records our flights, for the government work we have to turn it in after the job is completed. The required average speed is 145mph for the boweevils and on this load I averaged 143.5mph. The red is where the spray is on and that is also when it records our speed, the blue is the flight path. For the weevils we put out 12 ounces per acre. So on this 500 acres I used 47 gallons. It's a juggling act trying to keep lined up on the pass, keep the speed averaged right, and have the pump at the correct pressure to get the right amount of bug-b-gone flowin out, and of course not to hit power lines/obstructions or get spray on houses, vehicles, people, or animals

Doing real well Luke! I bet the back and fourth print out put a smile on contacts face Question; is your 'paint' set up on a micro switch or a pressure switch? I'm a pretty die hard left handed round robiner (RCTRK) unless winds or field shape dictate otherwise.

We slowed up enough to get a weekend off... well most of it. So this is how we sprayed this weekend

When we got Automatic Flagman instead of a guy on the ground, we were able to race track. It drove me crazy, however, always trying to find a far away flag. Some of us are just hardheaded.

Skalywag wrote:Our GPS Satloc system records our flights

Thanks for the pic. I haven't ever seen that before. Very interesting.

http://www.localnews8.com/news/man-who-shot-at-plane-must-buy-newspaper-ad/25833238
TWIN FALLS, Idaho (AP) -
A 42-year-old south-central Idaho man convicted of shooting at a crop duster has been sentenced to three years of supervised probation.

Christopher Vaughn Lewis must also buy a half-page advertisement in the Times-News containing an explanation of why shooting at planes is wrong.

The newspaper reports that 5th District Court Judge Randy Stoker also on Monday ordered Lewis to develop a program to present at six youth hunter safety courses explaining his error.

Stoker says if he's not satisfied with the program he'll sentence Lewis to 180 days in jail.

A jury convicted Lewis on March 6 of felony discharging a firearm at an aircraft.

A witness testified she heard four shots on Aug. 24, walked outside and saw Lewis fire twice at the crop duster.

___

Information from: The Times-News, http://www.magicvalley.com