He appears to have a drug and or alcohol problem. I tried not to upset people, but was not always successful. Cobra had armor plateing around the compressor section. Still got shot down once. Never was shot at in a Pawnee that I knew of.

Thanks Rob. I'm doing back to back cause one of the retired pilots I work with says it will teach me more than racetrack for now. Boweeviling is paid by the hour, so it's a great way to break in as I'm not under any pressure to haul ass, the longer I take the more $$$ everybody makes

Sweet pics Rob, I'm jealous!!!

I like those guys.

Is it difficult to keep from totally focusing on the SATLOC indications and not out the windshield after the day/night drags on for a bit and you get tired?

gbflyer wrote:Is it difficult to keep from totally focusing on the SATLOC indications and not out the windshield after the day/night drags on for a bit and you get tired?

Not really...

Not counting the computers and controllers there are two main components that the pilot concerns himself with in flight.

1) The light bar, which is tantamount to an OBS (it mainly gives distance to swath, angle of interception, and then may include a couple other pilot selected pieces of information). and..

2) The keypad, which is how you control everything you want the computer to do. In newer models the keypad may be incorporated in a moving map as a touch screen, or the moving map may be added as a third component. In any event these two are purely 'informational' and only referenced to, or used as needed. The lightbar is your primary source of guidance information, and consequently is what your likely to get 'overly focused' on. For this reason the light bar is mounted front and center and generally out of the cockpit and on the nose far enough to be in your long distance focusing.

All of this is an over simplification, and there are many variations, even within Satloc which is simply one brand in a market of several, but it sums up the most common set up.

Take care, Rob

wtxdragger,
thats what got me flying. i would watch crop dusters as a kid all day long

Some of the best days of my life have been while working around spray planes. Here's a few shots from the last outfit I worked for, in Burlington, WA. Good times...I can still smell it. Lots of small fields, so the AgCat was perfect, even the light frame. No need for a 600...450 was plenty. The turbine in the pics was headed to East Oregon for some bigger fields, which didn't bother me at all...stinky, messy things!
John

Never was shot at in a Pawnee that I knew of

My Dad owned a strip in NW Missouri back in the 80's. He got shot at when he was flying his Thrush. He didn't know it until the guy came to the airport and told him what he did and when dad looked---sure enough there was a ding in the belly. All dad did was tell his friend the State Trooper that if he crashed mysteriously, make sure and check that guy out. One day the guy was on a tall ladder doing some painting on a store in town and dad said he never wanted to kick a ladder out from somebody so bad. Another interesting thing that happened to dad in the mid 70's.. He was spraying Toxaphene and DDT in Virginia next to a divided four lane highway. The field was on the east side and there was a power line he had to pull up for. On the opposite side a black lady was driving by and said she got sprayed and was turning white. At first she went to the farmer and he said to take a BC powder and a Coca Cola and she be better. That didn't work so she called dad and wanted to know the name of his "surance" company. Can't remember for sure but I think she collected a little something

Where in NW Missouri Marty? I flew in that area around the same time and also in the missouri boot heel and NE arkansas.

Where in NW Missouri Marty?

Dad owned the airstrip at Mound City. Where were you?

John,
I told MTV l hated propping, but the 450 Pratt was OK. You could swing that big Hamilton Standard once and go climb in with assurance it would start every time.
Jim

I remember taking the Kenworth and mixing rig to another airport about 25 miles away back in 1975. And I waited and waited. Finally Dad showed up and when he got out of the plane his left hand and wrist was all bandaged up. After I left, he went to crank up the Thrush and the battery was dead so he got another pilot to sit in the cockpit and hand propped it. When it fired his hand was in the way and it put a heck of a gash into the meat and he never did find where his wrist watch went flying. Sure thankful it wasn't worse and even with all the wrapping and stitches he was still able to spray.

Absolutely loving the stories guys, keep em Rollin. This is a helluva gig, roller coaster between sheer bliss and survival mode, perfect fit for a crazy sumbitch like me

Thanks Rob.

Cool technology. I flagged some and also loaded helicopters part of one summer. I think SATLOC was in it's infancy at the time.

Skalywag,
I think you have my last edit of Safe Maneuvering Flight Techniques. If not email me and I will attach it. [email protected]
Jim

A few years back I was spraying corn along the interstate in Martys neck of the woods when a lady in a black Chevy Tahoe pulled over. Of course the wind was blowing away from the highway, and I was no wear near being done yet, so I had yet to actually get close to the highway (working parallel with each pass getting closer). Everything safe and legit I rolled on a bit longer while trying to figure the lady out. A few passes went by, and out came a camera. Then another ... Now we all get lookie loos from time to time, some just enjoying the sights and some repulsed by it.

Of course the dept. of ag must investigate each complaint, and whether you actually did something wrong or not, you only have to be the subject of one of these to realize you just don't want to put yourself in that situation again.

