by Robin Petersen
It's 4:30 in the morning, the alarm goes off. You crawl out of bed, looking outside you see a crimson sunrise, the countryside is taking its first breath of the early morning. Dew is still clinging to the leaves of the trees and sparkling with the reflection of the early light.
It's time to move again, you know you have a busy day lined up. The army worms have been busy eating while you were sleeping. They have caused destruction not only to the crops, but also to the farmer's future. You have a mission. It's the same as it was the day before and many days before yesterday. You feel tired looking back on the last two weeks of flying. Was it really about 120 hours? Well, it has been very good flying weather.
After breakfast you go out to the plane and do a very thorough walk-around checking the plane and spray system. Everything looks pretty good because you spent a couple of hours yesterday fixing some minor snags. The dispatcher prepared the work orders for your day's flying. On them is a detailed description of the field to be sprayed, any susceptible crops that could be nearby, bee hives or any other environmentally sensitive area.
You notice a north wind blowing, just a light one, and you know that means half the spray runs in the field will be into the rising sun. How beautiful but also how deadly. You know the field should be sprayed in a light crosswind to do the best job for the farmer. You are a professional, you do the best job possible. Most operators have a loader/ground crew to load your plane. You try to avoid the smell of the chemical. Time to put on your fire resistant flight suit, your safety helmet and fire proof gloves. You put a band-aid over the bridge of your nose because over the past few weeks the respirator has worn the skin raw. You check to see you have a good seal on your mask otherwise the fumes can make you very ill with prolonged exposure.
It's time to take off. As you push the throttle forward you see the spiral corkscrew of the vapor the propeller creates during takeoff. The lift is great.
Going to the field you want to fly at a safe altitude in the unlikely event you have an engine failure. You have to be careful not to fly over houses or livestock. One thousand feet or more is good. The higher you are the more options you have if something goes wrong; also the quieter it will be for those on the ground.
You navigate using Rural Municipality (RM) maps. The maps show you all the sections in the RM. Each line equals one half mile. You didn't have time the day before to drive out to check the field for obstruction, so you have to do field inspection. Power lines, trees, rising terrain or anything else that could cause problems if you don't see them. You're very careful to take note of the field layout. Then you have to plan how you will complete your mission safely and effectively. Power lines are a big consideration. You need to decide if it would be safer to fly over or under them. You look very carefully, sometimes the poles are hidden in the trees on either side of the field leaving just the wire in between. This scenario has killed quite a few spray pilots. The power lines you don't see are the ones that can kill you. You continue the inspection: How flat is the field? Are there susceptible crops nearby? Any bee hives? How about traffic on the road next to the field? Which way should I spray if there are trees groves in the field? I have to plan the turns so I don't turn the plane over the neighbors house or livestock, I'm flying a spray plane with a 600 h.p. P&W 1340 engine and it's quite noisy. People don't like to be awakened early in the morning.
You line the airplane up for the first spray pass over the field. You want to fly at a wheel height of 3 to 5 feet above the crop at 110 mph. This will provide a spray swath width of 55 feet. The swath width you spray depends on the height you fly at, the wingspan and how the nozzles are place on the spray booms located at and below the trailing edges of the wings. The accuracy of the spray pattern was calibrated by flying over a string which was analyzed by a laser computer. Calibration tests are carried out prior to the beginning of each spray season.
You must fly the run at the right height and in a straight line. In order to do this, you have to take into account corrections for wind drift and field contours to maintain a constant height above the crop. This can be very exciting as well as challenging. When you arrive at the end of the field you press a button on the stick which dispenses a biodegradable 'flag'. This tells you where you left the field and will help you line up on the next spray run. You climb and turn at about 100' agl to do a "P" turn. It's called that because if you could see it from above, the pattern you fly in the turn would look like the letter P. The angle of bank you use in the turn is 45°-60°. This puts approximately 2 G's of force on your body. The aircraft has an increased stalling speed of around 40%. You don't want to stall the airplane at low altitude while doing a steep turn. It requires good coordination and concentration to do the turns safely and accurately. In the 1996 season, I calculated I performed about 9,700 of these turns. Now, is your instructor really asking too much of you to keep your steep turns within ±100 feet for flight tests? Like anything else in flying, it takes practice to do the runs well. In this case the incentive is the earth just 100 feet below you.
