by Carlin Lawrence
At the suggestion of one of my AgAir Update readers, I am telling a little about myself and my background. Sometimes I wonder how things have gone so well for me. I was born illegitimate, which bothered me a lot until I read in the Bible, “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing” (Deuteronomy 10:17-18). “The Lord watches over the stranger and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.” (Psalm 146:9). This was God’s plan for my life and I finally learned that I was not to argue with Him.
I was born three miles east of Carnegie, Oklahoma. Our family moved from Oklahoma to California when I was five years old, where we lived for awhile in a labor camp with other farm workers. We later moved into a house on a farm.
From California, we moved to New Mexico when I was eight years old and we lived in another farm labor housing area. We moved from New Mexico back to Oklahoma when I was 11 years old. It probably isn’t any kind of a record, but I went to nine different schools before I got out of the 7th grade. I didn’t graduate from high school, although I did pass the GED while in the Air Force.
In a lot of ways, our family life was a lot like migrant farm workers. The early years of my life were not easy, but in those days, it was a lot like many other poor farm workers. I learned a valuable lesson during the early years of my life; I learned how to work. That trait has served me well over my 64 years. I cannot remember when I did not go to the fields and work. I think I was born in a cotton or peanut field (only kidding). We were a poor family and everyone had to help make ends meet. But, looking back, I know this was in God’s plan for my life.
When I was 19 years old I had to join the Air Force to stay out of prison. I had done nothing wrong, but I wouldn’t squeal on the guilty one. I didn’t have enough money to fight it in the courts. But, again, this was God’s plan for me, and it ended up being one of the best things at that point to happen in my life. I got to meet and work with men of integrity and character, who showed me a better way of life.
I was assigned to a B-52 bomber ground crew after graduating from aircraft maintenance school. The last two years I was in the Air Force, I was a crew chief on a B-52 bomber. I have over 200 hours flying time in a B-52, but just as a passenger. It was mandatory for crew chiefs to fly at least four hours a month. However, most flights were over eight hours. From then on, I knew I wanted to be a professional pilot. As I look back, I can see God working me into the position He wanted me.
I soloed on November 11, 1963, got my commercial license and flew for a while as a pilot in Alaska. I flew mostly scheduled routes, but also did some bush flying. I flew my first spray plane in September 1966, a 450 horsepower Stearman with no windshield, spreading sulfur dust. I was hooked. I went back to Alaska to get my belongings and moved back to Oklahoma.
I started flying for American Dusting Company at Hobart, Oklahoma in March of 1967. I met my wife Sandra, in July of 1969. We were married on October 8th, 1969. A month later, we bought a 150 horsepower Pawnee and started our aerial spraying business. In June of 1970, we traded it for a 235 horsepower Pawnee. Our business was growing and in early 1973 we bought a brand new Thrush from Fred Ayres for $43,000. Three years later, we sold the Thrush and bought a brand new 450 horsepower Ag-Cat from Dick Reade. In 1978, we installed a PT6A-34 turbine engine on another Ag-Cat we owned (It was the first turbine spray plane based in Oklahoma). In 1983, we bought a 500-gallon Thrush with a PTA6-34. These are only some of the spray planes we owned over the years. Sandra and I had a very successful spraying business.
But it hasn’t always been easy. My brother was killed working for us in October of 1978 while flying a 235 Pawnee. Our son was killed in a car accident on August 30, 1981. Both of these accidents had a huge influence on my life. This was hard on Sandra and I, but it did cause us both to grow spiritually. Our lives have not been the same since. In 1984-85 we both went to a Bible college in California (we leased our spraying business). Later we sold our spraying business and moved to California to work for a church, both of us teaching Bible classes. I was also flying co-pilot on a Citation for mission trips to foreign countries. I loved what I was doing, but I didn’t like the crowded Los Angeles area.
We moved back to Oklahoma and started a home Bible study that lasted from early 1989 until October 1992. At that time, we bought a 600 horsepower Ag-Cat and I started flying ag again. (Until I met Bill Lavender/AgAir Update, I often wondered why we had gotten back into the spraying business again, but now I know). I flew while Sandra helped to do everything else. She was the best loading person I ever had. We traveled to Kansas and worked for Jim Floyd every summer for seven years, until I decided to stop flying a spray plane in 2000.
It had been a desire of mine for several years to try to tell other ag-pilots about the Grace of God through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But I wasn’t sure how to go about doing it without sounding like some kind of self-righteous prude. It was when Scott Koch of Colorado wanted to start a Christian Pilots organization for ag-pilots that got me started to writing an article. I sent it out to some that wanted it. It was Bill Lavender who read one of the articles and the rest, as we would say, is history.
There are several pilots who have had a tremendous influence on me; they have helped me in so many ways. It is impossible to list all of these men, but I do want to mention one, his name is Dennis Leatherbury, He did so much for me that it would be impossible to list all of the ways. His son now flies for a Kansas operator.
Some of the men who have helped me have passed on, some are retired and some are still flying, I want to thank all of them. Without them, I probably wouldn’t have made it. They were God’s gift to me to help me along my life’s journey.
One other thing, I cannot express in words how important Sandra, my wife, has been in my life. What a blessing she has been to me (cf. Proverbs 18:22; 19:14; 31:10).