Crop Dusters
Aircraft play a very important role in agriculture by being able to access fields when ground equipment is not feasible. At times when the crop is too high or the surface is too wet or the terrain is not accessible with ground equipment, aircraft provide a valuable role in caring for crops. The decision to spray or not spray depends on whether insect numbers or plant injury is severe enough to cause loss of crop income.
The early aircraft were referred to as crop dusters when dry material was common. Today most pesticides are concentrated liquids making it easier to direct the amount and placement of the product, and control yield robbing insects and diseases. With the use of GPS systems aircraft are able to precisely target their location helping to keep our environment as safe as possible.
Crop dusting from the air takes a special set of flying skills to maneuver the Ag Cat or an Ag Tractor through the sky. It takes a huge amount of endurance to survive an hour in the cockpit of a crop duster. The torture is worthwhile because "aerial application" -- the name many pilots prefer to "crop dusting" -- is a hot field that is sought after by many pilots.
Some pilots have started their careers at the controls of the 1947 Piper Super Cruiser, used for crop duster training. Crop dusters spread fertilizer, insecticides, and fungicides and weed killers. Some farmers even plant seed from the air. Skilled agricultural or crop dusting is what you would call this type of flying. Many young fliers will become a crop duster to gain flying time for employment or the skill of flying and to do the kind of low-altitude flying and stunt-like maneuvers. Modern planes can cost upward of $1 million and spray at speeds near 150 mph. They fly 10 feet above fields during application.
Click on images to enlarge
Loading
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| Ag Cat turning into the loading area to begin the loading process. |
Take off
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| Ag Cat taking off to spray fields by GPS. |
Spraying the field
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| Ag Cat spraying a field at low altitude. |
Obstacles
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| Here are some of the types of obstacles the Ag Cat pilots must avoid. |
Landing
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| Landing to refuel and load more spray material for the next fields. |
Equipment
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| The Ag Cat cock pit with a view of the High Tec instruments used in agricultural aircraft. | The spray boom is the application apparatus. | Air Driven Pump for the aircraft. |
All images (c) 2009 Moore & Warner