The aerial applicators of today are highly trained, professional pilots. Working hard to change the image of cropdusters years ago. Back then most people thought of them as dare devils or barnstormers. With little training and rattle traps for aircraft, strung together with haywire and 100 mph tape.
Today, organizations and their members work hard to change the old image. Their goals and objectives are to promote and foster the development of a professional approach and attitude to aerial application; to develop professional standards in the industry; to promote research and development in chemicals and application techniques; to protect the environment; and to develop an effective liaison with government agencies.
Education and training of members is a high priority. Training programs for ground crews right up to the pilot are designed by members to ensure pesticides are safely applied. Spray clinics are conducted for members airplanes and planes are calibrated to ensure accurate application of the product. These clinics ensure each customers get the most out of each spray application with the assurance that every possible precaution has been taken to protect the environment. Aerial applicators are trained in all aspects of pesticide application. Special seminars and courses ensure members know how to minimize risk to the environment.
Without the use of pesticides, the world food supply would be reduced by 40-50% resulting in an increase in the cost of food by 50-75%. Pesticide manufacturers constantly strive to develop new, environmentally friendly pesticides. This research is very time consuming and costly. Often it takes several years to develop and test the safety and effectiveness of a new product.
Today, aircraft are state-of-the-art, designed specifically for aerial application. They have on-board computers that monitor the rate of application as well as a Global Positioning System (GPS) to guide them down the fields accurately. Some have PT6 turbine engines and can cost upward of about $800,000. Having a clean, well maintained aircraft is the continuous goal of an aerial applicator. Today, technology permits the pilot to do the best job possible. It is seldom that application mistakes occur.
I've sprayed for 17 seasons, (years), in the Canadian providences of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and the sights I've seen are wonderful. From the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia to the forests of Northern Ontario and of course the vast fields of Saskatchewan and Alberta. I've made many friends during my travels and unfortunately lost a few too.
I was very lucky when I decided to become a spray pilot in 1980. Apart from the fact that I had a job lined up, Lakeland College in Vermillion, Alberta offered an aerial applicators course. It covered subjects related to agriculture and forestry aerial application. It was a six week course including about 200 hours of ground school and a 40 hour flying program. We started with about 14 people and only 7 of us graduated. We had to write exams each Friday and if we didn't pass they sent you home. The course was subsidized by the Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba governments.
It was an excellent course. Stressing safety and instilling a good attitude toward the use of pesticides and our environment. Unfortunately, the course was cancelled a couple of years later due to budget cuts. It's unfortunate because people from across Canada and around the world had attended in previous years.
Minimum requirements for a career in aerial application would be a safe attitude, a commercial pilot license and also be proficient flying taildragger airplanes. You will need to pass a provincial aerial applicators license exam. Some aerial applicator companies may train you themselves; usually after you've spent a season on the ground as a mixer/loader. You have to be aware of all the hazards of spraying. Each year there are accidents involving aerial applicators. Most accidents are cause by pilot error. Fatigue is the most common factor in these mistakes. The problem with fatigue is that it can creep up on you without you knowing it. Knowing when you've had enough spraying for the day can be difficult when you are under the pressure of the farmers to get the job done as soon as possible.
You too could have a rewarding career in aerial application but remember to have a safe attitude and get proper training before you attempt that first pass.
Rob Petersen is a Designated Flight Test Examiner in the Prairie/Northern and Pacific Regions, of Canada, a freelance instructor; and is in his 18th season as an aerial applicator. Rob's 21 years in the industry give him more than 10,000 (accident free) flying hours in over 80 different aircraft types ranging from gliders to jets.