Not being able to convince myself that she was a 'friendly' I decided to save my spot on the satloc and take the rest of the load to another field with the same mix. Fortunately almost the whole days work was loaded in the computer, and almost all of it was the same mix. So off I went... I don't think I made it a full 10 minutes into that field when that same lady showed up again! and out came the cameras

Again not sure of the ladys intent, I pulled up, saved the spot and scrolled through the fields loaded on my card... I managed to find one that looked like it would 'fit' what I had left in the hopper, and also appeared to be far enough that I oughta be able to 'shake' my 'tail'...

Well, I made it to the field, and was now kicking everything into overdrive... not only was I trying to ensure the black Tahoe lady didn't find me again, but all this floundering around was burning through my time and fuel... Made it completely through the field and while trimming it up wouldn't you know it, here comes lady paparazzi The last headland would've been a pass along the road she set up on, so I just peeled off and figured I'd come back and trim that up later in the day when she was gone, after all, I now had half done jobs scattered all over the state

Returning to pick up my next load I figured 'fess up' and find out if anyone had called in a complaint or some such... I really enjoy flying for this coop, and we have a great working relationship, so I kinda cringed at the thought of a complaint.
The young man who over sees the loading pad at the particular strip I was working carries a fair amount of weight at this coop, and is super cool, so I shared the story with him hoping to get some feed back. The further I got into my story the bigger his grin got, and I couldn't help but wonder why in the heck he was finding pleasure in my anxiety Finally he blurts out "Dude, your screwing up the kids project!" Turns out his kids had a school photo project that was to be agriculturally themed and his mom (aka; Black Tahoe Lady) was out 'helping' them along

Went back on the next load to be greeted by Lady paparazzi on every field, and got a nice bunch of pictures at the end of the season Think the kids project turned out better than hoped for too! Nice when the lookie loos are friendly !

Here's a few of probably 1000 shots by Holden and Hunter (and a few by Grandma ) ;


Embarrassingly dirty is how we end up by the end of the season


Some years we roll off the corn and right onto beans


Cows are soo hip... they were eating edamame long before all the sushi bar hipsters


And of course like all flying jobs, you don't get to be too choosy on the wx you fly (so long as it's semi reasonable )


over the trees for another;


Headland pass?


The infamous Black Tahoe lady


Not nearly as wired up as our neck of the woods



but still plenty of other obstacles


Test plots

Fun stuff!
Thanks again Holden and Hunter (and Black Tahoe lady )

The crosswind was obvious on the beans, and the spray pattern. I wish the fancy cameras had been available when I was teaching crop dusting. It was hard to get the kids to drive out with me to watch someone's pattern in a strong crosswind. And then I would catch them not flying over the road the last pass to get the edge of the field where the farmer would drive by an see no results.

A farmer near Oceola, Missouri came out to the strip I was using to bring Atrazine. He said he was planting corn where I would be spraying and would like to flag. I stupidly assumed he had flagged before. I assumed he would use his pickup and move once I had the wings level going into the swath that he had lined up. I had told him we would start on the downwind edge and work crosswind and keep moving one swath upwind. He was on the ground and he just kneeled down as I came over. Atrazine makes you itch like crazy. I had no vehicle and wouldn't have know how to get there by land. This was long before cell telephones. When he came back to the airport, I apologized. He said it was no problem, he had jumped in the river between loads.

The A model Pawnee had a spring loaded flapper in the hopper door to prevent a partial vacuum if you had to dump. The spring in mine got weak and let spray come up on the windscreen when I pushed over going into the field. I stuffed a rag in it and continued. The rag shook loose and ended up in the spray pump. Money makes airplanes go better.

That's hilarious Rob!! I know what ya mean man. So sad that you have to worry about that stuff now.
That picture I posted early where it looks like I'm spraying dirt is a similar situation.

I saw the guy pull up and get out with a camera. I was working toward him into the wind like your saying, wondering each pass; friend or foe...? I love when people enjoy watching just I like I did growing up and still do now.

But you can't help but think everyone's out to get us. If you look at the picture close you can actually see me looking at the guy trying to figure him out. It worked out in my favor tho.

The guy was the neighboring farming who uses our competitor. He sent it to all the farmers saying these guys are so good they don't even have to look where they're going. Haha. I know better.

I've really gotten to where I don't worry about it to much anymore. If I'm not drifting on them or doing anything wrong I just hope they're enjoying the show. I've become weary of living in fear.
So far I've been reallllly lucky!!
The guy got some really good shots to. And maybe I picked up a future customer...

I do have to say up north I was alot more nervous. Tend to get more comfortable at home thinking I can read things pretty good.
Up north everywhere I went seemed like people where pulling over with cameras, video cameras, and cell phones. It was definitely nerve racking at first. Then I got over it and thought, oh well. It's worth the risk now to me to give some kid a hell of a show and memory to deal with a few nut jobs from time to time who think I just caused brain damaged to them with a little fungicide fumes.

Lap of luxury baby, haha 1974 has it's perks!!!