Question for T-cart and CTAB

WacoFan

WacoFan

Bigly
OK, have been wondering about this and thought I would ask in public rather than via PM. Have either of you ever done night ag-flying? If no, have you talked to people that have? Why is this done and is it a death-sport type of thing or are there ways that it is safe and valid reasons for doing it at night? Just seems to be a little risky to me.
 
I could have swarn ag planes were restricted to Day VFR only. Well then theres mosquito spraying that usually took place at night. Is it due to them being a restricted category aircraft?:confused:

Edit: Well looking around...I don't see anything that restricts them to Day vfr only.
 
WacoFan said:
OK, have been wondering about this and thought I would ask in public rather than via PM. Have either of you ever done night ag-flying? If no, have you talked to people that have? Why is this done and is it a death-sport type of thing or are there ways that it is safe and valid reasons for doing it at night? Just seems to be a little risky to me.
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Waco, Here where I am, there is really no ag flying done at night unless you get caught out after dark. The first big plane that I operated had a set of night working lights on it which consisted of a big retractable light under each wing and also "turn" light out on the tips. They will light up the night quite well.

Night flying never caught on around here because there are just too many obstacles. Most of the night flying takes place out in Arizona and California.

I don't think it is a death sport. In the areas where this is common, the fields are usually big, with not very many trees. From my limited experience, I can say that a powerline is much easier to see at night with the lights than during daylight.

The guys that I have talked to about it love it. It's much cooler, the air is smoother and most of the public is at home in bed.

If I lived in one of those areas, I would like to give it a try.
 
WacoFan said:
OK, have been wondering about this and thought I would ask in public rather than via PM. Have either of you ever done night ag-flying? If no, have you talked to people that have? Why is this done and is it a death-sport type of thing or are there ways that it is safe and valid reasons for doing it at night? Just seems to be a little risky to me.
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First off, the majority of mosquito spraying is done under 137 (ag) and most of that flying is at night. So, in that sense, yes, I have done ag flying at night. :D

I have not done any row crop work at night, but I know some guys that have done it before. Most of it was fertilizer work and they were trying to beat the weather. They said it took a bit to get comfortable with it, but it was kinda fun.
 
Waco,
Our guy here who does helo spraying does it a lot at night, especially if there is a frost.

However AFF is restricted to day VFR only for obvious reasons.
 
How does one normally get into AFF? Do most want the adventure, or is it just a job? I imagine it requires a certain skill set, and general attitude to do safely

( From a NE guy... where i've never seen an AFF outfit before.)
 
mjg407 said:
However AFF is restricted to day VFR only for obvious reasons.
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I can imagine!

When spraying mosquitoes, if we were doing some of our more rugged terrain contracts, we would limit ourselves to day flying only. Looking back, I wish I had some good pictures or video of one of those trips.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I can see where it would be calmer at night, and I guess with a large field it would be kind of fun.

Mike - What happens when there are fires like are currently going on in Texas and OK? Do large tankers ever get called out or do you guys primarily stay in California and that region?
 
WacoFan said:
I can see where it would be calmer at night,
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Boy, I wish that were true all the time. I can't tell you how many nights I got the crap beat out of me spraying mosquitoes. Some nights it wasn't too bad, some sections of towns weren't that bad, but some nights... thank goodness for shoulder harnesses! :panic:
 
WacoFan said:
Thanks for the replies guys. I can see where it would be calmer at night, and I guess with a large field it would be kind of fun.

Mike - What happens when there are fires like are currently going on in Texas and OK? Do large tankers ever get called out or do you guys primarily stay in California and that region?
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Under the USFS national contract our guys can be called anywhere in the US and Alaska with little notice. IE tough life on the crews, so they never know with absolute certainty where they will be at the end of the day. Right now I have 3 on contract 1 in Abiliene, 1 in Lake City FL, and one in NM.
 
mjg407 said:
Under the USFS national contract our guys can be called anywhere in the US and Alaska with little notice. IE tough life on the crews, so they never know with absolute certainty where they will be at the end of the day. Right now I have 3 on contract 1 in Abiliene, 1 in Lake City FL, and one in NM.
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Sounds rough - how long are they out-station based? Is it for the entire length of their contract?
 
I've heard talk that years ago Cubs were used at night to protect from frost. Supposedly they'd fly just above stall to bring warm air into cold sinks.

Could just be some old talk though.
 
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