Ag Flying Questions

[killbilly]

So I completed leg one of my move from Austin to DC. I'm sitting in a hotel room outside of Memphis right now and I'm dog-tired.

Eastbound on I-40 today, I got to see a guy doing some dusting and it was really impressive. It also looked dangerous as hell as he was often flying below powerline height, but popping up to clear them.

I saw three or four passes, one was RIGHT in front of me and I swore he was gonna clip the top of the 18-wheeler I was following.

Questions:

1) How fast do those guys fly when they're dispersing whatever they're...dispersing? 'Cos it looked FAST.
2) As low as they are when they release (I'm guessing 20-30 feet?) how much effect does the wind have, and does that affect the "pattern" they fly over the field?
3) Is there a high mortality rate among Ag pilots?

 

[Inverted25]

So I completed leg one of my move from Austin to DC. I'm sitting in a hotel room outside of Memphis right now and I'm dog-tired.

Eastbound on I-40 today, I got to see a guy doing some dusting and it was really impressive. It also looked dangerous as hell as he was often flying below powerline height, but popping up to clear them.

I saw three or four passes, one was RIGHT in front of me and I swore he was gonna clip the top of the 18-wheeler I was following.

Questions:

1) How fast do those guys fly when they're dispersing whatever they're...dispersing? 'Cos it looked FAST.
2) As low as they are when they release (I'm guessing 20-30 feet?) how much effect does the wind have, and does that affect the "pattern" they fly over the field?
3) Is there a high mortality rate among Ag pilots?

I dont spray myself but I do relocate a spray plane for a guy at my home airport once in awhile. Not sure on the speed while spraying but overall they aren't super fast planes. The one I relocate cruises 110. They are much lower then 20 feet. A good run will have the tires brushing the top the crop to minimize wind drift of chemicals. The guy here routinely flies under power lines when fields run right up against them. Watching him spray the turn around after each pass is what looks the most dangerous. He pulls up and almost looks like he does a tail slide to turn around. He always says if you ain't spraying you ain't making money.

 

[Swen]

Questions:

1) How fast do those guys fly when they're dispersing whatever they're...dispersing? 'Cos it looked FAST.

In a turbine powered airplane they work around 145 mph. In a recip it'll be more around 120 depending on the aircraft.

2) As low as they are when they release (I'm guessing 20-30 feet?) how much effect does the wind have, and does that affect the "pattern" they fly over the field?

At 30 feet with any amount of wind you'll be lucky if it lands in the same county you're spraying. Optimal height will vary based on the application; however, an ideal height would be to have the wheels about 6-10 feet above the crop.

And there actually is a limit as to how low you want to be. As mentioned, if you need to minimize drift, then fly as low as possible. Otherwise, flying low decreases the effective swath width as the chemical does not have enough time to spread out before reaching the crop.

3) Is there a high mortality rate among Ag pilots?

I'll just copy the data from the recent NAAA newsletter. The NTSB reported 57 ag accidents with 6 being fatal so far for the season.

 

[ctab5060X]

At 30 feet with any amount of wind you'll be lucky if it lands in the same county you're spraying. Optimal height will vary based on the application; however, an ideal height would be to have the wheels about 6-10 feet above the crop.

And there actually is a limit as to how low you want to be. As mentioned, if you need to minimize drift, then fly as low as possible. Otherwise, flying low decreases the effective swath width as the chemical does not have enough time to spread out before reaching the crop.

It is amazing how much wind there is and how much variation there can be in the microenvironment of a single 100 acre field.

As far as how low, swen pretty much nailed it... It is an optimum height to maximize efficiency (swath width) and decrease drift. Mississippi recommends an optimum height of 10' from the boom to the crop. Your drift is also dictated by the volume applied per acre and the size of the droplets. Needless to say, the more per acre (higher volume) and larger droplet sizes tend to drift less than lower volume work.

To give an example how how this works, here are some numbers we used back when I was doing public health work (mosquito control) flying both over fields and over town.

Field: ~10' AGL boom height... swath width of ~100 ft... drift in a 5 kt wind of ~100 to 150 ft.

Town: ~400'AGL boom height... swath width of ~1000 feet... drift in a 5 kt wind was almost a mile.

I knew one of the fatal accident victims this year. Tragic considering he was ferrying the airplane and not working.

 

[TwoTwoLeft]

In Central California they've been spraying at night... That's nuts.

[video=youtube_share;p1ytmAIkvsY]http://youtu.be/p1ytmAIkvsY[/video]


[video=youtube_share;1ekyNGnl0MA]http://youtu.be/1ekyNGnl0MA[/video]

 

[Jet]

:crazy: Did he fly under a power line in the second vid?

 

[troopernflight]

My gosh, that looks dangerous!

 

[contactground.9]

My gosh, that looks awesome!

Fixed it for ya!

 

[Inverted25]

It's so awesome that I swear AG flying is even harder to break into than most 121 operators even with time in type

 

[ctab5060X]

It's so awesome that I swear AG flying is even harder to break into than most 121 operators even with time in type

And it is that way for a reason.


Ag flying is one of the few areas of aviaiton where experience still carries its weight in gold. Breaking in to ag flying is also still an area that requires a ton of hard work, dedication, and patience. Looking back on when I was actively flying part 137, I realize that it took me right at 3 years to earn my seat (PIC in all operations the company conducted). Those first three years, however, were far from slacking. I washed airplanes, helped load airplanes, flew right seat in the aircraft that required two crew members, swept hangar floors. I also looked for any excuse where I could exercise what PIC authority the company let me use (ferry flights, parts runs, etc.) to help build time and experience that helped me earn my seat.

Don't get the wrong impression, but I am not writing this to discourage anyone from trying to break into ag flying... rather I am trying to encourage pilots to go after what they want to do in life. I just hope to shed a little light on how much hard work and dedication it takes to get there.