by Bill Lavender

BAINBRIDGE, GA — Twenty-two years and counting, that’s how long Ag-Flight, Inc. has been in business, opening its doors in 1984. The ag-aviation flight school (and general aviation) has trained over 1,400 students from 22 different countries during those 22 years. Of those, 39 were retired or retiring airline pilots and 21 were females.
“I’ve seen ag-schools come and go. None have been able to stay in business for as long as we have here at Ag-Flight. So, I suppose we are doing something right,” states Billy Howell, owner of Ag-Flight, Inc.

“We can take a student from zero flight time all the way through the Ag-Pilot course. And now, we can even give them training in a dual cockpit AT-503 turbine powered Air Tractor.”

That’s the big news around Ag-Flight these days. Beginning September 1 of this year, Ag-Flight began offering its Turbine Transition course with a PT6A-34AG powered Air Tractor. The dual cockpit, dual controls AT-503 Air Tractor is the only one in the world flying. It is the training version of the AT-502. Air Tractor produced four of these models over a five-year period. Of those AT-503s, Ag-Flight’s is the only one that remains and is the only ag-aircraft capable of training pilots to specifically fly an AT-502, as well as providing turbine transition training for other type turbine powered ag-planes.

The AT-503/503A was originally designed and built by Air Tractor in the mid-1980s in hopes of securing an U.S. State Department contract for narcotic crop spraying in Colombia, South America. However, that did not happen. But later, Air Tractor developed the AT-502, which became its best selling model. Also, the development of the AT-503 helped in the development of the AT-802 in later years.

Ag-Flight’s 1991 AT-503 sports a new paint job in U.S. aerial firefighting colors, white with red accents. The 3800-hour aircraft has the 500-gallon hopper of the AT-502, with 234-gallon fuel capacity, 117 gallons per side. The instructor’s rear tandem cabin has a full array of instrumentation, with the exception of the beta prop control on the throttle and the voltmeter. The rear seat instrumentation allows the instructor to monitor all of the student’s actions during the starting procedure through to the approach to landing airspeeds.

Jerry Miller is Ag-Flight’s AT-503 instructor. Jerry instructed at Ag-Flight when it was first formed in 1984. At that time, he had about 10 years of spraying experience in everything from a Stearman to the 600 hp Ag-Cat. Jerry stayed at Ag-Flight for several years before going out on his own as an ag-operator in 1993 in southern Alabama. He even did some ag-pilot training during those years in Alabama, until he closed the flying service in 2000. From there, he worked for a couple of operators that included rice work in Arkansas in an AT-502 before rejoining Ag-Flight in 2004.

A prospective student can start with zero flight hours and work his way through the Turbine Transition course. The Turbine Transition course requires the student to be a graduate of the Ag-Pilot course, or be an active ag-pilot that needs a sign-off in a turbine aircraft.

Typically, training from zero hours through Commercial Pilot’s License takes six-months. In rare cases, some students have completed the course in less than four months. All training is in tailwheel aircraft; an Aeronica Champ, Citabria and Super Cub. The Ag-Pilot course follows the general aviation Commercial Pilot’s License course and takes another six weeks, depending on the student. The Ag-Pilot course includes hours in a 235-hp Pawnee and a 600-hp AT-301. Tom Howell, no relation to Billy Howell, trains the zero flight time through the Commercial Pilot’s License course. Jerry Miller assists Tom with the general aviation training.

“Here at Ag-Flight, we can’t make a student an ag-pilot. But, we can give him the training to make him a safe pilot that will eventually become a good ag-pilot. Only time in the seat and across the rows makes a true ag-pilot”, tells Jerry Miller.

“Having a turbine powered ag-plane to train with has been a dream of mine since almost the beginning of Ag-Flight,” says Billy Howell. “Until now, such an aircraft has been out of the school’s reach. But thanks to help from Mr. Chuck Stone of Southeastern Aircraft Sales and Service in Fort Pierce (Florida), finally, I have the aircraft of my dreams. Mr. Chuck helped make my dreams a reality. I’m very grateful to him.

“Furthermore, this business of looking around in the cockpit with the new turbine pilot, then sending him on his way with words of encouragement, needs to stop. The turbine aircraft is a sophisticated machine that requires training, not only how to start the engine without damaging it, but to understand how the different components work together, to know what to look for and how to react when something is not right during the starting procedure. In the turbine aircraft everything happens at a faster pace. It takes getting used to. That is done better with someone in the aircraft with you, looking over your shoulder. And, that takes a dual cockpit aircraft.” Howell explains.

Training in a turbine ag-plane is not cheap. The ten-hour Turbine Transition course costs $10,000 USD and takes about a week to complete (Free lodging is offered with all Ag-Flight’s courses.). Any turbine operator will tell you that a minimum gross of $1,000 an hour for a turbine ag-plane is almost mandatory and that is considering most turbine ag-planes exceed logging 300 hours a year. The insurance alone, for the AT-503, exceeds $35,000 a year. It is not a venture to enter into lightly and will require the support of the ag-aviation industry by providing students. However, 22 years is a long time for an ag-school to be in business, the oldest ag-pilot school in the industry. So, you can bet Ag-Flight is ready to serve the industry with their experience in training ag-pilots from the ground up, including turbine transition flight time.