Dennis Gardisser and Lynn Baxter conduct another S.A.F.E. fly-in for the Missouri AAA hosted by Earl’s Flying Service, Mike Lee, of Steele, Missouri.

by Dennis Gardisser & Lynn Baxter
WRK of Arkansas
dgardisser@wrkofar.com

STEELE, MO — I travel to and participate with a lot of states on educational programs and agricultural aircraft calibration workshops. I occasionally get invited in a social event with these same groups. Missouri is one of the smaller states, particularly with regard to numbers of aerial applicators. Ag aviation operations are concentrated primarily in the southeast corner – commonly referred to the “boot heel”.

Mike and Ginger Lee of Earl’s Flying Service have been hosting a fish fry social during the winter months for the last several years. This venue provides an opportunity for several local applicators and their companions to get together socially and have a good time. Believe me; we do have a good time with excellent food and plenty of adult refreshment. I’m not sure who has the most fun, the women or the men, but all seem to be quite happy.

Mike and Ginger are super hosts and have an excellent facility in their home to host this event. Beverly and I have been invited to this event for several years and it usually costs me money, because Bev and Ginger seem to be talking about some shopping venture. This year we even had a clown show up – indicating that he had been hired by Garrco, but it is the strong belief by many that the clown was John Garr in disguise.

Not all the conversation is restricted to hunting, fishing, and off season stuff. This is generally just prior to the beginning of a new application season. A lot of discussion about the upcoming season, any changes in equipment setup, and how to handle the new issues that may be present are fully discussed. A big part of the discussion centered on the Missouri fly-in that will follow within a couple of weeks. New regulations on glyphosate and 2,4-D in neighboring states were also key topics.

Mike has hosted the Missouri AAA two-day fly-in for the past several years. Lynn Baxter, engineering technician and S.A.F.E. analyst, and I help process the data and provide guidance on how to optimize equipment setups. Mike has a complete dry calibration system with collectors, software, and labor. We load my Maule aircraft and bring in the WRK spray analysis system, so applicators have the opportunity to calibrate either spray or dry, or both during the two-day event. Operators that participate bring labor to help with the field operations. We also get great help from some of the insurance companies; Ken Maynard of Falcon Insurance is just one example. Rosens’ Kevin Mallon and Rick Dow were on hand this year to assist with the field collection duties. With several people pitching in, the data collection goes quickly and everyone typically has ample opportunity to do all the performance checks they desire.

This workshop is a little unique. The attending applicators, at least on average, have the highest level of equipment of any WRK participates during the year. By this, the equipment is relatively new with the latest technology available. For instance, we had several Air Tractors with the new induction system, variable rate systems, flow controls, hydraulic gates and the newest Transland spreader designs. The evaluations of patterns on these new Air Tractor inductions systems indicate that there is very little effect on the patterns from them on the AT-602s and AT-802s. However, it is my belief there will be a significant pattern effect from the new induction system on the AT-402s and AT-502s. The sumps for the AT-602 and AT-802 are so low that the old style intake wasn’t as big of interference.

I truly like to go to Earl’s Flying Service for workshops because of the great group of thinkers and innovators that attend. Mike is always working on improvements for the Transland spreaders. I sort of feel like his whole crew hates me for selling him a dry evaluation system, because it gets plenty of action. Mike is always evaluating and providing ideas, even when there isn’t an organized workshop. I’ve used vane settings from Mike’s spreaders for years as a starting place for similar aircraft.

We have field evaluations on several surfactants and drift control additives. John Garr of GarrCo has been an active participant for years. This year, Rosens participated and helped with the fly-in and made several evaluations of their product, Vector™. This provides an excellent way for operators to get true field evaluations of these types of products. It is key to check these products with your specific setup and water characteristics, because the outcome may change dramatically under different variables – such as water temperature, Ph and tank mix companions.

I spent several minutes visiting with Earl Lee, Mike’s father and namesake for his business, Earl’s Flying Service. Mr. Earl related his first ag aircraft purchase to me. The purchase was a 220 Stearman from MidContinent for $5,000. Earl indicated that Dick would not let him leave with the aircraft until all the checks used for the purchase had cleared the bank. After several days, when all the checks cleared, the new aircraft was flown just a few miles south to Steele, Missouri where the business is now.
Mike, fondly referred to as the “General” by one of the other operators, had a lot of other activities going on while we were there. Mike stopped active ag flying a couple of years ago and hired a full time pilot, Wes Addison. He is concentrating on the business operation as well as other activities around the hangar. Mike still flies his Maule about every day to evaluate performance and check out fields and job situations.

Mike is a Del Norte dealer. He sells and installs the complete system on ag-aircraft. A part of this is the assembly of all the plumbing and hook-ups to allow the system to function properly. Mike does an excellent job of matching the components and keeps everything shaped as aerodynamically as possible to avoid spray distortions. Mike had a new AT-802 in the process of being outfitted with a complete guidance and flow control system while we were there.

The Missouri AAA may be a small group, but it is certainly not lacking in technology and professional activities. There are several operators from nearby Arkansas and Tennessee, primarily Scott Rainey, who also take advantage of the workshop. WRK is certainly proud to be a member of this association and is looking forward to continued aerial application improvements originating from the boot heel.